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okfoz

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
I will not bore you with multiple pix of my 2022 Durango, I picked it up 10 days ago and already have put 600 miles on it. I added the red stripes the first day of ownership. Just liked how it looked.
This is not my first Chrysler Product, my wife had a 2001 Town and Country Limited. A few years back I owned a Ford Explorer ST back in 2021, and I have been driving an 07 Tahoe since 2014 (Tahoe has 277,000 miles). This is a nice change of pace, a little quicker than the Tahoe and explorer. Also have some other fun rides:
1929 Model A Ford (inherited from my father), Not pictured.
1967 Buick Riviera (owned since 1989)
1969 Buick Riviera (Inherited from my Fahter)
1987 Firebird Formula (Owned since 1997)
1988 Fiero GT (5 speed) (Owned since 2021)
1989 Firebird Formula 350 Convertible 1 of 43 (Owned since 2006)
2005 Mustang Convertible (5 Speed) (Wife's car, owned since 2018
2016 Roush Mustang GT/RS3 (Owned since 2017)
 

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I was going to ask where the heck you park all of them.....and then saw the big shop. Nice....though some seem a bit redundant. 2 60's Brick Rivera's? 2 80's Pontiac Formula's? What's the back story on keeping them.
 
A few years back I owned a Ford Explorer ST back in 2021...
I'd be very interested in your comparisons between the Durango SRT and the Explorer ST. I'm in a car-buying mood and I've narrowed it down to a Durango R/T with the Tow N Go package (has all the SRT stuff except the engine) or an Explorer ST. I've been a Ford guy for years, but I'm nervous about the build quality and reliability problems that Ford seems to be having with the Explorers and across the line.

1929 Model A Ford (inherited from my father), Not pictured.
A 1929 Model A roadster used to live in my garage. It wasn't mine, but belonged to a friend. I took care of it and drove it occasionally. She sold it to a guy in the Netherlands a couple years ago so I don't have a "therapy" car any more. I say therapy because maintenance and repairs on that car were like therapy.
 
okfoz:
Welcome to DDN. Congrats on the DSRT. Love the color!
THANK YOU for posting these pics of your fleet. I'm going to show them to my wife, in hopes she might not be quite as vocal about my TWO cars, lol. I like all of yours. I know it's frowned upon to covet the neighbor's wife, but does that apply to their cars? :LOL: :LOL:

Don
 
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Discussion starter · #9 ·
I was going to ask where the heck you park all of them.....and then saw the big shop. Nice....though some seem a bit redundant. 2 60's Brick Rivera's? 2 80's Pontiac Formula's? What's the back story on keeping them.
The Fleet.
I started out with the Candy Apple Red 67 Riviera in 1989, and as time went on I always liked the look of the 87-90 Firebird Formulas, I felt they were cool, I saw the yellow one for sale when I was at College, and then it was parked in the guy's driveway. A year before graduation (1997) I approached him with some cash and he took it, The engine spun #4 #8 bearings causing piston slap, rebuilt the engine & trans (In heidsight I wish I went with a 350 instead of sticking with the 305 (Now 311 being .040" over) Now it has a Tuned port engine, a 3.73 gear, headers, a full custom interior ( I have more into it than it will be worth for a long time, but it is a super nice car).

In 2006 I picked up the 1989 Formula 350 Convertible from North Carolina because it was rare and different, they only made 43, and it was only a 1 year offering. That is an original paint, interior, engine, trans and rear axle car, Just under 39,000 miles, only 2 with lower miles according to Carfax.

The 2016 Mustang Roush RS3. Believe it or not my wife wanted a new Camaro, she said we should buy one, but once she sat in it, clausterphobia kicked in and she could not wait to get out of it. In 2017 we were at a friends in Florida and I took his son's 2014 GT for a spin and I liked it. Went to the dealer and they had 2 Supercharged Mustangs you could drive sitting there. I took the Auto then the Manual for a drive. A few days later My wife took the manual around the block and said wit a big grin "You need to buy one of these, I have never had so much fun in a car in my life" So I hunted this one down, it was a year old, still stitting on the lot unsold so I got a helova deal, drove to Chicago and drove it home to Michigan.

The 2005 Mustang: I actually had another Yellow 87 Formula with a 5 speed for my wife around 2009, but she did not like it because the clutch was super stiff, so I picked up the 05 Mustang Convertible with a 5 speed for her, and sold the second 87 Formula. She calls her Mustang her stress relief car. She likes to go zoom-zoom.

