I had an affair with the (GM) twins...we need a new Dakota ASAP

[kohersh]

I get the itch every 3 years like clockwork and now that my kids are older and my wife has the defacto family vehicle unless we plan on getting dirty, so the 'big truck' is mostly me driving to work and light duty trailering every so often.

If there was a current production RAM Dakota dang life would be complicated...but I started looking at midsize trucks and had a brief and torrid affair with the GMC canyon denali. Nice and capable as it is they just are not as good as our RAMS. Aside from suffering from Chromitus plaguing the truck market the interior lacks some of the things I have gotten used to: harder plastics instead of the softer touches, no keyless go, no proximity unlocking, no homelink even. But they do have Apple carplay and android auto and offer ventilated seats even if only in the denali trim, and they are fairly peppy even if without the hemi.

If it weren't for the finances behind it I would have left my Ram after just under 3 years of marriage, but I came to me 'cents(es)'.

Man I hope FCA makes an 18" shorter and 6" narrower little 4x4 Dakota with Ramboxes and the same 3.0 diesel sometime soon.

 

[Gero]

They're nice trucks. Have a friend with the Denali duramax and its buttery smooth. The 3.6 is pretty peppy if you dont require heavy towing as well. Here in canada, the diesel fetch a huge premium making it almost not worth it.

 

[Loudram]

They did but it has a Jeep badge on it. And it's overpriced.

 

[crash68]

Man I hope FCA makes an 18" shorter and 6" narrower little 4x4 Dakota with Ramboxes and the same 3.0 diesel sometime soon.

It doesn't have the RamBoxes but the Jeep Gladiator is close to that size and has the EcoDiesel option. Ram upped the game with fuel efficiency and towing with the Gen3 EcoD, good reports coming in so far.
The Gladiator is probably the same platform that FCA would build a Dakota on.

 

[Buddy]

The Colorado ZR2 and ZR2 Bison are pretty badass trucks, great reviews out there.

 

[kohersh]

I failed to mention that I did drive a few of them, hence the twins reference: Colorado Z71 with the diesel, a Canyon All Terrain Diesel, and the v6 gasser Canyon Denali. All really nice and available for a decent price in lower trims, GM is killing it there in my book. Oh and the 4x4's can be towed flat behind a motorhome like our FCA products, which is so nice.

I thought the little ecoboost in the ranger moved it along nicely with the 10 speed but the truck was rough riding, my daughter groaned after the shock of splitting an off camber speedbump. The sales guys response was to 'tighten the seatbelt"- ummmm.

The honda drove well, had the great tailgate, the underbed storage was neat but not functional like our ramboxes. The bed radio was a cute gimmick but sounded decent actually and the 450w bed inverter was a great touch. Just could NOT come to terms with the minivan appearance.

As for the Gladiator, up close I was most surprised just how big it really is, basically the same as the Ram if you looked at its overhead footprint. Albeit with a narrower cab it was a muffin top, the interior was decent and the noise on the hwy not as bad as expected. It was a neat thought for a moment, to scratch that itch....but living with that Jeep's the solid axles on both ends was too much for me. Maybe the Rubicon rode a bit better, but that came with the slower steering box so it was a lane wanderer. And then there is that price tag. NONE within 400 miles of me were sitting on a dealership lot with a 6speed, which is the std trans and 2k less than the 8spd auto. Guess that in a nutshell tells a lot.

The Tacoma was good. Really to the point as a truck, nice but basic. I drove the 6speed TRD trim and really liked it. But the seating position felt like a go cart and sloping A pillar just was in the way-constantly. crazy residual value though...insane.

Best of all worlds request...FCA build me a Dakota that looks just like the new 1500 only smaller. Give me all my options including a single cab, maybe not the air ride though....mine doesn't feel a lot better. I would happily take either the diesel or the gasser but leave me a manual option too huh. The new tailgate of course and Ramboxes ...man I think that was 50% the reason I would hate to get rid of my truck. Its the whole cargo mgmt. thing, not just the boxes. Its soooo good. Need an integrated brake controller, the ventilated/heated seats and wheel, power sliding rear window and BIG cupholders in a generous center console just like what you got today.

GM has said point blank, they are doing multiple electric trucks, one for every truck buyer out there. So...I think its time for FCA to join that too, although My wife drives a fun fully electric suv and once you live with it...it is pretty nice

Takes all kinds I guess! Sticking with my 2017 for now. I bet 2021 brings some cool things.

 

[DarthMegaHD]

Supposedly there are huge rebates on the gladiators right now because they’re not selling as hot as they thought they would

 

[GsRAM]

I sat in one at my dealer recently. It was pretty nice/cool and I liked it, but not 47k nice!

 

[kohersh]

Nope, not even close.
So I'm sticking with the Ram and putting a few bucks into it again to get her past the 100k mark and then who knows what will catch my eye.

 

[kmrtnsn]

I have a built up Jeep JKU that I'd been plannîng on trading up to new Rubicon Gladiator. After checking out the Gladiator and what they though was a deal I kept my Jeep and bought a gently used 2019 1500 SLT instead, somewhere else. There won't be a new Dakota, the Gladiator is it.

 

[MidTennMtneer]

Like this? No way in the world is that worth 50k. Not even a Rubicon. I love the look of them but for that price I could get a much bigger backseat Ram and customize it perfectly.

I agree that FCA needs something other than this.

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[RaftingDave]

I had a '97 and an '05 Dak - I really liked the '97, except I bought it used and the guy who had it before beat the crap out of the front end, and I had alignment/ball joint issues for the entire time I had it (100k miles).

I thought the '05 was capable enough, but the interior design was horrible - that moon-speedo basically blotted out the driver's side mirror at night, and the seats were hard as planks. I ditched it for my '07 Ram, never looked back.

Gladiator is nice, but too pricey. Bring back the Dak !

 

[Brent L]

Like this? No way in the world is that worth 50k. Not even a Rubicon. I love the look of them but for that price I could get a much bigger backseat Ram and customize it perfectly.

I agree that FCA needs something other than this.

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At that price...That’s a big NOPE!


2018 Ram 1500
Sent from my phone (ignore typos)

 

[Puba08]

The gladiator rubicon I saw had a $61k window sticker (no aftermarket mods either). I laughed very hard and the salesman seemed puzzled. If it had at least a 5.7 I could see being somewhere around $50. But that crappy V6 is a joke. Why wouldn’t you just buy a Rebel at that price?


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