On Mon, October 1, 2007 10:43 pm, Terrible Tom said:
>
> Bah - leave it to you Jason to spoil my happy little "me world"
> delusion... with cold hard facts
>
> :-P
I guess that's usually Jon's job... I've just been feeling particularly
disillusioned with the entire automotive industry lately, and Chrysler in
particular. They've been pushing my brand loyalty to the limit. I've been
wondering if they even deserve my loyalty any more. I'm hopeful the new
overlords can turn it around, for now I'm in wait and see mode.
> Perhaps the Dakota's style isnt all to blem for lower Dak sales - but
> I'm sure it has more to do with it than you gave it credit for :-)
Probably. I am pretty out of touch with what's going on in most of the
continent. When I was back in SLC I remember noticing that everyone there is
still driving their SUVs. A huge number of SUV owners in Ontario have already
dumped them for something smaller. As for pickup trucks, I'd say probably 85%
of those that I see around here are being used on the job, usually some sort
of construction.
> After all - those of us who DO use truck and who do need them and/or
> still want them... heh well I don't see lots of existing DML'ers running
> out to trade in their old daks for nice new Gen IV's :-)
Yeah, that's true. I was kind of thinking that people who need trucks for
work aren't really likely to log on to enthusiast web sites. Seems like the
DML is more for people who see our trucks as toys rather than tools (or maybe
a bit of both). I don't see a lot of people on here who bought the truck just
to use on the job.
> My gripe was more to do with current and former Dak owners who went to a
> different truck because of dislikes with current Daks.
Fair enough.
I see your point, though. If I were looking at another truck, I'd probably
bump up to a Ram rather than get another Dakota at this point. There's not
much about the Dakota to make me want one over a Ram. It used to be that the
Dakota was almost as powerful and capable as a Ram 1500, but in a smaller,
easier to park, more manageable package, at a lower price point. Now, it's
almost the same size and close to the same price, but a lot less powerful
(thinking 4.7 vs. Hemi here). They grew the dimensions and reduced the power,
how brilliant was that???
That said, the new 4.7 does look promising. If they were smart they would
have called it a Hemi as well. And I've thought that the '08 is definitely
less ugly than the '07 since I first saw the pictures. The new model is an
improvement, IMHO, but it remains to be seen whether it's enough.
-- Jason Bleazard http://drazaelb.blogspot.com Burlington, Ontario his: '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, black
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