Anyone Considering The '24 Ram Dakota?

[jimothy]

I still have my 2000 Dakota R/T in my garage. The best looking Dakota body. In process of building the engine bigger/better.

Yep, the Second Gen Dakotas were great. I had two of them: A 1997 Club Cab Sport with 3.9L V6, then a 2001 Quad Cab SLT with 4.7L V8.

I didn't care for the styling of 3rd generation; it was too angular, kinda goofy looking, and Daimler bean counters ruined the interior. But when I see a 2nd Gen on the street, I still think they look good.

 

[23RAM]

Just curious if anyone is considering a move to the new Dakota. Depending on what it looks like, I may be interested in checking it out. Would really love the extra garage space, and am no longer towing anything. However, I'm tall, and my 1500 fits me like a glove, so that will be a huge factor. Anyway, just interested in your comments.

If it's just a height factor and you don't need a truck for towing, shop around - there's a lot of cars with lots of head and leg room - my brother-in-law is 6'8" and most domestics are too small, so he bought a Hyundai Sonata with lots of room.

 

[23RAM]

If it comes with the Pentastar V6 I would love to talk my wife into getting one. That could be the winter vehicle since she insists on a 4x4 but does not drive in snow (go figure). I would dump the Ram and stick with cars.

Lots of smaller SUV's with all wheel drive...we don't buy anything that isn't AWD or 4WD for winter driving.

 

[silver64]

This looks to be more accurate of a depiction -

To me the body looks like the useless Honda Ridgeline.

 

[mikeru82]

To me, 2nd gen Dakota's bore quite a resemblance to the 1500's of the day. And that's one aspect of them that I really liked. 3rd gen Dakota's really looked nothing like their big brothers. I thought they were the ugly step brother of the 1500 and I wanted nothing to do with them. I'd definitely consider getting a new Dakota if Ram goes back to making them look more like the current 1500's, and if there is enough room inside for me to feel comfortable on a long drive. If they look like the pic @river rat posted there's no interior comfortable enough for me to overlook that much ugly.

 

[HSKR R/T]

To me, 2nd gen Dakota's bore quite a resemblance to the 1500's of the day. And that's one aspect of them that I really liked. 3rd gen Dakota's really looked nothing like their big brothers. I thought they were the ugly step brother of the 1500 and I wanted nothing to do with them. I'd definitely consider getting a new Dakota if Ram goes back to making them look more like the current 1500's, and if there is enough room inside for me to feel comfortable on a long drive. If they look like the pic @river rat posted there's no interior comfortable enough for me to overlook that much ugly.

Dodge ruined the Dakota with the 05 redesign. And sales showed. Which is why it didn't last much longer. Plus they priced themselves out of completion. You could get a full size Ram 1500 with the Hemi cheaper than a Dakota with the 4.7l. And a regular cab short box 1500 Hemi was more desirable and not that much bigger than a Dakota, which you could only get in Club Cab or Quad Cab. Actually the RC short bed 1500 was shorter than he Dakota.

 

[bigalxc]

I'd love to see a ram dakota . i just got a ford ranger 2020 a few weeks ago. After test driving a Tacoma i hated it

 

[BNeal]

I'd love to see a ram dakota . i just got a ford ranger 2020 a few weeks ago. After test driving a Tacoma i hated it

You hate the Taco, or the Ranger?

 

[WXman]

If they did a new Dakota correctly they would sell them like hotcakes. But alas, this new ownership is letting the existing brands die. Brands that were leading sales in all segments 24 months ago are now dying like flowers in a drought and they don't seem to have ANY clue what to do about it. So the odds of a NEW truck coming from them that makes sense are somewhere between slim and zero. Not going to happen.

I've been a "Chrysler" guy for 20 years now. Multiple Rams, Jeeps, Dodges of all years and models have been in my driveway. For quite a while it's the only brand I'd shop and I strongly suggested the wife do the same, which she basically has. But starting now that's over. Stellantis is ruining it all. Time to jump ship in my opinion.

