2017 Dodge Durango
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Exterior lighting is the leading concern among 211 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 15th highest complaint count among 25 Durango model years with reports.
Of the 2017 reports, 9 involved a crash and 2 involved a fire. 10 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Electrical system, wiringMay 17, 2018
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Dodge Journey, Charger and Durango, RAM 2500, 3500, 3500 Cab Chassis (more than 10,000lb), 4500 Cab Chassis and 5500 Cab Chassis, Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee and Chrysler 300, 2014-2019 RAM 1500, 2015-2018 Dodge Challenger, 2015-2017 Chrysler 200, 2016-2018 RAM 3500 Cab Chassis (less than 10,000 lb), 2017-2018 Chrysler Pacifica and 2018 Jeep Wrangler vehicles. These vehicles are being recalled to address a defect that could prevent the cruise control system from disengaging. If, when using cruise control, there is a short circuit within the vehicle's wiring, the driver may not be able to shut off the cruise control either by depressing the brake pedal or manually turning the system off once it has been engaged, resulting in either the vehicle maintaining its current speed or possibly accelerating.
If the vehicle maintains its speed or accelerates despite attempts to deactivate the cruise control, there would be an increased risk of a crash.
Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the software, and perform a software flash on the engine or powertrain control module, free of charge. The recall began June 4, 2018. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Note: Owners are advised to stop using cruise control until the software update has been performed. In the event that cruise control cannot be disengaged while driving, owners should firmly and steadily apply the brakes and shift the transmission to neutral, placing the vehicle in park once it has stopped.
Campaign 18V332000 on NHTSA.gov
Power train, axle assembly, axle shaftAug 31, 2017
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2017 Dodge Durango vehicles. The vehicles may have been assembled with rear axle halfshafts that are too short.
If a halfshaft is too short, it may disengage from the differential causing a loss of drive and increasing the risk of a crash.
Chrysler has notified owners, and dealers will replace both halfshafts, free of charge. The recall began on September 18, 2017. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is T55.
Campaign 17V541000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints
211 reports, newest first.
Other or unspecified, Mar 26, 2025
I'm reporting the race track tailgate light on my 2017 durango has been taking in water from top of the light. I have been reading about a law suit against Dodge cause of this issue on 2014 thru 2023 dodge durango. So im putting my complaint in on my cause its doing the same thing. part of the lower left side on mine has shorted out due to the water leaking from the top of the race track light.
Electrical system, Feb 11, 2025
My race track tail lights and license plate lights just stopped working all together. This poses visibility issues of a safety concern for those approaching from behind me. No warnings or other symptoms/issues were present. No LED lights were burnt out prior to all of the lights not working all at once. They all were working in the morning when I left for work and then did not turn on when I left work that day. I checked the fuse which is fine. All other lights on the side of the quarter panels (ie. turn signals, reverse lights, tail lights) work and the brake light at the top of the lift gate works properly.
Engine, Jan 31, 2025
The contact owns a 2017 Dodge Durango. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at 45 MPH, the vehicle experienced a loss of automotive power, and the instrument panel became inoperable. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact safely maneuvered onto an exit and parked the vehicle for several minutes before restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was restarted and operated normally. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed; however, the contact was informed that the cause for the failure was not determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 68,000.
Seats, Jan 7, 2025
The driver’s side headrest deployed while I was driving. There was no warning and no impact. The headrest pushed my head forward, slamming into the back of it. This could have been a disaster, gigantic safety risk.
Exterior lighting, Jan 1, 2025
The rear lights on the tailgate on these vehicles continue to fail due to water inclusion. This affects night time visibility. I've noticed this trend on many Dodge Durango models spanning many different years. My vehicle had this occurrence with roughly 70,000 miles. Many vehicle owners have had much earlier failures.
Engine, Dec 9, 2024
My car started leaking oil I took it to a local mechanic and I was told that the oil filter housing needs to be replaced. He said that he sees that problem with thos vehicles he even sain that he is surprised that it has been recalled because apparently it breaks easily and it needs to be changed to a metal. Again he mentioned how he sees this problem often with this specific car.
Seats, Oct 22, 2024
Started the vehicle, my wife was in the passenger seat. The headrest exploded apart and hit her in the back of the head. It hit her pretty hard in the back of the head. She had a headache but no medical attention was needed. I'm hoping this does not happen to the drivers side while I am driving.
Exterior lighting, Other or unspecified, Oct 12, 2024
Bought a used 17 durangoGT on July 29th 2024 notice a crack in tail light and told the used car manager about it and brushed it off now there is an issue with racetrack light and water is getting in and is now half lite the dealer said there isn’t a problem so took it to dodge and had a 2nd option and they said it was the crack and on top of that there is a class action lawsuit against dodge for the track light and it can cause electrical issues and license plate light and rear camera issues this is unsafe and I got a invoice from dodge of the issue too
Seats, Sep 29, 2024
While parked, the front passenger headrest split apart. The active headrest appears to have broken or deployed. The vehicle was in park. No collision. Drive seat did not deploy. Reset of headrest doesn’t not seem possible. latches appear broke. No noise when this occurred. Back seat passenger witnessed the headrest randomly split open
Electrical system, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Aug 29, 2024
We have had engine issues since the first couples months of having this car, the engine has been replaced 2 times, and now tipm and start/stop is having issues, this car needs to be recalled
Fuel/propulsion system, Aug 1, 2024
Vehicle would not fill up with fuel. Took to dealership, dealership quoted $2700 to fix the issue. Issue was stated as fuel had entered the evap canister (somehow) and would need to be replaced and because this needed to be replaced the fuel tank needed to be replaced as well. 10 days later I received a bill for $2700 for a replaced tank and cannister with no real explanation as to why it happened. After reading on NHTSA, this seems to be a more than "random" occurrence with this vehicle and needs to be updated to a manufacture defect/recall. Customers should not be paying for a defect directly from the factory. Especially when said defect is costing customers $2000+. Additionally, with the exposed risk of gasoline spewing out of the fill nozzle on to owners, this poses a serious threat to health and safety of the environment and owners of these vehicles. Not to mention the fueling stations as well.
