2000 Dodge Durango from North America - Comments

The electric windows have all broken down each at a different

time. At 10,000 miles the rear compartment air conditioner installed in the ceiling started to leak some serious amounts of water (condensation) whenever it had been running for more than 30 minutes. After two trips to the dealer this defect is still there. At 1,000 miles the left front wheel molding which is glued on popped loose 30% of the way around the wheel. Never fixed by dealer. At 45,000 miles the evaporator for the AC has a hole and is $940 to replace it. Since we bought it the AC has never cooled the car adequately.

The car seems like a good deal and the engine and power is phenomenal. I know two other owners and all of them had the same problem with the electric windows and the air conditioner. The air conditioner does not cool the car at a level you would expect and the

AC is prone to breaking down on every owner of one of these vehicles that I know. Stay away from this car, spend the extra $5k and get a Ford or Chevy.

I could not agree with you more. I wish I could have said as I returned the car off the lease that "it is a disgrace to the USA." The dealer was the absolute worst. At eight days old someone ran a stop sign in to it (the fender flare fell off, it was glued on with who knows what) we brought it into the dealer. For some reason, they don't do body work there. After renting a Ford Focus for 4 days (now that was a comedy act that deserves a separate review), we discovered the new bumper was damaged (I think they fix your old parts and resell them). We were not renting another car again so they gave us what they call "a loaner." It was really the piece of crud they call the Neon (it was worse than the Focus). At $33,000 the vehicle came with diddly squat. It kind of makes sense to put heating in with the AC. The AC, which was inconvenienty placed in the upper right side of the rear seat. It was a chore in itself to aim it to the third row. The third row is one piece (what was Dodge thinking?). The lever to get into the third row got screwed up. the suspension is horrible (how is this truck platform supposed to compete with the new, car-based SUV's). If you own the car long enough, the interior plastics will completely fall off around you. I would not recommend this vehicle to anyone, not even my worst enemy.

Dealer service is generally horrible. However, I had a very pleasant experience when I took my vehicle to Lakewood, CO dodge. They accomodated my warranty work with a smile and I didn't even buy the vehicle from them. As far as the air conditioning goes, I have heard that the air conditioning is supposed to be environmentally friendly, and by not using the old chemicals, which were harmful we have sacrificed a few degrees of comfort. However, I have no complaints about my airconditioning.

2000 Dodge Durango SLT 5.9 2WD 52,000 miles.

Extremely pleased with the performance and the overall fit finish and quality. There are a couple of areas that need to be addressed and hopefully are in the 2004 all new Durango.

Brakes:

The rotor warp / wear problem on the Dakota was bad enough add more weight and this thing will eat brakes every 35,000. I found that keeping an eye on pad wear and not abusing the brakes helps. Then again, my Thunderbird would warp it's rotors at a drop of a hat. My 2000 Quad cab has a similar issue, but is being addressed after many complaints by owners.

Window motors:

I think they must have gone to tinker toy motors for the windows! The right side has failed twice and is making noise again.

I just experienced a problem with a bad wheel bearing on the left front hub. However, the seal was torn and water from our recent Monsoon's may well have been the cause. It came on right after it was driven through some deep run off.

As for handling, this is an SUV based on a truck folks. It Ain't a car with a big body. It will out handle 99% of the SUV's out there, but does have a stiff ride. Personally, I'd rather have a truck ride than an overgrown station wagon on a flimsy car chassis. As a side note, the Edelbrock Ricor shocks will work wonders on the ride and handling. These are by far the best shocks I have ever used.

Air conditioning:

Down here in sunny Aridzona, we routinely will get into the 110º range. A rear A/C unit is mandatory, but The A/C is up to the task in my experience. It takes a while to cool off, but we generally end up on vent and high fan and not max A/C.

I will be trading the Durango for a new Hemi SWB 4WD this weekend. Been planning it for a month and just searching for the 03 I wanted with a great price.

My 2000 Dodge Dakota warped rotors starting at 22,000 miles. It was a lease so I couldn't get rid of it. Now the lease has expired and I wrote Dodge to see if they would give me any financial incentive to buy one of their trucks to offset the ongoing brake problems I've had to endure for 4 years. I got back a form e-mail telling me how great Dodge trucks were and how I could waste even more money buying an extended warranty for a new Dodge truck. I guess the fact that the extended warranty that I had on the Dakota didn't cover warped rotors is something I was supposed to have forgotten about. Is anyone actually running that company? Goodbye Dodge, Hello Nissan.

