Not all sight unseen eBay truck purchases end badly. The 1998 Dakota SLT (3.9 V6, auto, 2wd, 147,000m) in these pictures is living proof. Won the truck in the pictures off eBay for a final successful bid of $3800 based on a great description, excellent pictures and an honest phone call with the seller.

Having won it, I decided because of the great condition, I’d drive it from Wisconsin to my home in south central Texas. Made a week long holiday of it by taking the Amtrak train to Milwaukee to pick it up. The morning after getting it, I drove my “new” Dakota north to Manitowoc to take the car ferry 60 miles across Lake Michigan to Ludington, Michigan then took a nice late fall drive down the east coast of Lake Michigan to visit friends in Grand Rapids for a few days.

When time came to head south, I loaded a few bushels of fresh picked Michigan apples in the Dakota and spent 2 days traveling 1700 nearly drama free miles back home to Texas. It was a fun week of smiles, cool sights and a relaxing drive in a gorgeous “new” Dakota. It just so happened the latest LMC Dakota catalog was in my saved mail when I got home. Bonus! Time to slice up some juicy apples, kick back in my comfy chair and see what LMC has for my new truck!