Police across the state are having trouble with new Dodge SUVs after they allege oil-cooler problems keep grenading engines
- Some police forces in Indiana are experiencing problems with their Dodge Durango SUVs
- Oil-cooler failure is pointed to as the cause of the issue, which requires engine replacement to fix
- One force says that, as a result, it’s being forced to sell off the police SUVs at a loss
It’s never a good day when the engine in one’s car decides it would rather have a new career as an oily paperweight instead of performing its duty powering a useful mode of transportation. That problem is magnified when the vehicle in question is part of a large fleet — and is further amplified when the rigs are relied upon by first responders.
As for Stellantis, it released a statement to local media saying its cop-grade Durango “meets or exceeds” federal motor vehicle safety standards and pointing to its deployment with “thousands of police agencies across North America” where it enjoyed “exemplary” overall feedback. Beyond that, “certain oil-cooler issues are difficult to detect, which may lead to collateral damage and a highly complex remedy.”
Some talking heads on these forums are flapping their jaws that the failures must be on the heels of poor maintenance or crash damage; this is refuted in a reply posted this week by an anonymous but self-proclaimed “agency customer” of these rigs, claiming a 30% failure rate across both V6 and V8 Durango police vehicles.
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