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It's Tail Light Tuesday Whatchya Got?

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This Durango must be almost new. It does not have any of the LED's burnt out of the lower part of the tailgate "racetrack" yet. Chrysler did a crappy job of sealing this assembly against water intrusion. Water would work its way in through the sides of the tail light assembly, lay in the bottom, and short out individual LED's, leaving dark areas in the "racetrack". Replacement cost of this tail light assembly is $1200. When mine went bad, after the warranty had expired of course, I asked if there was any factory recall on this. I felt this was a widespread safety issue, caused by an engineering defect that let water into the light assembly. They more or less said, sorry about your luck. It is not uncommon to see Durango's with dark spots in the tail light "racetrack".
 
This Durango must be almost new. It does not have any of the LED's burnt out of the lower part of the tailgate "racetrack" yet. Chrysler did a crappy job of sealing this assembly against water intrusion. Water would work its way in through the sides of the tail light assembly, lay in the bottom, and short out individual LED's, leaving dark areas in the "racetrack". Replacement cost of this tail light assembly is $1200. When mine went bad, after the warranty had expired of course, I asked if there was any factory recall on this. I felt this was a widespread safety issue, caused by an engineering defect that let water into the light assembly. They more or less said, sorry about your luck. It is not uncommon to see Durango's with dark spots in the tail light "racetrack".
I hope that doesn't happen to mine, I'd hate to get rid of it, just yet anyway. Mine is a 2019, but has less than 20,000 miles on it. I have an unlimited car wash pass and my Durango is never dirty. So, I'm saying it's seen more water than a tropical forest. It has a ten year, 100,000 mile, bumper to bumper warranty on it and I won't own it past one of those two terms of the contract. After owning so many Chrysler product and especially after the endless debacle with the 90's truck transmissions, I don't own one without it. Some have been great and many where a huge pain in my ***. I am extremely loyal and thankful to chrysler for all the time I spent with them, but if wasn't for that, I would be driving something else other than a chrysler product. The Coronet stays, everything else is alway subject to change. Just like in life, if you give me enough ****, your gone. LOL. Actually, I really like my Durango.
 
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We really liked ours too. Ours had the V-6 with 8- speed automatic, and gave a good balance of power and economy; a great powertrain. After I noticed the LED failures, I was trying to figure out what happened. I opened the tailgate to view the edges of the tail light assembly. I noticed there was an actual gap between the front and rear pieces of the assembly, where moisture could get in. I sealed this area with clear silicone. It was kind of like closing the barn door after the horse ran away, by at least the problem did not get any worse.
I bought it cheap, because it was a one-year-old Enterprise rental with 40,000 kilometres (25,000 miles) on it. I traded it with 160,000 K on it, needing brakes and spark plugs. I paid $28,500 for it, drove it almost 6 years, and was allowed $20,000 on trade in. We used the third row seat in it 3 times in the 6 years we owned it, so we replaced it with a shorter Grand Cherokee that was two years old. It turned 20,000 K on the way home, and has the extended warranty package, plus lot more goodies on it than the Durango. We are really happy with it as well.
 
John raced for Chrysler Canada, out of Argyle Motors, Toronto, Ontario. He also put on performance clinics at Chrysler dealers near a track that he was racing at. Kind of a Canadian Ronnie Sox/Dick Landy. A fellow I know has restored the 1970 Pro Stock Challenger he used to race.

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I used to cut Johns lawn when I was a kid. I also know where his "missing" Hemi 'Cuda race car is. Just sitting, waiting...
 
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