I am looking for a new vehicle.
Currently own 2003 Expedition EB, 110K miles (never had any problems), daily driver is 2008 VW Touareg V8 with air suspension, 93K miles (love it) and my wife has her 2006 Honda Odyssey with 85K miles.
Heading into retirement we are trying to simplify our lives and buy just one new vehicle that "can do it all" and keep it for 10 years+. Time frame is 5-8 months before the extended warranty on the VW runs out.
Requirements: 4 wheel drive, minimum 5000 lbs towing for possible Ultra-lite towing in the future, fuel efficiency, long extended warranty (minimum 10 year, 150K miles...), can be serviced and repaired anywhere (from Alaska to Yukon Territories...).
I looked at Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, Jeep Grand Cherokee, the new 2018 Expedition (will come out in 4-6 months).
I already ruled out: Mercedes-Benz GLE, GLS, BMW M5 and Audi Q7 as it would take forever to repair them (also exorbitantly expensive) if something happened in the middle of nowhere. Explorer is bland and has low reliability (2 strikes against it).

While Consumer Reports puts the Honda Pilot into the "high reliability" category, Truedelta has actually higher percentage of repairs on the 2017 Pilot versus the 3rd gen Durango.
Pilot and Highlander offer extended factory warranty up to 8 years and 120K miles and 125K miles. Even Expedition has a maximum 8 year/150K miles warranty.

My questions are:
Does Dodge/Mopar still offer the lifetime (no milage limit) warranty?

The Hemi runs and tows better but how much of a difference is there in the fuel economy? With us planning on traveling a lot during retirement, highway fuel mileage would be more important than city driving. What's the difference between the pentastar and the hemi in real life driving? Any difference in reliability between the engines?

Anything else I should know/consider?

TIA

 

they don't make a 4wd, only rwd and awd.

the 3.6 awd max trailer tow weight is 3500lbs. the rwd 3.6 max weight is 6200lbs. the hemi rwd and awd can tow 7200lbs.

if your trailer towing through alaska, you need the hemi. Its always better to have more trans, engine and driveline torque capacity then less. hemi will also have bigger rear brakes.

a lot of people will try to add aftermarket add ons to help their vehicle when towing....when was they really need is to buy the right vehicle built to handle what they tow.

the mpg difference hwy is 3mpg less for the hemi but if your towing, I bet the hemi gets the same
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find...37859&id=37860

 

Thanks for the reply.
I guess you mean 6500 lbs towing for the pentastar AWD?
What is the penalty in fuel economy of the hemi vs V6 not as per Government numbers but in a real-life scenario (loaded up, A/C running)?
Is there a consensus if one engine is more reliable than the other or is it just the luck of the draw?

 

no, the number is 3500 lbs. almost all awd configurations tow less than 4wd or rwd; the ptu of the awd being the weakest link in the drivetrain.

i already gave you my opinion; if your gonna load this suv and tow through inclines like alaska with a weight close to the vehicle itself...you need the hemi. when your loading a smaller engine, the fuel savings will be insignificant if any at all. the only fuel savings you will see with a v6 are when the trailer is not in tow. they are both reliable engines but consider what you are using it for. a overloaded v6 will not be more reliable.

 

Tow capacity for the 3.6 engine AWD Durango with tow package is 6200 pounds, not 3500 pounds. This is the spec from Dodge, not me.

 

You need to get the Tow Package to bring the towing capacity to the 6200 and 7400 pound figures for the two engines. If I was planning to do a lot of towing and fuel efficiency is not something I particularly care about, I'd get the AWD Hemi. I have the V-6 with Tow but I rarely tow anything. I only really wanted it for the extra cooling, braking, and load-leveling.

 

As per Dodge, the official numbers with the trailer package are:
http://www.dodge.com/en/towing_payload/2016/
3.6 L Pentastar AWD and RWD: 6200 lbs.
Hemi: AWD: 7200 lbs, RWD: 7400 lbs.

When you go into configuration menu and price out a Citadel 3.6 L AWD with towing package it shows towing as 6500 lbs.
When you go into configuration menu and price out a Hemi R/T AWD with towing package it shows towing at 7100 lbs.

There seems to be some inconsistencies on the website.

 

Another surprising fact:
Going just with MSRP:

Citadel 3.6L AWD ($43995) with engine heater ($95), towing+skid plates ($1295), premium entertainment ($2490), Technology ($2295) ends up at $50170 (before any rebates and offers).

R/T Hemi AWD ($44695) with engine heater ($95), towing (no skid plates) ($995) and Technology ($2295) ends up at $48080 (as the premium sound is included in the R/T).

With the hemi you give up the skidplates but have the low-range instead.

Looking at the numbers, the hemi is about $2000 cheaper than the V6 (that would pay for the increased fuel consumption).

Does that reflect in the purchasing price or do the dealers discount the V6 much more?

 

read the previous posts again. for 2017...6200 is only for the rwd 3.6. awd 3.6 is 3500lbs. This is from fca dealer service information. I work for dodge.

 

I downloaded the 2017 Dodge Durango Manual from here:
https://carmanuals2.com/get/dodge-du...s-manual-97396

On page 457 it had the trailer towing weights:




As you can see, the 3500 lbs only apply for non-towing package 3.6 L AWD and RWD.

As I will get the towing package, the relevant numbers are 6200 lbs for RWD and AWD for the V6 and
7200 lbs for the Hemi AWD and 7400 lbs for the Hemi RWD.

This is the same ballpark information that is on the website on at least 3 separate pages.