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.
The contact owned a 2004 Dodge Durango. While warming up the unoccupied vehicle for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, the vehicle caught fire. The fire department was called and a police report was filed. There were no injuries. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to an independent auction. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 07V092000 (electrical system) as a possible cause of the fire. The failure mileage was 140,000. Fire marshall determined the cause of the fire was wiring.
Veh problem on 1/1/08 -- 2004 Dodge Durango www.datatown.com/Chrysler/ 1/3/08: Called Chrysler dealer ' 1-800-992-1997 spoke to amy (ref 17081406 (id#AJ267) she requested the vehicle id no ' the last eight ' I gave her ' she ask what our address was and telephone number ' I gave it to her. She asked if I contacted the shop where I get it serviced at ' I said, no I was contacting you first. I told her I wanted to see if this was covered under the 7 year/70,000 mile warranty ' she said, I did not have that ' I said yes I did that's what made us buy the vehicle. She said to contact the place where we bought it from ' in roxborogh - she said, what problem are you having. I told her that the problem started when I got the recall fixed for instrument cluster. We had wiring harness to the 8 cyclinder. Then the oil light came on. But I did not need any oil ' I get my oil done regularly. Three days later the Dodge started revving very high like someone is pushing on the pedal. The car jerks and the engine light is on now. She put me on hold to check the warranty information. Spoke to leslie, supervisor. She told me there is nothing they could do for me ' what you do out side of Chrysler is your problem. I told her there is all sorts of notes on line from people having problems with engines and transmissions. She said, there was no recalls on this.
: the contact stated the vehicle caught on fire in the driveway without warning. The fire department extinguished the fire and a report was filed. The dealer determined the cause of the fire was the wiring harness.
: the contact stated while driving at various speeds, while applying brake pressure the vehicle lurched forward and struck an oncoming vehicle. The vehicle sustained damage to the front end. A police report was taken. There were no injuries. The vehicle was taken to the dealership for inspection. Upon inspection, the dealership was unable to duplicate the problem. The vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop for further evaluation. The contact indicated the crash was caused by mechanical failure in the vehicle. The contact was never notified of the mechanical failure. Also, the contact did not receive NHTSA recalls O4V0120000 concerning vehicle speed cables; O3V528000 concerning electrical system wiring, and O4V578000 regarding battery cables. The contact felt aforementioned recall failures could have caused the accident.
While driving transmission light and engine light appeared on the dashboard and remained on. Consumer drove the vehicle to dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the wires needed to be replaced. Consumer informed the mechanic that this problem still occurred, and had not been resolved. New electric harness were replaced due to metled wires. 2 recalls found by the consumer: One on wiring under the dash, and the other on accelerator cable. Consumer made 10 visits to the dealer.
When driving at an undetermined speed, the transmission light appeared on the dashboard. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealership for inspection, however, the mechanic could not duplicate the problem. After the fifth visit to the service dealer (desoto mall), the transmission light had not come back on. The shifting light had come on and the consumer had taken the vehicle to the service dealer (central Maine Dodge) and after three visits to them, they found melted wires and a bad sensor. The wires had holes in them. Chrysler would do nothing to help resolve this problem. A transmission sensor was placed in the vehicle. (the shift indicator stayed on intermittently along with all of the other lights & the transmission range sensor rationality wires were damaged and melted on the catalytic converter) also the engine had come on and the vehicle jumped forward.
Following the throttle casing recall on my Dodge Durango 2004 slt 4.7 L a few days after I purchased the vehicle, my engine light came on...no prob per the dealer. Following week I noticed that gas mileage was below 10mpg's which was abnormal but dealer stated that it would get better. A few days later while accelerating on interstate 80 the engine started bucking and chugging and the engine light came on and started blinking..... I pulled to the shoulder and turned off vehicle. I got the vehicle to the dealer and they found from the computer that the cylinders were misfiring. They pulled the plugs out of the block and noted rust and corrosion along with oxidation covering the sparkplugs and the extension tubes holding the spark plugs. They found that water was getting into the firing area of the sparkplug. However, it was said to me by the warranty manager from the northeast business center for Chrysler that he had my photos sent to detroit and that engineers were now designing a deflector shield for these Durangos which would somehow keep water from getting to places it should not be. As a certified safety professional, #9937, I investigate fatalities and injuries regularly. It is my job to try to arrive at the root cause of accidents and incidents. In this case, a service manager from corigliano Dodge, believe other vehicles may have this problem and that it could be related...that is the water not being kept way from the innerds of the engine...could be related to the throttle cable getting water in it and when subject to freezing temps, it could stick causing an accident. Water in an engine here got the throttle to stick when mixed with cold temperatures. It got my engine cylinders to misfire and what about steering or electrical fires. Chrysler must have some oversight from your Agency on this and please contact me so I can email digital photos to you that I took that day in the corigliano Dodge of boonton, NJ shop.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Grand Foras, ND, USA