I've taken my 1997 Dodge Dakota out of storage and have been driving it some this week. Everything was fine, until a few days ago, when the brakes started making a grinding noise. I figured that rust had accumulated on the rotors again, so I took it in to have it fixed. It turns out that one of the brake pads was metal to metal. I had the pads and rotors replaced just last year and now it needs it again? After the work was done and I was driving home, I came to a stop light and noticed smoke coming from the front driver's side tire. The smell of brake smoke is quite noxious, so I quickly returned to the brake shop. They had to rebuild the caliper because one of the brake pads would not release.
My plan to have a small car for the summer and drive the truck in the winter is not working too well as I have to replace the brakes after the truck sits for more than a month. This summer I had been trying my best to take the truck out periodically to keep the battery fresh and the rotors from getting rust, but I guess it wasn't often enough. Let this be a warning for anyone who is letting their old gas guzzler sit for too long. Maybe Dodge Dakota's are extra hard on brakes for some reason. I've asked them to install better brake parts, but the local shops just shrug and say this is all we have. The two vehicles shown here are the GMC Envoy and the Honda Pilot. Midsize SUV's all look similar from the outside, but the quality level can be drastically different. I like the styling of the Envoy, but I'm afraid that it could be a repair shop's dream, like the Dodge Dakota. Customer reviews on Honda and Toyota products are off the charts compared to their America competitors. One of my favorite web sites to research cars is at
Cars.com. They have all the information you need when shopping for your next new or used vehicle. In addition to the Midsize SUV's I also like the smaller Toyota Rav4 and the Honda CR-V. Now that I've put some money into the Dakota, I may have to keep it through the winter, but if I see something interesting on a dealer's lot, I may have to take the big trade-in loss.
I've taken my 1997 Dodge Dakota out of storage and have been driving it some this week. Everything was fine, until a few days ago, when the brakes started making a grinding noise. I figured that rust had accumulated on the rotors again, so I took it in to have it fixed. It turns out that one of the brake pads was metal to metal. I had the pads and rotors replaced just last year and now it needs it again? After the work was done and I was driving home, I came to a stop light and noticed smoke coming from the front driver's side tire. The smell of brake smoke is quite noxious, so I quickly returned to the brake shop. They had to rebuild the caliper because one of the brake pads would not release.
My plan to have a small car for the summer and drive the truck in the winter is not working too well as I have to replace the brakes after the truck sits for more than a month. This summer I had been trying my best to take the truck out periodically to keep the battery fresh and the rotors from getting rust, but I guess it wasn't often enough. Let this be a warning for anyone who is letting their old gas guzzler sit for too long. Maybe Dodge Dakota's are extra hard on brakes for some reason. I've asked them to install better brake parts, but the local shops just shrug and say this is all we have. The two vehicles shown here are the GMC Envoy and the Honda Pilot. Midsize SUV's all look similar from the outside, but the quality level can be drastically different. I like the styling of the Envoy, but I'm afraid that it could be a repair shop's dream, like the Dodge Dakota. Customer reviews on Honda and Toyota products are off the charts compared to their America competitors. One of my favorite web sites to research cars is at Cars.com. They have all the information you need when shopping for your next new or used vehicle. In addition to the Midsize SUV's I also like the smaller Toyota Rav4 and the Honda CR-V. Now that I've put some money into the Dakota, I may have to keep it through the winter, but if I see something interesting on a dealer's lot, I may have to take the big trade-in loss.
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