Used Pick-Up Trucks Selling For More than High Retail Blue Book in these Parts.

[Gale Hawkins]

Well today was a day with a lot of running around in the Dakota and we put about 120 miles on it today after about 130 miles yesterday. We filled up today after 190 miles since the oil change and topping off the gas tank yesterday and averaged 20 MPG and the 120 miles of that was driven in Tow/Haul mode which seems to be 3rd gear since it locks out OD I guess. 20 miles was interstate (70 MPH @ 3K RPM) and the rest were mixed miles but more open 55 MPH roads.

While the new oil change by the dealer only had a little over the 100 miles on it the oil was very dirty looking and thicker than I expected. They had used some 10W-30 weight that they called GM oil. The filter did look new but with low teens morning for a few days I just when yesterday and had it changed and went with the 5W-20 spec on the oil cap and a new filter. I checked it after 100 miles on this change and it was very clean still. Perhaps the shop changed it back in Dec on a cold day with a cold engine and did not let it drain out well when it was over due for a change as well? It was on the lot for 6 weeks so I am guessing a lot of cold starts on cold days and short test drives.

To help clean up the crankcase and fuel system I added Archoil AR9100 to the crankcase like some use in Ford diesels with the stiction issue and AR6200 fuel additive to the gas tank. This the main reason we ran it with OD locked out to flow more fuel and engine oil through the engine today. The AR6200 claims it will remove all the carbon from top of pistons and from around the valves in just one tank. After 130 miles with the AR6200 in the fuel we did the 20 miles of interstate this afternoon and about 5 times I had her to coast down to 40 MPH and go WOT back up to 70 MPH hitting a high of about 5K RPM each time so if the AR6200 performs as their marketing materials the fuel system, valves and piston tops should be as clean as they are going to get.

Due to where we live seldom will it run less than 25 minutes if it is started so if it is a good engine it should stay clean with her driving but will keep a close eye on it between the first few oil changes. It is my guess the transmission has never been serviced being traded at 62K and it does not have a transmission cooler (only standard with the Dakota tow package) I will have the pan pulled and the filter replaced by my friend who has a shop he operates a few hours in the evening.

I miss read the tire dates at first but they were build this time last year so they are new like with 80% tread. Tonight the heated seats where nice. Still do not know why a truck with manual windows/locks and no cruise or tilt steering wheel would have heated cloth seats?

It handles well, seems safer than the high mileage blazer and she loves it so yet I am glad the deal is down and so far so good. After I drove it some I was kind of hoping she would not like it and I could keep it to drive.

At this point I am glad I did not let the last $500 on price kill the deal which was almost the case. In hindsight the $8500 price seems just a tad under the going price for a very clean locally owned 2007 Dakota Club Cab with 62K miles and newer tires.

I now remember why I seldom buy vehicles. I guess it is just a guy thing but I am very concerned about what the wife and daughter are out driving in late at night.

 

[aczlan]

Due to where we live seldom will it run less than 25 minutes if it is started so if it is a good engine it should stay clean with her driving but will keep a close eye on it between the first few oil changes. It is my guess the transmission has never been serviced being traded at 62K and it does not have a transmission cooler (only standard with the Dakota tow package) I will have the pan pulled and the filter replaced by my friend who has a shop he operates a few hours in the evening.

Might be worth mentioning, I would avoid having the transmission flushed with anything but transmission fluid. Some shops flush with a cleaning solution and that can cause the valvebody to go haywire (junk breaking loose and sticking in the valves?).

Aaron Z

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Aaron I too am an Anti Transmission flush guy.

We did get out and put 100 miles on the truck going to Zales for the wife's gift. In part I think my daughter was looking for a reason to drive her new truck.

It is averaging about 15 MPG but we are running it in Tow/Haul mode to see if we can get the engine cleaned up after the new oil change by the dealer was very dark after only 100+ miles by the time we bought it. Doing 72 MPH on I-24 gave an RPM reading of 3000. Will check it tomorrow and see how it looks after 350 miles on the change from four days ago.

 

[3930dave]

Nice choice for a personal-use truck Gale.

I like the size of the Dakotas, and their ride/handling - used ones I've driven seem to be standing up better than their 1500 brothers - how much of that is driver care vs. abuse - hard to say w/o knowing the owners.

