A Little RANT about Dodge - and other

Two years ago I made the decision to get rid of my wifes Grand Am which was falling apart at 65K despite performing religous regular maintenance according to the manual. We were aslo expecting our first child so we started shopping for an SUV. We looked at this 2001 durango SLT 5.9L which had 48K on it at the time, research revealed the durango had been owned by a fellow gearhead who had records to show the durango had bet meticulously maintained. He even had the ball joints done every at 20K and 40K because of the news articles. Needless to say, we bought it. Now at 73K, its sucking oil - BAD, the door locks and stereo have a mind of their own, clock spring in the steering was replaced (Dodge recalled the Dakotas, Rams, and Caravans with the same part #, but not Durango) Transmission shifts harsh - it was in to the dealer for recall and regular service and adjustment. Rear diff cover leaks, (rubber plug no threaded plug!?) It eats tires (alignment good and ball joints new) and milage is piss poor - (Same as Dad's crew cab 454 dually.) Now - having said that about the Durango (and the Grand Am), I also have a 93 Honda Accord with 180K on it which replaced a Prelude with 140K. Both Hondas had regular maintenance and never gave me any suprises. Neither burn or leak any oil! My frustration has reached its limit, and now I'm shopping for a replacement for the Durango, and would like to know am I honestly expected given my past experience to buy an American Made vehicle? I'd have to say NO or maybe HELL NO- Thanks to any for taking the time to read.

Comparing a Honda Car to any SUV 4-wheel drive is not a comparison at all.
Engine sucking oil - Could be plugged PCV valve - Cheap to fix
Transmission shifting harsh - Could indicate improper fluid - requires MOPAR ATF+4 any other fluid will foul the fluid and cause hard shifting and failure.
Stereo problem - Could be aftermarket stereo, bad installation- no details were given - door locks can be affected b/c they are both connected to the bcm. My sister had the same problem after the stereo shop installed a new stereo.
Eats Tires- Alignment good, could need air presure adjustment,probably needs shocks, SUV need new shocks every 35-50K miles. (see last lines of post)
Poor Mileage - Poor Driving habits.

It's a used off road 4-wheel drive, even though the previous owner had regular maintenance he may have beat the s**t out of it off roading. Changing the ball joints at 20K and 40K would indicate that to me.

Comparing a Honda Car to any SUV 4-wheel drive is not a comparison at all.
Engine sucking oil - Could be plugged PCV valve - Cheap to fix
Transmission shifting harsh - Could indicate improper fluid - requires MOPAR ATF+4 any other fluid will foul the fluid and cause hard shifting and failure.
Stereo problem - Could be aftermarket stereo, bad installation- no details were given - door locks can be affected b/c they are both connected to the bcm. My sister had the same problem after the stereo shop installed a new stereo.
Eats Tires- Alignment good, could need air presure adjustment,probably needs shocks, SUV need new shocks every 35-50K miles. (see last lines of post)
Poor Mileage - Poor Driving habits.

It's a used off road 4-wheel drive, even though the previous owner had regular maintenance he may have beat the s**t out of it off roading. Changing the ball joints at 20K and 40K would indicate that to me.

Why can't I compare service records? The Honda and the Dodge are both used as daily drivers, and both are exposed to the same driving conditions. Should I just expect any 4-wheel drive SUV to have lots of problems? That would be ridiculous. Why can't I find the same type of major complaints about a 4Runners or Pilots?

The PCV valve is new (definitely not plugged), Tranny serviced by dealer used all Mopar ATF+4 etc, Stereo is stock CD+Tape unit, BCM in kick panel was replaced & still haywire, Air pressure in tires checked at every oil change ball joints checked and greased (lowers are now moog) at every oil change Shocks are approaching 30K - That still does not explain inner tire wear like the toe is off when its not. There are no marks underneath or mud and debris packed into the frame to indicate it was used off road. It was his wife's vehicle, said it did usual daily drive routine with their 2 kids.

Poor milage= Poor driving habits? Whats that about? When you read my post, does it sound like I abuse my every day vehicles and run the crap out of them? The answer would be NO. I have 3/4 ton chevy 4x4 I use for off-road and a 70 corvette i use for autocross, If I abuse them and they break - no problem, it was my fault. After reading a lot of the posts on this forum and some others, you will not be able to convince me that my problems and all other Durango owner's problems are all cases of "abuse and neglect." I apologize if this reply is a little strong, but I'm really tired of the attitude (and dealer mechanics are great at this) that if you're not a certified mechanic, then every problem you have with your Dodge is something YOU did to abuse or neglect it. That's a cop out for poor engineering, and poor management to fix KNOWN defects.

