‘I Had to Call a Tow Truck:’ Man Trades in Ford Explorer for 2023 Dodge Durango. He Claims Defect Has Left Him Stranded 6 Times

"Died driving in the middle of the road."

Man trades in Ford Explorer for 2023 Dodge Durango. He claims this defect has left him stranded 6 times

Photo by: officerparish & Jaimy de Hon

Steve Ecker

By: Steve Ecker

Jul 21, 2025 at 9:00pm ET

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A 2023 Dodge Durango driver is warning people against buying one.

Scott Parish (@officerparish) says a defect in the Durango has left him stranded six times.

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In a TikTok, Parish reveals how frustrating his experience owning a Dodge Durango has been since trading in his Ford Explorer.

“I would never advise anybody to buy a Dodge Durango because they are the most aggravating pieces of [explicit] I’ve ever had in my life,” he begins.

About three weeks after owning it, Parish says the Durango has randomly shut down without any warning signs multiple times.

“It runs good and sounds good, part of the time, six times we’ve been stranded in a parking lot somewhere due to the car not cranking up,” he complains.

The Durango has issues starting back up after parking, Parish says, and has even shut down in the middle of the road.

“I had to call a tow truck one time, and died driving in the middle of the road,” Parish shares.

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Parish says not even dealerships have been able to diagnose the issue.

“Every dealership I’ve taken this car to can’t figure out what’s wrong with it. There should be no reason whatsoever why I should have to pay to fix my vehicle when the dealership doesn’t know what’s wrong with it,” he vents.

Parish was advised by Dodge that a dealership needs to diagnose the problem before he can file a claim.

“What am I supposed to do when nobody can figure out what’s wrong with the car?” he says.

Parish notes that the dealership diagnosis fee is $160 an hour and a dealership could take up to eight hours just to find nothing.

“Do not buy a Durango or any Dodge car because they will not fix them if there are any issues. I’m tired of paying for a vehicle that doesn’t work,” he concludes.

His post has been viewed over 300,000 times as of this writing.

What Recalls Has the 2023 Dodge Durango Had?

The 2023 Dodge Durango has been recalled twice by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Consumer Reports shares.

According to NHTSA, the two recalls are the column shifter coming out of gear and the rear bumper detaching. Both take place while driving.

With the column shifter, the shifter may experience an interference with the shifter boot and come out of gear while driving, which can result in a sudden loss of drive power, Kelley Blue Book reports.

This recall applies to 2023 Dodge Durango Pursuit vehicles equipped with an instrument panel-mounted shifter, and dealers will replace the instrument panel-mounted shifter boot, free of charge.

The bumper detaching recall increases the risk of accidents as the bumper can easily become a road hazard.

Neither of the two recalls apply to Parish's issue.

An Assist From the Crowd

Via email, Parish told Motor1, “Within the first three weeks of owning it, we began experiencing what we believed to be a fuel issue. It died on my wife multiple times in the parking lot and died on me a few times as well.”

“We had it checked by a tech from Bice Chevrolet, and it was believed to be a fuel pump. We had the pump replaced with an OEM pump, and within a week of having it, it once again began dying on us. On the way home from Nashville, TN, it died on us one last time, and that was the final straw,” he continued.

According to Parish, suggestions from the commenters helped solve the issue.

“I had all sorts of suggestions, but the primary suggestion was to do a Fuel Pump Relay Bypass because for some reason Stellantis decided to build the relay into the TIPM of the Durango,” he said.

Turns out the fuel pump was recalled for 2011-2013 Dodge Durangos.

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A fuel pump relay recall took place due to potential silicon contamination in the fuel pump relay, which could lead to a no-start or stall condition. The fuel pump hasn’t been recalled since then. Nevertheless, it may have solved Parish’s breakdown woes in his 2023 Durango.

“My brother at Parish Garage sat down, pulled the recall information on the 2013, and had to learn the pin out to correctly wire in the bypass on the 2023 from the 2013 instructions. We are going on a week now with no issues since we did the bypass. No check engine light, no fuel issues, no dead Durango,” Parish said.