Electrical system, Fuel/propulsion system, Jul 23, 2024
Engine cut off while driving down the interstate, traffic was moderate and thankfully made it to the side of the road. After about 20 min, the engine started. Seemed like a lack of fuel. Replaced the fuel pump and it ran fine for about a week and then while fueling it at the gas station, it wouldn't start again. After about 20 min, it started. While dropping the fuel tank, I noticed the connector that is located to the rear of the fuel tank on the passenger side and the main wire for the fuel pump was melted in the connector. It was evident that there was significant heat on that pin and I am in the process of repairing the wiring as well as the connector. This is a known issue in previous models, obviously it is not a issue for Chrysler to fix it until someone is killed in an accident.,
Electrical system, Jul 17, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Dodge Durando. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the horn failed to operate as needed. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 106,000.
Steering, Electrical system, Jul 5, 2024
Lost power steering after I started vehicle after driving. It happens to remove power steering unavailable code after restarting vehicle several times and power steering returns. I believe it may be something with ABS as the ECU and EPS is all connected. If something is off then it goes into limp mode. ABS was resetted and worked fine and not needing to replace the entire electric power steering. All started when I had 88K miles. One time the steering wheel locked on me while I was driving over a bridge with snow and ice on ground.
Seats, May 26, 2024
On [XXX] 2024 my wife, son, and I were sitting at a stop light on [XXX] at approximately 16:40 hours when we heard a loud pop in the vehicle and my wife's head was pushed forward by the passenger side seat head rest, causing pain to my wife's head and neck, and shoulder muscles. Upon inspection of the head rest, it had become separated in the middle (pictures attached). Vehicle is equipped with the active head restraint system. My wife has not received medical attention yet but is quite sore this morning. We will contact our dealer to replace the head rest (and the driver's side head rest) and request the defective head rest be returned to us so it is available for NHTSA inspection. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance rep, or others yet. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. This happened suddenly without any warning while we were stopped at a traffic light. Our safety was put at risk by the sudden failure and violent expansion to the head rest causing pain to my wife. Had this occurred on the driver's side while the vehicle was in motion, it could have caused a motor vehicle crash resulting in severe injury, property damage, or even death. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, May 18, 2024
Rear tail panel lights don’t work, water intrusion causing failure
Exterior lighting, Apr 30, 2024
The “race track light” on the rear hatch of the vehicle has allowed water to get in to the electrical LED components and has caused a portion of the light to fail. It seems to be a common failure and it creates a safety issue with visibility of the vehicle at night. In addition, the component to replace this light is very very expensive, with no hope that the new part will not fail in the same manner.
Power train, Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Apr 23, 2024
Just bought the vehicle two months ago and have had to replace multiple things on the vehicle. The first issue was the diming lights and passenger window rolling down while driving along with remote start not working got that fixed now the car wants to turn on when it feels like it. It could be working for two weeks straight then you go to turn the car on after just turning it off five minutes prior and it does not wanna work you mess with the wires, try to jumpstart the wires and unhook the passenger seat heat and adjuster then it starts..
Electrical system, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Apr 22, 2024
The automatic stop/start ERG valve
Power train, Apr 19, 2024
Transmission has parts that wear out fast causing transmission to completely go out.
Engine and engine cooling, Mar 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Dodge Durango. The contact stated the engine overheated and fluids of different colors and consistencys leaked from the vehicle. The contact stated that the leaks were coming from the coolant reservoir due to engine overheating. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a P0476 small evaporator leak and the hard line going to purge solenoid was cracked. The contact stated that the dealer replaced the oil filter housing system four times. The vehicle was taken to another dealer who performed a diagnostic test and stated that there was a crack in the cooling line. The contact stated the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided the contact with 2-star cases. The approximate failure mileage was 99,414.
Engine, Feb 24, 2024
The manufactured plastic oil housing unit cracked during negative temperatures on [XXX] in Webb City MO. I had a pool of oil under my car, and now my engine shakes during low idle. This needs to recalled because it should be replaced with the aluminum housing unit. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Structure, Feb 22, 2024
Water intrusion on Track Light started with small section becoming dim March 2023. Left license plate bulb/housing went out october 2023 with corrosion on plug. February 2024 entire hatch lighting out (track light + both license plate lights).
Exterior lighting, Feb 21, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Dodge Durango. The contact stated that after a visual inspection of the vehicle, he became aware that the taillights were not functioning properly. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the taillight sealant, resulting in water leaking into the casing and short-circuiting the wiring. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 79,000.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Feb 16, 2024
Car started leaking coolant underneath. The dealership told us the lines that control the rear heat are leaking. And it’s a major job. $ 3100.00 we were told. The coolant lines are back ordered and have had it for over 5 weeks and still not fixed. That is ridicules for a vehicle with only 74K…