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Hmmm... bought a Dodge Dakota and contemplating

S

SirChadwick

Diamond Member
I bought a new 05 Dodge Dakota in Aug of last year and it's seen about 15k miles. I've really had no problems with it other than the break shuttering, which I just took to the dealership and had it fixed after showing them the service bulletin. Now, the model I have is the basic ST club cab and there is nothing fancy about (no power locks, no leather, etc.) It drives pretty well but gas is a bummer at $60 to fill up (v8 mag). My fiancee says I should keep it and I've considered... but I have the urge to get a car that gets good gas mileage and is somewhat attractive with nice features. Everyone says I'm easily going to lose 3-4 thousand doing this seeing as how KBB appraises my vehicle at around $16k and dealerships will probably offer me $13k and CarMax around $14k. What would you do in my situation? Again I have had no problems with the vehicle. More or less just itching to get something else... but if I'm just going to lose a $hitload of money I'd rather ride it til it dies.

http://i4.tinypic.com/15e8lg8.jpg

CLIFFS
Bought new 05 Dakota basic model (no cool features or power locks)
It's been about a year and I'm itching for something new
Don't want to get burned too bad on a trade in
What should I do?
 
How much do you owe? It doesn't make much sense to blow $3,000 to save $20 a fillup in gas.

You will also lose whatever you had put down on it.
 
well with the gap insurance i added on and all the taxes and everything it came out to around $20,000. I owe about $16,500 right now. My downpayment on it was my old truck $1,200.
 
The best way of getting the price you want is selling it yourself, don't take it to a dealer they''ll give you nothing. I have a 2000 SLT Dakota and love it. It has the 5.2 V8 and is a gas hog but I haul alot of things. The wife drives a 2004 Toyota Rav 4 that gets pretty good gas milage, so we take that when ever possible to save on gas, and I only drive my truck to work. Good luck!
 
so if you trade it in... for around 13K you would still owe 3.5K on it... uhm, plus ur new car payments...

your call... how bad do you want a new car and will you still want to waste 3.5k... i wouldnt do it...

if you really want to get rid of it... sell it privately...
 
Well I'm going to be getting married in Oct of next year and my fiancee will be buying a car before then.... so maybe I can just take over her vehicle. She loves trucks anyhow. I really like those Rav 4's. How many mpg are you getting on that thing?
 
Originally posted by: SirChadwick
well with the gap insurance i added on and all the taxes and everything it came out to around $20,000. I owe about $16,500 right now. My downpayment on it was my old truck $1,200.
Click to expand...

So you will lose approximately $3,000 on the truck that you will have to come up with immediately or roll into another loan, plus you have the actually loan price of the new vehicle. So right there you could be spending somewhere around $8,000 just to save a few bucks on gas.
 
Originally posted by: EngenZerO
so if you trade it in... for around 13K you would still owe 3.5K on it... uhm, plus ur new car payments...

your call... how bad do you want a new car and will you still want to waste 3.5k... i wouldnt do it...

if you really want to get rid of it... sell it privately...
Click to expand...


Yea I really don't feel like dishing out 3 grand to satisfy my urge. I would sell it privately, but I need a vehicle right away since I'm living single atm.
 
Originally posted by: SirChadwick
Originally posted by: EngenZerO
so if you trade it in... for around 13K you would still owe 3.5K on it... uhm, plus ur new car payments...

your call... how bad do you want a new car and will you still want to waste 3.5k... i wouldnt do it...

if you really want to get rid of it... sell it privately...
Click to expand...


Yea I really don't feel like dishing out 3 grand to satisfy my urge. I would sell it privately, but I need a vehicle right away since I'm living single atm.
Click to expand...

well, if you do sell it privately... you can still drive it around... just say roughly xxxxx miles... once u find a buyer and get the cash... same day go out and get a new car, 🙂
 
Those trucks are such dog slow trucks, even the V8 is just soo underpowered and weak.

I had one for a few weeks as a rental after last years hurricane season and was sooo glad to get my Tahoe back from repairs.

 
Originally posted by: lokiju
Those trucks are such dog slow trucks, even the V8 is just soo underpowered and weak.

I had one for a few weeks as a rental after last years hurricane season and was sooo glad to get my Tahoe back from repairs.
Click to expand...


It's actually not weak at all. But then again, I'm comparing to my past vehicles which were all slow GM cars... lol so what do I know.
 
Change your rear end ration, bring it down below 3.5/1. You've got a v8. you can take it lower, 2.73/1 or lower. That will greatly improve your gas mileage. Put in a limited slip while you are at it. That's what I did to my truck, went from 4.25/1 to 3.45/1, and limited slip. In city driving, I get nearly 300 miles between fill ups, where before the best I ever saw was 225. It will cost you a $1000.00 to have it done.
 
I say don't do it. I traded in a car that I had for a little over two years to get my truck. I was upside down on the payments. So that remainder got tacked onto my truck loan. Shortly after, I got canned and had trouble making the larger payments. My recommendation is, drive it til it dies. Don't get yourself into any financial trouble over a vehicle like I did.
 
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