This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I purchased my 1999 Durango in early 2000. Since that time, I have had to replace numerous parts of the front end suspension including wheel bearings on several occasions, right side hub assembly, both spindles, and the rotors twice. Last week, I notice the wheel was literally flopping sideways when I turned. My dealer then replaced the upper and lower ball joints on both sides. After the replacement of the ball joints, I drove the vehicle and noticed an extreme shaking when applying the brakes, and a dramatic pull to the right. My dealer examined the front end again, and after eliminating all other possibilities for the problem then notice that the front bracket which holds the lower control arm on the right side was fractured. Upon examining the bracket they discovered that there was no spot weld on the bracket and the two side welds were only on the frame, but not the bracket itself. The bracket and frame were fractured almost all the way around the frame. According to their service men, and body repair staff, the bracket appears to have never been properly welded at the manufacture. Subsequently, I have a vehicle, with that I cannot drive. This seems to be a manufacture defect, which resulted in me having to do numerous repairs over the 5 year period I have owned the vehicle, and put my family in serious danger of a catastrophic front end failure.
I own a 1999 Dodge Durango which had to have the upper and lower ball joints as well as the control arms replaced at a cost of $1200. As an owner of a Durango, I do not feel the recall should be limited to model years 2000 to 2003. It is evident that the faulty parts used by Dodge were used in model years prior to 2000.
While traveling at 25 mph and heard a loud noise, drove vehicle to a mechanic, who discovered that ball joints/ front end, and lead springs were defective.
Today I sent the following email to Subaru of America concerning the investigation of ABS defect in WRX vehicles. I have experienced the problem on numerous occasions, and on no occasion was I driving in an "aggressive" manner or "hard' braking. Nor was my previous complaint to NHTSA a "parroting" of someone else's problem from the impreza website, as Subaru has accused. The ABS is overly sensitive to bumpy surfaces and is a safety risk, period. My email to Subaru of America: I have just reviewed soa's letter dated 9/10/04 to NHTSA re your investigation of alleged ABS problems in WRX's. I am dismayed by soa's inability to document, and refusal to acknowledge, the ABS problem. I am insulted that Subaru blames the problem on "aggressive driving patterns." The problem regularly occurs at one point in my daily urban commute when I brake for a traffic light over a bumpy surface. I am using only 15% of the braking capability at 20 mph when the ABS fault occurs-- hardly "aggressive" or "hard" braking, and hardly a situation that only aggressive performance drivers would encounter. When it occurs, there is a sudden, dramatic reduction in deceleration. Deceleration is no longer proportional to pedal pressure, and increased pressure is ineffective while the ABS is "confused" by the bumpy surface. Several times I have had scary moments when the drop in deceleration has resulted in nearly rear-ending the vehicle in front of me. I am very puzzled why an event, that for me is so predictable and repeatable, has escaped your analysis. I further take offense to the claim in your letter that many of the complaints to the NHTSA were dishonest repetitions of problems a few had described on an owners website. Nice try, but I can attest to the validity of the problem in my car, having experienced it dozens of times. Discussion on the website has informed owners of the problem and may have prevented some accidents, something I cannot say for Subaru! charles F. visser.
- Bloomfield, IN, USA
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I was driving my Durango on a 2 lane road and went around a corner when I heard a loud pop and my steering center changed. Took it to the dealer who realigned it and sent me on my way. I have had poping noises coming from the front end for quite a while, and have reported it my dealer who was "unable to replicate the problem".
My wife and I own a 1999 Dodge Durango and have been told by a Dodge dealership and a Goodyear service center that the front upper and lower ball joints need replacing. The vehicle has approximately 64,000 miles. The dealership offered $50 off the total price (approx. $800) when I told them I knew of reported problems and thought that replacement of these parts at 60,000 miles seemed premature. Please advise. David swanson
Failure has not occurred as of yet, but have had entire front-end replaced on vehicle on 9/12/2002. On 3/31/2004 we had vehicle checked again and was told by the dealership that the left side lower control are was worn and will need to be replaced again soon. I have receipts and quotes from dealership and will be happy to submit copies.
Too many owners seem to be uniformed of the risks associated with the front-end design flaw of the Dodge Durango. Needing upper and/or lower ball joints and control arm replacements at 50K or less should not be the responsibility of the customer. The main issue lies in the fact that this flaw requires the customer to pay for the fixes without any change in design so the need for future replacement falls on the consumer in less than 50K miles again! I feel that this issue should have efforts made with Dodge to protect the safety of the consumer and the financial burden by at least paying for the fix the first time and prior to the failure causing suspension failures that can and eventually will cause harm or death. My vehicle is in need of these replacements when it was apparent that the wheel alignments cannot be preformed and warranted unless the suspension parts are replaced. For many consumer that are still making payments on the vehicle they may not do the replacement and eventually Dodge may be involved in law suits that could ultimately show fault if no proactive measures are taken by them. I would certainly your help in dealing with this issue. Thank you- if Dodge did pay the first bill, they seem to be able to control, at least, the fact that this is needed by the consumer in the future and could remove all liability to the issue forever.
