Need advice on Dodge Durango and Toyota 4-Runner

[Beauty]

I can read reviews and safety reports all day long but I want advice from real people who OWN them.

So tell me about the Dodge Durango and the Toyota 4-Runner if you have one........do you like it????? Do you regret anything??? Positives?? Negatives??

Thanks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I only know they are big, Beth, but this will bump it up for you, maybe others know.

 

[Beauty]

Thanks Dan!

The Durango is bigger than the 4-Runner. I like the 4-Runner a little better but the Durango is nice too.

 

[CrazedDisFan]

I have an '04 Durango. I love it. It is comfy, the space is great. I don't have the third row seat, that is my only regret. We have 2 kids, but I didn't think about taking the kids with a friend each somewhere. The next one will have a third row seat.

Also, drive them both several times to help you decide. Tell your salesperson you need to keep the vehicle for an hour or so, you are having trouble determining which one. Drive it on the freeway, in the city, on a dirt road if you have one in your area, park it, Put everyone in it that you normally have in your car (dh, kids, etc) See how they fit.


Good luck whatever you choose!!

 

[mtblujeans]

My husband has an '02 Durango and he had been wanting it for a long, long time. (He's the kinda' guy that has to get used to the idea of spending that much money so it took awhile for him to wrap his mind around the cost). I have a Suburban. His Durango is alot smaller in the head space. Quite frankly, I don't know how he sits in the thing 'cause I frequently hit my head getting in and out. But, the handling is great! It is a noticable difference from my vehicle. The turning and general driving handling is very good. The Durango is up pretty high and he rarely uses the 4-wheel drive. It has wider tires on it than mine. I don't know if that affects the handling or not. It is great on gas mileage. The radio/stereo is very good and the thing offers a comfortable ride. My husband uses his vehicle for travel as he drives around the state of Montana alot for work. He loves it and has never regretted getting his Durango. Alot of people, here, (northern Montana) have them and I have never heard anyone complain about them. I will tell you that we need to build a garage and the vehicles sit out in the weather year 'round. Last winter was a little strange for us as it snowed and then would warm up and snow again. There was a rear transmission seal that leaked and it was very expensive to replace. (That was covered by warranty). The mechanic that caught it said it was not singly our vehicle that he was seeing - he had seen alot of vehicles that did that because the weather got cold, warm, and then cold again and the seals just popped. That was the only "problem" and it really was not a problem for us. We have had a Buick car in the past that we could not say the same about - warranty or no. I would say you could not go wrong with a Durango.....but it certainly depends upon your needs. Ours would tow the horse trailer with 2 steers in it if we had to. 'Course, that doesn't mean too much in some places. Good luck!

 

[Cindy B]

We ,looked at Durango and decided against it.

The Durango had some fairly bad reviews on www.edmunds.com

The third seat is tight, very tight. (our youth director has one!) The Durango also was a V8 (if I remember correctly), and I did not want that.


We wound up with a Jeep that I really like.

 

[janette]

We have a 98 Durango, hasn't really given us any problems but we did put some money into it this year. My DH doesn't drive much and it's his car so we only have about 40K on it. That works because the gas mileage is pretty bad. They have another version now that has a smaller engine but they didn't then.

 

[buzzlady]

We had a '99 4-Runner. It handled very poorly. If you were going around a curve or making a turn and hit a bump at the same time you really had to be prepared. It would feel like it was going to bounce right off the road. I copied the below from another post that I responded to and MosMom's response to what I had posted. Other than the handling, we didn't have any mechanical problems.


quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by buzzlady
We had a 1999 4-Runner. It was nice, but hated the way that it handled. It was especialy difficult handling if you were going around a curve or making a turn and hit a bump at the same time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

originally posted by MosMom:

My SIL died in a 4-runner because of that problem.

 

[preshi]

DH had to borrow a Durango, not our taste, the thing was huge and hard to navigate.

I have an '04 4 Runner and I Love It, it is the perfect size for the 4 of us and the two dogs. Handles well, Good Stereo, 4 wheel dr., my Dad had his 4 runner for 10 years no problems, I anticipate we will have this one just as long

 

[cheyita]

Interesting to hear the bad reports on the 4Runner, because we've had one for six years now and love it! It has over 160,000 miles on it without any problems whatsoever.

I might be a little biased, since I am a huge fan of Toyota vehicles and feel they are well-built, reliable machines. On the flip side, I wouldn't trust a Chrysler product as far as I can throw it. No offense to the Dodge/Chrysler owners, but I've had a bad Chrysler experience as has several family members.

 

[jfulcer]

I know in researching an engine problem in my own chrysler, there are LOTS of reports of oil sludge problems with Dodge Durangos (even ones that were well maintained and oil changed per manufacturers specs. I don't know if it's still a problem with the newer models. I would be certain to have any used Durango thoroughly inspected if you were buying it, and make sure they solved the problems with the newer models.

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