Good Dakotas?

I have two Dakotas I am going to look at buying tomorrow, and was wondering which one is the better of the two.

One is a 1996 Dakota 4x4 with the 5.2 L V8. The other is a 2000 Dakota 2WD with the 3.9 L V6, both have pretty low milage.

Also, can someone out there check the VIN numbers for me? I figure someone must have the capability to do this without spending $25 apiece at CarFax. Right? If not, well hell...

1996 Dakota: 1B7GG23Y5TS601159
2000 Dakota: 1B7GL22X1YS521563

Thanks for any info.

InPhase277

I used AutoCheck.com when looking up VINs. They charge $25 for 60 days access...no limit on the number of VINs you look up. But if you look up a LOT of VINs, like I did, then they do ask to verify that you are not a dealer. I guess they have a different price for dealers.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with their reports, showing past registrations and where they were, state inspections, emission inspections, and titling. It also gave an overall "score" which I'm not sure how it is done, but it does give you a comparison to other similar vehicles.

I probably looked up about 30 VINs for the price...well worth it.