Pros: Passenger room, Cargo room, Handling, and Towing. Fun to drive. Features with the Limited model.
Cons: Fuel economy.
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this vehicle for individuals that need/desire a vehicle with mini-van like seating capacity and SUV cargo/towing capacity. Plus fun to drive.
The 2004 Dodge Durango is a pleasant surprise in the world of SUVs and is worth considering if you are in the SUV market. It is a mid-size plus SUV and has greater cargo and towing capacity than other vehicles in its class. It also has a number of nice luxury features.
Background on purchase decision
Just to give you some background on our vehicle search: My wife and I had been searching for an SUV to replace our 1995 Ford E150 Conversion Van. We looked at (and test drove) several vehicles in many different categories for nearly 8 months.
We looked at the new breed of Urban SUV's (e.g., Murano, Pacifica) to more traditional SUV's like the Chevy Trailblazer, and ended up purchasing the 2004 Dodge Durango (which curiously enough wasn't even on our radar at the start of our search).
During our search we had gradually come to the realization that we really needed a replacement vehicle that could seat more than 5 people and offer superior cargo storage without having such a large size that it could not park in a house garage (or a parking garage).
The seating capacity quickly ruled out the 5 passenger Nissan Murano. A vacation with a rented 2004 Ford Explorer soon ruled that vehicle out as well (cargo capacity was not what we hoped). Test driving the Envoy ruled that out (just wasn't fun to drive and we did not like the handling).
Pricing was also a consideration. We were trying to stay in the low $30,000's if at all possible.
We finally decided on a new 2004 Durango Limited with the Hemi engine. The vehicle has a number of features you might expect in a high-end SUV or car: leather seats, heated seats/mirrors, automatic headlight control, seat/mirror/pedal position memory for 2 drivers, 8 speaker stereo with sub wolfer and 6 CD changer, trip computer, universal garage door remote control, plus much more. Curiously there is not a built in GPS offering (at least that I could tell). Also curious is the fact that the Durango offers parking assist tilting exterior mirrors (but this feature is turned off by default and requires a trip to the dealer for activation).
The 2004 Durango seats 7 although the third seat is a bit small but not intolerable to sit in. Many SUV's with a 3rd row seat have this same issue.
The 2004 Durango is a curious size. It is generally classed as a midsize SUV but has interior room more comparable to a large SUV. So the 2004 Durango falls into a size category somewhere between a Ford Explorer and a Ford Excursion. The Chrysler line lacks a large SUV like Fords Excursion/Expedition so perhaps beefing up the size of the Durango helps fill this void and distinguishes the new Durango from the smaller Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Driving Experience
The vehicle is a pleasure to drive. The driver's seating position offers great visibility. The handling of this truck is excellent. There is virtually no body roll when cornering. The vehicle has a fairly tight turning radius for its size. I was surprised how easily this vehicle can be backed into a parking space or garage. Almost car like in its handling. The 335 HP Hemi engine is plenty powerful for this vehicle and does not work hard to move the vehicle. We did test drive the smaller V8 and it also seemed adequate for the Durango (and may have offered a slightly quicker start). With the MPG difference between the two engines of only 1 mile we opted for the Hemi. The overall ride is quite smooth.
Braking is also impressive for this size vehicle. The 4 wheel disk brakes let you feel in control and stopping distance is minimal.
The 5.7 Liter Hemi engine is paired with a 5 speed automatic transmission. It is full time AWD but can be manually put into 4 wheel drive. There is also an available (optional) stability control system. Our Durango did not come with this (and there is a plug in the dash where it would have been). Transmission shifting seemed smooth and I did not notice a lot of gear jumping while going up hill. You can take the transmission out of overdrive (button push) and put it into a towing mode for more power.
Exterior
The exterior of the Durango is attractive and distinctly Dodge (with typical Dodge flared truck fenders and grill). The grill chrome and is quite attractive. The front bumper is angled slightly downward and sits lower. I had read that this was done so that the Durango's bumper would more closely match the height of a typical car bumper for safety in a collision. A roof rack and side running boards definitely give the vehicle a more truck like appearance. I have seen a few 2004 Durangos without these items and they do remind one of a rather large mini-van from the side. The hood is slightly disproportionately short compared to the rest of the vehicle. Perhaps this is what gives it the slightly mini-van-like appearance from the side. The exterior has rounded corners and is less boxy than some SUVs. The wheels are 17-inch alloy wheels with on-off road tires. Some may not care for this look, but overall I thought the look was attractive and distinctive.
Interior
The interior is very roomy and the seats are quite comfortable. As I mentioned, the Durango is rated as a 7 passenger vehicle with 2 in the front, 3 in the middle, and 2 in the back. On the Limited model the front two leather seats are heated. Head room is also excellent in all the rows(even the front row with the sun roof).
The tinting on the Durango's windows is dark and quite nice (especially the rear window tinting).
The interior is also amazingly quiet. I have been beside cars blasting their radios away and not really given them a second thought. I had read that Chrysler had done research into noise reduction and had used special glass and floor insulation to dampen exterior noise. Whatever they did it really paid off.
The quality of the materials used in the interior is generally nice and well thought out. For instance the side interior panels in the back are composed of a flexible plastic material that can absorb being banged by interior cargo (like a grill's propane tank).
The gauges and controls are also well positioned. The gauges are large (really large) with white backgrounds and red needles and are easy to read. The nigh-time dash lighting is a pleasant light greenish color.
The steering wheel is a nice size and has controls on the
back side of it for the stereo (volume/station selection) and controls on the front for cruise control. The transmission selector is mounted on the steering column as is common in many trucks.
