The average age of cars across the entire US is about twelve years and change, but obviously quite a lot of cars are older than that. There are plenty of twenty-year-old vehicles still on the road and for sale, though I’ve noticed that those twenty years present themselves differently depending on where in the country you’re looking. Today we’re going to check out a couple of SUVs from parts of the country that are notoriously hard on cars.
Yesterday we looked at two inexpensive cars with a ton of miles on their odometers, and wouldn’t you know it, Saab’s undefeated record remains intact. The 9-3 sedan handily beat that Mustang. It sounded like a lot of you were turned off by the Mustang’s cheesy aftermarket “enhancements.”
I get it – but that’s what Goo-Gone is for. And if it came down to it, you can probably find an ’05 Mustang dash in a junkyard, if that fake wood crap just wouldn’t come off. If it were going to be my only car, I think the Saab would be a wiser choice, but for something to mess around with, I’d take the Mustang.
Now, some of you are going to look at the photos of today’s cars and recoil in horror. And some of you are going to look at them and say, “Eh, that’s not as bad as I was afraid it would be. I’ve seen worse.” And based on those reactions, I can probably guess where you grew up. To me, they’re not bad at all, especially for the price. But let’s see what you all think.
2005 Dodge Durango – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 4.7-liter OHC V8, four-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Chicago, IL
Odometer reading: 230,000 miles
Operational status: “Car is in working condition”
The Durango has been Dodge’s entry in the SUV wars since 1998, and believe it or not, it’s still available. Originally based on the Dakota midsize truck chassis, the Durango is smaller than a Chevy Tahoe, but bigger and brawnier than most crossover-type SUVs. It has never sold in the numbers that GM and Ford’s competitors have, but those who own them swear by them. Our resident cheap-car reviver Stephen Walter Gossin has a Durango about this age, bought for peanuts years ago, and it’s still earning its keep.
This generation of Durango was available with one of three engines: a 3.7-liter V6, a 4.7-liter “PowerTech” V8, or a 5.7-liter Hemi V8. The V6 was only available in the base SXT model, and this one looks fancier than that; it’s either an SLT or a Limited. And I would imagine that if it were a Hemi, the ad would mention it. Shout it from the rooftops, more like. So, by process of elimination, that means this one has the 4.7 liter. The ad is very terse, which I guess you can get away with for a cheap car like this. It’s functional, but that’s all we know.
It’s in pretty good shape inside, especially for the mileage. It has leather seats, which is what makes me think it’s a pretty high trim level. It also has a DVD player for the back seat passengers, and a third row of seats. I can’t imagine there’s a whole lot of legroom for the third row passengers, though; a Durango isn’t that big.
It’s got some rust outside, no doubt about it, but keep in mind this is a body-on-frame SUV. If you look underneath and the frame looks solid, you can be reasonably sure it won’t crumble away out from under you. It just looks like hell.
2005 Mazda Tribute – $1,600
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0-liter DOHC V6, four-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Odometer reading: 206,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Ford and Mazda’s symbiotic relationship produced a lot of cars that were almost, but not quite, the same. The Mazda Tribute was a near-clone of Ford’s Escape, but with a little bit sharper-edged appearance and a little bit stiffer suspension. This same formula had been applied to the Ford Explorer Sport in the early ’90s to create the Mazda Navajo. Unlike the Explorer and Navajo, the Escape and Tribute are car-based crossover SUVs.
The Tribute was available with either four- or six-cyliner engines, and with either front- or all-wheel-drive. This one has the V6 engine, a 3.0 liter Duratec from Ford, and AWD; this combination was only available with an automatic transmission. This ad doesn’t have much information in it either; the seller just says it runs well, but it has an exhaust leak, so it’s a bit loud.
It looks pretty good inside, especially considering it’s north of 200,000 miles. The upholstery looks fine, and nothing on the dash looks broken. This is a post-facelift Tribute, after Mazda moved the gearshift from the column to the floor. It’s nind of too bad they did that; I like a column-shift in an SUV. It feels right. But a floor shifter is better than that stupid rotary dial “shifter” that current Escapes have.
