Vehicle question, need some help

[balance1]

Alright, I've got a tough decision ahead of me. I've narrowed down my possible first vehicle to two prime suspects. Suspect 1 a 2002 Dodge Dakota 2x4 with 121,900 miles on it, a 3.2L (I believe) V6, 5speed manual transmission, 6ft bed, and a straight cab, going for $3,500. Suspect 2 is a 2000 Ford F-150 4x4 with 106,721 miles on it, a 4.2L (i believe) V6, automatic transmission, straight cab, 8ft bed, going for $4,500.
Here's what I want a truck for: the utility of it, the New York winters (I live upstate and go skiing lots), hauling firewood or towing trailers, want OK fuel economy, decent reliability, and something that I can have some fun in (I want it to have some power), bear in mind I've got a low budget and I'm a senior in High-School who will (prospectively) have it for my first two years at Community College (approx 40 min commute each way). any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also if you live in the State of New York or in close proximity of the state and have a comparable truck for sale for cheaper, please make yourself known and if possible please provide some info.
Thanks in advance,
~Balance1

[superpug1]

Neither one of those meets all of your criteria. The Dakota will feel like it has more power, but they are god awful in the snow and ice without 4x4. You would need to weight down the bed over the wheels big time. They do get pretty good gas milage though, plus they are also very reliable. The Ford is gunna be slower, but it will haul more and tow more, and also be better in the winter. The milage wont be aw good either on account of it being heavier and having an automatic.

If I was you I would definately look up Craigslist.com for you area... Try looking for a 4x4 Dakota with a stick and the V6, A Chevy S10 blazer 4x4, or a jeep Cherokee...

[superpug1]

it double posted...

[CAP1]

Alright, I've got a tough decision ahead of me. I've narrowed down my possible first vehicle to two prime suspects. Suspect 1 a 2002 Dodge Dakota 2x4 with 121,900 miles on it, a 3.2L (I believe) V6, 5speed manual transmission, 6ft bed, and a straight cab, going for $3,500. Suspect 2 is a 2000 Ford F-150 4x4 with 106,721 miles on it, a 4.2L (i believe) V6, automatic transmission, straight cab, 8ft bed, going for $4,500.
Here's what I want a truck for: the utility of it, the New York winters (I live upstate and go skiing lots), hauling firewood or towing trailers, want OK fuel economy, decent reliability, and something that I can have some fun in (I want it to have some power), bear in mind I've got a low budget and I'm a senior in High-School who will (prospectively) have it for my first two years at Community College (approx 40 min commute each way). any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also if you live in the State of New York or in close proximity of the state and have a comparable truck for sale for cheaper, please make yourself known and if possible please provide some info.
Thanks in advance,
~Balance1

of these two choices, the ford will get about 15-17mpg. the fact that it's 4x4 tops the 2x4 dodge. pickup trucks suck in the snow, and even in rain.,...unless they have 4 wheel drive.
 i own a 97 dakota 5.2L v8 5speed, 6 foot bed. there is no room in it. i like it because it's kinda fast, and it's loud.
i hooked my car trailer to it the other day and it sagged a LOT. my fords never did.

 stay away from blazers, or durangos if you wanna haul wood and other things.

 problem with the ford...you said 4.2L v6......they have intake problems...the gaskets leak. sometimes they develop head gasket problems. other than that; they've seemed pretty reliable to me when they come into the shop.

IF you choose the ford, take it to your mechanic, and have him go over the front end. most fords have bad balljoints by 50k miles. if they're not bad, they've probably been replaced.

if you're dead et on one of these two, take the ford. it'll get the same mileage as the dakota, handle better, be about as quick, carry more, and pull more. this is comming from a guy that likes his dakota, but i didn't buy mine for utility.

good luck. if ya have aany more questions, you can feel free to pm me too.....i work on these things a LOT

<<S>>

[CAP1]

Neither one of those meets all of your criteria. The Dakota will feel like it has more power, but they are god awful in the snow and ice without 4x4. You would need to weight down the bed over the wheels big time. They do get pretty good gas milage though, plus they are also very reliable. The Ford is gunna be slower, but it will haul more and tow more, and also be better in the winter. The milage wont be aw good either on account of it being heavier and having an automatic.

If I was you I would definately look up Craigslist.com for you area... Try looking for a 4x4 Dakota with a stick and the V6, A Chevy S10 blazer 4x4, or a jeep Cherokee...

the 6' bed of the dakota won't give him that much room for hauling wood. the suspension of the dakota isn't too friendly to trailers. at least mine isn't. the ford is a full size.....better off with full size for his stated desires.

s10 blazers aren't that good for towing. the idler arm and pitman arms go bad all the time. they have no room inside.

the cherokee has crankshaft position sensor problems. if it's newer than 2000, they have computers go bad quite often, right after the crank position sensor. they have cam sensor problems too. they also have no real room inside.

<<S>>

[balance1]

Thank-you all, especially you cap, now as a mechanic ( at least you sound like one), whick would be easier and cheaper to maintain, thats WAY bigger than almost all other issues minus gas mileage (limited income), I can deal with mediocre towing/hauling capacity since thats only an occasional thing. Once again thank you all for your help.