The Raspeberry 1969 Riviera was my dad's, he gave it to me in the summer 2021, along with the 1929 Tudor Model A Ford. Unfortunately he passed March of 2022, It does run and drive and I need to replace a blown head gasket and fix the blower motor and AC, once I do that I think I might sell it, The car is special to me, but I am not in love. I wish he would have kept it silver instead of the raspberry color. But it is what is is.

The Model A has been in our family since 1929. My great grandmother bought it from a bank because the original owner could not afford the payments on the $600 loan. My dad drove it in High School, and one year to Carnegie Tech, then my Aunt drove it one or two years to college, it was parked in 1965 (still has 1965 plates on it), been driven only a few times since then so it needs a good go-thru. I really want to get it running and in good shape for it's 100th birthday.

The 1988 Fiero GT (Not pictured) is something I got for my son. He wanted an 80's Corvette and I just figured it would be a fun little car for him.

I now have 3 storage lifts in that barn otherwise this would not be possible
 
Discussion starter · #10 · (Edited)
I'd be very interested in your comparisons between the Durango SRT and the Explorer ST. I'm in a car-buying mood and I've narrowed it down to a Durango R/T with the Tow N Go package (has all the SRT stuff except the engine) or an Explorer ST. I've been a Ford guy for years, but I'm nervous about the build quality and reliability problems that Ford seems to be having with the Explorers and across the line.
In 2020 I was at a dealer and sat in a 2020 ST, it was cool, I started reading on how quick they were and went out and bought one in December of 2020. If you go with an Explorer ST, used, you want a C Build or D Build 2020 or newer. What that means is the VIN sequence number starts with A00001 thru A99999, then B00000 thru B99999. The rollout was horrible on the Explorers in 2020, they had so many issues early on, but by the end they got most of the kinks worked out. Most C & D cars are fine, the B cars are marginal, the A cars are sketchy.

With that said, I like the Durango more, I did like the MPG of the ST a little better, (guessing about 4-6 mpg based on how I drive) What I liked about the ST was some of the tech, it had a lot of gadgets, but the Infotainment system was sketchy it would freak out every now and then sometimes twice in a week other times it would be a month or 6 weeks, but I would have to reset it every so often by holding the Power and >> buttons together. But for the most part I really liked how it worked when it was working. I really did like the IP and how different modes completely changed the look of the IP. I liked the My-Color where I could change the color of the surrounding lights to my mood. I prefer Red personally. I did not have a single issue with my Explorer ST in 16K miles, and if you get a new one you should be able to go to the ST Experience in either Utah or Asheville NC.

I did not like the fake Engine sounds from the speakers when you put it into different modes. What I ultimately did not like was the seats, and the driving position of the steering wheel (hard to explain) I also felt the steering feel was too firm and I felt myself fighting with it more than just enjoying the drive especially with the lane assist, lane centering, I always felt like the ST would be too close to the left line. The seats (I had the massage feature) were hard, I think so you could feel the massage seats, as even the new Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit had really firm seats. The end of the day it threw out my back I could hardly stand it, I had pain in my back and my right arm. I ended up selling the ST with 16,000 miles in 9 months on it and got back what I paid for it in 2021 and started driving the old Tahoe and within 2 weeks my pain went away. Any time I drive a new Ford product my back reminds me to why I sold it. I drove a new Navigator and a New Expidition, and just felt it creeping back in, so I moved on from Ford. Amazingly my 2016 Mustang has incredible seats...

I think the Durango has better seats, I also like the sound of a real V8, honestly I would not personally go back to the ST at this point. I could care less about MPG, but it is not like I do not try to get MPG either. I drive the DD SRT just like I drive my Tahoe, rather boring really, but I love the fact it goes when I need it to and I am not waiting for it to decide to go. The Tahoe has 277,000 miles and it seems to be having some little issues here and there and my wife, once again, told me I needed something new.

A 1929 Model A roadster used to live in my garage. It wasn't mine, but belonged to a friend. I took care of it and drove it occasionally. She sold it to a guy in the Netherlands a couple years ago so I don't have a "therapy" car any more. I say therapy because maintenance and repairs on that car were like therapy.
Mine is a Tudor. Solid car, but needs some work on it.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
okfoz:
Welcome to DDN. Congrats on the DSRT. Love the color!
THANK YOU for posting these pics of your fleet. I'm going to show them to my wife, in hopes she might not be quite as vocal about my TWO cars, lol. I like all of yours. I know it's frowned upon to covet the neighbor's wife, but does that apply to their cars? :LOL: :LOL:

Don
Don,
I really do not think I want to go into the religious ramifications of someone's personal feelings towards my cars.
 
