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| 2006 Dodge Dakota Review | |||
| Whether you're about to spend $40K on a brand new car, or half that on a used car, it is always important to learn as much as you can about the used car. Read these car reviews to learn about all aspects of the vehicle. Each of the usedcar reviews cover interior and exterior features, options, road tests, and more. | |||
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Introduction
| Road Test
| Inside & Out
| Other Thoughts
| Last Word
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| Other Thoughts | |||
The Dakota has more of that choose-your-own-adventure thing going than do the other mid-size trucks. Its drive systems, engines, transmissions, and trim lines combine in the following ways:1. 2WD V6 manual - ST / SLT 2. 2WD V6 automatic - ST / SLT / Laramie 3. 2WD V8 manual - ST / SLT / Laramie 4. 2WD V8 automatic - ST / SLT / Laramie 5. 2WD High Output V8 automatic - SLT / Laramie 6. 4WD V6 manual - ST / SLT 7. 4WD V6 automatic - ST / SLT / Laramie 8. 4WD V8 manual - ST / SLT / Laramie 9. 4WD V8 automatic - ST / SLT / Laramie 10. 4WD High Output V8 automatic - SLT / Laramie All combinations can be had in either the Club Cab or Quad Cab body, and in sum, you can do nearly anything except order a stickshift with the high-output V8 or the Laramie trim line. The base prices on those range from $19,435 to $31,925. To name a few key prices, the V6's 4-speed automatic costs $1,095, the V8 engine costs $785, the high-output V8, $1,615, and the 5-speed automatic used by both, $1,170. The cost of 4WD runs the gamut among the trim lines, but the upgrade from that to full-time 4WD runs $395 on the SLT and Laramie. Jumping from Club Cab to Quad takes $1,400-$1,490 except in the case of #1, where it's $2,700. The differences between trim lines aren't too vast, with the SLT adding a bright grille, body-color front bumper and rear chrome bumper, aluminum wheels, fog lights, upgraded instrument cluster, power windows/locks/mirrors, keyless entry, folding center armrest and console (on Quad Cab). The Laramie throws in the horrible leather seats, automatic headlights, auto-dimming mirror, 6-disc MP3 CD changer with Sirius satellite radio, and steering wheel audio controls. Going by performance, it takes the Dakota's high-output V8 to compare with the Frontier and Tacoma (from which you can expect fuel economy even more dismal than our 14 MPG - on premium gas - and even less cruising range than our 265 miles). If you take a 2WD V8 SLT Dakota and throw in a bedliner, sliding rear window, antilock brakes, side air bags, the 6-disc MP3 CD changer, and Alpine speakers, you're looking at a $28,880 Dakota. (Ours was decked out past 34.) Checking off as many equivalent boxes as possible under the Nissan Frontier 2WD Crew Cab rings up a tab of $26,930. As car as the editorial eye can see, what the Dakota can do that others can't comes down to towing: the Dakota's capacity chart reveals an impressive 7,150 pounds in its best version. Both the Frontier and Tacoma are stuck at 6,500 pounds, with Ford's aging Ranger down at 6,000 and Chevy's 5-cylinder weakling capping out at 4,000 pounds. Heck, the Dakota can tow a Colorado and a Ranger behind its back - a rather appropriate image considering that with this Dakota, Chrysler just defeated its domestic competition. But spending two extra grand over that Frontier, I'm not so sure. That Nissan is more fun to drive, asks for less fuel and gives more power, is almost as comfortable to sit in, and has an interior that's as cool as the Dakota's is lame, so unless the extra 650 pounds of towing are a make-or-break difference (to be fair, it is a big difference), you're really hauling around all that extra annoying mass for nothing. Nissan really raised the midsize truck bar last year, and it takes more than extra size and cylinders to clear it. |
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