2000 FWD Dodge Durango.

I also have had many problems with my Durango over the past three years. I purchased the car with about 6 miles on it. I have enjoyed the way the car handles, but I have not particularly enjoyed the additional money I have invested and the excessive time which has been wasted just trying to keep my SUV from falling apart completely. I have lived in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California since I have had my Durango. I assumed that a V8, FWD, SUV was exactly what was needed to handle more harsh conditions. I was completely wrong. For example, I approached my car which had been outside for about 4 hours. The driver side-view mirror was gone. (just the mirror, not the entire mirror casing) I thought to myself, "who would steal a mirror in a town like this?" So I took it down to Orange County, CA to my dealer and showed him the problem. He proceeded to tell me, "No, nobody stole it, it just fell off. I've seen that a lot with the Durangos." So in other words he was stating that pieces of my car are just going to fall off. After he made very clear that Dodge would not cover the cost and that I had to spend $300 to replace it, I asked him, "So what do you thinks is going to fall off next? The door, or maybe the wheels?"

My auto locks have failed twice making an absolutely horrible noise.

I have blown at least twenty windshield wiper fuses. (It is not fun to have this happen when you are in the middle of a blizzard.)

A 3"X3" section of paint chipped off my passenger door by the door handle from just trying to open my door. I am a small woman and no matter how much ice is holding the door shut, I just can't imagine that I could have the strength to pull the door so hard that that big of a chunk of paint would just fall off. That is unless the car was really cheaply painted.

None of the stereo controls on my steering wheel work if it is under about 20 degrees outside. The window motors stops as well.

It makes me very uncomfortable and feel very insecure about driving in snowy conditions when ever I am my Durango. Also is not a good feeling wondering whether or not something is going to fall off or stop working at any time. I thought these big 4WD SUVs could handle all terrain and all conditions. Isn't that what they really intended for in the first place?

I will never purchase a Dodge of any kind again. I just don't feel safe and isn't that the main thing people are interested in when buying a car? Don't waste your time or you money on a Durango.

We have a Dodge Durango with 55,000 miles. When we bought it new, the back hatch did not lock (one trip back to the dealer, crappy loaner car) ; the driver seat cover was constantly loose and falling off (three trips back to the dealer, crappy loaner car) and it is still not right; front passenger seat needed tightening on glide rails (one trip back to dealer) ; rubber gasket molding around hatch window came loose and window leaked (one trip back to dealer) and window still "whistles" when it rains; left rear door lock "buzzes" and doesn't lock properly; windshield wiper fuse blew in snow storm; and now, the kicker, oil pressure went to zero on a long trip, engine started rattling, had to have the vehicle towed 105 miles to our mechanic. The oil screen in the oil pan was covered with carbon (burnt oil residue) causing the oil not to circulate. Our mechanic said this is the second Durango he's seen have this happen, even though both Durango's followed the regular oil change schedule. Turned $450 claim into to dealer... you guessed it... not covered. $30,000 piece of junk!

Purchased 2000 Durango in sept 2000, pleased with all, but the noise when rear windows open over 30 mph, goes away if you open the front window. 110k miles on it now, not a single problem except at about 60k, the front rotors warped, the dealer said we needed new ones, but when I picked up the car, they had turned the old ones. they promptly warped again the next day, then the dealer said I needed to replace them, since this is the exact thing I had approved for them to do, I asked for help with the 300 dollar bill. they (fair oaks dodge, Va) replaced my rotors with a used set, no charge!. at 120k, my check engine light is on, and it feels like I am starting off in 3rd gear, hope they can fix it.

We purchased our 2000 Durango ONE month ago. The alarm system won't let us start our car sometimes and the rear passenger a/c smells like dog pea when running. Our Durango has 31000 miles on it and is now at the transmission shop getting a new transmission. We bought the car because we have 3 children so we needed the extra room. Now were driving a 10,000 dollar car with less room than we started with. I've been researching the Durango and have found nothing, but bad remarks. I would not recommend this vehicle for anyone.

I have a 2000 Dodge Durango, and I bought it when it had 5,000 miles, 4wd, all leather SLT package. I have had no problems with it whatsoever. I think maybe all of your Durangos were made on a Friday at 2:00pm, my Durango now has 155k miles on it and still runs like a champ. I'm sure there are instances in bad things that happen to any vehicle, but like my dad and grandpa said, you take care of it and it will take care of you.

I have a 2003 company car with 258000 miles runs well I drive a lot obviously and like mine.