The trip computer is integrated with a universal controller that can be programmed to operate the garage door remote (plus two other devices). Although I do find the buttons on the universal controller difficult to locate in the dark. The button area is lit but the button itself is not.
The sun roof retracts into the head liner and can be positioned full open or vented.
The interior accommodations are well laid out. Drink holders are available for front and rear passengers. Vents are available for both rear seats with available climate controls accessible from the 2nd row of seats.
One detractor to the interior appearance is the chromed dash piece (center dash around radio) that is standard with all the Limited models. It has a plastic appearance to it. Compare this to the Murano that actually has a brushed aluminum dash piece which I thought was more attractive. It is not that the plastic looks bad, but it could have been nicer. The Durango SLT model comes with a plastic wood grain component instead of the chromed component.
The second row of seats features a 40/20/40 split seat.
The 2nd row of seats can even recline slightly (and independently)for extra comfort. To gain access to the rear row of seats it is necessary to fold/tumble one of the 40% sections of the middle row of seats. This is easy to do and can even be done with one hand (takes 2 seconds). A large adult should be wary when accessing the rear row of seats as it is easy to hit your side on the bottom of the tumbled middle seat (ouch). Both 2nd row and 3rd row of seats fold completely flat and offer a great amount of cargo area. A 50/50 folding 3rd row seat
is available as an option.
The rear cargo area is accessed via a lift gate. You cannot simply open the window on the rear gate to drop packages in (as you can on a Ford Explorer).
One other nice aspect to the Durango is the rear passenger doors. They open to nearly 90 degrees which makes it easy to get in and out of the vehicle or to access the 3rd row of seats.
The DVD player available in our Durango comes with a remote control and two wireless headsets. The screen is around 7 inches. Adequate for viewing while traveling. CD's can be played in the DVD player as well with rear passengers making use of the head phones (This is a nice feature as the front seat passengers can listen to the radio while rear passengers listen to CD's via headphones).
As I mentioned before the DVD comes with 2 wireless headphones. Tough break if you have more than 2 children. I went to the service center to buy additional headsets and was shocked to learn they are around $114 a piece. You need the headsets Chrysler has matched up with that DVD player so it may be unlikely or at least difficult for you to get an aftermarket one.
Cargo Capacity
With all the rows of seats upright, the area behind the 3rd row is sufficient to hold bags from a grocery shopping trip. A cargo net is provided to help keep items in place.
There is also a shallow storage compartment in the rear cargo area. It is about 4 inches deep. Not sure what you would store in this but we keep the headphones for the DVD player and a roof rack cargo net (not provided). The 3rd row of seats also has a cargo cover to hide purchases from view.
When the 2nd and 3rd row seats are folded flat the cargo area is huge (102.4 cubic feet). I have hauled 4x8 plywood (laying flat). I can actually fit more in this Durango than I could in our old full size E-150 conversion van. Compare that storage area to the Ford Explorer (79.9 cubic feet), Honda Pilot (90.3 cubic feet). By comparison the Durango's cargo area is closer to the Ford Excursions (at 110.5 cubic feet).
If you need more storage you can put items on the roof (roof rack). This brings up one thing I don't like with the Durango. The roof racks consist of two rails that run front to rear. There is not a joining rail that runs left to right. This means that to secure material to the roof rack may mean you set the cargo directly on the roof and risk scratching the roof paint. This can be rectified for about $140 you can buy connector rails from Chrysler. It would have been nice to have the ultra flexible roof rack rails like those on Chrysler's minivans.
Towing capacity is also great at 7400lbs.
Pricing and Purchasing
We purchased our Durango as part of an end of model year and feel we received a lot of truck for the money. We ended up getting a loaded Limited (leather seats, 8 speaker stereo with 6 CD changer, towing package, with Hemi engine, sun roof, DVD system) for around $32,000.
This vehicle listed at $40,000 .
Although the Chrysler web site shows a huge number of options available, if you plan to take one off a dealer's lot (to get the best price) you will likely not see all these options. We went to several dealerships and also shopped on line. In our area I noticed that one dealership liked to order a lot of the SLT model and then load them up with options to make them close to the Limited. Another dealer had mostly Limited models and few SLT's, but that dealer did not have many models with side running boards (which you can easily add for $460 or so).
That dealer did not have any vehicles on their lot with the 50/50 split 3rd row seat.
Unfortunately if you are doing end of model year shopping you generally have to take what you can get. The SLT model does have some nice features, but I personally think the Limited gives you more features for the money (including some Limited only features like seat/mirror/pedal memory for 2 drivers and heated seats).
Ownership
So far we have not had any problems with our 2004 Durango. We enjoy driving it and our children love riding in it.
My only gripe is the gas mileage. I was hoping that all around driving mileage might be closer to the EPA highway mileage of 17. Unfortunately it seems we average closer to 14. I also wish the Durango had been given a little large fuel tank than the 27 gallon tank it has. In our area we seem to end up with a cruising range of around 360-370 miles. Also the fuel gauge seems to go down pretty quickly for the first half tank. When the sensor light comes on warning you of low fuel you will fill up and find you have almost 5 gallons left in the tank. I guess it is better safe than sorry. Although this mileage may not be unreasonable for a 335HP engine and a 5000 pound vehicle.
The owners manual also recommends using the mid grade fuel rated at 89 octane. I have been using the slightly cheaper 87 octane fuel and have not noticed any problems. The dealer said that is what they used and had not had any customer complaints. Interestingly, the same 5.7 Hemi engine in the Dodge Magnum requires High-Octane fuel.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 32,260
Condition: New Model Year: 2004 Model and Options: Limited, Hemi, 4WD, Sun Roof, DVD, Towing Pkg, Prem. Paint
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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