Used 2003 Dodge Dakota Consumer Reviews
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2003 Dakota Club Cab Sport + (4.7 auto)
DustyK, 11/29/2002
2003 Dodge Dakota 2dr Club Cab Sport Rwd SB (3.9L 6cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
2003 Dakota Club Cab Sport Plus with 287cid V8 (4.7), 545FRE automatic, LSD, 6010 GVW & handing package, PW, PL, AC, front/rear sway bars, P245 70R16 on/off road tires. Exceptionally smooth and powerful engine/transmission combination. Plenty of power when pulling a load on hills. At 3500 miles, worst gas mileage was 15.04 (city w/load), 21.87 highway (65MPH). Current average is 17.38 mpg. Very comfortable seating, good ergonomics. Very quiet, except tire noise. Build quality & fit & finish near 100%. No performance, reliability, or quality issues yet.
Friday afternoon off the assembly line
Ken, 12/06/2008
2003 Dodge Dakota 2dr Club Cab Sport 4WD SB (3.9L 6cyl 5M)
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
Nice truck, but at 31k the tranny would lock in 2nd gear (they called it limp mode) any time it went through a large puddle. Replaced 2 sensors several times to no avail. Dealer stopped covering the replacements after the third event. They contacted Dodge in 2007 and told if the sensors lose sight of the ground, they do this to avoid an overspeed. Told them to bypass the sensors all together, seemed to work. However, in 6 years it went through 2 wiper motors, 2 blower relays, the tail gate failed twice, seat broke once and it leaked (they tried to fix that twice). Guess it was the Friday pm one. Anyway, traded it in the day I got the title. Have a Tacoma now.
2003 Dodge Dakota for sale near you
Showing 3 of 30 listings
- SLT Quad CabMSRP: $8,295243 mi away
- Sport Quad CabMSRP: $9,995305 mi away
- Base Regular CabMSRP: $3,450331 mi away
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Avoid 4.7 V8 engine!!!
Stein, 06/02/2009
2003 Dodge Dakota 4dr Quad Cab SLT Rwd SB (3.9L 6cyl 5M)
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
I've had my truck for almost 6 years and have loved it until now. Over the past 6 months I've had to replace thermostat (not a huge deal) then the radiator and now I'm told the 4.7 V8 engine has a possible blown head gasket with only 88,000 miles. After finding this out I've read NUMEROUS accounts of the same problem with this engine.
Gas hog
Tim, 08/10/2008
2003 Dodge Dakota 2dr Regular Cab Sport Rwd SB (3.9L 6cyl 5M)
4 of 7 people found this review helpful
I bought this Dakota 4x4 standard cab 2 years ago. Boy what a mistake. This thing sucks gas so fast you can watch the gauge move about 13 mpg in the city. I had a 1990 Dakota and it was a fine truck so had no problems buying this one until I got it home. I am 6,3" tall and have no room to move in it, it's pretty but not a good deal. So far the battery, water pump muffler and tires have all taken leave, also the center caps that come with the wheels will not stay on had to get the chrome ones that Dodge has replaced them with. I drive this truck back and forth to work (22 miles a day) thats all I can afford at $4.00 a gallon and go through $40-50 a week. Poor in snow.
4x4 3.9 Dodge Dakota, What a Joke
chris, 05/26/2006
2003 Dodge Dakota 2dr Club Cab SLT 4WD SB (3.9L 6cyl 5M)
4 of 8 people found this review helpful
By far the worst pickup truck I've ever owned up to this date. From the second I drove it off the lot there was nothing but problems with my 2003 Dodge Dakota. The list is unfortunatly too long to list everything. Let's just say that now I'm having problems with my airbag! Like I said, everything wrong with it. This is a poor excuse for a 4x4. Absolutely no power to the tiny 3.9 lawnmower engine it has. Transmission makes the engine race and yet never pulls into gear. And let's not forget that when driving it constantly feels like you're dragging an anchor.