What went wrong??

I bought a brand new 97 Dakota with a 5.2 and a five speed and 4x4. Within 6 months I broke the the rear end, then the transfer case just tooling around on my 42 acres I had at the time. Then the rear end broke again 3 years later. No, I was wasn't rock crawling, just exploring my property.

I decided to upgrade and traded up to a 2001 5.9. They did not offer and I could not order the 2001 1500 Off-Roadster with a manual behind the 5.9. fine, I figured I'd give the auto a shot. It never shifted right and full throttle on-ramp and full throttle pulls up the mountains here it would down shift into first at 50 mph!!! I brought it back numerous times and it was never fixed. At least I never broke the rear end and transfer case though.

I'll never buy a new car again, waste of money and time. As soon as it rolls out the door you're 5 to 8 grand in debt and dealing with the service dept there had me pulling my hair out.

I'll stick with my Ramcharger. Do I get compliments from the ladies, have a 6 speaker stereo, a stellar midnight blue paint job and have power seats and air? Hell no, but it gets about the same mileage, has more power, shifts the way it's supposed to and can pull more weight. I'll never break the driveline tooling around off road either. Once I get the bodywork done, I might get some compliments too, lol.