1999 Dodge Durango Consumer Reviews
Most Helpful Reviews
Positive Review
I have had this vehicle for almost 7 years now and I love all the dynamics of it. I have not had any major problems with the powertrain but the ball joints are not top notch and need to be replaced if they are from the factory. The interior leather seats are great for long trips with the family whether it is towing a boat to driving a couple hundred miles on the freeway, although the 3rd row is made more for children with limited legroom for taller adults. The engine has plenty of power also would recommend chipping the ECU, throwing a K&N cold air kit made for the engine, and throwing a magnaflow/flowmaster exhaust kit it will give the vehicle a completely different feel in the amount of power. The only bad thing about this car nowadays is the gas, on a good day I will get about 13-15 mpg city and about 17-19 highway and the 23 gallon tank is not to cheap to fill up but then again it is not a prius. All in all it is a wonderful vehicle and I am glad to have it.
VS
Critical Review
My mother-in-law bought this SLT Durango in like 2012 from an elderly couple in her neighborhood that barely used it. The car only had roughly 50k miles on it; she bought it for cheap to take my now-husband up to the UP for college. After a few years went by, she gifted it to us since she already had three cars. We used it in multiple moves and for many camping trips, and even for a couple of bachelorette parties! The driver visibility is still among the best I've experienced, and the comfort while driving was top-notch. Unfortunately, there were a lot of problems. The radiator had a leak that killed the engine at around 80k miles, so it needed to be replaced. Three batteries, an alternator core, both brake lines, one or two sets of tires.. It had been sitting for a long time, and by the time we got it, the problems seemed to come one after another. The week before we had to scrap it for rent money, there was a flat tire, and we're pretty sure the fuel pump or something in that area was going--the transmission was good (we had it checked), but there was some sputtering while accelerating from a full stop. The 12mpg wasn't the greatest either, but the 4WD was so handy in the Michigan winters. Even today, my husband and I still talk about our hunter green Durango. It had a lot of problems, but we still love it.
1999 Durango Reviews
Showing 8 of 1,009 reviews.
Torque, 27 years and 200k miles nothing replaced!
Acceleration (But not terrible)
I've had my 1998 Dodge Durango SLT 4x4 With the 318 (5.2L V8) for 27 years. In those near 3 decades I've gone through 4 sets of tires and about 54 Oil changes, (Yes I keep track of every oil change, repair, heck even every time I fill up for gas and calculate my mileage to check the 's health) and I've only replaced the engine computer, due to MY fault, I let the battery terminal create sparks for a few seconds and shorted out the ECU. Many people on this list will rag on the Durango, but that's because the previous owner never took care of the vehicle. ALWAYS change every fluid regularly. Oil: every 3-4,000 miles. Transmission fluid every 30-50,000 miles, power steering every 20-40,000 miles, brake fluid: every 10-20,000 miles. In winter with salt on the roads wash your car once a week, and get a good underbelly flush as a minimum. I've done all this, have 200,000 miles and 27 years of ownership, and not a single problem. Best car I've ever owned. As for performance, it's a little on the low end for power, but it makes up for it in torque. You can pull an 8,000-pound trailer, you can drive through the poorest conditions with ease. With 7 seats you'll never run out of room, and I especially love the fold-down rear and third row, which makes transporting anything a breeze. The leather seats have no wear marks and everything functions electrically and mechanically with no problems. I do recommend greasing the window tracks because after many years they get slow and can sometimes freeze up. Also be gentle on the radio volume knob, if you're rough with it it can slowly wear down. Other than that this vehicle is flawless!
Awesome power and reliability
Hard to find not rusted out 4.7 can be problematic
I’ve owned for 10 years 5.2 original engine and transmission only failure was rear axle from abuse 220k loves gas but has outlasted other newer vehicles that were bought to replace this old thing, good thing we never sold it we always kept it around as a 2nd vehicle now it’s our main again. I would purchase another in a heartbeat.
All I want is to know the value of my vehicle. I went through about 20 minutes of online BS and never even got a value for my vehicle. This is a terrible website if all you want is to know the value of your vehicle.
Reliable and Spacious
Eats Gas
Very reliable haven’t had many problems with it. It is spacious except for the third row which could be better. The only problem is gas because it loves to eat up gas but other than that I absolutely love it.
Looks,Dependability,
Fuel
I have always loved the look of The 2nd Gen Durangos . I purchased a high miles (245k) from the original owner who took very good care of it . I've traveled through 5 states for work several times with no issues and..Its the step child 4.7 that everyonecsays is junk lol. Thats the main reason I purchased to prove the haters wrong. Great SUV and I'd put it up against any SUV in this era anytime !
Comforatble, handles great, powerful, reliable
~16 MPG city, rusts, low acceleration
The newer cars seam to be steadily losing quality through the years, but my old Durango keeps trucking along. It's easy to do minor mechanical work on and is generally less expensive than newer cars when I need a pro to do the work. My Durango is a 2003 first generation style, and requires very little maintenance. The only drawbacks are that the engine is a little anemic when it comes to torque and acceleration, but has a lot of power and is capable of towing. The body does corrode quickly is not watched carefully for signs of rust. With the fold down seats you can fill the truck with a lot of stuff, or even camp in it. Seats up holds 7 people total.
Good engine
The room in the back row
Hard to compare to any other model besides the shifting. .....................................................
It was my most valuable possession.
It needs some minor repairs I can't do right now.
There was salesman! I got this SUV from a wrecking yard for $400! It's was just sitting at the tow yard and the owner of the tow yard needed to get it off the yard, so he sold it to me! It was 2 years behind in stickers registration, so I paid that too, that equals $600 in all! Now I can't work on it because I'm disabled & can't find anyone to fix on it, so I'm willing to sell or trade it in for a newer year SUV.
