Police departments across Indiana, including the Indiana State Police (ISP), have been experiencing widespread engine failure in their new Dodge Durango Pursuit cruisers. Despite being just a few years old, oil coolers are failing in so many Durango cop cars and killing their engines that one department has decided to sell its vehicles at a big loss because Stellantis has allegedly failed to help.
“We are forced to make the difficult decision to prematurely sell these Durangos, incurring significant financial losses for our department and, ultimately, for you, the taxpayers,” Merrillville, Indiana Chief of Police Konstantinos Nuses wrote in an open letter to Merrillville residents.
“This situation is not just disappointing; it is fundamentally unfair,” Nuses continued. “All of us—taxpayers and police departments alike—have paid for a compromised product, and Dodge has failed to take responsibility or provide a viable solution. Nor have they offered any type of compensation for the downtime of these vehicles. This has left us in a bind, struggling to fulfill our duty to protect and serve.”
The issue stems from oil coolers failing, leading to coolant and engine oil combining to create that terrifying milky mixture that all car enthusiasts fear. That leads to engine damage, and sometimes complete failure. Many of the Durangos reportedly failed before even reaching 15,000 miles. After trying to manage the problem since late 2022, Nuses wrote that in May of this year, Stellantis finally promised it’d issue revised parts to the department within two weeks. But four months later, the department says it’s still yet to receive anything—no parts, no financial compensation, no help…