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bigolds98
Dodge Dakota
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12/10/2003
14:24:43
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 Subject: I saw the new Dakota
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Today I was at the factory today where they build the Ram/Dakota. They were doing a pilot run of one new 05 Dakota. It was a full production version. It looks nothing like the new Durango thank God. I liked it a lot. I can tell you the front end has a hint of Maxx Cub in it but has more bold looking fenders and the the lines flow back into the doors. The front is also angled back a little. The rear bed looks like they took the drawings from the full size Ram and changed the scale from 1 to 1 to .75 to 1. The truck looks bigger. I liked what I saw. It is not an earth shattering redo but it does look good and won't have to grow on you like most of the new German designs. The front suspenion is a lot different too. The 4x4 Quad that I saw being built has large coil springs with upper and lower a-arms. No greasable ball joints of course. But the whole suspension looks to be of better quality. The interior looks like the current truck. I can say they will be only offering the Dakota in Quad cab and extended cab with the suicide doors. There will be no regular cab offered. I liked the new one. Maybe because I thought it was going to look like that ugly a$$ Durango. But I think most of you will like it.
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Really
Dodge Dakota
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12/10/2003
15:32:27
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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What you claim goes against not only past practise but all the spy photos as well.
What city were you in?
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Really
Dodge Dakota
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12/10/2003
15:34:56
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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I only ask because the Ram is built in Fenton, MO while the Dakota is built in Warren, MI which are pretty far apart. Too far to built a roof over.
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bigold98
Dodge Dakota
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12/10/2003
15:59:32
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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The Ram is built in Mexico, Fenton, and Dodge City in Warren Mich. The Dakotas are also built at Dodge City. I live in Michigan.
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STS
Dodge Dakota
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12/12/2003
15:30:32
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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New German designs don't grow on every one includeing me. You might think the new style might come from Frankfort but it could as well came from Detriot.
Some people have said the new V6 in the Liberty is a Mercedes powertrain. Of course I was told that by a woman in a parking lot. I told her who told her that myth? She replied "the dealer told us".
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bigolds
Dodge Dakota
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12/15/2003
00:39:59
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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To STS. Thats just my opinon. After living near and working for the big 3 in Detroit. Chrysler before the merger in my opinion had really cool designs. Once the Germans took over all the good designers left.
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bakindak
Dodge Dakota
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12/15/2003
11:05:18
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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well bigolds88 all I have to say is that I hope you are right and arent jerking us around, I can easily live with a slighty scaled Ram
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bigolds98
Dodge Dakota
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12/15/2003
13:54:25
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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No I am not jerking you around. I watched it get built. As soon as it came off the line they covered it and put it in a closed in trailer and hauled it away. Like I said it is not an earth shattering new design but more of a refreshing of the all the sheetmetal. I own a 98 Extended cab and after seeing it I can not wait to put my order in for the new one. My mom works a the Chrysler Tech center and said that it will be shown at the Detroit Autoshow in a few weeks. I just wish I could have taken a picture of it. But I did not want to lose my job.
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Patriot
Dodge Dakota
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12/15/2003
14:38:14
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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Before the merger Chrysler was headed for bankruptcy, most of chassis design was farmed out (that's why we have ball joint and brake rotor issues) and their power train R&D was non existent.
Today DC is a strong viable company with good in house mechanical design, excellent power train choices and the backing of the best automotive engineers in the world. I'll take solid and reliable design over the old Mopar crap any day of the week.
Plus their putting a Mercedes diesel in the liberty and maybe one in the Dak for 05. The only diesel cars I've seen go over 1 million miles were a VW rabbit and a MercedesBenz.
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IntenseDak39
*GenIII*
12/15/2003
15:15:40
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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the only car or truck that has both mercedes and chrysler influence is the Crossfire.
the 3.7 was made before the merger was complete.. same for the 4.7.
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Quick 6
Dodge Dakota
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12/16/2003
19:16:12
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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Hey guys let me say one thing it is going to be a good thing to have Mercedes parts in our cars and trucks..
They have a lot better power train then we had and there will be building better vehicles because of it..
Let make this clear this was a take over not a merger and it was for the best because we will be able to keep our jobs because of it..