The seller has thoughtfully included a few photos of the underside, so we can see how bad the rust isn’t, really. The floors are intact, as are all the structural parts of the unibody. There is some surface rust underneath, and the rear quarter panels are starting to bubble and flake, but all in all it looks really solid for a twenty-year-old car from Minneapolis.
If you want a running, driving car for fifteen or sixteen hundred bucks, you’re going to have to compromise somewhere. And if you’re looking at cars in the upper Midwest, that compromise is going to come in the form of a little rust. These two don’t look too bad yet for the price. Which one do you trust to hold together longer?
The Dodge 4.7v8 would sludge up real bad if the oil was not changed regularly. The Tribute isn’t the greatest car in the world, it’s just a tribute.
I would go with the ford V6 over the 4.7 if only to put less gas through the car before something important rusts off.
I knew SOMEONE had to make a tenacious D reference. Thanks for delivering.
I beat him to it. Re-read the poll choices.
I still need a tow pig, and those Tributes/Escapes loved to rust out the rear shock towers where you can’t normally see. Which is basically a death sentence.
The Durango is Crusty but Trusty.
Well, it’s either a shiny bus pass or walking shoes. I know I gotta pick and play the game.
So today I will give Tribute. Seems like it would last a little longer and the underside looks better than I would have thought. I just couldn’t go with a 20 year old rusty Durango. Seems like a nice post-divorce mobile though. And it did make it over 230k of misery so props for that.
I just don’t trust a Durango from that era to be anything but a problem – I have an ’08 Grand Cherokee, so I know a bit of what I speak. The Escape would be the perfect IDGAF winter car. Take it to the airport and leave it in a bad parking spot. Take it to the tailgate and not worry if someone uses the outside as a porta potti. Take it anywhere and not worry about the weather. That AWD 3.0 will be running as long as the chassis holds up. A useful but not beautiful vehicle like this is good to have access to.
The transmissions in those era of Tribute/Escape are made of glass, from what I’ve heard.
For Minneeesooota, that Ford isn’t bad at all. So gun to my head, I’ll take that one.
But as I don’t have Tracey Syndrome, I avoid rust at all costs (BTDT waaaay too much being from Maine), and am perfectly happy to fly and drive to get a vehicle with a shiny underside. I now avoid rust by avoiding Maine in the winter – my cars there sleep the salt away in a nice dry garage while I frolic in the sun in Florida.
I think I got tetanus just from the photos of that Durango.
Tribute for me.
The underside of the Tribute looks better than I expected it to. It would make for a solid winter beater so you can keep your nice car(s) away from the salt. The Durango could work as a cheap tow pig until the exhaust falls off or some other expensive/critical component succumbs to the rust. I’ll go with the Tribute because I think it has a little more life left in it.
If I’m spending only $1,500ish on a car, I’m also concerned about paying for gas.
Not that there’s likely a huge difference between them, but I gotta think the Mazda would cost less to operate.
3.0 Escape with AWD netted 21 pretty regularly for me. I actually bought one off my mom to beat around in so she could get a few more dollars than trade it at the time. Honestly I never intended to keep it very long, but it had I think 80K miles and Front wheel biased AWD, so it seemed like a potential winter daily and everything worked. IN fact everything worked far better than I expected. It was like a billy goat on snow and ice covered roads. Outside of the one occasion it spit a spark plug in true early aughts Ford fashion, it really did not get anything but maintenance thrown at it. I sold it for not much to a friend in need with 180K miles on it. it is still going well north of 300K I am told.
Today is walk day.
Time for some fresh air and sunshine!
You ain’t kidding. Sheesh, this is a bad one.
No Durango. I will never again drive a passenger vehicle that gets 12 mpg. And I think the Mazda is only one or two mpg better.
I am just back from a U.S. holiday. We had a current V6 Durango as a rental. Jesus. Under 19 mpg for a “modern” car that just hauls people and blows cold air? For that kind of thirst I’d expect some actual fun. Instead, we got a biggish SUV that mutated into a drama queen every time you pressed the gas pedal more than a quarter of its way.
19?! We got betternthan that in the Durenago R/T we rented to take to Orlando last year! Not much better, but still. Yikes.
