Dodge Durango Hellcat No Longer Up For Grabs, Cue the Tears

Durango Hellcat is limited to just 2,000 units, but plenty are available via dealerships.

The 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat officially went on sale in November and today, the order banks for the 710-horsepower SUV closed forever. We say ‘forever’ because Dodge has stated from day-one that the Durango Hellcat would only be offered for the 2021 model year. New federal regulations will prevent the three-row, 710-horsepower SUV from continuing into 2022. That is a damn shame, too, as having spent time with one on the road and the track, it is a remarkable machine.

Fortunately, if you have deep enough pockets, you can still buy a 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, but it will take some searching. According to Scott from JeepGarage.org, as many as 1,200 examples of this high performance family haul will be in dealership inventory across the country.

Not Exactly Sold Out

While the order banks are closed for the Hellcat Durango, we don’t want to use the phrase “sold out”, as these vehicles will be available from dealerships. Some outlets have reported that the Durango Hellcat is sold out and, technically, it is sold out as far as Dodge is concerned. All 2,000 units slated for production have been ordered by dealerships, but not all 2,000 supercharged SUVs have buyers waiting for them. You can no longer order the supercharged Dodge SUV with all of the options that you prefer, but once the delivery process is underway, they will be in dealership inventory.

“The 2021 Durango Hellcat is only a single model-year run, ensuring that it will be a very special, sought-after performance SUV for years to come,” said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge Brand and Interim Chrysler Brand Chief Executive Officer – Stellantis. “Based on anticipated demand, all dealer allocations have already been reserved, but there is still some time to secure an unsold dealer order.”

This means that you can buy one of the supercharged Durangos, but you could end up paying north of $100,000 for one.

Acquiring a Durango Hellcat

The 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat has a price range starting at $82,490 and topping out at $99,715. We can expect that many dealerships which ordered one of the supercharged SUVs for their showroom rather than for a designated customer will add most of the key options. In other words, Hellcat Durangos in dealership inventory are likely to be towards the upper end of the MSRP scale, but unless you have a good relationship with your dealership, you may need to deal with the dreaded additional dealer markup, or ADM.

Let’s say that there are actually 1,200 units of the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat in dealership inventory. The package will not be offered for 2022, so those 1,200 SUVs are the only Hellcat Durango models that will ever be available. With that in mind, it is reasonable to expect that most dealerships will add at least $5,000 onto the bottom line. In some places, we wouldn’t be surprised to see them marked up as much as $25,000. A fully loaded model with tax, title and a big dealer markup could reach $125,000.

The good news is that the Hellcat Durango is an incredible performance machine. Anyone who buys one is likely to quickly forget about the cost when they are running 11-second quarter miles with a three-row SUV. Hopefully some dealerships sell these supercharged SUVs for MSRP.

Photos: Dodge

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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