We purchased this vehicle new in 2004. It always seemed to have a grinding during acceleration but we were told this was standard with a hemi and were too trusting to check it out. Our last payment was this July 2009 and this morning while my wife who usually drives the car was backing it out the engine failed spilling oil all over the drive and street.She made it to the dealer where the vehicle was purchased (And I don't know how) and a few hours later we were informed that the engine had failed and would cost 2900 dollars to repair. Since the vehicle has 78000 miles on it it was out of warranty of course. I have owned several cars two of which were Chrysler products and while both rode well they were essentially junk after their odometers passed 60000 miles.

I am a loyal made in America guy (at least assembled here) but after this last experience , a bad taste has been left in my mouth. A 36,000 dollar vehicle with 78000 miles on it should prove a lot more durable after all IT IS AN SUV!

My wife changed the oil faithfully every 3000 miles and essentially "babied" this car. Personally I will never buy another Chrysler product and intend to unload this one as soon as possible! No wonder both them and General Motors are in trouble. I understand nothing lasts forever and anything mechanical eventually fails. But 78000 miles??? Gimme a break.

Arrivi derci Chrysler and GM.

Bill Vance Dayton Ohio

I purchased my 2004 Durango in July 2004. It was a dealer demo, fully loaded, and had approximately 5,800 miles on it. I have regularly changed the oil, had routine maintenance, and really didn't have any real problems with the car. Two weeks ago I took it in for an oil change at approximately 78,500 miles. Today, I turn the engine on and the check engine light is on, then it starts to flash, then I hear a rattling sound. I backed the car out of the driveway so as not to block my husband in. I immediately took the car to the dealership. I got the worst possible news, the engine was gone!

Is the the normal life of a Durango engine, 78,500 miles? I had not indication that anything was wrong before now; no rough ride or rough idling. And it was only two week ago that I took the car in for an oil change. Could there have been some indication then that this problem was looming out there.

And, of course, I'm out of warranty. The warranty was 7 years/70,000 for the powertrain, 3 years/36,000 miles basic. Maybe I should be glad that I got 5 years out of the car, but really is this what we should expect out of American made cars?

I would really like to hear from other Durango owners about this. Are you experiencing the same problems?

The engine light first came on a month after I had purchased the vehicle. I took it in to the dealer and was told that maybe I should check the gas tank lid. If it is loose it may cause the engine light to turn on. Well now that I am going to pay it off this year the light is on and won't turn off. I have to take it in to get checked. I have 2 jobs and no time to deal with this sort of issues. I always take it in for oil changes as required. I was driving home around 1:00 am after my 2nd job and suddenly it started accelerating and slowing down at the same time. It scared me. Now I have to warm up the truck for about 15 minutes before I drive off or it will do this.

After months of dealing with a car that quits, today it finally stalled out in the middle of a very busy intersection. I'm told the 2004 Dodge Durango needs a new engine! WHAT!!!

With 5 other vehicles in the household (one is a 1967, and one is 1965) the 2004 Durango needs an engine!!! I've NEVER had to replace an engine in any vehicle I've ever owned since I first started driving! Jennifer the service adviser at Fairbanks Dodge stated "when you had the oil changed maybe they were putting in the wrong oil". NO! NO! NO! What a SMOKESCREEN! After reading all the similar complaints on here and learning of a class action lawsuit regarding this engine. I'm ready to pull out all my receipts for all my cars and jump on board the lawsuit. It will be interesting to see how much more maintenance this car required compared to all others. (It was definitely more maintenance than all the other vehicles). DO NOT BUY A DODGE. DO NOT BUY A DODGE. DO NOT BUY A DODGE. YOU WILL GET BURNED! I'm past the manufacturers warranty, however, engine failure in this many vehicles (you can be sure if this many people found this site and took the time to register and complain) there are ALOT more of us out there. You would think that Dodge would be making an offer to "make it right". As in the current state - it is ALL WRONG. No wonder the American Car Makers are hurting. When they have a problem they act like a bunch of crooked attorneys and hide behind a bunch of bullshit worthless warranty information. The fact is they should act like REAL MEN and stand up and admit they have a problem and that they will get to the bottom of it and stand behind their product. Dodge is nothing but a bunch of pencil pushing sales figure motivated company. The kind of company that you don't want to do business with. It will be like being married to a loser that has a family that keeps bleeding you to death. There is no excuse Dodge! Hide behind your sales figures all you want - I will never ever buy a Dodge. Neither will my kids, or anyone who attending my family reunion next week. Because I will spread the word on every blog, website, radio show, consumer panel that I can. And at every party, picnic, event, and show I'm involved with. Besides the Durango is a HUGE gas hog!

This engine had a engine flush in august 2007. The engine camshaft journals broke and the engine failed. The engine oil light came on just prior to the failure. The engine was removed and it was discovered that the oil pump pickup was blocked. Customer was aware of reported oil sludge problems with the Chrysler engines. There was no evidence of sludge but evidence of varnish and high temp discoloration. It is obvious that the oil flush done at a local oil change place had displaced a large amount of the varnish which finally made its way to the oil pan and was picked up by the oil pump screen which finally became blocked. When it started to become blocked it allowed a low oil supply problem at the camshaft journals (overhead cams) and they broke causing the engine to quit. This also allowed a drop in oil flow and pressure which caused the oil light to come on. I have been building and working on may different types of engines and this probably is the worst engine design I have seen. My suggestion is to not get an engine flush no this engine as it caused this engine to fail.