New Dakota.....
 

Does anyone else have any type of feeling toward the '05 Dakota? I saw it on an ad, and plan on going to look at one in person...I think they're about as ugly as could be! I think Dodge took their Dakota in the wrong direction with this one, but perhaps that's just me. Anyone else have any comments?
Scott

I agree that Dodge messed up a good thing with the styling on this one. I think the outgoing Dakota is one of the best truck designs ever. I havn't seen one without chrome up front and with fender flares, but that may help. Even though they made a mistake with the styling, the drivetrain and interior could make up for it. The 260hp 335 tq 4.7 should be very stout in this truck. I also think they should not have given up on the regular cab. If I were in the market for this size truck I would definately give it a test drive, but I would also take a look at the Tacoma.

6 speed manual transmission is a step in the right direction though. With 4.28 first gear
and closer ratio splits it may offer better tow ratings than the past 5 speed did.

Yeah, agreed....that's a lot of power in that package, but still, it's very ugly! The six speed is a turn on too, but the package isn't enough to make me even consider this truck in this situation...
Scott

I agree. I cannot imagine how they let this one out of the design studio... they must have hired some of the guys that got fired from GM over the last couple of years for the aztec and avalanche.

The headlights and grill look alright but the rest is downhill from there.

Have any of you seen the commercial with the dakota pulling a drive in restaurant behind it? All i can say is WOW, how ignorant can the American public be?

lol, agreed, man. Or how about the one where the chevy beats the Ford? How ingorant..;)

Or the one where the guy says `Oh, yeah, that's got a Hemi, too.`, implying that the Hemi in his truck is just as much a hemi as the one in the car that's on the trailer. I agree, commercials go too far.

Come on guys, Dodge has followed the Ford 150, squared off look. GM hasn't done it YET, Ford has led the way in this design. One of the main reasons I don't care for the 150. What's real though is it is still a Dodge, they can offer any package they want a I'll pass. My wife owned an 02 Dakota and it was a piece of crap, and the reg. cab was very uncomfortable, I'm 6' 1" and I couldn't ride on the pass. side for any time at all. I or my wife will never buy a Dodge again I don't care what they offer. :-X21 :)

My thoughts exactly, kernmydog, I have had first hand experiences with plenty of Dodges, and none of them have led to me to believe that they are worth anything.

Why is that?

1. Regular cabs DO NOT make money.

2. Regular cabs DO NOT sell like some here want to make believe they actually do.

If you are a DCX accountant, knowing how ANYTHING BUT regular cabs pay company bills now, you would cut reg cabs as well. (Nissan says "Look at our bottom line without reg cab Frontiers!!!")

Two words...Uggg Leee. With a capital Uggg.

MR

Defintly not my style, but thats just me. The dodge commericials are really chessy as well, more so then the Ford and GM ones. I thought the eariler outgoing dakota was kind of boring, but it sure beat this one. Oh, well I guess styles change so this must be what some folks want.

Just wait til they offer the Hemi Powered Dakota. They got the jeep all hemi'ed up.

Dodge & GM is good, but FORD is better.