Question for Car/Truck People

[JETZcorp]

Right, so it's getting to be the time in my life when I need a set of wheels I can use on my own. As it is, if I want to take my 250 Husky for a ride, I need to coordinate a big event thing with my dad, and we need to load his bike in his big '98 Ram, then he has to come over to my house (divorce meant I don't live with my dad anymore) and load up my bike, then we go back and hook up the trailer (because 100mi for a day of riding doesn't work and we need to sleep) and it's all a big hassle. Now, as it were, I already have a car, which I got form my step-dad when his company gave him a new Taurus X. The problem with this car is, it's a 2003 Ford Windstar, which is a minivan. Though not the manliest of vehicles, it does everything I need it to do... except get that damn bike to a riding area! We thought about a bike trailer, but there's no where to put it, so I simply have to trade the Van for a pickup.

Here's what's not up for debate. There's no way I'm getting a V8 because who knows what gas is going to do in the next ten years or whatever. I'm going to get a roughly Y2K-era truck because that's what you can afford when you trade in an '03 Windstar these days. Of all the options I've looked at, there are only three that appear to be really good quality trucks, those being the Dakota, Ranger and Tacoma. Well, the Ranger and Tacoma are both expensive as hell (unless we're talking 250K miles with no paint) and that leaves the Dodge Dakota. That's fortunate because that generation of Dakota is my favorite truck of all time for looks.

Now, here's the big question. Should I get an automatic, or a manual? Although I've never driven a manual per se, I happen to have two manual-transmission bikes in my garage, and my cousin tells me getting used to the car-version takes about five minutes, so no real problems there. I think I can reasonably say that a manual would be a lot more fun, simply because I know what an auto is like and it's boring as hell, compared to an '82 Husky at any rate. I talked to my dad about it and he was shocked, telling gloom and doom stories about clutch maintenance and such.

So, in the end, the problem is this. Is a manual transmission for a truck more of a reliability concern than an automatic? Remember, of course, that I'm in the market for a used mid-size pickup that may have in the neighborhood of 120K-150K miles.

[Phathry25]

I've got an '02 Dakota w/ 80k on it. I slip the clutch like a mofo on downshifts, and only use first if I'm on a hill or moving backwards and want to go forwards. Most of the time I just start and second and feather the clutch. It still works perfectly. My brother has an '01 and we've had the same exact problems with ours, 3 things. The resistor for the blower motor went sour, meaning your blower will only run when it is on the highest setting, until you replace the resistor, takes 5 min and you can do it on your own. The second thing we've both had happen is we each had a front caliper lock up. They are supposed to slide on a pin, but that gets a little rusted and the caliper gets stuck. It will usually fix itself after a little while, but it will stick again, so we both have replaced our front brake calipers, once again on our own. I should add I know nothing about cars, I just pulled my wheels off and started taking it apart and it all worked out in the end no special tools needed. And the third one, and most obvious considering it's a Dakota is we've both had to replace our front ball joints, I think we know the story here.

Other than that they've both been rock solid for us. I have a feeling your dad's horror stories about clutch maintenance is a product of old cars. Just like old dirt bikes you had to work on them more often, but with time comes improvement, and I'm sure all of the car manufactures have worked hard at learning from their mistakes and made the necessary adjustments to their products to make them the best that they can.

The one thing I'd check out when buying is to try and get a solid fuel mileage estimate from a v6 and a v8. My brother got the v8 and I the v6, we get the same mileage. I think the v6 engine has to work a little too hard to pull a Dakota, so in the end the mileage ends up the same. But my brother can pull a trailer, or boat etc, whereas with my truck it noticeably struggles.

[Garasaki]

I'd get the manual. (although your best bet might to simply be buy the best option you see - auto or manual)

The only real maintanence is a clutch replacement - you might oughta do some research to find out how much that would cost, and just figure it right into the price. And it's certainly no less then the cost of an automatic transmission replacement!!

The extra few MPG may pay off in the long run.

As far as the learning curve for driving a manual - it'll take you about a week to really get the hang of it. It becomes second nature.

My wife and I both own Honda Accords - hers is auto, mine a 5 speed. Whenever I drive her car, I keep trying to engage the clutch and pop the car into neutral when I come up to a stopsign/light. It feels unnatural for me to drive a car that isn't a 5 speed nowadays....

[Turbine951]

1st - Of those three trucks you mentioned, unfortunately you picked the least reliable. I know what your saying about Tacomas however as I was looking to trade in my car (02 Celica) for a truck a few years back in 2006, stumbled across a nice 02 Tacoma, figured i'd only have to pay a little over my car if any. They wanted 17000, wtf.

2nd - My celica is manual transmission, and any competent human being can learn to drive a standard, its not that difficult. I definitely prefer standards in cars, and definitely the sportier ones. On top of being way more fun, you get better gas mileage with a standard.

