I was driving on a highway offramp at approximately 45 mph. The steering wheel locked for approx 3 seconds. It then unlocked allowing me to regain control of the vehicle. The steering continued to lock and unlock periodically. The cause was the power steering pump. However, this incident was different from the normal situation where power steering fails because the steering was also substantially affected at speed and not just when the vehicle is at a virtual standstill. My mileage is approx 65000.

- Reston, VA, USA

On April 26, 2004 I arrived at a business meeting and parked my 2001 R/T Durango, and set my alarm with the keyless entry. From my client's office I noticed whitish/gray smoke and observed that the smoke was billowing from under the hood of my truck! I rushed outside.upon arriving in the parking lot I was stopped by the police and fire department from approaching my Durango as they were afraid it might explode.the flames were already four feet above the hood.the fire took my engine, bumpers, lights, hood, fender, left front tire & severally damaged the car directly in front of mine & slightly damaged the car to the left corner. State farm's investigation determined that the failure was caused by the ignition of power steering fluid onto hot surfaces of the exhaust system with the fire extending upward and outward, causing the damage present" which was the total loss of my vehicle. I filed a special investigation report with Chrysler and they sent me back a letter stating that my claim was denied. In other words nothing was done by Chrysler to correct the failure although state farm is in subrogation as they found several technical service bulletins # 19-005-03 and 19-009-00 that they feel pertained to this event.the third party fire investigator informed me that this happened before, and that the person that Chrysler sent to inspect vehicle was not a licensed fire inspector, and that Mr. Pitt (Chrysler's rep.) was not qualified to determine the cause of the fire.I wrote a letter to the president of Chrysler and the director of customer service. A month later received a call from them stating again that my claim was denied, and that they would not tell me what they determined caused the fire on recommendation from their legal staff.I replied it sounded like they were trying to hide something, and he told me that he would refer my claim back to the special investigation unit, and I am still waiting for a returned call. The last contact was 7/15/2004.

- Trevor, WI, USA

Had to replace upper & lower ball joints in my 2001 Durango after replacing prematurely worn out tires, dealer said it would cost close to $1,000 since I am 1,000 miles over my warranty. Also had to replace power steering pump at a cost of $600 don't know if this is a result of the defective ball joints however.

- Banning, CA, USA