Scary thing is even Toyota is sucking. I saw a new Tundra TRD Offroad yesterday in person. It looked so small. Like, the way they designed it, visually it looks tiny. Sits really low to the ground also, even in that offroad trim. And apparently the new Tacoma is going to be a miniature version of it. Yuck.

Back to either Ford or GM. Going to feel like the 1980s again. Two real choices.

 

[6of36]

If they did a new Dakota correctly they would sell them like hotcakes. But alas, this new ownership is letting the existing brands die. Brands that were leading sales in all segments 24 months ago are now dying like flowers in a drought and they don't seem to have ANY clue what to do about it. So the odds of a NEW truck coming from them that makes sense are somewhere between slim and zero. Not going to happen.

I've been a "Chrysler" guy for 20 years now. Multiple Rams, Jeeps, Dodges of all years and models have been in my driveway. For quite a while it's the only brand I'd shop and I strongly suggested the wife do the same, which she basically has. But starting now that's over. Stellantis is ruining it all. Time to jump ship in my opinion.

Scary thing is even Toyota is sucking. I saw a new Tundra TRD Offroad yesterday in person. It looked so small. Like, the way they designed it, visually it looks tiny. Sits really low to the ground also, even in that offroad trim. And apparently the new Tacoma is going to be a miniature version of it. Yuck.

Back to either Ford or GM. Going to feel like the 1980s again. Two real choices.

It's not the corporation killing the vehicles, it's the government. The stupid CAFE standards make it impossible to keep them. Have you seen the garbage the other companies have? The only thing that hasn't already died, or will die soon, is the Mustang. They have already destroyed the rest of their cars, to even out their numbers to keep it, and still meet CAFE.

 

[jimothy]

If they did a new Dakota correctly they would sell them like hotcakes. But alas, this new ownership is letting the existing brands die. Brands that were leading sales in all segments 24 months ago are now dying like flowers in a drought and they don't seem to have ANY clue what to do about it. So the odds of a NEW truck coming from them that makes sense are somewhere between slim and zero. Not going to happen.

My prediction track record aside, I don't think that's true. If reports are accurate, dealers have already been shown a smaller-than-1500 truck. So the chances of one new truck seem to be about 100%, and maybe there are two coming.

The question seems to be: will there be a body-on-frame midsize truck (competing with Tacoma, Ranger, etc.), a unibody compact truck (Maverick), or both? A third possibility, which my cloud crystal ball thinks is unlikely, would be a midsize unibody, comparable to the Honda Ridgeline. Nobody wants to be compared to a Ridgeline, and if Ram puts the Dakota name on a unibody, there will be riots in the streets.

Edit: Oops, I missed the "that makes sense" qualifier. There you could be right; if they only release a unibody midsize "truck", that would definitely not make sense. I hope that doesn't happen.

Edit 2: A compact unibody would make sense; the Maverick is popular and all the "truck" some people need. But to call it a Dakota would be a sin. Ram Rampage is what the rumormill is calling it; I'm okay with that.

 

[HSKR R/T]

My prediction track record aside, I don't think that's true. If reports are accurate, dealers have already been shown a smaller-than-1500 truck. So the chances of one new truck seem to be about 100%, and maybe there are two coming.

The question seems to be: will there be a body-on-frame midsize truck (competing with Tacoma, Ranger, etc.), a unibody compact truck (Maverick), or both? A third possibility, which my cloud crystal ball thinks is unlikely, would be a midsize unibody, comparable to the Honda Ridgeline. Nobody wants to be compared to a Ridgeline, and if Ram puts the Dakota name on a unibody, there will be riots in the streets.

Edit: Oops, I missed the "that makes sense" qualifier. There you could be right; if they only release a unibody midsize "truck", that would definitely not make sense. I hope that doesn't happen.

Edit 2: A compact unibody would make sense; the Maverick is popular and all the "truck" some people need. But to call it a Dakota would be a sin. Ram Rampage is what the rumormill is calling it; I'm okay with that.

