There are 3 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2002 Dodge Durangoin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
While pulling a travel trailer I got onto the freeway. As I have been pulling the trailer for a while now with this vehicle my comfort speed is around 45mph but will push up to 50mph maybe 55mph at the most. Anyways while entering the freeway I accelerated and as I got ready to merge I let my foot off the gas but the peddle stayed down and the vehicle continued to accelerate until around 80mph to 85mph when I finally got the peddle to release and stop acceleration. I quickly got off the freeway to calm myself as I was terrified I was going to crash. During this incident the first thing I did was tap the brakes lightly which did absolutely nothing and the car kept accelerating next I grabbed the floor mat thinking that maybe it was obstructing the peddle, it was not. Then I quickly used my foot to wiggle under the peddle and pull up multiple times until it finally released and came up stopping acceleration and luckily to my relief I did not crash although I had come very close had there been any more traffic or if I had got going g any faster I may not have been so lucky. This only happened the one time where I got to dangerous speeds but since then the peddle has started to stick two other times but this times it was much easier to get the peddle to release and I wasn't towing a trailer. I read that this happened in another model in freezing temperatures fro. The same manufacturer but couldn't find anything to it without freezing temperatures. I think it is a manufacturer defect that maybe affects other 2002 Dodge Durango I dony know if pulling the trailer triggered this or not as I said it has happened twice since and that was without a trailer attached. Definitely scary and should be looked at.. I don't have the funds to take it to a shop so I haven't had it professionally looked at yet
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 DODGE DURANGO. THE CONTACT STATED THAT ONE MONTH AGO THE RPMS INCREASED TO 2000 WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN PARK AND RECURRED WHEN IT WAS IN DRIVE. THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED WITHOUT DRIVER INTENT EVEN WHEN HIS FOOT WAS ON THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE CONTACT WAS ADVISED THAT THE THROTTLE SENSOR NEEDED TO BE CLEANED WHICH TEMPORARILY CORRECTED THE FAILURE. CHRYSLER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE APPROXIMATELY 99, 687.
WHILE TOWING A TRAILER DOWNHILL AT 55 MPH WITH CRUISECONTROL SET, ACCELERATOR PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR, CONSUMER HIT CANCEL CRUISE BUTTON 3 TIMES, BUT VEHICLE INCREASED SPEED, RPMS WENT TO 4500. CONSUMER THEN APPLIED BRAKES, BUT THAT DID NOT SLOW VEHICLE DOWN. TRAILER BEGAN TO FISHTAIL, VEHICLE FLIPPED, RPMS WERE STILL OVER 4000. CONSUMER SHUT OFF ENGINE, VEHICLE THEN CAUGHT ON FIRE UNDER THE HOOD. NO INJURIES, VEHICLE AND TRAILER WERE TOTALLED. *AK
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026