Durango or Dakota

[Dougget]

Hi,
My current daily driver is my 2000 TJ.  It just turned 100K miles and is being converted to my toy as soon as I get a new (used) daily driver.  I\'m looking at 2006 Dakotas and Durangos.  Essentially the same truck, except the Dak has the 4 door crew cab and 5.5\' bed.

Need to make a choice.  Both trucks are in the same price range.  Really like the idea of a pickup with plenty of room for kids or adults in the back seat.  The very short bed works for me too.  Practicality is in question.  The bed would need a cover to keep stuff dry and a bed liner.  Tailgate doesn\'t lock, so security is an issue.  All of these things could be resolved with after-market parts, but that just adds to the cost.  Durango has more secure storage space, but hauling would be limited to \'clean\' cargo...

Some advice please?
Given a choice, price is the same, quality is the same, what would you choose and why?

Thanks,
Doug

[MrMindless]

Depends 110% on your use.  Will you need/want to haul gravel, wood, hay, sod, rock, anything on a pallet, etc without a trailer?  if so you have only one choice.

I like the versatility of the pickup.  However if I had a utility trailer and the primary use was a people mover the Durango gets the nod.

If I\'m lucky I may have both at some point :)

[GTJake]

Dakota
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=26&dlid=6523&cname=Spurr+Chevrolet+Subaru&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=C-6523%7cK-%7cE-%7cN-N%7cR-%7cI-1%7cP-PRICE+descending%7cQ-descending%7cZ-14614&aff=national&paId=269739804&recnum=8&leadExists=true
Ram
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=78&dlid=6523&cname=Spurr+Chevrolet+Subaru&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=C-6523%7cK-%7cE-%7cN-N%7cR-%7cI-1%7cP-PRICE+descending%7cQ-descending%7cZ-14614&aff=national&paId=269739816&recnum=11&leadExists=true

what kind of price range are you looking to be in?
give me a call and i can find you what your looking for.
jake
4726328.

[MrMindless]

Oh yeah, for what it\'s worth I\'d stick with \'04 and older.  the newer generations of both bring the suck, styling-wise.  The Durango became nearly fullsize and lost all appeal - aside from the issue of hitting every branch of the ugly tree on its way out of Auburn Hills.

[Dragon]

on teh \'04 and older....check if the balljoints were replaced under recall.
My \'02 Dak had the uppers replaced twice, and the lowers replaced once.
Also had the torque-converter lock replaced and eventually the whole tranny replaced.

Other than that...was a GREAT truck.
I vote for the Dak....you can always find ways to lock stuff up in the bed...but you can\'t fit a 60\" TV in the back of a Durango.