[slipknot]

Had the displeasure of driving a 2005 dakota for a week last winter.

Biggest piece of crap I've ever driven. Fit and finish sucked. Rattled and squeeked like it was built of random parts salvaged from a pileup on the freeway. Handled like crap too. Weakest performing V8 I've ever experienced. It somehow managed to effortlessly lose traction and fishtail on wet roads during turns, and yet couldn't out-accelerate an electric wheel chair when pulling away from a light. Road holding reminded me of the flat-bottomed plastic saucer sled I used to have as a child.

Overall, it left me with a sense of confidence that rivaled that of the Titanic's crew as they boarded the lifeboats ahead of the passangers.

My 13 year old Tahoe, worn and used as it is, is a Rolls Royce by comparison. If you want to drive a piece of garbage, go with the Dakota for sure.

[CAP1]

Had the displeasure of driving a 2005 dakota for a week last winter.

Biggest piece of crap I've ever driven. Fit and finish sucked. Rattled and squeeked like it was built of random parts salvaged from a pileup on the freeway. Handled like crap too. Weakest performing V8 I've ever experienced. It somehow managed to effortlessly lose traction and fishtail on wet roads during turns, and yet couldn't out-accelerate an electric wheel chair when pulling away from a light. Road holding reminded me of the flat-bottomed plastic saucer sled I used to have as a child.

Overall, it left me with a sense of confidence that rivaled that of the Titanic's crew as they boarded the lifeboats ahead of the passangers.

My 13 year old Tahoe, worn and used as it is, is a Rolls Royce by comparison. If you want to drive a piece of garbage, go with the Dakota for sure.

the mid to late 90's dakotas are nicer. mine has a 318 in it, and it is much much quicker than one would expect. it feels like about a mid 14 second ride if i had to guess...not lightning fast, but for what it was in 97, i think it was one of the quickest mid size trucks.

 handling, i agree with ya. i was racing a bmw on 295 last year......somewhere around 100mph or so(3AM BTW) it was handling sooooo fine that i backed off and let the bmw go. wish i had my fairmont that night......

 anyway......out of the 2 choices, it's ford all the way.

<<S>>

[CAP1]

Thank-you all, especially you cap, now as a mechanic ( at least you sound like one), whick would be easier and cheaper to maintain, thats WAY bigger than almost all other issues minus gas mileage (limited income), I can deal with mediocre towing/hauling capacity since thats only an occasional thing. Once again thank you all for your help.

yep....been fixing detroits screw ups for about 23 years or so now.

i would type more here, but i just pm'd ya a bit more info

[Ripsnort]

Trucks are lousy for snow conditions, unless they have weight in the bed and locked in 4WD.

[rabbidrabbit]

minor hijack..

Hey Cap, I need to trade up my f150 for something with a bit better towing capacity.  Basically, it's a 1-2k per year backup / boat towing  vehicle.  It will be mostly making occasional trips to HD or whatever and tow both short and mid range.  My boat is around 6k on the trailer so I'm looking for something rated in the 10k range for safety margin.  Ideally it will get semi decent mileage both towing and otherwise.  Price range is 5-10kish.  I'm thinking a 2000ish Chevy 2500 with a 6.0L.  Should I be thinking otherwise?

[CAP1]

minor hijack..

Hey Cap, I need to trade up my f150 for something with a bit better towing capacity.  Basically, it's a 1-2k per year backup / boat towing  vehicle.  It will be mostly making occasional trips to HD or whatever and tow both short and mid range.  My boat is around 6k on the trailer so I'm looking for something rated in the 10k range for safety margin.  Ideally it will get semi decent mileage both towing and otherwise.  Price range is 5-10kish.  I'm thinking a 2000ish Chevy 2500 with a 6.0L.  Should I be thinking otherwise?

i can't remember if the 6.0 chevy is deisel or not?

a 2500 chevy or maybe a ford F350 would do it. we have a lot of guys hauling serious weight with the F350's. some with the 5.4 gas engine, some with the 7.3 powerstroke turbodeisel.

 if fuel isn't an issue, i think i'd go with a deisel with that weight though. with the load it'll be putting on the truck, the deisel will be 100 times more reliable than any gas engine pulling it. unfortunatly, deisel is stupidly expensive now.

as for other issues on the chevy truck..the only things i can think of are the LDP pump, and the fuel pump relay. they both tend to go bad kind of early.

 suspension has les problems than the fords, but in my opinion isn't quite as robust either.

there might be more that i'm forgetting..if i've left anything out, feel free to ask, and i'll add what i can for ya.

<<S>>

[Maverick]

Rabbit, a 2500 series of any of the big three would handle that load especially since you won;'t be towing all the time. Of the big three the best fuel mileage will be the diesel Dodge. A 10k load for a later model 2500 / 250 series is in their load range. That includes power, transmission, suspension, frame and brakes suited for that kind of load.

[CAP1]

Rabbit, a 2500 series of any of the big three would handle that load especially since you won;'t be towing all the time. Of the big three the best fuel mileage will be the diesel Dodge. A 10k load for a later model 2500 / 250 series is in their load range. That includes power, transmission, suspension, frame and brakes suited for that kind of load.

although i like my dodge, they're not put together as well as the fords and chevys though.........