Teleidoscope

Thu, Mar 15, 2007

Dodge Dakota

Posted at 9:49 pm MDT to Technology

I worked at the company office today: took my truck in to the mechanic and Justin from the office drove me back to the office and then over to the mechanic again in the afternoon. Thanks, Justin.

Well, I don't think my next truck will be another Dodge. My previous truck, which served me very well, was a Dodge Ram 50, which was really a Mitsubishi in drag. But the Dakota has just spoiled things. The 4-wheel drive is basically dead until I can get it repaired, which will take a few days and a bunch of money.

I'll probably arrange to have the repairs done while I'm in California next month, but I am very annoyed.

Real world driving, for me, involves horrible mud, ice, and snow, interspersed with occasional patches of dry pavement. Apparently, the Dakota 4-wheel drive mechanism can't take even brief patches of dry pavement. Not a problem I ever had with the Ram 50. But the Ram 50 had front-wheel drive when it wasn't in 4-wheel drive mode, which may make a difference.

I've noticed that the new Dakotas don't have a regular cab option, either, and I don't think they have small hybrid pickups. I don't think Mitsubishi sells pickup trucks in the US any more (at least in this area). When the time comes, I'll probably look at Ford and Toyota... maybe whoever has hybrids

It's really too soon to think seriously about trading in the Dakota, though: I got it in December 2000, but it has less than 65,000 miles on it. And I'm gotten spoiled by not having a car payment, and I've got a car-sized expense for a new septic system glaring at me at the moment.

The septic tank guy never showed up to pump it. He called in late afternoon to say he was delayed, and promised to call this evening to reschedule, but it's after 9:30 pm and I haven't heard from him. I haven't been feeling well this week and today was stressful trying organize the logistics of the mechanic, so I'm exhausted. I was trying to fall asleep on the couch earlier this evening, but stayed up because I was expecting the phone call. If I don't hear from him by midmorning tomorrow, I'll have to start calling his competitors.

And I need to start finding an engineer to design the new system, too.

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