Terrible Tom wrote:
> Complaint number three... I crawled under the truck in the show room and
> saw up close what they did under the Dak. The new front suspension has
> a very flimsy looking thin crossmember that stretches between the rear
> control arm mounting points. That thing is the lowest part of the
> undercarriage. It would be the first thing to get ripped up with even
> mild offroading.
That seriously sucks. I see an 05 Power Wagon in your future...
> I don't like the instruments very much. I don't like the tach
> positioned on the right - and the lack of additional instrumentation was
> annoying. I like to see that I have oil pressure and good voltage. I
> don't like an idiot light coming on telling me "something" isn't right.
I agree 100% there. That was one of my first complaints when I first
saw the "sneak preview" pictures of the inside of the Gen IV a while back.
> Performance - - the truck seemed slower than I expected with a 4.7L
> behind it. I was treated to the now familiar high revving sound of the
> 4.7L - which from past BBQ's has now been burned into my long term
> memory. ---- "It feels like we're at a boat race!"
Was that the standard 4.7L or the HO version? I'm curious to see the
actual performance difference between the two.
> Wasn't able to get the tires to chirp from a stand still -
> disappointing. Cornering and handling is MUCH improved. Truck can
> corner very very well. Brakes grab nice and stopping distance is good
> for a truck of its girth. Very quiet at highway speeds up to 85 mph
> <evil grin>.
I'm surprised about the chirping issue. I can easily chirp the tires on
my '00 4.7.
> I mentioned that I belong to a Dodge truck club and most of my
> "colleagues" call the new Durango the "Durvango" (he laughed at that) -
> and most probably won't like the new Dakota. He got defensive and
> started saying well there are small groups like that who won't be
> pleased by change - and that they have to make a vehicle that will
> appeal to the majority vs. the minority. I nodded and said I understood
> - but that the loyalists like myself and my associates - are still going
> to be upset. I don't think he gets it heh.
There's one thing that is left out of that equation, though. It's a
hell of a lot easier (and cheaper) to keep your existing customers than
to try and earn new customers. What I don't like in general is that the
Dakota is still called a "truck" but it is becoming much more car-like,
just as the Durango has. That's what I call the yuppie effect. As the
yuppies move into this market, they don't actually want a truck with
truck-like capabilities. They want a vehicle that looks like a truck
but drives like a car. You can't make a reasonably affordable truck
that has great off-road capabilities and excellent on-road comfort and
performance. It's certainly possible to combine these two, but not in
the price range of the Dakota (and certainly not for the American
carmakers... *sigh*)
> My final take on the new truck is that I am disappointed in general. It
> is a very nice truck and I'm sure it will sell well. But I won't buy
> one. I'd take one if someone gave it to me - but if I was to make a new
> truck purchase, it would hands down be a Ram Power Wagon. With any luck
> - Dodge will refreshen the look and feel of this new Gen IV Dak in the
> next few years - and maybe then I'll like it more.
Who knows.. They may fix the interior stuff in next year's model. There
were quite a few aesthetic changes to the Gen III interior without any
major redesign going on.
I'll be at the stealer on Thursday, so I'm hoping that they will have an
'05 for me to drive. I don't think I'll be too thrilled with the truck
overall, but I am looking forward to seeing and driving the next
generation of what I have come to love over the past 4 years. Overall,
though, my next vehicle purchase will probably be a more economical car,
followed by a real wheeling machine. :-) And unfortunately, in the
economical car market, the American brands just don't have what I'm
looking for. It seems like they are slowly starting to move in the
right direction, but I'm not willing to take the chance yet. They
really just can't compete with the long-term reliability of the
Honda/Toyota in the car market. (I do like the new Magnum a lot for
some reason, though... might have to drive one of those for fun too)
-Bill
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Oct 01 2004 - 11:38:59 EDT