Hey that thing got a Hemi, Mopar all the way.. Cya Quick 6
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bigolds98
Dodge Dakota
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12/17/2003
13:19:20
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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To Quick6. Funny how you say the takeover saved jobs. I seem to remember back in November of 2001 the Germans laid off 25,000 people and are planing to do it again in the new year. Chrysler before the takeover was doing just fine and was making record profits. Diamler also just got busted this summer down in Alabama for importing a bunch of Polish workers to come in and build the new paint booths for their sport-ute when there were tons of people out of work here that could have done the job.
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Quick 6
Dodge Dakota
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12/17/2003
16:03:24
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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Hey there is no doubt about it they done some under hand things but I tell you what if we where not taken over we were heading to bankruptcy..
The reason why I know this is because my wifes boss is a lawyer and his best friend is real high up in DiamlerChrysler and he only anwsers to Deter and we were going down the toilet guarenteed..
You know what pisses me off more than anything is these Americans buying all these foreign products (AND I DONT MEAN JUST CARS) without thinking about the cycle of money in this country..
All Americans think about is the best price and nothing else, thats like going thru life with blinders on..
Hey did you see what our UAW just did they made a agreement with GM, so GM could lay off a ton of workers. I understand times are changing and we need to Adjust with them..
The UAW aint what it use to be.. Well I could go on and on but all we can do is hope we got our job tommorow, well good luck to you and lets hope all the American companies dont go to China and pay there workers 10 cents a hour there wll be no one here left to buy anything.. Cya Quick 6
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bigolds98
Dodge Dakota
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12/17/2003
16:26:13
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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I agree. I used to buy Levi's but don't any more because they stopped making them here. Unfortunatly we can't buy anything electrionic made here anymore, shoes, clothes, I can go on forever. But I want to buy American but seeing that NAFTA has put an end to American made products and it seems the Big 3 are slowly becoming foreign car companies. GM being the leader. I consider DiamlerChrysler a foreign company now. The profits go to Germany. I am a designer for a supplier and I feel my job will end up in India or Mexico soon. I think the feeling too is that if American companies don't care about their workers and replace them with cheap foreign labor why should we support them if they don't support us. I know this is way off topic from Dakotas but I to can go on for ever on this subject.
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gen1dak
Dodge Dakota
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12/17/2003
18:54:13
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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The only other way to avoid going bankrupt is the way Chrysler did it in the early 80's with Lee Iacocca leading the charge. They got back to bread-and-butter cars. They scored a gov't loan and Lee was big on the patriotic message. In no time they were making gobs of money, and paid the loan back (with interest) five years early! Everything Chrysler did through the 80's and well into the 90's sprang from the humble K-car. It seems everything now is just a game of takeover, raid the retirement funds, sell off the assets, and move on. In the case of DC, I don't know. Everything went to Hell when Bob Lutz was forced to retire. Key people departed shortly afterwards due to idiots thinking they could do it better, when they really didn't have a clue. A few years later, Bob was recruited by GM, and now they're doing stuff like that new retro-pickup. Bob was a key proponent in what became the Viper. He even drove a specially prepped turbo Daytona to work at Chrysler at one point. The mess that DC is today shows directly what type is allegedly running the show. Those clueless ones obviously have never turned a wrench, and as long as the profits roll in, we're screwed.
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Quick 6
Dodge Dakota
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12/17/2003
19:00:42
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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Well it went something like that.. Hey dont freak out because we are coming out with some sweet cars and trucks lots of new concepts.. I have seen a lot of them and man I love em..
Hang in there because if you dont like what we have now there is going to be a lot to chose from.. Cya Quick 6
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WTFAYOA
Dodge Dakota
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12/17/2003
19:11:28
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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Who says DC is in a mess? The Chrysler unit is in better shape today than it was pre takeover. They've just about purged all the old designs from the company, the gen3 Dakota being one of the last and the powertrain group is finally in the 21st century.
Add the fact that DC is competing with the best the Europeans and Japanese can bring to the table with the Pacifica, Crossfire and the new Durango plus the Jeep divisions rock solid performance and things have never looked better.
