Scotty! (et. al.)
Would a new Dodge Durango with the 3.6 Pentastar V6 and rear wheel drive be a decent choice for California? Or, is it a "depends-on"?
I have a chance to purchase a brand new (held over) '23 Durango RWD, for nearly $20k off MSRP. It's a mid-range model V6/cloth interior. It's basic, but drives rather competently. A solid performer with a lot of (simple) older technology. Due to this gen Durango having been around for a decade and was originally developed under the Daimler-Chrysler period. Feels like kind of the last of the "old guard".
Built in Detroit, manual ebrake, NA V6, 8speed auto, RWD layout. Simplicity, yet enough tech for 2024 like android/carplay support.
Appreciate any thoughts on the Durango. Bits of old-school American solidity, or FCA crap?
Thank you!
That one hasn't sold and has been sitting around for nearly 2 model years and the dealer has to pretty much bribe someone to take it off their lot. That's a red flag right off the bat.
Perhaps someone familiar with that specific model can provide more detail, but despite being an older design it's built by Stellantis and per Scotty and many other reports that company's quality is horrendous.
@chucktobias -Thanks! Red flags indeed. Just curious, since Durangos seem nearly extinct anymore. Probably for good reason.
Pass.
My father-in-law rented a 2020 Durango 2 years ago, while his Mitsubishi was being worked on, and there was already condensation inside of both headlights. He has an ancient 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 with the original headlights. They're faded as heck, but they're still airtight. If they can't get headlights right, lord knows what else could be wrong.
The 3.6L Pentastar is also a questionable engine and is not known for reliability over the long-term. Earlier models were notorious for blowing heads (I have a piston from this engine I found at the junkyard. I broke it down and plated the different components and it now hangs as an ornament in my garage. It had cracked heads). They made them too cheaply.
@justin-shepherd Nice, made some lemonade out of that Pentastar lemon. I'm sure it's a cool sculpture. Appreciate the honest feedback!
I worked at a plating company at the time, so I got discounts for the plating, haha. It was only $50, so basically paid for 2 hours in labor.
@justin-shepherd awesome~!
I have a chance to purchase a brand new (held over) '23 Durango RWD, for nearly $20k off MSRP
Theoretically speaking, if you purchased this vehicle and flipped it after 6 months - 1 yr, can you turn a profit?
@itwt That thought occurred to me. Getting a 47k "new" vehicle for 28k sounds like a great deal, but all similar '23 Durangos seem to be sitting around 30k right now. With taxes and mileage, in a year, It would just be a low mileage 3 year old Durango. Not sure there is much sale-ability to that.
I was hoping that its simplistic older design would possibly lend to a more simplistic ownership. (less electronic doodads and microprocessors to go bad in the long term) but perhaps even with the simplest advantages that FCA/Stellantis plague overwhelms.