New Durango any good?

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sr71mopar

sr71mopar

moparless again
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My wife wants a new car and she likes the looks of the Durango. I don't think I can can talk her into the R/T so it will most likely be mid level with the V6. Anyone have experience or opinions?
 
My Mom and Dad have a 2014 V-6 Limited and they love it. I have a 2014 SXT Plus with Rally package ours has 32,000 miles on it and my wife loves it. We get 25 mpg on the highway.
 
That 300 HP 3.6 is bad-***.

Our rented Caravan got 31 MPG highway, 27 average and hauled *** when required to, even fully (and I mean fully) loaded.
 
Both our Durangos are AWD. I'm thrilled with the 8-speed auto. I wasn't at first had to get used to it, I've towed golf cart with did great. They get better MPG with 2wd and 17" wheels.
 
a buddy bought his wife a new 5.7 R/T in the dark grey color last august. pretty nice suv. he noticed a month or so later, and in certain light at the right angle the paint was blotched but only at certain angles. he brought it back to the dealer and after a long discussion ( they wanted to repaint it ) they ordered him a new one. it's the 8 speed with every option and man is it nice ! i'd buy one on a heartbeat if the wifie liked em but she'll never get away from her SRT8 jeep. we had a club track day two weeks ago and the durango ran 15.03, she usually gets around 25 mpg with it.
 
I'm a collision repair tech. I have worked on these and many other modern Mopars. In my opinion, they are garbage. In fact, all modern Mopars are on my list of cars I will never buy.

I would seriously recommend looking for an equivalent vehicle by another manufacturer.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
I'm a collision repair tech. I have worked on these and many other modern Mopars. In my opinion, they are garbage. In fact, all modern Mopars are on my list of cars I will never buy.

I would seriously recommend looking for an equivalent vehicle by another manufacturer.
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Good for you. I love my Scat Pack, and wouldn't trade it for anything. Any of these cars nowadays, when crashed are garbage. It doesn't take much to total out a car anymore. A good friend of mine works at a Dodge dealer as a collision tech, and he is impressed with the stuff. So, I guess your opinion, is just that, an opinion.
 
BadAss71 said:
Good for you. I love my Scat Pack, and wouldn't trade it for anything. Any of these cars nowadays, when crashed are garbage. It doesn't take much to total out a car anymore. A good friend of mine works at a Dodge dealer as a collision tech, and he is impressed with the stuff. So, I guess your opinion, is just that, an opinion.
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It's more than that and if your friend were being honest, he would tell you the same.
 
YY1 said:
That 300 HP 3.6 is bad-***.

Our rented Caravan got 31 MPG highway, 27 average and hauled *** when required to, even fully (and I mean fully) loaded.
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I've got a 2014/3.6 Anniversary model. It's never gotten over 20 around town, and seems like I'm always filling it.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
I'm a collision repair tech. I have worked on these and many other modern Mopars. In my opinion, they are garbage. In fact, all modern Mopars are on my list of cars I will never buy.

I would seriously recommend looking for an equivalent vehicle by another manufacturer.
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate on why all the new Chrysler's are Garbage and other manufacture's are so much better????
What are they doing different??
 
R4Sedan said:
Could you elaborate on why all the new Chrysler's are Garbage and other manufacture's are so much better????
What are they doing different??
Click to expand...

First, I'm not talking about Ram Trucks. Those are Ok.

Some manufacturers aren't much better to be honest and I could talk about this all day long but I don't really feel like it.

I will say, with every car you have depreciation, build quality and repairability. Of all the brands I have worked on, modern Mopars have the fastest rate of natural deterioration.

They also have a high rate of depreciation and poor repairability. The front end of the new Challenger is especially cheesy and the brake lines run along the radiator core support.

In the real world, anyone can have a collision (you hitting something or someone hitting you) With a modern mopar you have the highest risk of being upside down, should your car total and a higher likelihood that it will total.

They have a layered, exposed structure that requires significant structural disassemblely (drilling and cutting apart) to make minor structural repairs.

For the same money, you can get a much better vehicle from another manufacturer.

Chevy is almost as bad, but slightly better. Ford is significantly better, just about equal to the build quality of some of the Asian imports.
 
Not sure if this helps the conversation but my wifes 2012 grand caravan took a hit on the drivers front. I went to look at it the other day and looking through the gaping hole where the drivers side headlight was, i saw that the PCM is mounted outside the framerail, at about the height where another cars bumper can smash it in a collision. Luckily it looks like the framerail is ok, the PCM was untouched, and the bag didnt deploy. But wow, what a dumb place for an engine management computer.
 
We've had three rentals of a T&C or Caravan.

Road trip from FL to NC, then urban driving through the city and mountain roads with a lot of idling time as well.

About 1/2 the time we have another couple in the car with us, some times two, and occasionally a 7th person.
Also we routinely have one or more sets of luggage and various hobby and trade show supplies like desks, stools, etc, even a sewing machine, and on rare occasions, a car part :)

I'm fairly certain I've done the trip reset to get the pure city average (they have two separate running calculators available in the EVIC).

It looks like we're going again next year, so I'll be sure to keep a city only record.
 
sr71mopar said:
My wife wants a new car and she likes the looks of the Durango. I don't think I can can talk her into the R/T so it will most likely be mid level with the V6. Anyone have experience or opinions?
Click to expand...

