Tacoma In, Dakota Out
If you know me, you know that I was really excited that I got my first truck 2 1/2 years ago. I bought a 2003 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab. It was Patriot Blue and it had a V8 which really gave it some pickup (no pun intended!).
I had never bought an American vehicle before EVER — so this was a stretch for me — since I was leaving the security of the quality and fit/finish of all of the Japanese vehicles I had bought before. Twof of the guys in my fire department had Dakotas and said they really liked them, so I figured that I’d enjoy mine just as much.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In the 2 1/2 years that I owned my Dakota, I had the following problems:
- Steering wheel column replaced
- Heating system repaired (fizzed out in the dead of winter)
- Emissions tube came loose (with urgent repair required!)
- Emergency brake handle replaced
- Front right ball joint replaced (part of company wide recall)
- Complete rack & pinion system replaced because of front right tired rod being faulty
All of the visits to the dealership got on my nerves and I was scared to death to keep this truck past the warranty, so I decided to return to giving my money to a Japanese company since they had never let me down with any of the cars I had bought from them previously.
The 2003 Dodge Dakota has been replaced with a 2005 Toyota Tacoma — and this truck is the nicest vehicle I have ever bought. Melissa loves it too, and I hope she never gets mad at me and does this to my Tacoma!
The difference between Toyota and Dodge is night and day and I couldn’t be happier with my new Tacoma. I’ve gone from a 235 hp V8 to a 245 hp V6 — which means a faster, lighter truck and better gas mileage.
I did my research on this truck and it got nothing but flying colors in all of the car/truck magazines. It even got Truck of the Year from Motor Trend! They weren’t the only ones that love the Tacoma — Car and Driver love it, Money loves it, the LA Daily News and US News and World Report both like the Tacoma as well.
We got a great deal on the truck and we’ve drastically improved our transportation by returning back to Toyota. I’ve been driving the truck for almost 2 weeks now and I’ve gotten compliments almost every time I’ve had it out. It’s also a quad cab (Toyota calls it Double Cab) and it is painted Silver Streak Mica. It’s a gorgeous silver color and it hasn’t looked dirty even after all of the highway driving and the rain we’ve had. My truck looks like the one in the picture above except that mine has body colored mirrors and door handles and the one above has black instead.
I called Vasko Dodge and asked them to remove my name from their mailing list since we no longer have the Dakota. The sales manager asked me what I got and I proudly told him “a brand new 2005 Toyota Tacoma”. He said “well I hope you’ll consider us in the future when you’re buying again!”.
Yeah right! There’s not a chance in hell I’m buying an American truck anytime soon. I love the good ol’ USA, but that Dakota was such a piece of crap that I’m not risking my time and money again in an American product — especially a Dodge!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.