Why Indiana Police ended up regretting adding custom Dodge Durangos to their fleet

Indiana State Police decided to add custom Dodge Durangos to their fleet of cars but were left regretting the decision when things went wrong. 

In the past, Indiana cops mostly used Dodge Chargers, but when the time came to replace the aging fleet, they opted for change and got some custom Durangos. 

Indiana State Police ordered a total of 519 Durango Pursuit models from Dodge, at a cost of $25.8 million – but it’s been far from smooth sailing for the fleet. 

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Indiana Police’s Durangos kept breaking down

It’s not unusual for police forces to add beefed-up custom vehicles to their fleets. 

Dubai Police has a Mansory P720 and McLaren Artura within its elite supercar fleet.

Cops in California introduced the first all-electric fleet in the US with the introduction of 20 Teslas, and over in Australia’s Nothern Territory police recently took ownership of a fleet of Subaru WRX. 

However, police in Indiana were left frustrated after so many of the brand-new Durangos started breaking down. 

The problem was caused by the defective oil coolers that were allowing engine oil to mix with coolant. 

“Thirty-nine Durangos (18%) have experienced a mechanical failure due to a defective oil cooler,” the force said in a statement in June.

“ISP would anticipate having an additional 40 Durangos experience this same mechanical failure for a total of 79 anticipated failures.

Dodge said it would pay for any repairs

“That means approximately $3.9 million dollars of equipment may not be available for their intended use by ISP personnel.”

Not ideal when you have important work, such as catching criminals to be getting on with, right?

Indiana Police said it was having to ‘sideline brand new vehicles losing out on their value and functionality’.

Indiana police did not specify whether this issue affected the V6 or V8 Durangos, but they did say it impacted the vehicles that had cost around $50,000 each. So that’d be the V8 one.

In response, Dodge’s parent company Stellantis said in a statement that it would pay for any related repairs required for the fleet, even if the cars were out of warranty.

“We sincerely regret any inconvenience caused to the Indiana State Police and are working to expedite service for these vehicles,” the company said in a statement. 

Not long after Indiana State Police shared their Durango woes with the world, the Anchorage Police Department in Alaska revealed they’d invested in the same vehicles – but didn’t appear to be troubled by the same issues.