3rd - Automatic transmissions in general still need to be serviced far more often than manual transmissions (some auto manufacturers state that their manual transmissions never have to be serviced with fluid changes, etc). Manual transmissions are usually slightly/much cheaper to fix if/when something mechanical does go wrong. In my Celica (manual) I've never even so much as changed fluid in it, and i've had it since 02. I have a cousin with a 98' Ranger (manual) and a friend who had a (later 90's early 2000's) Dakota (manual). The ranger got better gas mileage than my friends dakota, and to my knowledge neither had a problem with the transmission in them.

On a side note if your daily commute includes alot of city driving, you might want to consider an automatic.

[rgaede]

I've had no clutch probs with my '95 mazda (ranger). Had the clutch replaced at 110 thousand miles only because the pilot bearing went out. The clutch itself was in great condition and there weren't even any hotspots on the flywheel. It was a fiasco only because of the people we had replace it originally, they f'd it up. Definitely not too hard to drive, the mileage is better, and unless you have horrible luck should be fairly reliable.

[cpt_Slow]

I'm not sure from your explanation if you need to take your dad's bike too but if it is just yours have you thought about one of these? http://www.autowbars.co.uk/motorcyclerack.htm
only problem is you have to lift your bike into them and you lose the use of a standard towbar(unless you unbolt it through the week?)

[JETZcorp]

Thanks for all your help, guys. Though I'm still not 100% on it, I think I'll go for a manual if I can find one. One of the biggest reasons for me to get an auto is the simple fact that in spending weeks on Cragslist, I've only seen one lonely manual Dakota in my price bracket. It's still for sale at the moment, but we'll see how things work out when it comes time to actually do all this.

[russ190]

If i was you, i would buy a truck with the V8 in it. If you plan on ever pulling anything it is worth it. I traded in my 2000 Ford Ranger 4x4 extended cab for my Dad's (he JUST traded it in before letting me know) 2004 Chevy silverado. My ranger had the big V6 4.0 ltr and i got between 12 and 15 mpg on highway or city. The thing sucked gas. The chevy gets between 16 and 20 mpg. It has the bigger V8 in it, cant remember exactly wich size. I know its rated just under 300 HP though. Ranger only had 175 for being a big V6. The ranger had 113K when i got rid of it and the siverado had 23K when i bought it. One note is the Silverado is a 2wd truck. But its still a full size and big V8 in it. I will persoanly never buy a mid-size again. If you dont need a 4wd you can get full size 2wd's for pretty decent prices with most options.

Before i bought the 2wd, i found a 2001 Silverado 4x4 for the same price but with 50K more miles. So it just depends on how important it is to you. I live in an area that gets lots of snow in the winter and did not have a lot of troubles. Just drive smart is all it takes.

[JETZcorp]

I really don't foresee a need to pull anything major, or even anything at all. Though I have read that the Dakota does feel a bit strained on a V6 at times and the V-8 played a big part in earning it's narrow victory over the Toyota Tacoma in the 2001 Edmunds.com crew-cab showdown. After riding around in my dad's '77 Power Wagon, which weighs maybe 4,000lbs and has about 180hp (from an old V-8) I can easily imagine being dissatisfied with that sort of power. That's obviously no real comparison, considering it's really old and probably lacking something. My minivan at the moment has 200hp, and it's got all the fighter-jet blood I really need (as in, enough to scare my friend that one time...)

Anyway, I guess I'll consider it. For what it's worth, the only manual Dakota I've seen so far is a V6. Now, I'm guessing someone's going to start making the case for me getting a 4x4 as well?

[yomo]

Subaru Impressa all the way

(even though you cant take a bike )

I would defiantly look at getting a manual.
1. It's really easy to pick up and its so much more fun to drive
2. If driven properly can save a lot more fuel than auto
3. If you ever do tow a trailer its better

My dad just got new 5.7 V8 ute for around $20,000 here in australia (2004 holden) Its not too bad on fuel and i had to tow a horse float the other day in it and up huge hills it didn't even feel it

[firthy689]

Subaru Impressa all the way

impressa? i know of impreza but not impressa

I would also defiantly recommend getting a manual because a manual can defiantly cope much better as they are usually a lot stronger then an automatic transmission, therefore last longer, my dad is a mechanic so I should know

[Phathry25]

If your getting an extended cab you'd be silly to not get the V8. I have just a regular cab v6 and with two bikes/gear in the back it struggles. And since you ride old bikes they weight more, and you have to carry premix oil...

[JETZcorp]

How do you figure an old bike weighs more? A 1981 Maico 250 clocks in at 215lbs, my dad's '77 is under 200. If I had to haul around a bunch of cam shafts and radiators, then I might be worried about weight.

Anyway, after all I've heard here I'm pretty well set on getting a manual, though I haven't found one with a V8 yet. I've found a second one for sale, again a V6 but without an extended cab, which is a bit of a problem. However, it's a year newer than the other one, has about 1/3 the mileage, a better color, appears to be in better condition and costs a lot less. I could probably trade in my van and get that truck with money to spare... but I would be really low on room inside. My situation is that I can trade my van for maybe $5000, here's the two manuals I've found so far.

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/1089920281.html <- This one looks like a much better deal, but might run out of room.
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/ctd/1090028306.html <- This one looks more risky, but might meet my needs more closely.