Dodge Dakota

I purchased a 2005 Dodge Dakota in July. The top coat began peeling within weeks and is getting worse. It only has 76,000 miles. While researching, I have discovered that it is a widespread problem with Dodge.

I called and spoke to customer care and filed case **. LessLee advised that they are not responsible over 36000 miles and refused to assist with repaint at all. Really? Paint jobs are only good for 36000 miles? I find it very frustrating that there are so many complaints out there about Dodge clear coat/paint jobs and not one recall or Dodge taking responsibility!

I contacted them regarding the recall on a Dodge trucks Dakota 2004. The front wheel assembly, hub assembly, stating if not repaired or corrected, the front wheel could come off and could separate and crash. This did happen to our Dodge Dakota Truck, 2004.The wheel fell off, and the front assembly came right out of the hub that holds it. Caused the gear shift to snap in the column due to the jerk of the truck when this happened. The guy said only certain VIN numbers were recalled and ours was not one of them! Does it not matter that this happen? It could have cost us our lives, me and children. I lost steering control over this and hit a post causing side doors to be crushed when this happened, I crashed! They refuse to correct it or fix the truck and replace the defected parts in this truck. We paid too much money for this to happen. Saving them a buck for just certain VIN numbers!

The truck sits to date, not paying insurance, turned in plates and it will sit until Dodge fixes it. We were nearly killed over this and I hold Dodge and Chrysler accountable. If they do not fix it, I will see them in court. All Dodge trucks should be recalled. Not just some of them. They all have the same problem from the same design. It does not work. They said it was manufactured in different plants but it comes from the same design, same parts provided for building dodge trucks. We are not all stupid.

I bought a 2005 Dodge Dakota used in 2011 with 90k on it. I have had nothing but problems with the front end on the truck, from the steering column shaking constantly to the loud squeaks from all the ball joints. I have already gone through 1 set of tires and 2 front wheel bearings on the front end to solve the problem. The dealership is not doing anything about this situation. Everyone with this vehicle is experiencing the same problem. Actions need to be taken. This is beginning to get very expensive.

Sept. 2011, My Dodge Dakota 2008 with 34,500 miles of local driving dropped the left tie rod off the ball joint. I just pulled into a parking lot when it let go. Had I been driving down the road, the front of the truck would have been on the pavement and more of a problem. There was no warning or noises. Be sure and have your front end checked so it won't happen to you.

I purchased a 2010 Dodge Dakota, Big Horn edition on July 2010. I have noticed that every time it rains; it leaks to the inside of my handle grip on the driver's side, then down the vents and to the floor. My floor on that side is a puddle.

It is a brand new truck! I make payments every month, I am holding up my end of the deal. Is mold going to grow from this situation? Is water going somewhere else? I worry about those things. If the truck is not welded right will I get hurt driving it at high speeds? I worry that the truck may literally fall apart!

I have a 2000 Dodge Dakota, which I had to replace the brake lines on. When I went to put the caliper back on, the holes in the steering knuckle were stripped and they were not well tightened. I have tried every used parts place around town and can't get a steering knuckle anywhere. Apparently, the part is known for being faulty, and second places can't keep them in stock. I was told the Dodge Durango has the same problems.

When I phoned Dodge City for a new one, they told me that it would cost $1,200. When I told the clerk that the part was known for causing trouble, he said that it must be the reason why it cost so much. With everyone I talked telling me that the steering knuckle was a common problem, I can't understand why there hasn't been a recall placed on it. I think it a bit much for them to try and charge me $1,200 for a part that is know for being faulty.

My make of Dakota was made from 1997 until 2004, and when I searched the Internet, there were a lot of people having problems with the steering knuckle. I would just like for someone to please check out my concerns. My truck runs well but I can't see me putting $1,200 into a part that is known for giving out. Thank you!

The clear coat peels off my 1999 Dodge Dakota. It has been doing so for the four years that I've owned it. It wasn't under warranty, so I never approached any dealer. Only the hood and roof were peeling, until last night when we had a big thunderstorm. Now, it's peeling on all fenders, everywhere. There are big patches, bigger than a silver dollar, everywhere.

