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 already caught on fire.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
6 / 2
Average Mileage:
93,903 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
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.
Vehicle stalled while pulling into a parking stall. When that happens you lose complete power and it is extremely difficult to steer. The Dodge dealer claims to have no idea of what I'm talking about nor did it do the same to them when they were driving. When they called to talk about fixing some issues with the vehicle they were trying to charge me $959 to change an alternator that is working at 90% and the efr. This does not guarantee the problem will be fixed. These are 2 (two) codes their machine is throwing. Their machine does not indicate anything about stalling.
While I'm driving down the road it could be the interstate or in town, doing 30 to 55 miles per hour depending on where I am, my husband's engine light will turn on in his 2005 Dodge Durango after the wheel begins stiffening and my lights all shut off and I am costing into opposing traffic lane or in the middle of traffic with my 4 children and myself, sometimes it is just me and once it was with my husband and children. The engine light will stay solid and all of this happens after when SUV will cut off with no warning, instantly my steering wheel gets stiff and I cannot turn, my lights go off and the radio and headlights shut off. I have no control over the vehicle at the time. This us happening more and more. This also has happened when I am coming to a stoplight or a stop sign other times when I'm coming out of a stop and the SUV is still running at that time. Very unpredictable and dangerous. No warnings, he has had the SUV 1 year.
As I approached my vehicle and used the remote to open the doors, I heard a noise under the vehicle like gears were shifting on their own without the vehicle even running. I started the vehicle and started driving. When I went into a parking lot and turned left to park, it was like someone was putting on the brakes making it difficult for me to turn and to accelerate--felt like I was in 4WD despite not shifting to 4WD from AWD. I nearly hit the car next to mine because I had to accelerate so hard to get into the spot without getting hit from the rear. I turned the car off and let it sit for 1/2 hour and restarted it and drove home. When I let the car sit in the garage, I was in the garage and heard gears shifting on their own while the vehicle was not running. This has already happened 3 times and it is quite scary! if I try to turn left and this happens on the road, I could get into a serious accident.
Car is shutting off and the power steering is locking during slight turns. Once in my driveway, once at a drive thru and once in a field while parking at the air show. The one at the air show took 15 minutes to get the wheel to unlock to finally restart the car. This has happened 3 times in 5 days now. I'm afraid for my wife to drive the car (it's her car) now. The kids were in it 2 out of the 3 times. Very very scary.
- Jeannette, PA, USA
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I was driving in my apartment complex and as I slowed down to turn my truck just shut off. Steering wheel locks and I am not able to turn. I have to press hard on the brake for it to stop and I can then put it into park and turn the key to turn it back on. I have two small children of the age of 1 & 2. having them in the car with me when this happens is nerve wrecking. It's happened at least once or twice every 2-3 weeks. I have asked mechanics in regards to this and have had it checked and no one can tell me what it is. The previous owner said that it did the same not all the time but when he took it to the Dodge dealer, they couldn't tell him what it was either. My last (most recent) incident was on 5/10/14 - the car shut off four times that day. 2 happened while I was stopped at a red light, one happened as I was slowing down to park and one happened while I was turning and the car shut off in the middle of the turning lane while my family was in the car with me. The other issue I have is with my fuel tank. I can't fill my tank because when I do... it spits out gas. Also, I've had to switch out my il pressure switch twice since February 2014. I have no idea as to why it's doing that.
Between the end of November 2013 and the middle of December 2013, I was driving on the highway and had to slow down as I approached the toll booth. As I slowed down to approximately 35 mph, the engine shut down and the steering wheel locked. I had no control of the vehicle. I put the gear shift into neutral as I rolled along and turned on the ignition to restart the engine. This was the second time this incident occurred within 2-3 weeks.
I have owned my 05 Durango since 07. My Durango has stalled now 4 times in 6 months. Once in a hospital parking lot going very slow. Next time while backing out of my driveway. About a month ago I turned into my neighborhood and made a slow left turn onto my street. It lost power halfway into the turn. No RPM's no speedo. No power steering no power brakes. I man handled the turn, flipped it in neutral. Turned the key off then on and I had my speedo back, and I continued to start it back up. I thought ok that was crazy weird. No check engine lights, no codes. I thought it was bad gas or fuel system clogged. I have since cleaned all they up and serviced the fuel system. Then yesterday it happened again in the same exact location doing the same exact low speed maneuver. This time I had my kids in the truck. What if I pulled across traffic to turn with no power and stalls. What if my wife was driving? I'm not sure she could remedy a situation like this.
While cruising a back road near home the Durango suddenly shut off leaving me no lower steering or brakes. It was terrifying. I was lucky to be only going approximately 25 mph as I was just cresting a hill. I was able to have enough momentum to guide the truck onto a side street. It restarted immediately upon putting it in park again. And I was able to drive it to my parents house without incident and then again back to my house later in the day. There was no warning lights that lit on the dash and no other indication that there was a. malfunction. The rpms were smooth, no rough engine. Terrified to drive this truck now.
2005 Durango 4.7 V8 hemi my vehicle randomly shuts down on its own, locking the steering column, when slowing down and turning at the same time as when coasting into a parking space or coming to a stop. Also, on some of these occasions, all interior electrical components seem to go out, inst panel, radio, fan/blower, etc. Brought in multiple times for inspection, they say they find nothing. In last 6 months, 4WD light blinks as if its changing from AWD to 4WD on its own, sometimes can hear it engaging under car when using key fob locking or unlocking, and when turning into a parking spot it feels like it changed to 4lo as its almost skipping/hopping like trying to take a turn with 4WD and rpms go way up like I'm in a low gear. Many, many of the same complaints on Dodge forums with many people just throwing money at it and having multiple things replaced etc, just to find out its not fixed. Needs to be recalled soon.
