Anyone Considering The '24 Ram Dakota?

[bigalxc]

You hate the Taco, or the Ranger?

I hated the Taco. The ranger felt like night and day to Taco.

 

[Biga]

I just bought my house a year ago and while everyone said housing values were going to crash over the past year the value is still up 10% in one year. Vehicle prices have sky rocketed. The good thing is used cars and trade values are up. I just inharited a 10 year old 2014 Chevy impala, in great shape with low miles but was stoked it is still worth 20K.

 

[HSKR R/T]

The Dakota was the only one anybody over 5"-6" could comfortably sit in.

As long as it was a Club Cab or Quad Cab

 

[HemiDude]

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.

The 4.7 was a poor excuse for an engine . I hope I don’t offend anyone here, but there were no redeeming qualities to that…. Boat anchor. I would like to see a modern equivalent to the early Dakotas, something I would consider when I get too old to justify a 1500

 

[HemiDude]

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.

I disagree. GM still has trucks that I would consider if I didn’t already have “the last truck” I intend to buy new. No other MFR has anything planned that I feel is comparable. Sad, but thus far, true. Other than an 07 Ridgeline, Ram is the only new truck I’ve ever bought. Shame, but GM is the only 1 of the big four that seems to care about future sales to guys like me

 

[jimothy]

I'm not sure if you've checked prices lately. I invite you to go the the ramtrucks.com site and build your exact truck (or as close as possible) to see how much more it would cost if you were buying it today. I did this with the 2020 Laramie I used to own. That truck had an MSRP of $58,150. After building one as close as I could on that site, the same truck would cost almost $12k more today at $70,065. Where's the value in that?

Yep, I checked right before posting that. A Longhorn similarly equipped to the Denali Ultimate comes to around $75,000, vs around $85,000.

I didn’t add options on the Ram like air suspension or off-road group, because those are not available on the GMC (in the Denali Ultimate trim; other trims have off-road equipment).

 

[Claude Henry]

Why wouldn't it be?
Just get a Dakota Limited?

I would get a Tacoma over a Dakota in a heartbeat.

The current generation Tacoma's actually kind of suck. I leased a 2019 and ended up being happy I just leased it. Bought it at lease end due to the residual value and traded it for my Ram. I've had four Toyota trucks in my life, and the 2019 was the worst in terms of quality. The roominess was nice compared to the others, but that was the only plus. Sadly, they've really gone downhill. My Ram feels 1000X better.

 

[Darksteel165]

The current generation Tacoma's actually kind of suck. I leased a 2019 and ended up being happy I just leased it. Bought it at lease end due to the residual value and traded it for my Ram. I've had four Toyota trucks in my life, and the 2019 was the worst in terms of quality. The roominess was nice compared to the others, but that was the only plus. Sadly, they've really gone downhill. My Ram feels 1000X better.

And was Probbly 3x as expensive lol.

 

[BNeal]

For anyone interested, here is the official release of the '24 Tacoma:

 

[Belvedere]

For anyone interested, here is the official release of the '24 Tacoma:

As over rated as they are and as much as I love my Rebel, I truly miss the dexterity of my Frontier. I'll be keeping an eye on the new Tacoma. Ram has a chance, but as mentioned they will blow it.

If I could get a scaled down Rebel...

 

[mikeru82]

Yep, I checked right before posting that. A Longhorn similarly equipped to the Denali Ultimate comes to around $75,000, vs around $85,000.

I didn’t add options on the Ram like air suspension or off-road group, because those are not available on the GMC (in the Denali Ultimate trim; other trims have off-road equipment).

You keep bringing up the Denali while I'm referring to Chevy. Definitely not the same trucks. I'll take your word for it when you say the GMC is significantly more expensive. But I was talking about Ram vs Chevy. In comparing a well equipped Limited with a comparably equipped High Country, the Ram is $3k more than the Chevy. The Limited has an MSRP of $82,760, while the High Country stickered at $79,100. Obviously the two can't be directly compared because the options and packages are different between the two brands. So I tried equipping them as equally as I could in the 2 minutes I spent on it LOL.

You see Ram having the advantage, as far as value goes, when compared with the GMC Denali and I see Chevy having that advantage over Ram in their top trim levels. Since I'm not shopping at this time it's a moot point for me. But I'm sticking by what I said about Ram not having the same value advantage they had even as recently as last year.

 

[jimothy]

You keep bringing up the Denali while I'm referring to Chevy. Definitely not the same trucks. I'll take your word for it when you say the GMC is significantly more expensive. But I was talking about Ram vs Chevy. In comparing a well equipped Limited with a comparably equipped High Country, the Ram is $3k more than the Chevy. The Limited has an MSRP of $82,760, while the High Country stickered at $79,100. Obviously the two can't be directly compared because the options and packages are different between the two brands. So I tried equipping them as equally as I could in the 2 minutes I spent on it LOL.

