Sounds like a bad truck to me....
We had a 94, 4x4 with 116,000 miles on it when we sold it, for 9250 last
year!
it was in that good of condition... We had NO problems except the tranny at
100k ish... (pulling a trailer with the electric brakes locked is bad) but
other than that, that thing kicked like a new one...
Sounds like I'd talk to DC and try and get them to get you another one....
or something like that...
Tim Berry
Chesapeake, VA
> 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
>
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:52:36 EDT