Police chief angry about unreliable Dodge Durango

An Indiana police chief so fed up with his unreliable Dodge Durango patrol cars that he wrote an open letter to his town’s citizens denouncing Stellantis and apologizing to taxpayers for spending their money on the shoddy fleet.

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Merrillville Police Chief Constantinos Nuces claimed that his Durango had experienced numerous engine failures due to problems with the oil cooler, and said most of the affected SUVs were not battle-hardened vehicles but had less than 15,000 miles (24,000 kilometers). Now Nuces said he will be forced to sell the faulty SUVs at a loss and replace them with more reliable vehicles.

RELATED: One in five Indiana police Dodge Durangos breaks down and gets stuck in repairs

“This situation is not only disappointing, it is fundamentally unfair,” Nusses wrote. “All of us — taxpayers and police departments alike — paid the price for a faulty product, and Dodge has failed to take responsibility or offer a viable solution.”

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Nunes explained to townspeople that he previously relied on Ford police interceptors, but had trouble finding replacements during the pandemic. He went to a local Dodge dealer and purchased an undisclosed number of Durangos, which were sold by Stellantis and claimed to be suitable for police work.

But starting in late 2022, the SUVs began experiencing catastrophic engine failures. The out-of-service Durangos placed an additional burden on the Merrillville fleet, and Nuses claims the dealership was unable to provide a suitable solution to ensure the problem doesn’t happen again. In his letter, Nuses said he was exploring “all possible avenues” to limit the pain for taxpayers and budgets, and creating a public relations nightmare for Stellantis appears to be one of them.

“The Dodge Durango Pursuit meets or exceeds all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards and is built to withstand severe operating conditions to which the standard retail version of the Durango would not be subjected,” Strantis said in a statement to Dodge Durango. NBC5 Chicago.

“Additionally, certain oil cooler issues are difficult to detect, which can result in collateral damage and highly complex remediation. We apologize for any inconvenience caused to our valued police community customers and are working to expedite service for any affected vehicles. Since the model’s introduction in 2018, it has been deployed in thousands of police agencies across North America, and overall feedback has been excellent,” the company added.

Merrillville isn’t the only police department in Indiana that’s had trouble with the Durango, however. The Indiana State Police (ISP) revealed in June that 39 of the 218 Dodge Durango SUVs it had received had mechanical issues that temporarily took them out of service. In May 2023, ISP ordered a total of 516 Durangos for about $25.8 million, or about $50,000 each. At the time, it noted that the average downtime to replace/repair an engine was four to eight weeks.

However, Merrillville isn’t the only Indiana police force struggling with the Durango issue. In June, the Indiana State Police (ISP) revealed that 39 of the 219 Dodge Durangos they had received so far had mechanical issues and were temporarily unavailable for use. That means nearly 20% of the fleet is unavailable. Back in May 2023, ISP placed an order for 516 Durangos worth $25.8 million, or about $50,000 each. They also noted that when an engine fails, it takes four to eight weeks to repair or replace it.

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