I am the original owner of a 1999 Dodge Durango that has upper/lower ball joint wear at low mileage. I brought my vehicle into a dealership and was quoted $1200 for parts and labor. I started experiencing these problems at 54000 miles! this seems to be a design flaw. I would hope the NHTSA would issue a recall before someone's life is taken.
The upper and lower ball joints, the tie rod ends and the sway bar have been replaced twice. Also the front hubs have been replaced three times. The dealer cannot determine why the parts keep failing after a short period of time.
The front end of my 1999 Dodge Durango started making noises around 50,000 miles. I carried it to a Dodge dealer where they informed me that the ball joints and the front suspension bushings were worn and required replacing. They further stated the reason was that there is no way to lubricate the joints. The costto replace is $800. This is to soon for this to be wearing out.
Front suspension making popping sounds when turning...related to ongoing NHTSA investigation....would like recall to replace worn parts...this is not normal wear....manufacturer should repair at no charge to owner.
1)front brakes locked up, causing brake pad to break damaging rotors. 2)noise in front end, lift up front to check it out only to find wheel ready to fall off.wheel bearings shot. 3)took vehicle to dealer to get wheel bearing fixed, was told along with the wheel bearings that the rotors and brake pads are shot again. 4)to top it all off the dealer told me I need all upper and lower ball joints and the front end alignment if I want to keep the front end on the vehicle.
The front suspension ball joints and tie rods on my Dodge Durango 1999 are worn out prematurely. Occasionally when the steering wheel is turned, the front suspension makes a popping noise.
While making right hand turns, the consumer would hear a loud noise coming from the front end. The dealerships mechanic was notified, but did not resolve the problem. The cause was not determine.
The 1999 Dodge Durango was purchased from South oak Dodge in South holland, ill. It was purchased as a demo with a few thousand miles on it. Since that time I have returned to the dealer on several different occasions for an oil change and filter and to report squeaking in the left front tire. I was told that it just needed lubrication. Each time after changing my oil they would lubricate the wheels. I also explained that the noise was worse when I turned the corner and if I had to use the four wheel drive it was difficult to turn. I also explained that the tires were worn on the inside and on occasion it looked like the left front tire was going to fall off. My complaint was dismissed when the service manager said "oh that's not going to happen " shortly thereafter he said the tire had a slow leak and that he would put a plug in it. My complaints were often dismissed. My car only has 57,000 miles on it. This morning I heard the news regarding the ball bearings on the Dodge Durango. In addition to the above this particular carrier will provide a temporary solution to a problem until your warranty expires. When you return you are charged S maximum amount to correct a problem that occurred while the car was under warrenty. This happened to my boyfriend who has a 1998 one ton pickup quad seats four door Dodge 24 valve turbo engine 3800 dooley. The red engine light kept coming on. We took it in to have the problem fixed. The next day we were told that there was no major problem. Not more than 3 blocks away the lightt came on again. We returned to the service departmennt. The manager stated "oh I'ts probably just a sensor problem". if you continue to have problems bring it back in. The red light continued to stay on. Three months later the truck began to run poorly. We took it back to the dealer. The service departmennt stated that he need a valve job that would cost $1,800. Further the extended warrenty had just expired.
While driving our Durango at night and switching the lights from bright to dim I have had the headlights go out. The last time the headlights went out, I had used my brights while taking country roads, but when I got on the major highway, I-35 my headlights went out completely. I was unable to pull off the side of the road and it was very frightening. I have had this happen when I went from bright to dim once before and I thought it was a fluke, this last time was scary. I had both children in the vehicle on the night of January 30, 2004. This is definately a hazard and could certainly cause an accident. My husband works 35 miles from home and while getting onto another major highway he had the front bearing freeze and the cv joint break. He was only getting onto the on ramp when this happened, thank god he was not on the freeway going 60 mph when it snapped. I had driven this vehicle just 1 week prior to this happening and had absolutely no warning that this might occur. It is my understanding that we should have heard some noise. The whole underside of the Durango was covered in grease from the bearing. This to me means that it had been maintained and this was a faulty piece of metal. While we had it in the shop for repair we were told we need to replace the whole front end suspension. This vehicle is not that old and we need to have it rewired and the front end re-done. I would rather put my money into a different vehicle but feel we would be putting lives at risk if we sold this Durango to anyone. I think that Dodge needs to take a look at their parts, because everything I have mentioned could be life threatening. If a wheel snaps while going 10 mh a poerson can handle the vehicle, if it snaps at 60 mph somebody is going to be hurt. The light issue is huge! you have to have lights, not only are you endangering yourself but everyone else on the road with you. I think it is time Dodge was held responsible and forced to fix these obviously faulty parts.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Burkesville, KY, USA