About Durango
The Dodge Durango is the rare family SUV that can carry seven people and then do a burnout. It first appeared in 1997 as a truck-based SUV built on the Dakota pickup, offering three rows of seats and V8 power at a time when most rivals were smaller. A second generation followed, then a brief pause, and the current model arrived for 2011 on the same platform as the Jeep Grand Cherokee. That generation has remained in production for more than a decade, a remarkable lifespan in an industry that usually replaces models every five or six years.
Its longevity is partly due to the formula: a rear-drive-based three-row SUV with a muscular look, a strong V6, available Hemi V8s and a towing capacity that beats most crossovers. Dodge has kept it fresh with updates, special editions and SRT versions, including the SRT 392 and the supercharged SRT Hellcat, a family hauler whose roughly 710 horsepower made it one of the most powerful SUVs ever sold. The Durango is built in Detroit, and it has become a staple of police fleets as well as suburban driveways.
The Durango competes with three-row SUVs such as the Ford Explorer, Chevrolet Traverse, Toyota Highlander, Kia Telluride and Hyundai Palisade, though few of them can match its performance or towing capacity. Its weaknesses are its age, which shows in the interior and technology, its thirst for fuel and a third row that is tighter than some rivals. With the Hornet gone, it is also Dodge's only SUV and the entry point to the brand.
Coverage here includes reviews, model-year changes, new paint colors and special editions, recalls, warranty extensions, pricing and sales results, as well as news on the next-generation Durango that Dodge fans have been waiting on for years. Expect Hellcat drag races, police-fleet stories, stolen-and-recovered sagas and the usual family-SUV comparisons, all of which add up to an unusual career for an unusually durable vehicle. Few SUVs can claim to have been on sale this long, and fewer still can claim to have outlasted their own replacements in the rumor mill.