Pick up question

276
Canada
Quebec
Morethanwound
so i looking to buy a pickup, i always liked ford and wanted a f150 and had found a 2000 f150 xlt 4x4, 2 doors, 167m km with a fiber glass box. the owner says the truck is in good condition and everything, the body looks good, didnt see any rust on the pictures. so he wants 4000$ for this truck.


BUT!

sooner today i found a 2004 dakota sport 4x4, 152m km, 4 doors. the body looks almost new, i can only see the small grill in front is bending a little but i can fix this in 2 minutes. the owner wich is a car dealer only want 2000$ wich im suprised, i didnt expect the price to be this low.

I mainly need a truck for taking my quad, snowmobile etc to somewhere else and from time to time go hunting or fishing wich is 3 hours away from the closest city so i need a good truck, i dont realy want to be stuck in the middle of no where with no phone ( cell phones server doesnt work there ). i dont plan on pulling high weight, maybe a small trailer 1-2 times a year.
SO wich one is the better ? i mean they both have a good body, the mechanics is fine ( said the owner, and the dealer said nothing about this, but its still a car dealer, it must be in good shape). Wich one is the most reliable ?

i myself go straight to the car dealer guy, who is 600km away from where i live to buy the dakota but i wanted the oppinions of you guys who must know a lot more than me about trucks.

EDIT : i also found a ram 1500 2004 4x4, 4 doors, 187m km for 3200$, owner says the mechanics is in perfect conditon but i can see on the photo that the '' wings '' ( part over the wheels ) are rusted pretty good, i dont realy mind repairing this myself but is it worth 1200$ more than the dakota ?
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?requestSource=b&adId=1085463137

Here's the link to both truck if you wanted to take a look.

ford : http://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?requestSource=b&adId=1077503616

dodge link : http://www.lespac.com/mont-laurier/vehicules-camions/2004-dodge-dakota-sport_33373571D0.jsa
 
The Ram would be worth that much more than the Dakota even if you just bought it and parted it out. 600km is a long ways to drive to see a Dakota that looks like it is hiding the same sort of issues the Ram has upfront.
 
I wouldn't buy the Ford, because it has the 5.4 Triton. If you do buy it, just be prepared to possibly spend a lot of money on the motor.

My dad has an 04 with the 5.4, and he's already spent almost as much as the truck is worth due to a cam phaser problem that's common on the 5.4s.

I don't know a lot about the Dodges, and I'm not sure how good the Ram's Hemi would be. If it had the 318 (5.2L) Magnum, I'm sure it would be worth a look. 👍

Edit:

I'm not sure if you'd be interested in the older Fords, like these:
image.jpg

But I know they would be a better option, because the motors, like the 302 or 351 are lot better than the Triton, or if you wouldn't mind a 6 cyl, you could also get the 300 I6 which will last you forever.

However, finding one of these without a ton of rust and high mileage up here in Canada is nearly impossible. :indiff:
 
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I wouldn't buy the Ford, because it has the 5.4 Triton. If you do buy it, just be prepared to possibly spend a lot of money on the motor.

My dad has an 04 with the 5.4, and he's already spent almost as much as the truck is worth due to a cam phaser problem that's common on the 5.4s.

I don't know a lot about the Dodges, and I'm not sure how good the Ram's Hemi would be. If it had the 318 (5.2L) Magnum, I'm sure it would be worth a look. 👍

Edit:

I'm not sure if you'd be interested in the older Fords, like these:
View attachment 409048
But I know they would be a better option, because the motors, like the 302 or 351 are lot better than the Triton, or if you wouldn't mind a 6 cyl, you could also get the 300 I6 which will last you forever.

However, finding one of these without a ton of rust and high mileage up here in Canada is nearly impossible. :indiff:

those 90s ford are invincible but i wasnt able to find one, well i found a couple but they were barely fonctional
 
Yeah I would stay away from 97-04 Ford pickups if you're looking for an F150. Of the big 3 truck makers between 97-04 I would say Dodge built the best trucks, but I would take EXTRA care with the transmission and make sure it's good because that is their weak link. If you can find a 80-97 Ford, those are probably your best option but being up north makes that tough. 88-98 Chevy trucks are junk IMO, the transmissions are horrible and the rear axles are laughably bad, along with the fuel pumps/fuel filters which need to be replaced seemingly every 5,000 miles.

If you can find a later 4.8 or 5.3L Chevy, those seem to be alright.
 
