1998 Dodge Durango SLT 5.2

Summary:

Gas guzzler, unreliable piece of junk

Faults:

Crank shaft, connecting rods, and main bearings/connecting rod bearings, also oil pump.

General Comments:

Transmission needed to be completely rebuilt, there is more and I don't drive it hard. The inside is like a taxi cab, but the outside is beautiful.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 2nd March, 2003

1998 Dodge Durango SLT

Summary:

Nice looking truck, but heavy on your pocket book

Faults:

Vehicle was purchased off the used car lot for 1 week. It started leaking transmission Fluid. Dealer said it was no problem. They fixed it. All it that was wrong was a blown gasket.

One month later, the truck started to stall while driving. We pulled it into a Dodge dealership and was diagnosed as needing a lot of repairs. It needed an a new oil intake gasket and a new transfer case. They quoted us near $2000.00 in repairs. We decided to take it back to the dealer we bought it from.

They replaced the oil intake gasket. They repaired the transfer case gasket. They also replaced the catalytic converter. The dealer covered all the repairs under the warranty. The repairs took over two weeks for them to do.

Had the vehicle back for 5 days and now it is stalling again!

General Comments:

Owned this Truck for 3 months and had more repairs on it then our last truck that we had for over 5 years.

This truck is a gas hog, however it is a magnum V8 which should be no surprise to anyone.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th February, 2003

1998 Dodge Durango SLT Plus 5.2L V8

Summary:

An expensive appliance not worthy of it's price tag

Faults:

Transmission broke after 12 months and 1 week. Took the dealership in Taos, NM 1 week to replace it under extended warranty.

Steering column broke (and no off-road use on this vehicle) and is not covered under the extended warranty plan that I bought.

No service has ever been under Canadian $1000.00.

General Comments:

A great vehicle to drive.

Very poor gas mileage (4 km/l = 10 miles/gallon). On the open road = 11 mpg at 65 mph.

Depreciation around Canadian $1000.00 per month. I paid Canadian $55 000.00 in 1998 and in 2001 I was offered Cdn $22 000.00 and it is in perfect condition.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 5th February, 2003

16th May 2003, 14:55

I was just wondering; how did you manage to break the steering column?

28th Aug 2007, 10:49

You bought a large SUV. What kind of gas mileage were you expecting???

1998 Dodge Durango SLT Plus 5.9

Summary:

Safety and fun rolled into one

Faults:

Length of time between ordering and delivery

Oxygen Sensor replaced at 75,000km

Front Brakes at 18,000km (faulty pads)

Transmission seal at 80,000km.

General Comments:

We ordered the truck in October of 1997 and received delivery of it in April 1998. We were told due to the high demand of this vehicle all the orders from the USA were being filled before Canada. Which was a good thing because most of the bugs were worked out by the time we received ours.

Any problems we have had with this truck have all been covered by our warranty.

We expected a few bugs and at least one recall as this was the first production year for the Durango so we were not surprised or disapointed when they happened.

The service we have received from the dealer has been great. The first thing they did for us was add on the extended warranty for no charge because we had to wait so long for delivery. Something we would not have paid $$$ for ourselves but are happy to have.

The truck has been involved in 2 accidents, neither our fault so repairs were paid by other people ($12,000 (would have been more if not for the push bar) & $1,500 respectively). Truck was repaired to showroom condition both times. The 3 other cars involved were all written off. No damage to our frame at all.

It's a tough truck with excellent get up and go on the highway or in the city. It has been driven in +40C and -40C with no problems. It's been 4x4ing in the mountains, caked in mud until it was unrecognizable and then cleaned up and used as a wedding vehicle.

Sure it is a gas guzzler, but what do you expect with an SUV. We knew that when we bought it and still went with the biggest engine available just for the horse power.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd January, 2003