I was pulling into a parking space and the car started skipping and jumping, vehicle was hard to steer and it also hesitated to go, turning was very difficult. The 4 lock light was flashing on all by itself and the knob has been on AWD I only rarely switch the vehicle to 4 lock in the winter time. This makes about a dozen times it has happened to this vehicle. Twice in one day is very scary. I am very afraid of what might happen if I am going a higher speed at the time it decides to mess up. I have talked to a mechanic and he has never heard of the issue but says it could be very dangerous if it would happen while driving a higher rate of speed. I have search on line by typing '05 Dodge Durango 4 lock by itself' and there are a lot of people having the same issue. Also with no luck figuring the problem, one person had replaced the transfer case 3 times and it was only a temporary fix.
When I was turning into my neighborhood going about 5 to 10 mph, the vehicle power steering just shut down on me. I had to coast it over to the side and turn off engine and restart. Thankfully, there was no other cars on the road at the time. This is the 3rd time this has happened to me. I took it to the dealership 2 years ago and they could not duplicate the problem so they just fixed something with the electrical computer system and sent me on my way. A few hundred dollars later. This is extremely dangerous as it gives the driver no warning at all. Has always happened at low speeds or decelerating.
Date investigation opened: Nov 02, 2005 date investigation closed: Aug 29, 2007 NHTSA action number: EA05018 component(s): Power train all products associated with this investigation details 26 associated documents manufacturer: Chrysler group llc summary: Analysis of the complaint, field report and warranty data shows that the majority of stalling incidents in the subject vehicles appear to be related to the engine calibration concerns that DaimlerChrysler addressed with service bulletins releasing revised PCM software. Analysis of the complaints and ODI's survey of owners of vehicles that received engine management software updates under tsb #18-013-05 show that these stalling incidents have the following characteristics: - they occur at low speeds, often during parking lot or driveway maneuvers; - they occur during decelerations, such as braking for a stop sign or traffic signal; and - the operator is almost always able to immediately restart the vehicle. When compared with other safety defect investigations and recalls of conditions that result in stalling during low-speed deceleration with immediate engine restart possible, the failure rate in the subject vehicles is low. Analyses of complaint and warranty data also show a declining trend. Accordingly, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency will continue to monitor complaints and other information relating to the alleged defect in the subject vehicles and take further action in the future if warranted. See document file for additional information regarding this resume.
Same issue as reported below: Date investigation opened: Nov 18, 2010 date investigation closed: Open NHTSA action number: AQ10001 component(s): Unknown or other all products associated with this investigation details 43 associated documents manufacturer: Chrysler group llc, Ford Motor Company, General Motors llc summary: The Agency, particularly in recent months, has been informed of incidents involving allegations of personal injury and death claimed to have been caused by safety defects and failures to conform to minimum Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) on rental car vehicles for which a safety recall to remedy the safety defect or noncompliance had allegedly not been performed prior to the rental car company's lease of the vehicle. NHTSA understands that there is presently a petition before the federal trade commission (ftc) seeking to prohibit at least one rental car company from renting vehicles on which safety recall campaign remedies remain outstanding. The purpose of this audit query (aq) is to investigate recall remedy completion by rental car companies on the above-listed safety recall campaigns. These campaigns were chosen due to their inclusion of vehicles used in the rental market. This information is expected to provide the Agency an indication of how completely and how quickly rental car fleets, in general or individually, perform necessary recall-related repairs or other remedies on the vehicles owned and then leased for use on the roadways. This aq is opened.
While in AWD the vehicle switches to 4 lo by itself. This makes it hard to make turns, forward and reverse. The 4 lo light blinks and service 4 wd lights stays on. I do not manually switch out of AWD, as 4 wd is not needed. However, as I stated before, it switches on its own. On the date of the incident, the vehicle would not return to AWD from 4 lo. I was told to unhook the battery terminals and after I replace them back to the posts, it would reset the AWD. This did not work. My children and I were stuck on the side of the road until help arrived. I have researched this topic and read complaints from others with the same problems with the same vehicle. Many of them saying after paying out large amounts for parts and repairs the problem is still occurring. Many are not even sure where to start as far as repairs go. I would like some definate answers and diamlerchrysler to be held accountable. Thank you.
My transfer case will shift from AWD to 4lo with no warning. My transfer case also shifts into 4WD, when I should be in AWD. These shifts happen frequently and at any speed.
The vehicle stalls while making turning maneuvers at low speeds which disables the power steering and brakes. This has occurred on numerous occasions but the dealer is unable to duplicate the problem and has not been able to correct this issue. This has always occur during decelerations, such as braking for a stop sign or traffic signal. When it happen I must immediately put the vehicle in park and restart it, but luckily this has not let to an accident yet.
Was driving down the road then came to my neighborhood --- the road was clear but the turn light up ahead had just changed --- so I had time to make my turn into my neighborhood but when I attempted to turn the vehicle just shut off the -- there were two oncoming cars the one in lead began blowing but the car could not be steered or anything. Luckily the cars had time to stop --- so, I quickly put the vehicle in park and attempted to restart the vehicle. Thankfully it started and I was able to continue to pull into my neighborhood. My 10-year old daughter was in the front passenger side and began to scream when she heard the horns blowing --- this could have been tragic---what is the problem and why are these vehicles still able to be sold. I just purchased this vehicle on Saturday. Then while in my neighborhood I called a friend we test drove the vehicle -- the haul/tow light was on then off -- the right rear light was off the on the way back to be park it came on again-- the passenger air bag light was on then a few minutes later it was off. In addition the vehicle shut off again twice while turning the corner onto another street in the neighborhood.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Sacramento, CA, USA