Most SUVs with over 400,000 miles on the odometer either look like tired, old beaters or they have had loads of work to keep them looking and running great – but the 2004 Dodge Durango owned by Naji S. Khouri is not like most SUVs. It looks better than many vehicles with a quarter of the mileage and it’s still running strong after 421,000+ miles, even though the original engine has never been opened up for repairs.
Stories about extremely high-mileage vehicles come up from time to time and when they do, those stories typically include fairly intense preventive maintenance programs, but in the case of Khouri’s 2004 Dodge Durango, he has done very little beyond changing the oil and repairing things that have worn out along the way. Making this all that much more impressive is the fact that this Durango has not been treated gently over the years, having been used to haul heavy items like sod, gravel and concrete when it isn’t being used for soccer tournaments and family vacations all over the United States.
Seeing as how mileage this high is pretty rare on any vehicle – let alone a hard-working American-made SUV – we reached out to Khouri for more information on the life of his 2004 Dodge Durango.
This 2004 Dodge Durango with the 4.7-liter V8 was purchased by Khouri’s significant other in 2004 and since then, they have put over 421,000 miles on the odometer. They live in Florida, so the body has never been assaulted by harsh northern winters and as a result, there is no sign of rust and the paint still looks great. Khouri has been involved in youth soccer since 1996, but for the past three years, he has been running the Central Florida Fire SC north of Orlando with hundreds of kids in the program, and all of that soccer leads to lots of travel. In traveling for youth soccer tournaments, this second-generation Durango has seen plenty of rain and snow, it has battled both hurricanes and ice storms, and has been driven off-road – both on sandy beaches and muddy dirt roads.
The most significant wear anywhere on this Dodge Durango is found on the surfaces of the front seats, and having seen other vehicles in the half-million-mile range, wear on the front seats is hard to avoid without replacing the seats or the seat skins. In Khouri’s case, the family just uses aftermarket seat covers to address that issue and beyond the worn factory seat skins, the interior has handled the years just as well as the exterior.
As for the mechanical aspect, we mentioned above that the original 4.7-liter V8 has never been opened up for repairs, but he did have a new timing belt installed in 2022. The water pump of this 2004 Durango was replaced in June 2024, but other than the timing belt, the fuel pump and the radiator, the engine is still relying on original factory components – 20 years and 421,000 miles later. He also replaced the air condition compressor and blower, and the most significant repair was a transmission rebuild at 180,000 miles, but that transmission is still going strong after 240,000+ miles. Of course, he has replaced the various components of the braking system, tires and fluids over the years, but everything else that we didn’t mention above came from the factory. He is still even using all of the original suspension components.
We asked Khouri how much longer he hopes to drive his 2004 Dodge Durango. He told us the same thing that he tells his mechanic.
“I’ll keep driving it until the engine blows up. As long as the engine is still working, I’ll keep driving it. I’m hoping to make it to 500K but not sure how long that’s going to take as I don’t drive long distances anymore. I may have to go on a long road trip to get there!”
Now that this 2004 Dodge Durango is living an easier life, it’s less prone to mechanical failures, likely leading to a longer life and maybe a shot at the half-million-mile mark.
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