CarComplaints.com Notes: The second generation Durango was introduced in 2004 and instantly came under fire for, well, catching on fire.
From 2004-2006 electrical overloading in the driver's side instrument panel caused numerous reports of interior fires. The interior infernos became so commonplace that Chrysler eventually issued a recall.
The problems didn't stop there, however. Owners of the recalled vehicles complained about being treated unfairly and given take-it-or-leave-it low ball settlement offers. "They offered me $2000 under NADA retail as a settlement," said one owner, "and have been rude and hostile to deal with." Nothing says awesome service like treating your customers rudely after their cars have caught on fire.
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 have a 2004 Dodge Durango slt 5.7L hemi. Never had any big issues with it until in 2014 I was driving home from work on the highway when I heard a loud bang and loud knocking noises followed shortly by an abrupt shut off. I tried immediately to get to the side of the road but when I lost power steering from the engine ceizing and couldn't correct myself enough so I went down the hill off the side of the highway while trying to break with no brake booster anymore as well. I ended up running into a couple small tree's and finally stopping. Air bags didn't deploy and I only jammed my finger and hurt my back some but I only missed a larger group of tree by inches. My front bumper was ripped off, my drivers side headlight was broke as well as my grille and my windshield cracked. I took it to my mechanic and found out that the engine "hydrolocked" and a piston rod punched through my engine and broke a lot of other things internally. Needless to say the engine is gone. After doing some research I have found that there are hundreds more people that had this happen to their 04 and 05 Dodge Durango with the 5.7L hemi. Apparently the water runs right down onto the engine and pools up and the intake is faulty so it sucks that water up and causes a catastrophic hydrolock with the engine which could kill someone if they lose power steering and power brakes within a second. I've been trying to save to get a new engine (which will cost about $3800 alone) because I bought this for too much and neither Dodge or my insurance would cover it so it's now a pile of scrap until I hopefully can get a new engine or have Dodge buy this death trap back. Dodge needs to buy these back or fix them! this is by far not an individual case and it is very dangerous and costly!
Key fob poorly designed which leads to small interier metal prong breaking causing the key to be no good. Once the key is no longer working you have to open the doors manually by inputting the key into the door lock which sounds the alarm until the car is started. This is a true safety issue when your holding two infants and trying to open the door and stop the alarm from sounding. I was also approached by officers as there had been car break ins in this particular location and they believed I was steeling the veh because the alarm was sounding and I was leaned over attempting to get the key in the ignition to stop the alarm from sounding. I've checked on the internet and many other folks have this same issue. The Dodge dealership has even advised me that this is a known issue and that mopar who manufactuers the keys for Dodge has changed the design because of the issue, however, they will not fix the issue for those with keys already broke and is not willing to reiumburse for the key cost.
Dodge Durango, hemi 5.7 liter engine went out. Started out with a ticking noise that I wound out to be the #7 cylinder connecting rod was bent and hitting the baffle above the crankshaft. It broke, as I was driving it onto the lift, and sent the rod through the side of the block. Engine is dead, 116K miles.
My vehicle is a 2004 Durango limited and I have problems with my remote transmitter that locks/unlocks the doors and sets the alarm. The remote works for a short period of time then I have to open it up and adjust the brackets that hold the battery as if it's loose and I want to ensure contact. That worked for some time along with tapping it upside down so that the battery would transmit to the remote (not sure) but this is no longer working. I have two remotes and only one has worked and I have tried installing new batteries in both with no success. Sometimes I have to open the car with the key and sets off the loud/obnoxious alarm system where the lights flash and the car honks until I turn the car on and it stops. I now think that the remote transmitters are defective as I've always had issues with them locking and unlocking whenever they feel like it.
I have a 2004 Durango limited ed, and the lights on the stereo screen dim and then turn off. The power on the stereo becomes frozen; if the radio is on when starting the car it will stay on but if it was off, it cannot be powered on. I am able to manipulate the volume via the buttons behind the steering wheel but only the am/fm mode works and not the cd or aud/alternate mode for my ipod. I'm not positive, but I believe that the controls for the heater/ac do not work either and the digital screen is off (has happened about 3 times and is unpredictable and has been months apart). After I bought the car (11/08), I noticed that the battery shut off B/C when I got back into the car and started it, all of my radio stations that were programmed and the time were reset. Also, when the stereo "freezes" like this, I can hear a load zooming/clicking sound from the speakers on top of music when playing.
