Overview & Reviews

The midsize Dodge Dakota is all new for 2005. Improvements include a hydroformed boxed steel frame, a coil-over front suspension, three excellent engine options, a five-speed automatic or six-speed manual transmission, revised styling and improved build quality.

• Strong engine lineup, choice of part-time or full-time four-wheel drive, comfortable and refined interior, nimble handling.

User Reviews:

Showing 61 through 70 of 109.00

• 

  Great Pickup - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By Craig - December 19 - 3:02 pm

  Awesome truck, bast improvement over prev. generation Dakota. Interior could use better quality materials. Glove box is extremely small considering size of dash. Cloth material on seats looks and feels cheap, love the heated part though. Dont like the vast sea of plastic on the dash and doors, that could change without hurting my feelings one bit. The V6 is a vast improvement over the 3.9. Much more responsive, smoother, and quieter (until you get above 3500 RPM). Plenty of get up and go for around town driving and adequate passing power for the Interstate. Instrument panel is well lit at night and easy to read during the day. Base sound system is excellent as well. A very good truck to own

• 

  Severe Braking And Engineering flaws - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By Mike - November 16 - 9:34 am

  This vehicle has sever braking issues which is a direct cause of poor engineering. Chrylser still has no resolution to this problem as of yet. There are dozens and dozens of documented cases of the same problems with most or all of the 05 models. Until something is done to remedy this, and the transmission problems, and the engine idle problems, and the airbag issues, I would NOT suggest that anyone buy one of these trucks. The consumer is getting screwed big time with this truck. And take this from a die hard Mopar nut, who owns 8 Chrylser products. I STRONGLY discourage ANYONE from buying this truck.

• 

  Dont believe your dealer - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By jlharley - November 12 - 10:01 pm

  I really like the truck with the exception for the rear end vibration when you use the brakes. I asked the dealer before i bought the truck if there were any items of concern and was told no. I returnrd 3 days later to the service department to check out the vibration I felt. The service look at my truck and said oh yea you have the model that has a SRB out about vibration. We have 6 or 7 trucks waiting to get fixed.

• 

  Happy Dakota owner - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By dakotaowner - November 10 - 1:44 pm

  I have a 2005 Dakota Quad Cab Laramie with the 4.7-liter High Output V8 and All-wheel drive. The only way I recommend a Dakota is with the High Output V8. It has a better rear end, limited slip, and less restrictive exhaust. All of this adds up to better performance, better handling, and better traction. Add this to the Dakotas good looks and I think its a winner.

• 

  Love it But could use a little more room - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By Sam - October 27 - 9:11 pm

  Great Truck, Drives Smoothly, Accelerates quietly, room on the interior, V8 is a must though, drove the V6 and it had no pick up. There are a few major blind spots, but its a fix that takes about $5 to fix. bed is useable but could be a little deeper, I have a cover on it and have trouble putting some coolers underneath it. Only complaint, theres no where to put things, the glove compartment doesnt even fit the owners manual! Dodge is normally good with storage, but not in this case.

• 

  Satisfied So Far - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By After A Long Search - October 19 - 8:26 pm

  I looked for a replacement vehicle for 2 months, drove all kinds of cars, trucks and vans and decided on the Dakota mainly because of its size and price. Got it new for just over 15K which was 8K less than the sticker. I couldnt come near that on any of the competition including the compacts. It has a heavy, secure feel. The gas mileage is 16 mpg so I figure its costing me 15 cents per mile to drive this truck. Oh well, better than being cramped into a tacky Kia.

• 

  Great Truck - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By Eric - October 19 - 2:32 am

  I got this truck on my 18th birthday. I love it! Comfortable ride, dependable, V-6 -has plenty of power, smooth look. Chrome definitely looks nice on this truck. The interior could use a little work, but nothing major. Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase. I also looked at the Colorado, and I am very satisfied with my decision. I recommend buying.

• 

  Gasoholic - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By Gasaholic - October 7 - 4:34 pm

  Bought the truck new. Had a weird road noise. After the 3rd trip back to the dealer they found a steel belt had seperated from one of the rear tires. Gas mileage is 15.4 on the highway. Dealer says engine needs to be broken in 5000 miles ha ha. I hate it and wish I had my F150 back.

• 

  Dont buy it! - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By Dave - September 15 - 1:07 am

  Can we say Lemon? I have never felt a worse vibration in my life. After 27 days in service and five attempts to fix, the dealership said "they all do it". DaimlerChrysler has agreed to give me full purchase price back and is allowing me to carry my rebates over to an 06 Chrysler 300. I wanted a mid-sized truck, but I am giving up. If you do buy, be prepared to vibrate. Some are worse than others, but we drove six new ones on the lot and they all did it to some extent. Mine was the worst the service department had seen, but they have had several others return with the same problem. They think it is the frame design but who knows.

• 

  We love it! - 2005 Dodge Dakota
  By Ted Brown - September 6 - 12:44 pm

  Have owned 3 Dodge diesel pickups and was initially aprehensive about downsizing. I should not have been! This truck is as smooth and quiet on the Forest Service gravel as it was when driving it home. We spent its first weekend driving around the Ouachita Mountains in spite of the $3.00 per gal gas prices. Its that much fun! We will be towing our 17 travel trailer so we purchased the 4.7 L V-8 with 5 speed automatic and 3.55 rear axle. Although I want to put a few more miles on the truck before towing, there is no question that it will do a great job. Can recommend without hesitation. I am a recently retired mechanical and structural engineer and am pretty "picky". We love it!