The Lemon Index$700 middle bill · most between $318 and $1,000
About the same as the $700 middle bill owners of all 33 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 51,000 miles (18 reports).
Dodge Dakota owners reported paying a median of $700 for a ball joint replacement, with the middle half of bills between $318 and $1,000. That's from 23 owner reports (23 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $50039%
- $500–$1,00030%
- $1,000–$2,50030%
- $2,500–$5,0000%
- $5,000 and up0%
Share of the 23 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2000 Dodge Dakota7$809 middle bill
- 2001 Dodge Dakota5$440 middle bill
- 2002 Dodge Dakota8$675 middle bill
- 2003 Dodge Dakota2too few for a middle
- 2004 Dodge Dakota1too few for a middle
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2000 Dodge Dakota245 complaints name it30% of that year's complaints
- 2001 Dodge Dakota203 complaints name it30% of that year's complaints
- 2002 Dodge Dakota195 complaints name it29% of that year's complaints
- 2003 Dodge Dakota85 complaints name it29% of that year's complaints
- 2004 Dodge Dakota33 complaints name it16% of that year's complaints
- 2005 Dodge Dakota31 complaints name it7% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a ball joint / control arm. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Keep going
- Dodge Dakota reliability by year
- Ball joint replacement cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
Other repairs Dodge Dakota owners reported
Brake repair (28)
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 10304844, 10219674, 10184056, 10168818, 10125691, 10122084, 10106320, 10105805, 10105664, 10102993, 10102799, 10102470 and more.
Quick answers
How much does ball joint replacement cost on a Dodge Dakota?
Dodge Dakota owners reported a median of $700, and the middle half paid $318 to $1,000, from 23 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a Dodge Dakota ball joint replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The Dodge Dakota middle bill of $700 is about the same as the $700 owners of all 33 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these Dodge Dakota repair costs come from?
From 23 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which Dodge Dakota years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2000 (245), 2001 (203), 2002 (195) Dodge Dakota named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.