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Across Indiana, law enforcement agencies, including the Indiana State Police (ISP), are facing significant engine failures in their new Dodge Durango Pursuit vehicles. Despite being only a few years old, many of these cruisers are suffering from malfunctioning oil coolers that lead to catastrophic engine failures. As a result, one police department has opted to sell its vehicles at substantial losses, claiming that Stellantis has not provided adequate support.
“We are faced with the difficult choice of prematurely selling these Durangos, resulting in considerable financial losses for our department and, ultimately, for taxpayers,” Chief of Police Konstantinos Nuses of Merrillville, Indiana, stated in an open letter to residents.
“This situation is not only disappointing; it is fundamentally unjust,” Nuses expressed. “Both taxpayers and police departments have invested in a subpar product, yet Dodge has not taken responsibility or provided a feasible solution. Moreover, they have not offered any compensation for the downtime of these vehicles, leaving us struggling to fulfill our mission to protect and serve.”
The problem arises from oil coolers failing, which causes coolant to mix with engine oil, creating a troublesome milky substance that can lead to engine damage—or even complete failure. Many of the Durangos reportedly failed before reaching 15,000 miles. After attempting to address the issue since late 2022, Nuses noted that Stellantis finally promised revised parts within two weeks in May of this year. However, four months later, the department reports that they have yet to receive any assistance, including parts or financial compensation.
According to CBS, Stellantis stated, “The Dodge Durango Pursuit meets or exceeds all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards and is subjected to severe operating conditions that the standard retail version of the Durango is not. Furthermore, certain oil-cooler issues may be challenging to detect, potentially causing collateral damage and a complex remedy. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to our valued police-community customers and are working to expedite service for any affected vehicles. Since its launch in 2018, it has been deployed across thousands of police agencies in North America, receiving exemplary overall feedback.”
Are “certain oil cooler issues” genuinely hard to identify? Why not simply replace the faulty components with functioning ones? Lacking a timely solution from Stellantis, police departments have had to spend even more taxpayer money on costly repairs and even complete engine replacements. Moreover, cruisers have been out of service for four to eight weeks during these repairs. A police vehicle failing while responding to an emergency can be catastrophic, prompting the expectation that Stellantis would prioritize assistance. As a result, Nuses has unfortunately had to resort to selling the defective Durangos at a loss to recover some investment and start replacing them. To lessen the financial blow, he has also reached out to the Indiana Attorney General’s office for guidance.
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