First question is do you have any kids and how old? Reason I ask is to be sure and take them into consideration when buying a suv if they are young enough. My wife recently switched from the Charger to an Suv but in the end didn't choose the Durango. Funny thing is while she like the looks and driving of the one she ultimately chose she is constantly comparing it to the ease of use features of the Charger. When I test drove them I was very comfortable in the Durango because it really felt like I was sitting in the Charger. Everything as far a user interface is very easy to use, not confusing and within easy reach. Many of the others use hard to read touch screens or even worse small buttons. Biggest issue we had was the fact she wanted three person seating in the second row and it was not available in the configuration she liked. The rear seats were a bit on the low side for anyone over the age of 8 to sit comfortably for any period.
As far as dependability I can only compare it to my 14 Charger which is now at just shy of 49k with the only issue that I have had being the backup camera failed about 7 months after we got it.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. She wont be hauling kids on a regular basis. Just the grandson once in a while, although I'm sure there will be more grand kids in the future.
I'm not sure what else out there compares to the Durango except the Exploder which I know is giving the CHP fits with transmission problems. I could do without that.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
First, I'm not talking about Ram Trucks. Those are Ok.

Some manufacturers aren't much better to be honest and I could talk about this all day long but I don't really feel like it.

I will say, with every car you have depreciation, build quality and repairability. Of all the brands I have worked on, modern Mopars have the fastest rate of natural deterioration.

They also have a high rate of depreciation and poor repairability. The front end of the new Challenger is especially cheesy and the brake lines run along the radiator core support.

In the real world, anyone can have a collision (you hitting something or someone hitting you) With a modern mopar you have the highest risk of being upside down, should your car total and a higher likelihood that it will total.

They have a layered, exposed structure that requires significant structural disassemblely (drilling and cutting apart) to make minor structural repairs.

For the same money, you can get a much better vehicle from another manufacturer.

Chevy is almost as bad, but slightly better. Ford is significantly better, just about equal to the build quality of some of the Asian imports.
Click to expand...


Hearing the other point of view is always good as it helps make an informed decision.

Can you provide some facts/stats to back up your statement that owning a Chrysler product will result in it more likely being totalled than another brand?

Car companies market and sell their products based on the most important features/stats that the average consumer cares about. I think that fuel economy and safety/crash ratings are likely the two items that the majority of car buyers look at (in addition to the purchase price). Most buyers don't care about the car being totalled if they are in an accident. Most buyers care about being able to walk away or not be seriously injured if they are in an accident. That drives car companies to focus on crash ratings for the occupants instead of how badly damaged the car is after the accident. A car company selling the feature of "our ECM is located in the middle of the car to reduce the need to replace it should you be in an accident" or "our brake lines are encased in carbon fibre sheaths so they won't get punctured/severed should you be in an accident" isn't going to sell more cars if the fuel economy isn't the same or better than a competitors car. Plus all that extra stuff (length of additional wiring so the ECM is not in the front of the car) adds weight which increases the build cost of the car and the weight which also reduces the fuel economy.
 
H22A4 said:
Hearing the other point of view is always good as it helps make an informed decision.

Can you provide some facts/stats to back up your statement that owning a Chrysler product will result in it more likely being totalled than another brand?

Car companies market and sell their products based on the most important features/stats that the average consumer cares about. I think that fuel economy and safety/crash ratings are likely the two items that the majority of car buyers look at (in addition to the purchase price). Most buyers don't care about the car being totalled if they are in an accident. Most buyers care about being able to walk away or not be seriously injured if they are in an accident. That drives car companies to focus on crash ratings for the occupants instead of how badly damaged the car is after the accident. A car company selling the feature of "our ECM is located in the middle of the car to reduce the need to replace it should you be in an accident" or "our brake lines are encased in carbon fibre sheaths so they won't get punctured/severed should you be in an accident" isn't going to sell more cars if the fuel economy isn't the same or better than a competitors car. Plus all that extra stuff (length of additional wiring so the ECM is not in the front of the car) adds weight which increases the build cost of the car and the weight which also reduces the fuel economy.
Click to expand...


The OP asked for my opinion. I gave it. My opinion was formed over years of repairing vehicles from a variety of manufacturers.

Modern Mopars are garbage, that's my professional opinion. I don't need to justify my opinion to you.
 
Ok, tell us how you really feel.... don't hold back now.

You say something is "garbage" and yet you say you "don't really feel like talking about it". Thanks for sharing your opinion without backing any of it up!
 
I can personally attest to Ford's quality regarding surviving a bad wreck. This happened to Kitty and I back in February of 2015. Look how badly the passenger side was damaged and not one single pane of glass was broken. The cab and passenger compartment held up great.

RANGER2.jpg


RANGER3.jpg


RANGER1.jpg
 
As far as depreciation resale on a Durango is petty good. A two year old SXT will bring high 20s. A friend of mine wholesaled mine to me. He had a home for our 11 Equinox so was a win win.
 
I wonder what the deal is with those ranger beds.

I've seen a lot of them fiberglass, and some steel.

BTW those wheels would be cool on a vintage Mopar.
 
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