I am in the market for a new 3 row SUV and have narrowed the choices down to the Durango and the Highlander. My wife will be driving and preferes the Highlander but I think I have her talked into the Durango. Then last night as I was reading up on the changes to the 2014 model I read that the CEO of Fiat stated that the Durango will be replaced by the Jeep Grand Wagoneer after 2015. Any more news on that front?

I hate to spend $40,000 on a vehicle that may not exist in two years, I would imagine that would kill the used value.

On Saturday the dealer tried to talk us into a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a mini van and a new Mazda CX-9. Said the rebates on the CX-9 were crazy good. Never had a dealer try to talk me out of vehicle. He did not say why.

Also, is the redesign coming out in May of this year with the 8 speed transmission and 8" navi screen? If that is the case when should I expect rebates to really increase on the current model year?

 

Im not trying to talk you out of it, but I beleive you are looking at 2 totally different vehicle designs. If you need a light duty, lightly built, gas saving SUV, then buy the highlander. If you need something more heavy duty, that will tow more and has more power, then buy the Durango. The highlander will never be as capable (towing etc..) as the Durango, the Durango (v6 or v8) will never be as efficient as the highlander. There are a lot of people that buy a heavy duty vehicle like the durango (for its class) and then complain about the gas mileage, and they never really needed as much capability in the 1st place. But there is probably a lot of people that buy vehicles like the High lander, only to find out it does a **** poor job towing there big boat. Buy the vehicle you need, not the one you want, you will be happier in the long run, IMO.

 

Thanks for the reply. We have two expeditions now so gas milage is not a concern but we are going to opt for a V6. The reason for the two choices is we want something smaller with captains chairs in the back and a third row. Several friends have purchased the HL recently and in my mind it is more of a minivan with four doors.
We do have a lake house but only need to put boats in the water or pull them out since they are stored at the house so no need for the HEMI and I will still have the expeditions if needed.
What we are looking at is the Citadel in the D or the Limited in the HL and the Citadel seems to offer a lot more for the money. Of course Toyota could narrow that gap with the 2014 release of the redesigned HL.

 

Dstaffo,

Welcome to the forum.

None of the information regarding the Durango or a possible Grand Wagoneer has been confirmed. Plans 2 years or more out are estimates at best and there is no one that can confirm future changes that far out at this point.

As far as why a dealer would talk you out of a vehicle and into another? It has been my experience that usually happens if the salesperson can make more money selling one type of vehicle over the other.

 

My previous vehicle was an '09 Highlander. It was a fantastic vehicle. I drove it 140k without any issues whatsoever. There are some things about it I preferred over my current Durango. I actually found the Highlander to be more comfortable on long trips than the Durango, there's more usable room in the Highlander, and lots more storage in the Highlander.

I have the Hemi Durango and some of the things I prefer about it are the Hemi (power), the handling, the options (better Nav/Bluetooth than my Toyota had but I'm sure the Toyota has improved since mine), and general appearance. Fit and finish are equal which is amazing for Dodge.

The Highlander is a very nice car and drives just like the Lexus it shares a platform with. My wife LOVED the Highlander (she liked it more than her current Volvo XC90).

Interestingly, one pet peeve with the Durango is that the front end sits so low that I'm constantly scraping on curbs when parking. A couple of times it felt like I was going to rip the chin off and it's all ground up underneath now....and I have the Citadel which I believes sits fractionally higher than the R/T. Never had that issue with the Highlander.

If it's you're wife's vehicle, I'd suggest the Highlander. Don't get me wrong, I love my Durango, but my wife would choose the Highlander. By the way, my buddy has the Mazda and it's a really nice vehicle as well. He drives it for business and has put 60k on it in just about a year. He says it's been in for oil changes and nothing else, not even tires yet.

 

Your welcome. Sounds like you have pretty much made up your mind, I think you will be happy with the D, we are. Keep in mind that even though you are picking the V6, the D still is the Heaviest in its class. We wanted a smaller SUV with a 3rd row as well (have 4 kids, 2nd vehicle is a suburban), the Citadel is full of features, but there are a couple of things missing that took some getting use to. 1st is the back window not opening like our Suburbans all have, 2nd is the pedals not being adjustable, and 3rd is the mirrors not folding in. Not sure if the Expeditions have these features, so you might not miss them, but we do. We did not notice these things until we got it home, but we probably would have bought it any way.

 

No matter what you do to an HL, it will still be FWD. I just traded an '08 RAV4 for my '13 R/T. While Toyotas are well-built, the R/T beats it hands down for ride quality and power. BTW I test drove a V6 SXT and was quite impressed with the power. Better than my daughter's '12 4Runner. As you point out, a lot more for the money with the "D".

 

Agree, Agree, and Agree!

I shopped a ton of suv's. Came out of a 2010 Acadia (was good to me).
Drove the 6cyl Durango, and to my surprise its got a ton of power. Torque you can feel, and the ride was very smooth.

I wound up getting the Hemi, mileage so far is as good if not better than the 6cyl Acadia. The ride, handling, power, finish are all amazing!
So glad I went with the Durango!

All that said, if the Jeep thing does happen, I dont see the trade (used) value being effected. Dodge will still be around and the Durango carry's a huge fan base. So dont worry about resale, jmo...

 

Love my Hemi powered rango highly recommend it regardless of if Dodge decides to ax it...

 

I don't think whether or not they keep making a vehicle will impact the resale significantly, as long as the company and dealer network that built it continues. Parts change every few years anyway, so whether or not the factory is cranking out a vehicle with the same name does not really mean much of anything.

Oh, and as the owner of a V6 Durango, if you are a person that enjoys a spirited drive, get the V8. If your vehicle is just a nice way to get from point A to B, get the V6. Myself I would go V8 if I had it to do over.

Steve