2013 Dodge Durango
Complaints about this year name electrical system far more often than the other years of this generation — 19% of them, about 15× 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 | 640 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 160 |
| Involving a crash | 20 |
| Involving a fire | 34 |
| Recalls | 11 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 17.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- headrest — 16.3% of this year's complaints, against 6.4% across the other years of this generation (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: headrest, deployed, back head, headrest deployed.
- stalled — 10.9% of this year's complaints, against 2.7% across the other years of this generation (4.1×). Owners wrote it as: stalled, vehicle stalled, restart vehicle, speeds vehicle.
- pump — 11.6% of this year's complaints, against 3.5% across the other years of this generation (3.3×). Owners wrote it as: pump, fuel pump, relay, pump relay.
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
- amount time — 13% of complaints, 25× usual
- alternator — 11% of complaints, 28× usual
- time recall — 12% of complaints, 23× usual
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH, A BURNING ODOR WAS PRESENT IN THE VEHICLE AND SMOKE APPEARED FROM THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. THE SERVICE BATTERY WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE HOME. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANI…
WHILE DRIVING 15 MPH, AN ABNORMAL NOISE WAS HEARD AND A STRANGE ODOR WAS PRESENT. THE CONTACT OBSERVED SMOKE UNDER THE HOOD. THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM CAUGHT FIRE WITHOUT WARNING, BUT THERE WERE NO VISIBLE FLAMES. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS NOT NEEDED. THE VEHICLE WA…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 17V435000 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.
- 15V879000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 15V115000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- 14V104000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 12V560000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 11. 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 2013 Dodge Durango? What happened to yours?
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