YearsTellEspaƱol

2012 Dodge Durango

For every car sold, owners filed 2.8 times as many complaints about the 2012 Durango as about the typical Durango year. Among the 10 Durango years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2019 (0.49 per 1,000 sold) and the most about this one, the 2012 (2.33).

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

2.33 per 1,000

2.8 times this nameplate’s own median

Counted from 110 complaints filed in the first three years, of 639 ever. 95% lower bound 1.90. Not counted: 11 complaints that reported only that a recall repair was unavailable, not a failure.

Every Durango model yearComplaints per 1,000 sold, first three years
This yearOther yearsToo few complaints to rankTypical year, 0.83

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters. The bar is how many complaints each rate rests on.

Model yearPer 1,000Complaints
20080.378
20111.4575
20122.33110
20132.28118
20141.2679
20150.8756
20160.7852
20170.8357
20180.8859
20190.4933
20200.1811
20210.7949
20220.2515
20230.2214

Issues owners of the 2012 Durango report

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Electrical System 347 complaints

campaign electrical12135%
alternator8625%
tipm4814%
fuel pump4212%
relay3911%
chrysler jeep3610%

Engine 141 complaints

chrysler3021%
alternator1913%
fuel pump1913%
tipm139%
relay139%
chrysler jeep139%

Fuel/Propulsion System 89 complaints

start4652%
relay3843%
pump relay3034%
chrysler1719%
tipm1618%
starts1011%

When it breaks

14% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 66,500 miles, from 472 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

By engine

The VIN an owner files names the engine, which places 598 of this year’s 639 complaints. Sales by engine are not published, so these are not rates and say nothing about which engine drew more complaints. What can be compared is what each engine’s owners reported.

EngineComplaintsAbout the engine or fuel systemOf those, before 30,000 miles
3.6 L 6-cylinder36329%9% of 82
5.7 L 8-cylinder23543%9% of 86

Engines as NHTSA’s VIN decoder (vPIC) reads them from the first eleven characters of each VIN. “Turbo” is shown only where every VIN records one; the decoder leaves it blank on many turbo engines. 41 complaints are not in the table: no usable VIN, an engine vPIC could not decode, or an engine with fewer than 25 complaints.

What NHTSA did

5 investigations covering this model year, 2 of which list a recall campaign. Owners had filed 142 complaints about this component over roughly 13 months before an investigation opened.

Totally Integrated Power Module Failure

Questions buyers ask about the 2012 Dodge Durango

Is 2012 a good year or a bad year for the Durango?

For every car sold, owners filed 2.8 times as many complaints about the 2012 Durango as about the typical Durango year. Among the 10 Durango years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2019 (0.49 per 1,000 sold) and the most about this one, the 2012 (2.33). The typical year is the median across its model years.

What problems does the 2012 Durango have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Electrical System (347), Engine (141), Fuel/Propulsion System (89). The phrases they used are listed above.

Is the 2012 Durango reliable?

Complaint records cannot settle that on their own. They count safety problems owners chose to report to the federal government, not every repair. What they do show is how this year compares with the other Durango years: for every car sold, owners filed 2.8 times as many complaints about the 2012 Durango as about the typical Durango year.

Which Durango year has the fewest complaints?

Among years with enough complaints to compare, the 2019, at 0.49 per 1,000 sold. Every Durango year, ranked.

What the used-car guides say

No guide we read covers the Durango.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page, each on NHTSA’s own site:

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is checked by hand against its source table, not against an outside figure.