NHTSA Complaint #10070615 — 2000 DODGE DURANGO

ON 8/7/02 MY OIL PRESSURE SUDDENLY DROPPED TO 0. A DODGE MECHANIC REPLACED THE OIL PUMP, WHICH WAS UNDER WARRANTY SINCE THE VEHICLE HAD ONLY 28,000 MILES ON IT. ON 8/19/03 MY OIL PRESSURE AGAIN SUDDENLY DROPPED TO 0. MY CAR WAS TOWED TO A DODGE DEALERSHIP WHERE AN ASST. SERVICE MGR. TOLD ME I WOULD LIKELY NEED A NEW ENGINE. HE SAID THAT ALTHOUGH HE HAD ONLY SEEN THIS PROBLEM "ONE OTHER TIME" MY EXTENDED WARRANTY MIGHT NOT COVER IT BECAUSE IT WAS CAUSED BY POOR MAINTENANCE. I TOLD HIM THAT I AVERAGED ONLY 10K MILES A YEAR ON MY CAR AND HAD MOST, IF NOT ALL, OF MY OIL CHANGE RECORDS. HIS DEMEANOR TELLS ME THAT THIS WON'T BE COVERED WITHOUT A FIGHT. MY DURANGO HAS 40,600 MILES ON IT. THROUGH THE INTERNET I HAVE LEARNED THAT THERE ARE LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WHO'VE BEEN STUCK WITH THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF UNJUSTIFIED CHARGES BECAUSE OF DODGE'S FAILURE TO ADMIT THAT THE ENGINES OF SOME DURANGOS DEVELOP SLUDGE (APPARENTLY IT'S KNOWN AS A SMOG SLUDGE MOTOR IN TRADE TERMS.) WHEN YOU CHECK THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES YOU'LL IMMEDIATELY SEE THE PATTERN: CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM, NHTSA.GOV, CARSURVEY.ORG, OR SIMPLY GOOGLE "OIL PRESSURE DURANGO" OR "DURANGO SLUDGE"