1998 Dodge Durango SLT 5.2 magnum V8

Summary:

Worthless garbage

Faults:

The valves broke down and needed to be replaced at only 23,000 miles!

One cylinder wasn't firing right and had to be replaced.

The engine keeps on making a horribly loud annoying noise.

The car practically eats away tires. I have the THIRD set at only 83,000 miles!!

The seating is not very comfortable and the front passenger seat's cloth was horrible and was replaced.

The rear lights go off once you go about 120 miles non-stop.

The truck is a gas-guzzling monster and just loves the refueling stations.

The radiator needed to be replaced soon after the 50,000 mile mark.

General Comments:

HORRIBLE CAR! Since I got this worthless junk, all I had was PROBLEMS.

I am very disappointed with its quality, reliability, ride, handling and maintenance costs.

I wouldn't recommend to anyone.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 14th December, 2002

9th Aug 2010, 11:33

You know buying a large gas-guzzling SUV and then complaining about the gas mileage is the same as eating deep fried fast food all the time and complaining about the weight gain.

You bought a V8, large SUV! What kind of gas mileage were you expecting?! With all due respect those of us who drive gas misers (like myself - a Civic) really don't want to hear your complaints since we are also suffering with higher gas prices.

In reply to 9th Aug 2010, 11:33

20th Feb 2012, 04:08

That is so not true, because the Chevy Suburban, which has a Vortec V8 5.3, and some a 6.0, gets better gas mileage than any Durango, even the 5.2 and 5.9 RT.

Dodge is garbage, and they need to be shut down ASAP.

BTW, I own a Durango, and a Chevy Suburban Z71 model. With my Dodge, if it's not one thing, it's another.

In reply to 20th Feb 2012, 04:08

21st Feb 2012, 22:14

I got over 280000 miles on mine, a 2003. It was a company car, so I could care less about it personally. Same engine, and had a trans replacement and O2 sensors. Great in the snow. The gas gauge was off a quarter tank at 250k.

It was fleet maintained, so the front end alignments were kept up. I got good tire life on mine.

When traded in, the comment was they could not believe the mileage, as it ran great and looked great. The mileage hurt its trade in value.

I now have an Edge, with over 50000 miles on it. Company cars can be a great used car buy. I change the oil filters every month, and keep them up. An average buyer paying out of their personal pocket may not do the owner's manual mileage recommendations on filters etc, as I have done.

1998 Dodge Durango SLT 5.2L V8

Summary:

Poorly built, maintenance nightmare, service stinks

Faults:

My transfer case has been worked on SIX times. The gasket was replaced several times, and an entirely new transfer case was installed.

My intake manifold plenum gasket is bad, a $500+ repair.

My check engine light comes on repeatedly.

My ABS/Brake system was worked on.

General Comments:

I will NEVER buy another Dodge/Chrysler product. The service was horrible, and complaints to the Dodge service center went unanswered.

The truck is always in the shop for some reason, and it usually takes a few repair attempts before the shop fixes the problem.

The '5-Star Dealer' is about five stars short of impressing me.

*I had one guy try to tell me that it was impossible to add a trailer hitch to a Durango!!!

*Another guy quoted me $558 for a front brake job. I said it seemed awfully expensive. He thought a moment... and said 'How about $385?'. Soooooo... if you're stupid enough, we get to charge you whatever we feel like?

*Immediately AFTER my warranty expired, I brought the vehicle in for an oil change. The vehicle had been in just a few months before. Remarkably, during a routine oil change they quoted me $1500+ in things they found wrong! Equally remarkably, none of these problems existed a month before that when they looked at it while it was under warranty.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 29th July, 2002