Well both of you are right.

My Civic has 120k on it and definetly needs a few things fixed(wear and tear). But it still runs pretty well. No car is perfect, but remember it is usually cheaper to fix the car than to buy a new one.

It sounds like you have a legitimate complaint. The Durangos/Dakotas can be a piece of junk. I am an avid MOPAR fanatic but I would not own a Dak or Durango b/c the quality is very inconsistant. I know people who have them and have never had any trouble, others have suffered like you with multiple problems. All of the problems you have are known to be common annoyances. Most people only have one of them, not as many as you have. I never believe the previous owner about how the vehicle was driven.
When I was a teenager I run the cr*p out of my moms car. When she sold it, she told the new owners how well it was kept up and it was never abused (what she didn't know didn't hurt her). Used cars are a crap shoot. Some have more crap than others. If I drove your Honda the way I drive my Jeep, I can guarantee you there would be as much to repair as the Durango.

i feel for you n8zdogg but i think most of the problems your having is probably from bad service techs i dont know who is working or trying to repair this vehicle but i would look elsewhere the tire should not wear out if the alignment is on who ever aligned this may not be too experienced at this and oil consumption is normally due to intake pan gasket faulty then oil gets sucked into cylinders from the lifter gallery then the door locks cycling there is a service bulletin adressing this issue bulletin# is 08-23-03 must replace disarm switches no big deal and if this vehicle is equipped with memory system could answer your issue with the radio going to programmed station depending on memory 1 or 2 and for fuel consumption only thin i can suggest is a good tune up and injector flush and make sure the cam and crank sensors are set as close to 0 as possible and maybe add synthetic oils to differentials. I dont like pointing the finger but all these problems are easy to repair or figure out so whats up with the service center? no experience?

Not sure how experienced the mechanics at the dealer might be. The person I usually talk to sounds knowledgable. I usually verify his recommendations with 2 or 3 other regional dealers when describing a problem. If they all say the same thing - I usually don't dig any further. This new oil problem has received a lot of different responses from the service depts. though. One mechanic said that dodge issued a bulletin that it was OK for the 5.9s to consume 1 qt of oil every 1,000 miles, and then under his breath admitted it was total bullsh*t, all it was doing was allowing the engines to gum up and blow. Which offers dodge the oppurtunity to sell a $5,000 engine replacement rather than an $800 repair. This whole situation has left me bitter enough to NEVER buy another dodge (or chrysler) even if I'm stuck (financially) keeping this Durango and running it until it blows.

Dogg - I have a 98, bought new, now has ~115K. Have had none of the problems you describe (except BEST ever highway is 15.8mpg!).

On the other hand, it sounds like you have real, not imagined problems and I certainly understand and sympathize.

In your shoes, I would dump the Durango, too.

You need a Honda Pilot. Seriously.

Good luck.

Dave
Westminster, MD USA

have a 98 slt 4x4 w/95K and have had almost no troubles. Ha, still running the stock BJ's. The Bilstiens were a must. It still get's 18mpg on the highway with 32" traction tires. I use it mostly for towing toys and driving to ski resorts. I drive it pretty hard.
My wifes Neon is another story. I also have a Sentra with 298,000 miles.

If the intake gasket is leaking and pulling oil out of the lifter valley, this also causes the manifold to heat up. The IAT sensor will tell the computer that the manifold is hot and retard the timing. This will result in reduced gas mileage. Also, the oil consumption is probably causing a lot of carbon build-up in the cylinders. A new gasket and an engine flush may do wonders for your situation. I rented a Durango for a month (2000 rental w/5K miles) and I hated it. The ride was so crappy that I would have to stop so my Daughter could barf every 30 miles or so. The stock shocks are horrible. I've not driven one with good aftermarket shocks on it so I don't know if the ride is much better with them. The rental had the 4.7l engine in it. Even driving it easy I only got 16mpg. The engine did not have enough torque to stay in overdrive at 60mpg. If the wind blew against me, the transmission would shift down. I finally resorted to driving with OD off most of the time b/c the constant shifting was annoying.