I am quoting from the info display. It said just under 20 long-term and just under 18 short-term, if memory serves. And we just drove around Los Angeles. That engine/transmission combo made me feel glad that our own car is a manual. Hectic downshifting and up-revving at the slightest sign of a desire for acceleration. Really not relaxed.
I was going to surprise myself and pick the Durango, mostly because of the nice blue paint and white dials on the instruments, but then I saw the rust perforations. I understand that they’re not structural, but still… I don’t want to drive around like that, nor spend the $ to get it fixed properly.
So Tribute it is. It’ll probably get a bit better MPG too.
That is what colored duct tape is for. It is used so often in PA to cover rust and holes for inspection, mechanic can’t remove it, that you can usually find it in many assorted colors at the Auto Parts Store.
Something has gone horribly and irreversibly wrong in my life if I’m ever remotely considering a Durango, especially one of this vintage.
I’d much rather have the Mazda/Ford, and that is the one I’d pick. But I’d be inspecting the top of the rear strut towers REALLY carefully, as that’s where these vehicles die from rust.
I don’t are how durable SWG’s Durango is, that is one of the ugliest vehicles ever made.
The Rodious has entered the chat.
Yeah, that’s definitely up there with it.
Is certainly is an acquired taste. You get used to it after a few years.
When you stare at the Power wagon concept from which it was derived, it makes a little more sense.
I definitely understand where it came from, but I wasn’t a big fan of the Power Wagon concept, and the execution of that styling in the Durango is just … awful/terrible/no good. I’d never buy one, when I can get a just as durable Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban of the era that doesn’t look like … that.
Picked the Durango because I already have a rusted out Mazda, a 2010 Mazda 5. The front is ok but the rear is toast. I can’t jack it by the rear jack points any more. It’s off the road now but is apparently beginning a second life as the car my kid’s friends learn to drive stick on in our field.
Still serving a useful purpose at least. Go Mazda! 😉
Ha! I miss driving it. Besides the rust it has a bad exhaust leak on the manifold downpipe, not an easy fix. I may patch up the rust and exhaust over the Winter and put it back on the road in the Spring for an around town beater. It’s great for hauling stuff. Not carting family in it any more, that’s for sure.
Honesty is the best policy.
Pics of the not horrible underbody and a running vehicle sans check-engine light strike me as more honest.
A tribute to Minnesota nice.
This era of design at Dodge was just awful, gimme the Mazda.
This is not the greatest car in the world, it is a Tribute.
So I’ll take the Mazda.
I was going to vote for the Durango and say it was because the Mazda wasn’t the greatest SUV in the world, but you already made the joke in the options presented, so I had to change my vote.
I couldn’t remember the greatest SUV in the world, anyway.
I went with the Mazda. This is basically a coin flip, but I figured the Mazda is a better choice since it included photos of the undercarriage that don’t look bad.
The Durango might be fine, but it is hard to tell based only on the available information.
Memories of old Ford body-on-frame vehicles with rust, and attempting to lift the vehicle with the jack and instead punching a hole right through the frame rail – being BOF is meaningless.
The Mazda owner knows that people want evidence of integrity implies that the current owner likely took care of it.
It’s an easy win.
My dad had a Durango of this era that thoughtfully disengaged its driveshaft while in the line leaving church on Christmas morning.
In tribute to this memory, I’m going Mazda.
When my kid was very small my mom would insist on renting this style of Durango in orlando for the theme park. My kid said it looked like a pig.
Either would be fine, but I’m picking the Durango today for no reason in particular. I owned a 2005 Escape with the 3.0L and it was a fine automobile, so I can’t fault anyone for picking that either.
I also had an ’05 Escape. No issues. Provided the rear upper shock mounts aren’t rusted out, this Mazda should be good to go.
Using all the other Durangos I’ve seen being driven and the condition that one is presented in, that thing has some hidden demons from how it’s been treated. Like “show me on the matchbox where he hurt you” levels.
The Tribute isn’t great but it’s better?
I can hear the whines, creaks, and groans coming from that Durango. Gotta be the Tribute today.