He's buying a brand-new Dakota, eh? I feel sorry for him...
A friend of mine's been researching them (he wants one...well,
wanted one as well), and on a forum similar to this for Dakotas, he's been finding amazing problems with QC and such. The biggest and most scary was that more than one truck's been found, fresh off the dealer lot, with loose cab-to-frame bolts
Kinda scary for me as I eventualy want a Ram diesel pickup...
As to a truck vs an M-B, I'm trying for the best of both worlds.
I've got an '84 diesel Ford pickup, and as soon as I get my van sold and find a decent-condition M-B at a decent price, I'm hoping to have either a 300D or a 300TD wagon as a commuter.
You find me a g@$$er that goes over 150K miles (and IMHO that's being generous) and runs well without any major maintenance, and I'll be amazed. My 6.9l International-Harvester engine, on the other hand...well, the van's at 130K miles with no problems and the truck's at over 200K miles with no problems other than needing a fuel pump at the moment. Compare that to the two g@$$er cars I owned in the past...I'm happy to stick with a diesel.
Put a 4 cyl diesel in the Dakotas...now
that wouldn't be such a bad thing!
Someday, hopefully...someday...