The truck will be junk in another two years without a $3,000 paint job, but it's worth only $2,000, fixed and perfect. I'll never buy another vehicle that's painted with this PPG system or one that's painted by Chrysler.

I've had two persistent complaints about my 2005 Dodge Dakota that have never been resolved.

1) Some issue with the suspension. I'm not sure what, but there is a persistent vibration in the vehicle which is different than the persistent brake vibration. The ride is very bouncy. I've had the rear shocks replaced and have had no better ride than before. I took the vehicle to another service provider to be looked at and was told my springs were shot. I've asked Tom ** to look at the vehicle and have been told everything is fine.

2) Brakes. I have had the brakes replaced 4 times. Three of the 4 were grinding the rotors. The last time (a year ago), I had both the front and rear brakes completely replaced. The brakes are now vibrating again. No one can fix the root cause--or is interested in finding the root cause.

The headliner on my 2004 Dodge Dakota truck is coming apart and hanging low. I feel that it is a defect due to shoddy workmanship, but just because it is not a safety hazard, it's not considered a defect. Whereas the $175 - $225 cost to replace is not a lot of money to a lot of people, it is to me.

I own a 2003 Dodge Dakota that I have several different problems with and now it's the front ball joints. According to Broadway Dodge, the ball joints were replaced on a recall. About 3 years ago, the truck only has 65000 on it and they need to be replaced again. When I explained this to the service manager, he told me that it was a design problem by Dodge due to the added weight having a V-8 engine in it and that a truck with a 6 cylinder wasn't having problems. The truck has a 7-year 70000 mile warranty. But seeing as how the ball joints were already replaced, there was nothing he could do. My complaint is that if a manufacture has a design problem, why pass the expense on to the consumer. I can't afford another Dodge product with that kind of failure rate getting 35000 miles out of a truck front end. Give me a break Dodge. Design heavier ball joints—others do! Another 700.00 expense that could have been avoided if the Dodge Corp. would have stood behind their product.

I own a 2002 5-speed Dakota quad cab 4.7l with 123,000 + miles and the vehicle runs great. I also own a 2003 Durango 4.7l with 82,000 miles which besides the vehicle using fuel like it's going out of style runs great. If you don't mind the fuel consumption these great vehicles.

Notified dealership of my problem with defective factory pain on my 2003 Dodge Dakota, Quad Cab. Pain peeling off. The roof in a total mess. The hood is beginning to peel, as like the roof. As I spoke to the dealer, he replied that there had not been any complaints of this problem. The corporation is aware of the defect of the paint.

I had recently posted a complaint about the dodge 2008 Dakota 4x4 that I bought. It has had a water leak inside the cab coming out of the drivers side hand grip. The dealership said that they thought it had a crack in the sheet metal that held a seam together. Now, they say it was some screws that were in the sheet metal that were too small.

They ordered new screws, put them in along with sealant. Did a water test on it and it still leaked. They called me and told me they still had a leak. They had my truck 2 more days, not sure what else they did to it but they say it is fixed. Okay, for now. I am always going to be worried about where all the water went and what is the next thing to go wrong. How much am I supposed to take?

I have bought a 2008 dodge Dakota crew cab 4x4 in Nov. 2008. That spring, after it rained, there was a leak running down the drivers seat handle grip. I thought I was imaging things. but the next time it rained and it leaked. I called my dealer and they had me bring it in and of course, they couldn't find the leak. So I took it home. Well, it leaked again and they had me bring it in. They decided it was the door seals. They ordered new ones and changed them a couple of days later. It leaked again.

They did another water test on it and finally got it to leak for them. They had done the water test on it before and could not get it to leak. So they decided it was the windshield seal and calked it. Another winter went by. On the first rain, I opened the door and it was pouring out like a waterfall. They took it and had the windshield taken off and resealed.

