2012 Dodge Durango
Complaints about this year name electrical system far more often than the other years of this generation — 22% of them, about 18× the usual rate of 1.3%.
Generation 2 of the Dodge Durango, which began in 2011. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 637 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 160 |
| Involving a crash | 16 |
| Involving a fire | 32 |
| Recalls | 10 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 17.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- stalled — 32.7% of this year's complaints, against 11.5% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: stalled, without warning, vehicle stalled, restart.
- alternator — 23.9% of this year's complaints, against 7.8% across the other years of this generation (3.1×). Owners wrote it as: alternator, battery, smoke, battery light.
- start — 23.9% of this year's complaints, against 9.3% across the other years of this generation (2.6×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- alternator — 15% of complaints, 38× usual
- amount time — 11% of complaints, 21× usual
- start — 24% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING 70 MPH, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST ALL POWER, STALLED, AND WOULD NOT RESTART. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE ALTERNATOR HAD BURNT WIRES, WHICH CAUSED THE SHUT DOWN. THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TOWED TO A…
WHILE DRIVING AT 30 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE CONTACT WAS UNABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE ALTERNATOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TOWED TO A DEA…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 17V435000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 15V879000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 17V572000 SERVICE BRAKES Fixed free of charge.
- 14V154000 SERVICE BRAKES Fixed free of charge.
- 14V391000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 15V115000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- 14V104000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 11V487000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 10. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Dodge Durango was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2012 Dodge Durango? What happened to yours?
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