They have officially announced the Rampage for South American market. Wouldn't be too big of a stretch to bring it to the US. Built on the Jeep Renegade/Liberty platform in the same plant

 

[WXman]

It's not the corporation killing the vehicles, it's the government. The stupid CAFE standards make it impossible to keep them. Have you seen the garbage the other companies have? The only thing that hasn't already died, or will die soon, is the Mustang. They have already destroyed the rest of their cars, to even out their numbers to keep it, and still meet CAFE.

Right, but Stellantis has a portfolio that is sinking their business. Ram was down 18% last year after multiple years of increasing sales. They had even overtaken the Chevrolet brand as the #2 selling fullsize brand in the U.S. for the first time in my life. Now their sales are horrible. Only the Nissan Titan is selling worse. Dodge Challenger is selling at the lowest rate since 2009 thus far this year. The Jeep Wrangler has never gotten back to numbers from several years ago, likely due to competition from Ford and the fact they've let the model become stale. Those are the 3 most popular vehicles Stellantis sells in the U.S. and they're all doing poorly.

So where do they go from here? Nowhere. They can't sell muscle cars anymore because they have no small econobox cars to offset the EPA penalties. So they're going to try and do I-6 and EV muscle cars next year. That's going to sink like the Titanic. We're 4 more years out from a new Wrangler. Can it survive that long? They're now saying 2025 for the new Hurricane engines in the Ram 1500. That should have happened for 2023. And we still have no clue when the 6th Gen is going to be shown off. The competitors are showing off new trucks every 2-3 years. Waiting for Stellantis to release new product is like watching paint dry. It's painful.

You're right that the EPA is killing the automotive industry, but Ford and GM seem to be in much better condition to handle this. They've got "economical" powertrains and vehicles, so they can also keep building V8s and diesels and offroad models. That way they lose no customers.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Right, but Stellantis has a portfolio that is sinking their business. Ram was down 18% last year after multiple years of increasing sales. They had even overtaken the Chevrolet brand as the #2 selling fullsize brand in the U.S. for the first time in my life. Now their sales are horrible. Only the Nissan Titan is selling worse. Dodge Challenger is selling at the lowest rate since 2009 thus far this year. The Jeep Wrangler has never gotten back to numbers from several years ago, likely due to competition from Ford and the fact they've let the model become stale. Those are the 3 most popular vehicles Stellantis sells in the U.S. and they're all doing poorly.

So where do they go from here? Nowhere. They can't sell muscle cars anymore because they have no small econobox cars to offset the EPA penalties. So they're going to try and do I-6 and EV muscle cars next year. That's going to sink like the Titanic. We're 4 more years out from a new Wrangler. Can it survive that long? They're now saying 2025 for the new Hurricane engines in the Ram 1500. That should have happened for 2023. And we still have no clue when the 6th Gen is going to be shown off. The competitors are showing off new trucks every 2-3 years. Waiting for Stellantis to release new product is like watching paint dry. It's painful.

You're right that the EPA is killing the automotive industry, but Ford and GM seem to be in much better condition to handle this. They've got "economical" powertrains and vehicles, so they can also keep building V8s and diesels and offroad models. That way they lose no customers.

The years of high sales were driven by the promotion of the Hemi and larger, than the competition, incentives for buyers. Then covid hit and killed everything. They adjusted prices in order to make profit after prices for materials increased. Dropped most incentives to help with profits, and the target market could no longer afford the vehicles

 

[jimothy]

Right, but Stellantis has a portfolio that is sinking their business. Ram was down 18% last year after multiple years of increasing sales. They had even overtaken the Chevrolet brand as the #2 selling fullsize brand in the U.S. for the first time in my life. Now their sales are horrible. Only the Nissan Titan is selling worse. Dodge Challenger is selling at the lowest rate since 2009 thus far this year. The Jeep Wrangler has never gotten back to numbers from several years ago, likely due to competition from Ford and the fact they've let the model become stale. Those are the 3 most popular vehicles Stellantis sells in the U.S. and they're all doing poorly.

"Only Nissan Titan is selling worse" is misleading: For 2023 Q1, Ram was still in third spot, and sold 25 times as many trucks than the Titan (as well as almost four times as Toyota Tundra, and 57% more than GMC Sierra).