A couple of weeks later, on the next rain, it leaked again. Oh, after they changed the windshield seal, my clock on my radio went out so they had to order me another radio. So now they have my truck again. They take the headliner off and say now they think it is a piece of sheet metal that ties into a seam(?) that has a crack or just didn't get welded. So now they are saying they are going to have to weld it and paint it. Oh, and don't forget about all the water that has run inside my dash. I mean, that water has to go somewhere. My truck only has 16,000+ miles on it. I still have 3-1/2 years to pay on it and I know there will be things going wrong because of this problem. I think it is a lemon. What can I do?

I own a 2001 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab 4X4. This vehilce had several recalls but the one that has me upset is Recall D47 upper ball joints. Mine was recalled and ball joints replace with about 37,000 on the pickup. Today I have 77,000 on the pickup and the upper ball joints are bad again. I've talked with Dodge/Chrysler a few times. They had me take the pickup into a Dodge dealer and have the ball joints check which after the confirmed they were bad, called Chryler and I was denied replacement because they had already replaced the ball joints on the first recall. I use the pickup for highway driving and it is not misused.

Chyrsler called me after my appointment at Riverside Chrysler/Dodge in Escanaba, Mi on 12/16/2009 and offered a 10% discount on the repairs. I believe this is an admission of quilt and responsible for the repairs. What is my next step?

My husband and I were driving in our 2003 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab when we smelled smoke. My husband looked in the rearview mirror and saw smoke coming from between the cab and the truck bed. I glanced in the side mirrors at the same time and saw something liquid or melted dripping onto the roadway and burning, leaving a trail of fire behind us. We immediately pulled off the road (Thank God there was a spot!) but had no brakes and luckily the lose dirt and slight uphill slowed us enough he could throw it in park.

I bailed out my side and ran. My husband attempted to get out his side but the flames were too high. He was able to get out my side and as he hit the ground briefly looked under the vehicle to see what appeared to be the catalytic convertor hanging down and burning - the entire underside was on fire (which I also saw as I looked back) and the truck exploded about 10-15 seconds after we escaped. The flames on the truck reached 20 - 30 feet at one point. Needless to say, the entire truck was destroyed, even the wheels and springs melted. I've heard of vehicles catching fire while parked, but never AS you're driving. If we had not had the spot to pull over, we would have been in the truck and probably killed.

I bought a used Dodge Dakota from a young kid, who bought it new and only put 70,000 miles on it. It had the original tires on it. There wasn't anything wrong you could tell with it. He could not afford the truck anymore. 3 of the tires went flat in my driveway. The 4th fell off as I was driving it on a busy two-way road. My truck veered to the left and hit almost head on. Luckily, I dragged, leaving gouges on the road to the side, driving on 3 wheels. The tire that came off wedged itself under the front end of another car. Luckily, no one was hurt, but it was right before Christmas and all three cars were totaled.

I own my own business and it was my business truck. I was without a vehicle for 3 weeks until I could get approved for a loan to buy another truck. I bought from Dodge, but now I own a Ram. I love my new truck. But it has sent me into a bit of debt. Luckily, my airbag deployed and I only have a scar under my chin from it. I was afraid at first that I killed someone. If I had not grabbed the wheel as hard as I did, I might have hit several others. As soon as the wheel came off, I had no breaks. It was terrifying. Since I had no breaks I hit the gas and pulled as far right as possible to get out of the way of any traffic. I made it to the shoulder. It looked really bad. Even the police were sure we were all dead or critical. Thank God for angels because there were 2 babies in one of the cars.

Ball joint problem with my 2005 Dakota truck. It needs repair.

Yesterday we were involved in a vehicle accident. The accident was caused by a faulty front suspension ball joint failure on our 2006 Dodge Dakota truck. The tire unit fell off the truck causing us to be unable to control the truck and hitting another vehicle. After research on the internet we have seen numerous complaints against Dodge for the same problem.

Loss of the truck, severe emotional stress, physical pain, unusual fear caused by the accident, other driver's vehicle demolished, other driver hurt.

