NHTSA Complaint #11611053 — 2019 DODGE DURANGO

I was driving down the freeway going about 70 on a trip with my 2 small kids. We were about 2.5 hours from home when the check engine light came on and was orange. Within minutes, while I was safely trying to get off of the freeway, it turned red and was blinking. I had to slow down to under 40 to get it to go back to orange while I tried to find a place to pull over and figure out what to do, creating a dangerous situation for myself and other drivers. The car only had 40,000 miles, is regularly serviced, and there were no previous issues with any of the warning lights. Took to the first repair shop and they said it was likely the coolant pipes and they have seen it in Durangos because of the way the car is assembled. They recommended that I bring it to the dealership because they didn't want to void my warranty. Dealership confirmed it was "large leak coming from back of engine. upon further inspection leak is coming from rear heater coolant pipes. replaced coolant pipes and found coolant leaks from rear heater hoses. replaced rear heater hoses" The issue with the heater hoses having to be replaced is that the car is assembled so that it has to be completely lifted and split in 2 to be able to do the work. Because of the position of the hoses, there are parts of the frame of the car that rub against those hoses and pipes creating damage and leaks, and there is no easy way to repair the damage that is caused by manufacturer positioning. The parts themselves were less than $700, but the labor charge for having to have multiple people work on taking the entire car apart to replace those parts was more than $5,000.