Certified Benz & Beemer Compares 2012 GMC Acadia VS 2012 Dodge Durango Near Phoenix, AZ

For enhanced safety, the front shoulder belts of the GMC Acadia are height-adjustable, and the middle and rear seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Dodge Durango doesn’t offer comfort guides on its middle or rear seat belts.

The GMC Acadia has Daytime Running Lights to help keep it more visible under all conditions. Canadian government studies show that driving with lights during the day reduces accidents by 11% by making vehicles more conspicuous. The Durango doesn’t offer Daytime Running Lights.

The Acadia has standard OnStar ®, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Durango doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Acadia and the Durango have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height-adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding and available all-wheel drive.

The Acadia comes with free roadside assistance for 5 years 100,000 miles. GMC will send help if you run out of gas, need a jump start, lock your keys in or need any assistance on the road. Dodge doesn’t give free roadside assistance for the Durango.

The Acadia’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Durango’s (6/100,000 vs. 5/100,000).

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the Acadia has an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of the 5.7 V8 in the Durango.

The Acadia has a standard “limp home system” to keep drivers from being stranded if most or all of the engine’s coolant is lost. The engine will run on only half of its cylinders at a time, reduce its power and light a warning lamp on the dashboard so the driver can get to a service station for repairs. The Durango doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Acadia has a 170-amp alternator. The Durango’s standard 160-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2011 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that GMC vehicles are better in initial quality than Dodge vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC 10th in initial quality, above the industry average. With 33 more problems per 100 vehicles, Dodge is ranked 32nd, below the industry average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2011 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Dodge vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC 26th in reliability. With 22 more problems per 100 vehicles, Dodge is ranked 31st.

The Acadia’s 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 10 lbs.-ft. more torque (270 vs. 260) than the Durango’s standard 3.6 DOHC V6.

For more instantaneous acceleration and better engine flexibility in any gear, the Acadia’s engine produces its peak torque at lower RPM’s than the Durango:

On the EPA test cycle the Acadia FWD gets better fuel mileage than the Durango RWD V6 (17 city/24 hwy vs. 16 city/23 hwy).

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Durango with the 5.7 V8 engine requires mid-grade for maximum efficiency, which can cost 5 to 40 cents more per gallon.

The Acadia’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs standard on the Durango are solid, not vented.

The Acadia stops shorter than the Durango:

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Dodge Durango only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Acadia is 3.4 inches wider in the front and 3.2 inches wider in the rear than on the Durango.

The Acadia SLT AWD handles at .78 G’s, while the Durango Crew pulls only .75 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Durango Crew 4x4 (28.2 seconds @ .59 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .55 average G’s).

The Acadia has standard seating for 8 passengers; the Durango can only carry 7.

The Acadia has 13.1 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Durango (154 vs. 140.9).

The Acadia has .5 inches more front headroom, 1 inch more front legroom, .8 inches more front hip room, 3.4 inches more front shoulder room, 1.9 inches more rear hip room, 2.8 inches more rear shoulder room, .6 inches more third row headroom, 1.7 inches more third row legroom, 5.5 inches more third row hip room and 7.4 inches more third row shoulder room than the Durango.

The front step up height for the Acadia is 1.6 inches lower than the Durango (18.9” vs. 20.5”). The Acadia’s rear step up height is .8 inches lower than the Durango’s (19.8” vs. 20.6”).

The Acadia’s cargo area provides more volume than the Durango.

The Acadia has a standard third row seat which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The Durango doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

The Acadia (except SL/SLE) offers an available heads-up display which projects speed and other key instrumentation readouts onto the windshield, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Durango doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

Insurance will cost less for the Acadia owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Acadia will cost $820 less than the Durango over a five-year period.

The Acadia will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The Intellichoice estimates that the Acadia will retain 49.22% to 51.27% of its original price after five years, while the Durango only retains 33.03% to 39.81%.

Intellichoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the GMC Acadia will be $3879 to $8209 less than for the Dodge Durango.