Morning Folks,
I too am on the Digest list, and a quiet post'er, but this is now a big
subject with me.
I've got a 97 Dakota w/ the 318, 4x4, Extended Cab SLT 3.55 Gears. I've
reached a maximum with the number of issues I can deal with during the 56000
miles I've owned my truck. Here is the list of what has happened.
I'm not rough on this vehicle at all, in fact it's pretty much babied and
gets regular oil
(Mobil 1 Synthetic) changes and tire rotations every 5000 miles. I use it
to tow maybe twice a year and it spends most of its time taking me back and
forth to my job. From day 1, I've had problems with this truck. Right off
the dealer lot, I couldn't remove the right rear brake drum, I ended up
pulling it off with chains and a puller, and taking it to a local tire place
and having it turned. The tech was amazed I could drive with it as warped
as it was. Of course, I didn't get this fixed until after the brake system
warranty ended at 1200 miles. It pings constantly, my service manual lists
87 octane as the fuel requirement, but even with 93 it still pings. There
is now a TSB available for this, but I haven't had it updated yet. Then,
the backup brake light switch failed (it began to flicker) at about 10,000
miles, that was replaced at the dealer under warranty. The center glove box
has a small strap to hold the door, that broke twice in the first month and
I haven't bothered to replace it again. Around 30K miles I noticed my oil
level starting to tick down over the course of a oil change cycle 5K miles.
At this point, I've calibrated it to 1 quart for ever 1500 miles. Also, I
regularly wash and wax the truck, but consistently I see small flakes of
paint coming off the hood and roof. There is a number of Dakota owners who
have complained of this same problem. At 47,000 miles the fuel pump died,
my dealership (Burlington Dodge in Burlington, MA) told me that normal for
it to die between 40K and 60K miles and the $570 repair bill was my
responsibility since the warranty ran out at 36K. I did write to Chrysler
and get a 50% re-embursement for the cost. Just recently, my drivers side
seat has started falling back without my pulling the adjustment, not a good
feature to have while driving. Finally, just a short time ago at about
52,000, and seal in the front 4WD drivetrain went, costing me another $200.
So, all this detail leads to my question. Is this normal for a vehicle to
fail so often, is this normal for an American vehicle to fail this often, or
do I have a lemon of a Dodge? My previous vehicle was a 2WD Nissan Pickup
with a 4 cylinder engine, an '86. I had next to no problems with it over
the 8 years I owned it.
I plan on writing this information to DC, both the Consumer Affairs division
and the CEO, I'll inform people if I get a response.
my 2 cents,
-- Steven T. Sciavolino
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