It's funny how on one hand folks lament the DC of today as a company that is intentionally trying to go bankrupt just so the new owners can take the "great" parts and leave while all the time forgetting the CHrysler takeover of AMC. Does anyone remember the only division that survived that deal? Yep it was the Jeep division.
Some of the azzclowns posting this shlt should really do some research before typing out this crap. It's factually wrong.
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bigolds98
Dodge Dakota
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12/18/2003
00:36:36
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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To WTFAYO. If memory serves me correctly when Chrysler bought AMC they were already bankrupt. The Eagle Premier AMC's only car continued until 92. If I remember those cars were garbage. The Grand Cherokee was already designed and completed by the old AMC guys. Do the research.
To Quick 6 I am taking a gamble that you work at DCX. If there are such cool new cars coming out. Where is the Dodge Charger everyone wanted them to build? Where is that cool Hemi 300 convertible they showed a few years ago. All I see is a with a Chrysler grill on it Mercedes(300-C) and nothing but wagons that no one wants coming out. Where is the PT Cruiser AWD? Where is the 2 Door(not the convertible)? If I remember the pre takeover Chrysler was going to build the Power Wagon and the Atlantic. Then the Germans said it would compete to much with their cars. Where is the Pronto Spyder? I don't hate DCX I just miss looking forward to the Autoshow seeing what cool cars they were going to come out with next. What I do like with the new Chrysler is rear wheel drive and v8's again. They just need to put some cool sheetmetal around it. Not these industrial cold machine looking things that are coming out. Please correct me if I am wrong. I will be buying a new Dakota. I saw that and liked it. I also like the Ram. One more thing how was pre take over Chrysler going to go bankrupt? They were making huge profits at the time of the take over. My personal opinion is the reason they are in the red now is the huge lack of new product and for some reason the Germans think we all can afford 40,000 dollar cars. This is just my opinon.
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WTFAYOA
Dodge Dakota
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12/18/2003
05:56:51
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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Take your own advice about the research, your memory seems to be fading. AMC was not bankrupt when it was taken over by Chrysler. The Premier was a rebadged Renault built in Canada for 5 years after the takeover to satisfy contractual obligations with Renault. After that Chrysler ripped off the design for the Intrepid.
I don't understand your point about the ZJ but then again I'm not there is one, like most of your posts.
As for Chryslers financial status at the time of the DaimlerBenz buyout, if they were so strong financially why were they bought out in the first place. Surely a company as viable and profitable as you claim Chrysler was could have fended off a takeover bid by a foreign company. Obviously they couldn't.
What most people don't know is that Chrysler Corporation was on a steady decline and projections showed that by 2015 the company would be insolvent. Most of the major shareholders, chief among them Kirk Kerkorian, jumped at the chance to unload their soon to be worthless shares of Chrysler to DaimlerBenz.
And what is meant by a "lack of new product"? Chrysler has more product now than it did premerger, not counting rebadged DSM's.
I think your the one who needs to research this topic. Your last post blew chunks on my monitor.
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bigolds98
Dodge Dakota
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12/18/2003
11:15:12
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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Thanks WTFAYOA. I did the research. Yes you were right about Chrysler buying AMC out underhandedly. But they did not design the Intrepid like you said. DC wanted the 4.0L engine and also Chrysler kept the AMC engineers to help in designing the Grand Cherokee and in designing the Eagle Vision. I also wanted to thank you for all the insults and sarcasm. I was wondering how long this thread would last before it would degenerate to that. It took a while but you finally did it. Then again I figured it would evenually happpen as with all threads on this site. I look foreward to seeing a new load of insults in you next post. I also do really thank you for forcing me to look up the facts. I never said I was the living bible of Chrysler all I wanted to do originally is share the fact that I saw the new 2005 Dakota on the assembly line and to the best of my ability recall what I saw. Insults aside this has been a good place to get info for my 97 Dakota 4X4.
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Kowalski
Dodge Dakota
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12/18/2003
16:23:03
| RE: I saw the new Dakota
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PT Cruiser AWD would be a great idea. Wife ended up with a Subaru Forester since Mopar just isn't offering any product in that class. Loved the style of the PT Cruiser but needed AWD for snowy/hilly/twisty commute.
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