When I bought my 2004 Silverado in 2006, I was looking at both Dakota Quad cabs, and extended cab (cab and a half) Silverado/Sierras.
The reason why I was looking at quad cab Dakotas was that the extended cab version of the Dakota really didn't realistically have enough room in the back for real adults. Kids? Yes. Adults? No. However, the extended cab in the Silverado and Sierra did. I did anticipate occasionally carrying passengers in the truck.
A dealer let me drive a 2005 Dakota Quad Cab with the V6 for an entire weekend. I liked it well enough, it seemed to have enough power when empty and the 4 doors were nice. But how would it perform with 500 pounds of tools and materials in the bed, along with the added weight of a fiberglass topper?
However, the gas mileage with the 210 horsepower V6 Dakota (17 mpg combined) was literally the same as the Silverado that I ended up buying with a 295 horsepower 5.3 liter V8 (16 mpg combined). Ouch!
And, at that time, the price of the 2005 Dakota Quad Cab was nearly the same as the 2004 Silverado that I ended up buying.
As much as I wanted the Dakota (and it was the truck that I wanted to own), a full size truck was a better buy. Plus, I can do so much more with a full sized truck, including pulling my parents' 26' travel trailer. A V6 Dakota wouldn't have been able to do that.
Consumer Reports rates the Dakota as "worse than average".
Plus, the Dakota is a dead man walking at this point. The next model year is its last. That will have an impact on residual values after it is discontinued.
After I considered everything, as much as I wanted one, I didn't buy a Dakota.
