Back in August, Dodge announced that the Durango was going V8-only. In fact, the company made kind of a big deal about it. I should know; I was there when it happened. So you can imagine our curiosity when, earlier this month, the Dodge build & price tool still showed a Pentastar option—and apparently enough people noticed that Dodge decided to make its flip-flop official yesterday.
Are you surprised? I’m not. We’re talking about a company with more farewell tours than the Eagles. Up next: the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat Final Edition Final Edition. Nobody will see it coming…
To be fair, there were always caveats to Dodge’s V8 pivot. At first, we were told the Hemi-only restrictions wouldn’t apply to models being sold to fleets (rental or otherwise), which could still order the Pentastar V6. Then, when we spotted retail models in inventory, we were told that they were already in the pipeline when the announcement was made and would gradually fade out of showrooms with the influx of Hemi-powered models. So, this announcement puts us somewhere around revision 3.0 of Dodge’s 2026 Durango market strategy—in November of 2025.
As good as the Hemi is for buzz, however, it’s not so great for price point. The base V8 (an AWD model with GT, so not exactly a stripper) starts at $45,000 with destination. While that’s cheap for what it is (where else can you get a midsize V8 SUV with AWD under $50k?), that’s only a little cheaper than the average new car purchase, and Dodge dealers need inexpensive options to help put butts in seats.
With the V6 Durango GT model back in the mix for 2026, Dodge can advertise a net price of $38,990 (with destination) thanks to $2,000 in available incentives; $1,000 of that is bonus cash specifically earmarked for vehicles equipped with the Pentastar V6.
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Byron is an editor at The Drive with a keen eye for infrastructure, sales and regulatory stories.