15,000 miles the right front upper ball joint went, and they replace it and tie rod ends. They charged me the labor of 300.00 for this...

Now today the lower right ball joint

had to be replaced at a 300.00 cost to me. I know the Durangos and Jeeps have had recalls for the ball joint reason I believe thi sis also a problem on this vehicle. WHen I asked that it is unusual for ball joints to be replaced with so little mileage on the vehicle they said it was over warranty.

I bought my 2001 Dodge Dakota as a second owner in 2004, it had 24,000 miles. I have taken impecible care of this car and it has treated me fairly well. I have ALWAYS done oil changes at 3,000 miles. It has never over- heated, nor I have I allowed the coolant or oil to get low. I drive it respectfully. At appx. 80,000 miles I started it up one morning and it was ildeing very rough. I drove it about 10 miles and the check engien light came on. I did a diagnostic run and it was a cylinder misfire. Upon taking it to a mechanic (my uncle) it was diagnosed with BOTH heads cracked. He stated "dodges" tend to do that. I was and still am appaled that "dodges do that". My car was very well taken care of and to have not one but both heads cracked it just ridiculous. Something needs to be done if Dodge is making inadequate parts that the fail under these conditions. I will NEVER get another Dodge and I am leaning twords never getting an American made model again. I see Hondas, Toyotas with much better re-sale value on their vehicles and better construction as well. It makes you not wonder why the "Big 3" are failing in business.

Vin#21B7HG48NX25605138

July of 2005. During the winter of 2005, I experienced multiple 4 wheel drive problems. Since it was under warranty, I brought the vehicle back to the dealership (Dodge, Manahawkin, NJ) twice and it was serviced. But, unfortunately the 4 wheel drive still did not operate satisfactorily. I also experienced a valve tap and brought vehicle for correction but same was never satisfactorily repaired. After a period of time, the cylinder head blew and I paid $1800.00 to Atlantic Auto Repair, Rt.#9 West Creek, NJ and now that repair also failed which took all my savings to pay. Recently the other cylinder head gasket blew.

Dodge designed a horrible product, that led to the inmature failure of a 2000 dodge dakota 4.7 liter motor at 83000 miles.

I have a 2000 dodge dakota with the 4.7 motor. It had 83,000 miles on it and had oil changes every 3000 to 4000 miles. The Motor Seized 3 days prior to xmas. It cost me nearly 3000 dollars to put a used motor in it to get it drivable so I can get rid of it. Dodge didn't care nore try to help resolve. Horrible product, and horrible company.

I own 2 Dodge Dakota pickup trucks, one is a 2004 and the other a 2005. I had to replace the Intermediate Steering Shaft on the 2004, two years ago due to tough steering, the millage was about 40,000. I just had the Intermediate Steering Shaft replace on the 2005 due to the same problem, the millage was 55,000. Each replacement was out of warranty and cost approximately $500.00 each. What are the odds that the same part would go up on both trucks. There should be a recall.

The economic damage was out of pocket expense of $500.00 for each replacement.

I have had to replace my ball joints on my 99 Dodge Dakota twice now and put on two sets of tires I have had the truck four less then 50.000 miles.

I purchased a used 2005 Dodge Dakota in 2006 and it had 20,000 miles. When I hit 50,000 miles a loud creeking noise began in my front end. I was told by three different mechanics that it was my front upper and lower ball joints. The problem was that the parts were on national back-order. Now I have 60,000 miles and the noise is now a metal grinding noise and the front-end feels loose, the steering is starting to slip, and when I go above 50 mph the truck feels like it is going to fall apart. The consquences are quite economical and that I avoid driving on highways for the fear of the car crashing.

I purchased a 2005 Dodge Dakota from CarMax approximately one year ago. While it was under the factory warranty it developed a vibration. After much money and trying many things and multiple trips to several different dealers; Southeast Jeep Eagle, Hanson Chrysler and it is currently at Sterling Marlin Dodge they tell me they cannot fix it that the vibration that it has is inherent to that model year and make of vehicle. I say it should not vibrate at all. This is not a small vibration the seat shakes pretty bad.

