I have never owned a Dodge, only Chevy's & Toyota's. I am thinking about selling my 96 Tacoma Ext. cab V6 5Spd w/ 240K for a 2003 4.9 quad cab SLT 5Spd. The dealer is asking 13K for it and it has power everything, leather and 78K miles.

What do you guys think???

there is no 4.9. they had the following motors 3.9 v-6,3.7 v-6, 4.7 v-8, 5.2 v-8. all of which are strong reliable motors. you pretty much can't go worng with the 5 speed manual. seeing how some (not all) of the late 90's auto's had some troubles. below is a link to dakotas in the 200,000 mile club. some have over 500,000 miles on them. the club also lists what major repairs were done.
Link (muliple pages hit next at the bottom):
http://www.allpar.com/old/club/search.php?q=dakota&type=model

sorry...I meant 4.7 it was late

Thanx, I checked that list and those are impressive numbers!!! I didn't however see any 4.7 engines in that list. I know it is a good engine and it is still in use today, just wondering what everybody;s experience is with it.

the reason not many 4.7's are in it is it is a new motor, coming into production around 2000. but the 4.7 did not make it into the dakota until 2002? not many have had the chance to rack up 200,000 yet. but here are a few.

link 4.7:
http://www.allpar.com/old/club/search.php?q=4.7&type=engine

here is a link to wikapedia info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Dakota

thanx, going to look at it tomorrow night.

I've got nearly the same setup ('04) and the only disappointment I have is that it won't tow very much due to the 3.55 gears...4,800 lbs. Going to 3.93 gears will bump that up to 5,800 lbs. But the extra weight of the quad cab and 4wd drags down the tow rating. Otherwise, I like it alot. Fuel economy is reasonable for the V8...I get 16-18mpg, but the manual does get tiring in stop & go traffic. But its a big, tall truck, so no one messes with me when jockeying for lanes, lol. Good luck!

If you haven't gotten rid of that Tacoma yet, ck your frame for rot. Toyota is buying them back for Keely blue book value Plus 50%. I got my offer last week for my 99 Taco 4x4. $15269.00. Might want to have your local Toyota dealer ck it.