Table 1 shows one common equipment related problems of the 2022 Dodge Durango.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Equipment problems |
From manufacturing Dodge put a clamp on a rubber hose that goes to the transmission heater. That clamped rubbed a hole into the metal antifreeze line above it. My car started over heating on a busy road. Luckily I was able to pull off without being hit. Dodge doesn’t wanna do anything about it but it’s a known issue for the Durango’s. But Dodge won’t recall the issue. Instead their wanting to charge people anywhere from 2k up to 6k depending what state you live it. The issue is known to occur around 50k miles to around 65k miles.
While driving on the highway, the engine overheating light came on, the car seemed to be losing power, and I pulled over and was then towed to the dealership. My safety was put at risk as I could have been hit as the car was slowing down in fast traffic; it also was extremely cold (about 5 degrees f) while I waited for the tow truck. The tow truck driver noted that I had lost coolant fluid due to a large puddle beneath the car. The dealership reported that the aluminum coolant line had rubbed against the transmission cooler and had broken through, causing a loss of fluid. The dealership replaced the coolant line and also stated that they cut an extra piece of aluminum and wrapped it around the coolant line to reinforce that line and stop it from rubbing through by rubbing against the transmission cooler. I stated that this seemed like a design defect but the dealership responded that these things just happen. I note that there appears to be a similar recall in 2022 Durango hellcats for the coolant line being subjected to abrasion from rubbing on the serpentine belt. The dealership did not return the parts to me; I do not know whether they provided them to the manufacturer for inspection.
After about 3mins of driving my vehicle I started to smell burning plastic, a couple seconds later I saw a view black squiggly lines which was smoke which made me look around. At that point I saw the usb port engulfed in flames. As I was driving I panicked and pulled over on the side of the road and looked for something to put the fire out. I thankfully had a bottle of water in my vehicle which I was able to pour over the fire to put it out. I didn’t know what to do after that as there was no available Chrysler dealership in the area I was in so I went to firestone and asked if someone could help me because I was scared to drive it not knowing if it would ignite again and my route home requires me to get on the freeway and didn’t want to risk something happening on the freeway. The guy from firestone removed the charger from the port for me and told me I needed to take it to the dealership. I called Chrysler corporate to make them aware and made a service appointment. Without the bottle of water in the car I don’t necessarily know that the situation would have ended this way since the damage is isolated to the port and my charger only from what I can see. I wanted to make this report so that this can be brought to the attention of Chrysler and the necessary recalls and be published to prevent this from happening to anyone else .