Other electrical problem on the 2003 Dodge Durango
4 fires 4 of the 28 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other electrical problem gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Dodge Durango report other electrical problem at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles, from 24 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 25,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 175,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 152,945 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
17% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24,455 miles | 63,750 miles | 98,500 miles | 134,500 miles | 177,400 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 4 a fire is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $250–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 22 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 500 miles, and latest on the 1999 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 204; the 2003 has 28. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
When the computer shut down, the vehicle stopped functioning. After repeated visits to the dealer, the locks intermittently opened and closed by themselves. *ak the vehicle was returned ten times, five computer replacements, and the locks on the vehicle were intermittent. The consumer requested a refund of the purchase price. *sc *jb
I own a 2003 durango with 20,000 miles. After done shopping went to parking lot and hit the unlock button on remote. Horn started honking, lights flashing. Thought I might have hit panic button but didn't think so, so I hit all the buttons again, put key in ignition and started car but horn still honked and lights kept flashing inside & out. Could not stop it. Started to drive home and lights would flash intermittently and horn honk intermittently. Stopped at store to get batteries for remote key thinking there was some computer problem and signel wasn't right. Still would not stop. Continued to drive home on interstate highway when I lost the headlights and taillights. Four way flashers kept flashing. Before I could get to exit highway patrol pulled me over. Said that was the second such incident that day with a durango. He called a tow truck for me and we towed it home. The next day I was able to drive it to dealership. They replaced the central timer modual. Dealer states they have had several durango's with this problem. Since the car is still in warranty I did not have to pay. *ak
During normal driving when coming to stops in my 2003 dodge durango slt, the vehicles electrical system will flash and the vehicle will stall. I took durango to dealership and was told there is nothing wrong with it on several occasions. This problem still continues and could lead to serious traffic accidents. *nm
Also reported on the 2003 Dodge Durango
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other engine problem
Other lighting problem
Other suspension problem
Other body or interior problem
Other wheel or tire problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 28 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other electrical problem happen on the 2003 Dodge Durango?
Across 24 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other electrical problem on the 2003 Dodge Durango?
28 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed