Thank you, Dodge Forum!

For the past three weeks, I have been reading every thread on the Dodge Durango to help make up my mind concerning purchase. To say I have read every thread is completely true as I have done just that in order to perform my due diligence on this vehicle. I then rented one for a week to see how I would really like it and I fell in love.

So now, it is time to purchase, but I have a few decisions to make.

1. Engine. I have addressed that in my Poll I posted yesterday, so I won't go into that one here.

2. Interior Color. Every dealer I visit has a small selection of Durango's with only the black interior. In Southern California, that would make for a very toasty interior experience, so I want to see the vehicle with the Light Frost and Tan colors to make my final decision. Can anyone share a photograph of these colors so I am not merely going by the glossy pictures on the website? Any advice on these colors? How do they look to you?

3. Chrome. While I love the attitude of the R/T, I need to go with the Citadel as I will be picking clients up and conducting business with this ride. Two options puzzle me. What is the difference between the Black Chrome option and the regular Chrome option? Does the Black Chrome option only affect the side steps, door guards, and pedals or is ALL the chrome on the vehicle black? Does the regular Chrome option mean all trim is chrome?

4. Rear Entertainment Package. No one seems to have any of these on the lot. Even though I am single, I feel this may be a valuable upgrade for trade-in purposes and for when my granddaughter comes to visit. Does anyone who has this option regret it? I would not add an aftermarket version at all. For those who have it, is it good quality?

5. AWD vs. RWD. Does choosing the AWD version make the vehicle more utilitarian? Are there benefits beyond just better traction in the snow?

Thank you, guys! I plan on either purchasing or ordering by the end of April and I need to nail these decisions down by then.

 

Southern. Cali, wants chrome.....

Sounds simple to me, you need the RWD Citadel with Hemi and an I-Pad for your grand kid.

 

1) Your call-hemi gets it done! Dependable proven power plant.

2) I have black on black which I swore I'd never do. I'm in the south which is worse than SoCal in the summer. Air conditioned seats and auto start-problem solved. Consider how light the frost is and the dirt that will discolor the leather. Some have reported blue jeans staining the leather blue!

3) Can't conduct business in an R/T? What kind of woosie clients do you have, ha ha? It's hardly a boy racer vehicle. I wouldn't hesitate to conduct business in mine. See pic below for black chrome.

4) Rear entertainment? I'd pass. iPads work great and each kid has their own. Buying simply for estimated residual seems redundant if you don't need it.

5) I have the AWD, but I tow and back trailers up gravel inclines. so I need it. I doubt you'd need it in SoCal unless you go up to the snow line a lot. There you would appreciate it and use it for sure. Do you ski?.....get it.

 

1. Engine. Just the obvious -- mpg vs grunt; mumble vs. rumble.

2. Interior Color. Seems the only options these days are black, tan or gray. Try gray.

3. Chrome. Personally I like the black chrome idea, especially on the wheels. More gunmetal than black IMHO, but what the heck.

4. Rear Entertainment Package. We bought a portable CD player with a 7-inch screen our grandson uses on trips in our '12 Crew. He plugs it into the aux outlet in the back and stays quiet for hours on end.

5. AWD vs. RWD. AWD costs about $2K more and the mpg drops up to five percent. If you stay on SoCal highways/roads there isn't much use for AWD out there. Some guys will say, "Oh, yeah, but it gives me better handling." Really? If you're in a position where your AWD is NEEDED on smooth, dry pavement then you're probably doing something you shouldn't be doing, like switching lanes waaay too fast etc.

 

I'll just comment on engine for now.

Get the Hemi. ZF builds the transmission for the hemi. Chrysler builds the tranny for the V6. They're both ZF designs, but Chrysler has taken a few liberties with the design to allow them to produce them at their Kokomo plant without changing their manufacturing process. As a result, consumers are reporting problems with the trannys on the V6. Well documented on this forum.

 

Are you talking about just 2014 V6 trannys or all Gen 3 V6 trannys?

 

2014. 2011-2013 don't have ZF 8 speeds.

 

1. Engine. If you don't get the Hemi then just get a van.

2. Interior Color. I wanted a grey interior. The only Hemi Citadel in the area had the tan interior, which looked more orange than tan. My wife said no, and I agreed. Had a grey Citadel shipped from a dealer in the region, and we settled for black interior. We're in South Dakota, and while it gets cold in the winter, it gets hot here in the summer. Luckily the vented seats help.

3. Chrome. If a Red Hemi R/T had been available in the region, I would have taken it, no matter what the interior color. The grey Hemi Citadel was my second choice. I don't buy to get or to avoid chrome.

4. Rear Entertainment Package. Any entertainment package would be outdated before you sell. Others are right, cheaper and more flexible to get tablets.

5. AWD vs. RWD. I won't buy a vehicle without AWD again, but hey I live in South Dakota. Having, ahem, accidentally taken my 2005 AWD Durango offroad to avoid an accident on ice, I can attest that AWD is pretty useless offroad, at least in more than 6" of snow. Almost nobody uses these offroad. Unless you drive in snow or tow, you can get away with RWD, and you will get better mileage. Note that an AWD Durango is in RWD mode over 99% of the time anyway, only goes AWD when there is rear wheel slippage or when you lock it in. That said, I love how our Hemi AWD Charger handles snow - had to try very hard to get it to lose traction on snow covered streets.

 

This post has been very helpful. Thank you!

 

So Cal here with black on black, but I have the fabric seats .
Love em,
[IMG][/IMG]