Ok, driving the Durango today, it struck me that having now put 14k on the truck in 5 months, two things have changed: The performance of the vehicle and my opinion of it.

First, the truck drives better today than it ever has. It took about 10k to actually break it in. The OTL performance is fantastic. The gas mileage is significantly better now than it was when the truck was new. It's really loosened up and broken in. The only modifications I've made since it came off the lot are a drop in K&N, synthetic oil (since 2,500 miles), and I turned off the hill assist (made a HUGE difference in off the line performance).

When the truck was new it really didn't feel like 360 HP and it had a number of odd issues. The only one that required a trip to the dealer was the leaking sunroof. Otherwise, one day it wouldn't shift past third gear (this was at less than 1,000 miles) but by the time I got to the dealer it had fixed itself. There were a number of electrical issues that fixed themselves and have never reappeared. The tranny used to spend a lot of time looking for the right gear. That seems to have stopped. At highway speeds when it was new it had a kind of surging ride. That's mostly gone away although I will very occasionally still feel it, not often. I've also had a concerning issue with the water temp gauge creeping up more than I would like when sitting still in traffic or under load. I live in the DC area so sitting still in traffic is a daily issue. It seems to me that the engine needs a little more room to breath, maybe a way for engine heat to escape through the hood, like on the Ford Raptor. I've been fortunate to not have the rattles and issues others have described.

The only negative is that I HATE, HATE, HATE the seats. The seat is too small, too thinly padded, and I can feel parts move in it. Springs or something pop against my back regularly and the seat bottom is too short for my legs.

We've gone on several family trips, one was 12 hours each way, and the seats just kill everyone in the vehicle.

So, in conclusion, my opinion of the vehicle after 14k miles is more positive than when I bought it. The break in bugs were extreme but I'm really happy with where it is now. If only for comfortable seats........

 

Glad to hear your pleased overall... I'm happy with my R/T as well, 9 months and close to 6,000 in!

 

I have the same popping problem with the seat back. Kind of annoying but not a huge problem for me. I believe that it has been addressed on the forum somewhere

 

Same here - it took a little bit for some of the odd issues I was experiencing when I first got my R/T to disappear. The only one that really bothered me was this high pitched whistling noise that I could get pretty consistently between 30 and 40mph, sometimes at higher speeds. It sounded like it was coming from the front dash area somewhere. The dealer replaced weather stripping on the front drivers door, rear passenger door, adjusted the sunroof...and none of that helped. The noise would be there one day, gone the next, and then come back. It was odd, and with 5 trips to two different dealers, no one could figure it out. Then one day it stopped. I havent heard it again in some months, so whatever it was, seems to have worked itself out.

 

The seat is by far my biggest, and really only issue. I'm spoiled on seats, my previous vehicle was a F150 and my wife's vehicle is a Volvo XC90 which may have the most comfortable seats ever made.

 

Hmmm I've never noticed any issue with my seats in the r/t and my last 3 vehicles were 2 BMW 3 series coupes and a Ram SRT-10 all with sports seats. Are the seats different in the models you guys are having issues with?

 

If they could put the new explorer seats in the Durango it would be perfect.

 

Ours is at 7,200 now, happy with it so far. Have had to deal with the driver area rattle at 60mph (not the hood hinge), and loosing presets, and 730n's satelite radio reception is poor (drops out while driving under bridges and tree coverage), but no major issues. For comparison by the same mileage my 11' suburban had a front ball joint replaced, new ac fan motor, and leaking rear differential fixed. As far as the seats go, these are way more supportive than my suburbans, less cushion (suburban feels like you are driving around in a lazy boy), but I prefer the sportier seats in the Durango.

 

I did sit in an R/T at the dealer and found the seats to be considerably more comfortable than in the Citadel. Do the R/T's have the ventilated seats? I know the suede down the center kept you positioned in the seats better than the slick leather in the Citadel does, at least with the ventilated seats. They're hard as a rock and slippery.

 

No they are not ventilated, one of the few options that were not available on the R/T.