New 2012 Durango Citadel
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New 2012 Durango Citadel
As of yesterday afternoon, we became proud owners of a brand new 2012 Citadel. We replaced my wife's 7 year old Honda Odyssey, which had served us very well well through the little kid stage of our life. Now our kids are a little older (12 and 9) so my wife insisted on an SUV.
We didn't want to take the gas mileage hit of a fullsize Expedition or Tahoe SUV, so we were looking at the mid-size. We drove the Acadia, Enclave and Explorer, and my dad has a Honda Pilot that we've driven from time to time. My wife didn't like the Pilot, and she really didn't like the Explorer. It just "didn't fit"; those were her words. We almost bought a very low mileage 2010 Acadia, but we just didn't feel comfortable pulling the trigger. The Acadia/Enclave just seemed overpriced for what you got when compared to the Durango, Explorer and the imports.
Finally, we found a 2012 Molten Red Citadel online at the local dealer, so we drove it yesterday morning. My wife really liked it. It rode really nice, it fit her, it had all the right features (NAV, sunroof, heated and cooled seats, and especially the power liftgate), so the dealer presented their offer. Sticker was 43k, they offered $37k. I signed paperwork yesterday afternoon.
I've never been a "Dodge guy", so I was a little nervous buying one. But in my research, I discovered the JD Powers initial quality rating on the 2011 Durango was 4.5 (on a scale of 1 to 5). This was a lot higher than the other mid-size SUVs! The Pilot was a 3.0! That sealed the deal for me.
It was rainy yesterday and will be the rest of the weekend, so I'm taking it back Monday for them to do the make-ready detailing. No sense it doing it when a block down the road it's all dirty again.
By the way, if anyone needs a dealer recommendation in the North Dallas area, let me know. That was the easiest buying experience I ever had.
We didn't want to take the gas mileage hit of a fullsize Expedition or Tahoe SUV, so we were looking at the mid-size. We drove the Acadia, Enclave and Explorer, and my dad has a Honda Pilot that we've driven from time to time. My wife didn't like the Pilot, and she really didn't like the Explorer. It just "didn't fit"; those were her words. We almost bought a very low mileage 2010 Acadia, but we just didn't feel comfortable pulling the trigger. The Acadia/Enclave just seemed overpriced for what you got when compared to the Durango, Explorer and the imports.
Finally, we found a 2012 Molten Red Citadel online at the local dealer, so we drove it yesterday morning. My wife really liked it. It rode really nice, it fit her, it had all the right features (NAV, sunroof, heated and cooled seats, and especially the power liftgate), so the dealer presented their offer. Sticker was 43k, they offered $37k. I signed paperwork yesterday afternoon.
I've never been a "Dodge guy", so I was a little nervous buying one. But in my research, I discovered the JD Powers initial quality rating on the 2011 Durango was 4.5 (on a scale of 1 to 5). This was a lot higher than the other mid-size SUVs! The Pilot was a 3.0! That sealed the deal for me.
It was rainy yesterday and will be the rest of the weekend, so I'm taking it back Monday for them to do the make-ready detailing. No sense it doing it when a block down the road it's all dirty again.
By the way, if anyone needs a dealer recommendation in the North Dallas area, let me know. That was the easiest buying experience I ever had.
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Congrats, you'll love it more and more everyday you own it. It's amazing that Dodge can make a crossover like the Durango that gets better real world gas mileage than the acadia, is RWD, bank vault solid, and looks rugged and like a "regular" SUV (not a minivan wannabe FWD/transverse mounted engine) This, the grand cherokee and the mercedes ML just destroy their competitors with these three, but the gap between the Durango and the others (pilot, lambda CUV's at GM, taurus based Explorer) is HUUUUGE!
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Just the $1000 rebate.
Thanks, all. My wife told me this morning that the more she drives it, the more she likes it.
I just had the hitch installed this morning, and after reading some bad experiences on the other thread, I asked the service manager exactly how they would install it. He explained they had a template to follow, they cut from the inside, and there's a bezel that fits over the cut plastic. It looks factory! They did a great job on it. If I parked next to a factory installed hitch I don't think anyone would be able to tell the difference.
Thanks, all. My wife told me this morning that the more she drives it, the more she likes it.
I just had the hitch installed this morning, and after reading some bad experiences on the other thread, I asked the service manager exactly how they would install it. He explained they had a template to follow, they cut from the inside, and there's a bezel that fits over the cut plastic. It looks factory! They did a great job on it. If I parked next to a factory installed hitch I don't think anyone would be able to tell the difference.