You see Ram having the advantage, as far as value goes, when compared with the GMC Denali and I see Chevy having that advantage over Ram in their top trim levels. Since I'm not shopping at this time it's a moot point for me. But I'm sticking by what I said about Ram not having the same value advantage they had even as recently as last year.

You replied to my post where I was talking about the Denali Ultimate as the closest competition to the Longhorn. If you want to talk about the Chevy, that’s fine, but then why reply to me comparing the Denali Ultimate to the Longhorn?

I picked the Denali Ultimate because that’s the only GM truck (only truck, period) I see approaching Ram levels of luxury.

That’s the comparison I wanted to make.

 

[6of36]

You replied to my post where I was talking about the Denali Ultimate as the closest competition to the Longhorn. If you want to talk about the Chevy, that’s fine, but then why reply to me comparing the Denali Ultimate to the Longhorn?

I picked the Denali Ultimate because that’s the only GM truck (only truck, period) I see approaching Ram levels of luxury.

That’s the comparison I wanted to make.

Because you have to go to the highest level GM to come close to a second level Ram.

 

[jimothy]

Because you have to go to the highest level GM to come close to a second level Ram.

Yeah, that’s my point: to get Ram levels of luxury, you have to pay $10K more. (though I take issue the Longhorn being second level; it’s a peer to the Limited, and heck, in Ram’s 2021+ nomenclature, it is a Limited).

 

[6of36]

Yeah, that’s my point: to get Ram levels of luxury, you have to pay $10K more. (though I take issue the Longhorn being second level; it’s a peer to the Limited, and heck, in Ram’s 2021+ nomenclature, it is a Limited).

Even better trim is available on a Limited. Elite package has quilting in the seats and door panels, better floor mats, etc.

 

[Darksteel165]

Even better trim is available on a Limited. Elite package has quilting in the seats and door panels, better floor mats, etc.

I wouldn't say anything is "better" on a limited.
Just different cosmetic package options.
"Elite" is just rebranded anniversary edition and I think it might come with MFT as part of the package if I recall now.

 

[mikeru82]

I get it, this is a Ram forum, so most here will be biased towards the brand. I'm just trying to take an impartial view of this. Ram definitely lead the pack in interior design for quite a few years even going back to 4th gens. And was a major factor in me buying my first Ram (2015). As much as I love the interior of our Limited, it's my opinion that the upper Chevy trim levels I've been in are as nice as the upper Ram trim levels. I'd be interested to see a Denali first hand, but the closest GMC dealership is over an hour away. I grew up in a GM family, so I can't be totally unbiased no matter how hard I try. And I always figured I'd go back to GM at some point in time. I'm just saying that if I were in the market for a new truck that time would probably be now. Since I'm not I'll stick with the Limited for now.

 

[Dewey]

I get it, this is a Ram forum, so most here will be biased towards the brand. I'm just trying to take an impartial view of this. Ram definitely lead the pack in interior design for quite a few years even going back to 4th gens. And was a major factor in me buying my first Ram (2015). As much as I love the interior of our Limited, it's my opinion that the upper Chevy trim levels I've been in are as nice as the upper Ram trim levels. I'd be interested to see a Denali first hand, but the closest GMC dealership is over an hour away. I grew up in a GM family, so I can't be totally unbiased no matter how hard I try. And I always figured I'd go back to GM at some point in time. I'm just saying that if I were in the market for a new truck that time would probably be now. Since I'm not I'll stick with the Limited for now.

I’ve been a huge critic of Chevy interiors and that’s why I jumped to RAM’s 10 years ago after owning nothing but Chevy’s for the previous 20 years. Gotta agree with you on the new interiors. Greatly improved so much they caught my eye. That’s saying something because I truly hated the previous Silverado interiors even on the LTZ or High Country.

 

[Belvedere]

I just find it funny that most new interiors look like quality versions of 80's interiors with an iPad glued to the dash. Just makes me appreciate the Ram interior even more, especially the way they integrated the 12" screen.

 

[CalvinC]

I just find it funny that most new interiors look like quality versions of 80's interiors with an iPad glued to the dash. Just makes me appreciate the Ram interior even more, especially the way they integrated the 12" screen.

This 100%. I don’t get the glowing praise.

Sure, it’s a better arrangement with fancy details built with poor materials in an odd way on a package that is the same since 2019 but actually feels the same as since 2003. “Chintzy” is the word looming in my mind.

Even if the above is subjective there’s this: the GM seats are universally panned as still uncomfortable on all trims no matter how much you spend.

A shame considering how important that is; how much money they dumped into so many other inconsequential things; and that their old BarcaLoungers in the GMT800 platforms were so sweet.