Yes, on a percentage basis, they had the second largest decline (third if you include GMC Hummer), but they are doing way better than Titan and Tundra.

To put this in perspective: Tundra's YOY sales are up 22%; Silverado is up 4.4%. But you wouldn't claim Tundra is doing better than Silverado, would you?

Source

 

[mikeru82]

The years of high sales were driven by the promotion of the Hemi and larger, than the competition, incentives for buyers. Then covid hit and killed everything. They adjusted prices in order to make profit after prices for materials increased. Dropped most incentives to help with profits, and the target market could no longer afford the vehicles

You nailed it. If I were shopping for a new truck right now I wouldn't even consider a Ram. Skyrocketing prices and reduced standard features does nothing but make me want to run to another brand. Out of curiosity a couple weeks ago I stumbled into a Chevy dealership. They happened to have four Trail Boss LT's on the lot that were very well equipped, and had the 6.2L V8. They all had an MSRP of under $67k. The wife and I were tempted to trade in our Limited on the spot because of recent issues that have cropped up. The main reason we didn't was because our truck was still in the shop waiting on an RF hub. After getting the Limited back, and finding out they'll be replacing the rear window under warranty, we've decided to keep it for now. But I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before something else goes wrong now that the 3/36 warranty has expired.

 

[HSKR R/T]

You nailed it. If I were shopping for a new truck right now I wouldn't even consider a Ram. Skyrocketing prices and reduced standard features does nothing but make me want to run to another brand. Out of curiosity a couple weeks ago I stumbled into a Chevy dealership. They happened to have four Trail Boss LT's on the lot that were very well equipped, and had the 6.2L V8. They all had an MSRP of under $67k. The wife and I were tempted to trade in our Limited on the spot because of recent issues that have cropped up. The main reason we didn't was because our truck was still in the shop waiting on an RF hub. After getting the Limited back, and finding out they'll be replacing the rear window under warranty, we've decided to keep it for now. But I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before something else goes wrong now that the 3/36 warranty has expired.

I mean, that's going to happen with any vehicle. The longer you own it, the more chances parts start failing. Chevy/GM is having lots of issues with their transmissions, and still have issues with lifters in the 5.3s. And unless you step up to Denali level, he interiors are stuff cheap feeling.

 

[arod412]

To be honest....I'm not in love with a power train with a turbo in it that would last. For me, would just jump right into a battery powered truck.

Lastly, ram is so behind with any midsized pickup, that I would rather get something else like a toyota. There are alot of choices out there

2022 Ram Big Horn Back Country
2016 Dodge Charger scat pack
2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara

 

[WXman]

To be honest....I'm not in love with a power train with a turbo in it that would last. For me, would just jump right into a battery powered truck.

Lastly, ram is so behind with any midsized pickup, that I would rather get something else like a toyota. There are alot of choices out there

2022 Ram Big Horn Back Country
2016 Dodge Charger scat pack
2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara

Good point. With Ford, GM, and Toyota sporting established trucks in the midsize segment that are all selling pretty well, it would be almost impossible for Ram to crash the party and survive unless they did a midsize very VERY well. I mean, they'd have to knock it out of the park. And I think a part of that is they'd have to offer things the others don't. Maybe a 6.5' bed option. Maybe class leading horsepower. Factory 35" tire option with mini TRX suspension. Something to set the truck apart. I don't think they could do a copy of what's already out there and sell enough of them to make it worthwhile.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Good point. With Ford, GM, and Toyota sporting established trucks in the midsize segment that are all selling pretty well, it would be almost impossible for Ram to crash the party and survive unless they did a midsize very VERY well. I mean, they'd have to knock it out of the park. And I think a part of that is they'd have to offer things the others don't. Maybe a 6.5' bed option. Maybe class leading horsepower. Factory 35" tire option with mini TRX suspension. Something to set the truck apart. I don't think they could do a copy of what's already out there and sell enough of them to make it worthwhile.

That was the big sell of the older Dakota wad they were only midsize trucks to offer a V8 option. The Colorado came later with that option, but only for a few years.