The paint on my 2000 Dodge Dakota is wearing away, not just fading but wearing to bare primer.

Ball joints failed at 36,000 miles. Why is Dodge not addressing these chronic ball joint and steering issues? Right now I dont think my Dakota is safe to drive until I shell out a small fortune to get the front end repaired. A very large repair bill at 36,000 miles, unacceptable.

I bought a new 06 Dodge Dakota last Septand shortly their after I found water had filled the pass side of the truck overnight after a rain storm, I returned the truck to the dealership and they sealed the air unit under the dash from water leaking in. Several months latter the truck developed a bad shaking and I returned it to the dealer for repairs, they turned all the rotors and drums installed new shoes and , wow then the problems started . The pedal went to the floor and no emergency brake, this all happened in 3 trips to the dealer. They did adjust the rear brakes so the emergency brake held but the pedal still is spongy and creeps down holding it. I have called Chrysler customer service 8 times with no avail they say the dealer sayes it's ok so theirs nothing they can do. In the mean time I'm paying for a new truck and have to wonder if I'll be able to stop when I need to. What a life. Thi is my first new Chrysler product, wonder if their will ever be a second. No reciepts were ever given even after I asked for them so I'm pretty well strapped now. R Miller

This all cost me $1500. just for the front brakes on what was a new truck. The rear brakes are still the same ones that came with the truck.

i purchased a 1999 dakota 5.2 4x4 and it keeps shutting down...and in np particular pattern...just shuts off doesnt matter if im on the interstate or in town...loses all control of brakes....and its unsafe and is gonna get someone killed.. i got so fed up with it that its sittin and home and im makin payments on it still but refuse to drive it because it can injure myself or others...it is just not safe and as many complaints as there are bout this dodge needs to man up and stand behind their customers and maybe save lives

Despite all the brake problems I have not even approached the fact that the tramission slips. I have been a customer of Chrysler for a very long time and trust they will do what is right in this situation. This truck is a disaster waiting to happen.

They said they cant duplicate and now the brakes again are doing the same thing.We have tried every thing that was asked, i filled out a paper that was in my truck on lemon law and every so many weeks i get someone calling me from dodge,chrysler and say they will handle it and never call back or i keep getting someone different.This truck isnt safe and therefore if something happens to me while driving it they are accountable for it,this truck is a lemon and i need out of this truck,i have had it with the run around,please help.

It is a 4.8 V-8 engine. I like the truck and plan on keeping if for a long time if if I can get this problem fixed. I will spend the money IF IF it fixes the problem. Thanks for any help. Maybe you have heard of other people with the problem. Bruce S

my dakota only has 30.000 miles on it and since it hit 28,000 we have put about $1,500 into the brakes. august 2006 we replaced brakes in preparation for our family vacation drive to cape cod. STS said it needed brakes and rotors and we had the work done. 1 week later we left for cape cod. In Massachutes with 3 exits left to go before our overnight brake in foxboro....our front brakes were smoking and the brakes had locked on. When we got the truck to a Midas in Orleans in cape cod, we found out that the calipors had locked the brakes on and that we needed new brakes, rotors and calipors. Now just this week (march 22nd) the brakes smoked and completely failed in my 30mile drive home from work. We brought the truck to Midas in NJ to find out that this time the brake lines went. Another brake repair. The mechanic at Midas claims that he has repaired alot of Dakota's and ford f-150's often with this problem.

The transmission on my 1995 Dodge Dakota, with only 90,000 miles has quit pulling due to torque converter problems. This truck has an excellent service record, having had a transmission service three times in the last 47000 miles.

I believe Dodge is very aware of their substandard unit, especially with the introduction of a special trans. fluid available through their dealerships to patch the problem. It is my understanding that this fluid only prolongs the inevitable, aka until its out of warranty, job of having to completely rebuild/replace the transmission. There has been at least 3 other trucks w/ this same transmission that have suffered the same fate as mine with fewer miles than mine currently reads.