The Model A has been in our family since 1929.
That's outstanding! My dad's first car was a '29 Model A Tudor. He probably bought it in 1936 or '37. Taught my eventual mother how to drive in it. But, he sold it and got a '32 Plymouth before he married my mom. He never owned another Ford. I've owned something like 11 of them. There's an Expedition and an Edge in my garage right now. They'll both go if I get a Durango.

Thanks for your comments about your Durango vs. the Explorer ST. I'm a big guy, so your comments about the seats were valuable. The ST Experience for new buyers is definitely a perk. But, I've done a racing school with Skip Barber and a high-performance driving school with Bondurant, so I already know how to threshold brake, manage weight transfer, and nail apexes. ;)
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
That's outstanding! My dad's first car was a '29 Model A Tudor. He probably bought it in 1936 or '37. Taught my eventual mother how to drive in it. But, he sold it and got a '32 Plymouth before he married my mom. He never owned another Ford. I've owned something like 11 of them. There's an Expedition and an Edge in my garage right now. They'll both go if I get a Durango.

Thanks for your comments about your Durango vs. the Explorer ST. I'm a big guy, so your comments about the seats were valuable. The ST Experience for new buyers is definitely a perk. But, I've done a racing school with Skip Barber and a high-performance driving school with Bondurant, so I already know how to threshold brake, manage weight transfer, and nail apexes. ;)
I am 6' 215 # so I am not a tiny guy by any means. I drove a lot of cars before settling on the SRT. Out of all of them I think the Hyndai Palisade was the most comfortable, then the Durango. I drove a Buick Enclave Avinier, Cadillac XT5 and XT6, Ford Expedition King Ranch, Chevy Tahoe Pemier (5.3) a Jaguar F-Pace SVR, I sat in a Toyota Sequoia, to name a few. Nothng really beats my 2007 Tahoe for Comfort, but it has 277K miles on it and I can tell several things will be required in time, A rebuilt transmission and rebuilt transfer case, possibly front differential are in the near future. I liked the performance of the SRT, I believe all V8's are done in the Durango, 2023 will be the last year. I am not sure if they will replace it with the 3.0L Turbo they have in the Wagoneer or not, but that would be a great motor in these. Not sure if the Hemi will live on with the Wagoneer and Ram Trucks however.
 
Great story and awesome cars! That’s what the hobby is all about.

Regarding the Explorer ST, wife drove a new one and the center entertainment system looked like a tablet inserted into the dash. I even tried to pull it out and the salesman freaked out. It actually obstructs the view of the roadway. Lol

She also drive a new Tahoe, but way too big and bulky.

She sat in the DD and loved it. We looked at TNG and even SRT, but could not justify the additional cost what for you get. I stayed away from the $100k Hellcat lol.

We went with the DD R/T. Like yourself I own several cars and all are modified so sooner or later the DD will be tricked out.

Have fun, life is short. Lol :)

My stable from last year. Taurus and 87' 5.0 coupe are at the other house. Son's R-Line VW is missing too.
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Discussion starter · #15 ·
Great story and awesome cars! That’s what the hobby is all about.

Regarding the Explorer ST, wife drove a new one and the center entertainment system looked like a tablet inserted into the dash. I even tried to pull it out and the salesman freaked out. It actually obstructs the view of the roadway. Lol

She also drive a new Tahoe, but way too big and bulky.

She sat in the DD and loved it. We looked at TNG and even SRT, but could not justify the additional cost what for you get. I stayed away from the $100k Hellcat lol.

We went with the DD R/T. Like yourself I own several cars and all are modified so sooner or later the DD will be tricked out.

Have fun, life is short. Lol :)

My stable from last year. Taurus and 87' 5.0 coupe are at the other house. Son's R-Line VW is missing too.
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I drove a Durango Hemi, it did not have the tow-n-go package I believe, but I just wanted a little more giddiup. It was a F-it moment and I just bought what I wanted, the wife approved, so I sought one out and got one exactly how I would have ordered it.
 
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