Yeah I would stay away from 97-04 Ford pickups if you're looking for an F150. Of the big 3 truck makers between 97-04 I would say Dodge built the best trucks, but I would take EXTRA care with the transmission and make sure it's good because that is their weak link. If you can find a 80-97 Ford, those are probably your best option but being up north makes that tough. 88-98 Chevy trucks are junk IMO, the transmissions are horrible and the rear axles are laughably bad, along with the fuel pumps/fuel filters which need to be replaced seemingly every 5,000 miles.

If you can find a later 4.8 or 5.3L Chevy, those seem to be alright.

what do you think about the 2004 dodge dakota sport ?
 
what do you think about the 2004 dodge dakota sport ?
Pretty decent little trucks, but the same thing applies to Dodges of those generations across all models. I would go for it after a good look over. The V8's have very good torque. I would stay away from the V6.
 
That one might be a little better because of the 4.6. My dad has owned both a 4.6 and a 5.4, and the 4.6 was a much more reliable motor, except for an exhaust leak which is a pretty common problem. I'd be caution though, as there could be other problems that we've never had.
 
That one might be a little better because of the 4.6. My dad has owned both a 4.6 and a 5.4, and the 4.6 was a much more reliable motor, except for an exhaust leak which is a pretty common problem. I'd be caution though, as there could be other problems that we've never had.

alright thanks a lot !
 
4.6L are just as junky as the 5.4Ls IMO. I'd stay away from anything Ford of that gen. 5.4s are especially hit or miss. I've been around enough of them to know to stay away.
 
Modulars as a whole from that generation are absolute trash. The last two that my family had (97 and 99) sucked. The 97 spends time as a lawn ornament after blowing up at 110k miles and the 99 got sold just as it was getting ready to kill itself at 154k. Both were 4.6s. As @Slash said, watch out for transmissions in those Dodges. 88-98 GMT 400 Silverados and Sierras were hit and miss with 4L60s, but the 350 is pretty bulletproof. Later 4L60s that were put behind the 4.8 and 5.3L LS GMT 800 Silverados and Sierras are a lot better than old ones (ours has over 100k on it an never had an issue with the trans), but still be a little cautious of them because earlier ones were very iffy. 305 powered ones are boat anchors so avoid those too.

IMO, stay away from any older Ford with an E4OD because those things are horrible. Why Ford thought that a trans that blew up behind a 300I6 would work as a trans behind the 460 and 7.3 is still something I don't get. Most of the people I know with that transmission have had theirs rebuilt at least once.

Of those posted, I'd say to start with looking at the Dodge Ram and go from there. That's really the best bet based off of the list that you've posted.
 
Modulars as a whole from that generation are absolute trash. The last two that my family had (97 and 99) sucked. The 97 spends time as a lawn ornament after blowing up at 110k miles and the 99 got sold just as it was getting ready to kill itself at 154k. Both were 4.6s. As @Slash said, watch out for transmissions in those Dodges. 88-98 GMT 400 Silverados and Sierras were hit and miss with 4L60s, but the 350 is pretty bulletproof. Later 4L60s that were put behind the 4.8 and 5.3L LS GMT 800 Silverados and Sierras are a lot better than old ones (ours has over 100k on it an never had an issue with the trans), but still be a little cautious of them because earlier ones were very iffy. 305 powered ones are boat anchors so avoid those too.

IMO, stay away from any older Ford with an E4OD because those things are horrible. Why Ford thought that a trans that blew up behind a 300I6 would work as a trans behind the 460 and 7.3 is still something I don't get. Most of the people I know with that transmission have had theirs rebuilt at least once.

Of those posted, I'd say to start with looking at the Dodge Ram and go from there. That's really the best bet based off of the list that you've posted.
Pretty much this. 4L60s are very hit or miss; my buds 96 GMC with a bone stock TPI 305 (even before headers) made the trans slip pretty rough, so just be very careful.

Agreed on the E4OD as well. AODs are fine transmissions, (though not as good as a C6 IMO), but most E4ODs will need rebuilding however once built they prove to be pretty stout (I know several guys running 600+ horse 7.3Ls through them and are in pulling trucks).
 
The Ram seems like the best option.

The horror stories about the transmissions blowing up are true, but they usually pertain to older generations than what you're looking at. The late 80s / early 90s dodges had gearboxes made out of brie, but I think they were using metal by 2004. The Dakota isn't worth your time. They're garbage.

If you go GM, avoid the 305 like the plague. I sneezed on mine and it blew out several piston rings.
 
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