I'm a Scangauge II fan; esp. w/o a Trans cooler that will help keep an eye on things. Here's hoping that valve-seat issues were mostly induced by the Real Men Pay No Attention to Tow Ratings crowd !

I too missed the original dealer link - pics please !

If I look South, and a bit West, in the setting sun I'm pretty sure I can see your daughter's smile from here :thumbsup:.

Rgds, D.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Not it but very similar in looks but the daughter's does have the two rear seats. Her's does have a nice bed liner like the one in the photos of this one I just found online. Her's is not showing up well today in the deep with snow.

Suspicious Activity Detected

Dave the ride/handling is awesome. We ran over to Paducah to Zales as I mentioned and was on I-24 in high winds and it was not moving us around.

After reading for many hours the Valve Set issue seems to be ONLY after overheating the engine and the daughter is aware and I hope will keep an eye on the temps. The 3.7/4.7L sludging issues seemed to start after 70K miles in the engines that reported the issue and we just hit 63K and will short change the oil or at least the filter until it stays clear for a few hundred miles.

Yes she is still smiling .

 

[3930dave]

I suspect you'll be fine with that engine. Hard to tell online, but many of those may be nothing more than neglected oil, coupled with folks loading up a Dakota like it's a one ton.

It may be on the list already, but consider adding an aftermarket Trans cooler. Not a big rush , with snow on the ground.

Rgds, D.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

An extra cooler could be helpful since it did not come with a Tow package. The first owner pulled a boat or other type trailer I assume since the second 30K mile owner stated she never pulled anything period. The license plate is marked up from a trailer hitch but only one very hard to see place in the tailgate so it showed that owner took some pride in the truck. That is typically a sign of overall care. The lady that drove it the last 30K stated to work was 8 miles and she was sure the truck needed to be driven harder to 'blow the soot out of it'. We are running the Archoil AR9100 oil additive for its non solvent cleaners so to not break loose clumps of any possible sludge build up.

When one buys Used one just takes some risks to hopefully get the lower ownership cost.

I never knew getting it would have done so much for the daughter's excitement. Recently she came up with a college major she wants to have as her starting point in the Fall of 2016 and getting a set of wheels that was of her own selection since she said it was the one even before I saw it has worked well. Not all girls would have gone for a used basic PU truck but it met the mental picture she has been talking about for three years. It was not a kid grabbing candy just because she is in a candy store for the first time.

 

[DFB]

When I bought my used Durango it was a low mileage super clean vehicle and only seen two New England winters as it came up with the original owner from NC. I figured they had gotten rid of it because of fuel economy (or lack of) after gas prices skyrocketed a few years back I was happy...it was big and powerful enough to replace my old 1/2 ton Dodge PU for what I need to do. It went for higher end of book but it was SLT with factory towing setup and had every option except for heated seats. None the less some woman working the window at the Vermont registry of motor vehicles says to me you paid too much :laughing: I says lady this isn't a junk like you normally see

Honestly I see similar year models all around and most have had a really hard life.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

That is funny a DMV employee would make just a remark. When I was looking online I could find 2007 Dakotas priced starting at $3K all the way up to $12K. There are 2007 vehicles that I would not want parked on my place even though it would be newer than anything we owned until last week. I despise trashed anything and especially a trashed vehicle. Accidents I understand but trashing vehicles never made sense to me.

The 2007 Dakota was built in 08/2006 so it is getting some age on it but at 62K miles looking new like and she plans for it to be her daily driver for 6 years it age is not a big issue or where we paid $8K or $10K for it in the scheme of things.

The SLT packages are very nice over the ST package. Not sure why but the daughter forever has said she wanted a truck with four doors but with just two handles showing as the ST does where the SLT's that I have seen have 4 full doors and a 15" shorter bed. The timing to buy another vehicle was not ideal for sure but when I saw it and how it really matched her mental picture of her first vehicle I knew I was going to be buying my first Chrysler product.

 

[Gunny]

Take care of it and it'll be with her for a long time. I bought a Dakota in their second year of production and liked it so well that the next two vehicles were also Dakotas, all had the V6 engine and I ran everyone of them into the ground. I think the lowest mileage on any of the three was 190K when I sold them. The only real problem I ever had was with the MAP sensors going bad on the first two.

Keep good oil in them, follow the maintenance schedules and she'll be good to go.