What 196 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Dodge Durango Srt

While driving on the Thruway, the vehicle tends to misfire which results in lost power to the engine and shaking of the vehicle. The check engine light starts flashing and it becomes unsafe to maintain speeds. The issue was diagnosed as Cylinder 5 Misfire caused by camshaft and lifter failure. This sudden loss of power while driving at highway speeds could cause an accident if it happens during traffic or passing situations. This is a known issue with the 2018 Dodge Durango GT V6 and should be a recall on the vehicle. This is a major engine issue.

NHTSA ODI 11697385

The contact owns a 2018 Dodge Durango. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH, the contact noticed an abnormal sound, and the front passenger's side headrest unexpectedly deployed without an impact to the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated. There was no injury sustained. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be repaired under an unknown extended warranty coverage; however, the dealer declined to repair the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 108,000.

NHTSA ODI 11677233

The contact owns a 2018 Dodge Durango. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V838000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11675636

The contact owns a 2018 Dodge Durango. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that there were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the TIPM needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The contact stated that the vehicle occasionally failed to start. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled and was taken to another dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the TIPM needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 84,000.

NHTSA ODI 11675705

Rainwater or going through a car wash leaks water into backend lighting compartment which leads to backend lights not working. You can see the water into the lights. Water leaks out the backend when you open or close the back door. No brake lights could cause accidents. Wiring also corrodes and needs replacement due to water corrosion.

NHTSA ODI 11671214

2018 Dodge Durango GT with 47,000. The check engine light came on. Took it to a Dodge dealer for service. Diagnosis was head gasket failure, allowing coolant into the cylinder causing engine misfire and potential overheat and a blown engine. This appears to be an ongoing issue with the Penstar V6 engine. This is a safety concern because the vehicle may break down while driving or overheat without warning, creating a power loss while driving

NHTSA ODI 11669729

The contact owns a 2018 Dodge Durango. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V83800(Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated the brake lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing difficulty starting intermittently and would start after several attempts. Additionally, the contact stated that the gear shifter had failed to move out of park(P) intermittently, which required the contact to depress the brake pedal excessively to move the gear shifter out of park(P). The check engine warning light and the ABS warning light were illuminated. The dealer was contacted. No further information was available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was 65,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11666560

Purchased this vehicle used from a dealership and a few months later the racetrack light malfunctioned and stopped working which is also connected to my license plate light. The dealership refused to cover the expense of the light which to my surprise was over two thousand dollars, an expense I was not prepared for and now I am at a loss. They tried to negotiate that I should pay for half the cost when the car was purchased of their lot less than a few months with a major malfunction like this. Upon further research I find out there is a class action lawsuit against FCA about this issue. I do not have the money for this repair unless I borrow the money, if so can I get reimbursed though FCA?

NHTSA ODI 11661737

Rear Racetrack LED lightning is failing due to water intrusion. This could also possibly cause electrical issues to the license plate lights and back up camera. When in bad weather, other drivers could fail to see the back of my car, and could get into an accident. Yes, dealer stated that the cost is 1500 to fix. The Durango has 60K miles. Dealer only. No warning just a fellow driver reported my Racetrack light flickers and dim.

NHTSA ODI 11659700

The contact owns a 2018 Dodge Durango. The contact stated while driving at approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle had started to lose motive power and nearly stalled. The contact stated that the check engine, a yellow "P" and several other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact pulled over and shifted into park(P) and became aware that the vehicle was in neutral(N) when the vehicle rolled forward. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle and had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic. The vehicle was diagnosed by the mechanic, and it was determined that the PCM needed to be replaced and referred the contact to a dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact had the vehicle towed to the residence. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle and there were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the windows independently rolled down and the vehicle was in park(P) but the vehicle rolled forward. The contact turned off the vehicle but observed that the ignition was in the "RUN" position and while attempting to restart the vehicle to properly shut the vehicle off, the vehicle failed to restart. The contact had the vehicle towed to a dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the starter motor had burned out and the batteries were drained and needed to be replaced due to an electrical failure. The contact requested information from the dealer about the PCM and was advised that he had missed a software update. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.

NHTSA ODI 11659333

The rear race track rail has water build up at the bottom of it and it fried the lights so they don’t work anymore.

NHTSA ODI 11651569

Center lift gate racetrack light failed due to water getting into seam and shorting out that light and the license plate light. The whole unit needs to be replaced due to a faulty design which is going to cost over $2000

NHTSA ODI 11648092

After our cold winter here in PA when temperatures were -8 I noticed my tail light had a section not working and after looking at it I noticed a crack and water in that part. I started looking at replacing it until I seen it was going to be $2,000.00 just for the light. Will the Durango's that have these issues because of faulty parts pass state inspections until Dodge figures out what to do?