- Woodland, CA, USA
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Car sometimes starts without electrical response: Turn the ignition on and engine starts but no electricity. Driving on interstate 95 and all electricity to all panels and power steering shuts off. This happens often and results in having to coast to stop on the side of the interstate with little control of the vehicle. I have to restart engine several times before electrical response is restored. A tumbler kit was installed under warranty (service at pritchard Dodge in ithaca, NY in April of 2005) to reset electrical circuit and it helped but never fixed the problem, but now problem is back and getting worse. I do not have the luxury to buy another car so I have used it, but now is too dangerous.
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Durango. While the vehicle was parked in a public parking lot, it erupted into flames. There were no prior warnings or injuries. The fire and police departments were called to the scene and a report was filed. The fire department marshall stated that the cause of the failure was electrical due to defective wiring within the instrument panel. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to the contact's residence. The contact was concerned of the safety risk involved. The failure and current mileages were 80,000.
After the original purchase of the vehicle 2004, on a hill in a curvy turn, at the stop on the hill the vehicle would stall. Dealer could never recreate the situation, never fixed. Now there is a fix out there. Over the past several months, have noticed vehicle stall when it rains, (wet moisture), the RPM's go up and way down. Been to the dealer several times, first time replace wires, plugs, not it, next flash and upgrade software, not fixed, they cant re-create the problem. The vehicle will stall, unknown when it will stall, may run great day 1 in the am, not run in the afternoon. May run ok first 20 minutes, then will decide to stall. Prior to the software upgrade vehicle would run fine in dry weather., now with the upgrade, vehicle does not start properly. Dealer can not seem to find a fix to the stalling issue.
I purchased a 2004 Durango in Nov of 2006. I had no real problems with vehicle until recently. Took vehicle in to dealership for recall of instrument panel. Dealership took care of this and 2 weeks later temperature gauge started reading hotter then usual. Contacted dealership who then stated unrelated. Recently went on vacation and 300 miles from home vehicle temp gauge read hot. Pulled off interstate to nearest service station. No dealership near here. Mechanic found no codes to indicate problem. Replaced water pump, thermostat, hoses, check radiator, new fluids, bill total 377 dollars. 3 miles later car still trying to over heat. Towed to va for 1,000 dollars now at dealership. Car also seems to sometimes not be in gear when placed in drive and you try to accelerate engine just revs. At dealership now we shall see what they say.
I have had a 2004 5.7 limited Dodge Durango 2004 version and have consistent electrical problems. The first time the truck did not start when I was out of state. I needed to get towed to a Dodge dealer and it took almost 3 weeks to fix. They stated that the electric system shorted out and replaced some system within the car. After getting the car back I had consistent problems with the air conditioning system, interior lights, radio system etc. They would work sometimes and not work most of the time. I took the truck to the dealer (bridge Chrysler in New York) several times and they said there was no problem. After calling the main complaint line several times they asked me to bring it to another dealer in brooklyn.(bay ridge) the service manager dan worked with the service department for another 2 weeks to finally identify that the original time the truck died and was fixed they replaced the wrong part. The service department in brooklyn fixed the truck and I do not have major problems most of the time now but I was without the truck for over 6 weeks over the duration of the lease so far. There continues to be electrical problems with my truck but I do not have the time to leave the truck for another 3 weeks.
When the ambient temperature is above 105 deg F, the air conditioner blows out hot air. I have had the 31 Mar 05 tsb fix put in place, but the ac still does not work correctly.
The fog lights, located in the bumper of the 2004 Dodge Durango is damaged when debris (rocks) from the road way are kicked up. The fog lights are made of glass but the headlights are covered in plastic. Little stones where kicked up by trucks which broke both fog lamps costing 140 dollars in repair for just driving down the roadway. I feel this is a defect in the construction of this vehicle because these lamps are made of glass which caused them to break and needed replacement. They should be covered with plastic to prevent this costly repair.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Paw Paw, MI, USA