NHTSA ODI 11647753

The contact owns a 2018 Dodge Durango. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the rearview camera was intermittently inoperative and there was an abnormal sound coming from the infotainment system. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the infotainment system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 82,000.

NHTSA ODI 11646552

Water in racetrack lighting in rear tailgate. Also, license plate lights are not working either. Should be mfg problem to repair/recall

NHTSA ODI 11645179

I had a water pump go out and my battery died while fixing it but when I gave it a jump and started it my ABS and stability lights were on and haven’t turned off. It’s been over a year since they turned on. There is a recall for this on 2022 models why does it not apply to my vehicle?

NHTSA ODI 11644438

First we thought the fuel pump went bad due to the vehicle not starting. Pump was replaced and about 3 weeks later the same issue persisted. When the shop investigated it turns out the fuel tank harness and body side connector needed to be replaced due to connections becoming loose and delivering low voltage to the fuel pump causing it to burn up

NHTSA ODI 11643724

Right hand and left hand intake camshaft were damaged by the slider rocker finger follower. Cylinder 5 was the worst. Metal was sent through the overhead and got into the intake phaser. Parts were recently removed by the dealer and should be available if request is made shortly. Failure was found prior to catastrophic failure due to noise from the engine compartment. Vehicle was dropped off in the overnight drop box to allow vehicle the best chance to replicate the noise. Noise was only noticeable during cold starts below 30°f at idle and no load. Once the car warmed up, the noise was much less noticeable and could easily have been overlooked. No check engine lights were illuminated. If problem was not corrected, I'm confident this vehicle would have left me stranded by loss of power during driving putting me and my family in an unsafe situation. I first noticed the objectionable noise in November 2024 but was unable to get it to replicate reliably so a dealer could diagnose it. The problem was replicated by a dealer and components were replaced under warranty @ 53,272 miles. Oil changes were completed in line or ahead of the oil life monitor system in the cars instrument cluster. This seems to be a cold climate design issue with no oil being provided to the intake camshaft to sliding rocker finger follower interface during start up as oil appears to be fed from exhaust side lash adjuster. I suspect this same issue will reappear as the replacement parts are the same with no apparent improvements. Since the repair I've noticed improved fuel economy, smoother accelerations and shifts, and overall less noise. The degradation of these things before was slow enough to be unnoticeable.

NHTSA ODI 11640992

Racetrack Tail light burned out and can effect driving safety issues, water got in there and the automaker know about this problem and they won’t fix it , I have to pay out of pocket.

NHTSA ODI 11640509

The racetrack and the tail light do not work at all. I went to get my Durango inspected and they couldn't do it due to this issue. There was water coming out of the hatch when a mechanic was looking at this problem. I was told even if I spent a lot of money to fix it, it probably would repeat itself. My car has not been inspected for over month due to this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11632532

My tailgate lamp also known as the race track lamp it's collecting water every time I take it into the car wash which it now cost part of my life to burn out which can be a safety issue if all of it completely goes out

NHTSA ODI 11630477

NHTSA recall No. 23E-019 covers the replacement of defective Hydraulic Control Unit / Anti-Lock Brake System part No. 68085397AB built with a Julian Date code between 8166 and 9106. Bullet point number 6 in the 'chronology' of 23E-019 states "suspect service parts were not used in vehicle production". I disagree. While in the dealership for recall No. 22V-426 to re-program Hydraulic Control Unit / Anti-Lock Brake System parts No. 68085397AB and 68442478AB, I was told both those parts are now bad and need replacing. The Hydraulic Control Unit / Anti-Lock Brake System part No. 68085397AB taken off my vehicle has a date code of 8201. This is within the defective date range that was not supposed to be used in vehicle production. We bought the car new and it's never been in for any brake related work. The dealership says our VIN is not on the list of covered vehicles so we paid $1,578.41

NHTSA ODI 11623455

There is definitely something wrong with the headrests on the durangos. I was vacuuming my seats and i used the passenger lever to push it back and the headrest on the passenger side popped out and now the clips are broke & it wont pop back in. They definitely need to look into the headrests and fix this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11621275

The contact owns a 2018 Dodge Durango. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the service brakes and the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with HECU failure. The contact was informed that the HECU needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Additionally, NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V426000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) recall repair had been completed in 2023; however, the failure occurred. The contact was informed of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23E019000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

NHTSA ODI 11616386

I have noticed moisture in the rear tailgate light which houses the rear camera, license plate light, reverse lights and a larger(racetrack) tailight. I have drained the light a couple of times and noticed a small portion of the light was dim. This has been going on probably a year. Last night our son was driving behind and noticed the whole tailgate light had gone out along with the license plate light. There is no way to service this light it has to be replaced. The replacement light at the dealer was $1480. To me that is not an option. This is definitely a safety and consumer concern in my book.

NHTSA ODI 11613065