2014 Dodge Durango Interior & seats Problems

On February 6, 2026, while driving my 2014 Dodge Durango at normal speed, the driver’s seat headrest suddenly and unexpectedly deployed/exploded, striking the back of my head. The force of the impact caused my head to snap forward, resulting in soft-tissue and muscle injuries to my neck and upper back. I sought medical evaluation following the incident and was diagnosed with soft-tissue injury/whiplash. Treatment has included diagnostic imaging, prescription medication, and follow-up care for ongoing symptoms. I was able to continue driving the vehicle directly to a Dodge dealership, where staff confirmed that the headrest had exploded. This is the second headrest failure on this vehicle caused by a defective plastic component; the passenger-side headrest failed previously in August 2023. The vehicle is unsafe to operate until the headrest is replaced. Due to the part being out of stock, the repair is expected to take more than two months. Prior to this incident, the only indication of a problem was a letter sent by Dodge in August 2020 stating that the warranty on this part was extended from 3 years to 10 years due to a known defect. Given the repeated failures and risk of injury, this condition represents a safety defect that should have been addressed through a recall.

NHTSA ID

11721043

Incident

Feb 6, 2026

1. Active Head Rest Inadvertent Deployment Driver's side 2. seat warmers and steering wheel warmer won't turn off unless vehicle is turned off and on again.

NHTSA ID

11717614

Incident

Dec 1, 2023

Active Head Rest Inadvertent Deployment

NHTSA ID

11710096

Incident

Jan 8, 2026

While stopped at a stop sign, the passenger headrest airbag deployed.

NHTSA ID

11689075

Incident

Sep 22, 2025

Driver side front headrest exploded/deployed while the car was parked. The plastic latch inside the headrest is broken so resetting it is impossible. This is concerning and highly dangerous! Upon researching this, it’s a known issue for Dodge models and yet isn’t a recall? My car was parked when this happened.

NHTSA ID

11687006

Incident

Sep 12, 2025

Driving 2014 Dodge Durango when the active headrest restraint on the passenger seat activated. No accident or impact to the vehicle during incident. Resulted in passenger receiving a solid "punch" to the back of the head and neck resulting in headaches for a week. If this had happened on the driver's seat (and it still could !), I can imagine an accident is possible due to the utter surprise of the noise and being punched in the head while driving. At the time of the incident, we had no idea what had happened but have since learned that our experience is not unprecedented and there are numerous similar reports of "exploding" Dodge/Jeep headrests on NHTSA. Wanting to report incident to NHTSA before taking to dealer for repair (hopefully). No warnings of impending AHR activation and no indication of activation in UConnect after the incident. There is an active NHTSA investigation PE 19014 on this exact component failure.

NHTSA ID

11666774

Incident

May 30, 2025

Active headrest restraint deployed without warning or cause

NHTSA ID

11664140

Incident

May 31, 2025

The passenger-side headrest AHR randomly failed and deployed the headrest (while driving at low speeds on local roads). Pictures have been taken and the headrest is left in place as-is for the dealership to inspect during service hours. The defective plastic retention bracket assembly suddenly broke and released the headrest, and can not be reset. There are no warnings for this now widely known manufacturer defect, yet Dodge has no reasonably effective resolution. Had the seat been occupied at that moment the active head-restraint failed, it would have caused serious head injuries to my family or myself. Had it been the driver-side headrest that malfunctioned at that moment, that could have injured me while driving and created a serious traffic accident. A limited extended warranty to repair a faulty component after an incident on a known cost-cutting defect that randomly injures occupants (at least 71 injuries have been caused by this known defect) with great potential to lead to fatal traffic accidents is unacceptable.

NHTSA ID

11658749

Incident

May 3, 2025

Active Head Restraint failure in passenger side headrest. It is available to be inspected. This is a known issue for the 2014 Dodge Durango from 2011 to 2018 among other Dodge/Jeep vehicles.

NHTSA ID

11635984

Incident

Dec 27, 2024

Passenger seat, headrest exploded part of cars, active restraint system, hitting my son in the head

NHTSA ID

11634222

Incident

Jan 5, 2025

While vehicle was being driven, passenger headrest spontaneously deployed/exploded, hitting passenger in the head with strong force, causing significant head, neck and shoulder pain.

NHTSA ID

11620870

Incident

Oct 19, 2024

The component that failed was the passengers headrest. It automatically deployed while driving with no collision or hit. I was able to stop and park right away because it hit my daughter on the head. I just wanted to make sure she was good. This happened today 07/16/2024 so will call my dealer tomorrow to see if they can do something about it and hopefully they can fix it. For now, I thank God my daughter is good. I did no report with insurance, or police. I had no warning before it happened.

NHTSA ID

11602825

Incident

Jul 16, 2024

The passenger headrest opened up during normal driving and hit the passenger in the head, hard. Upon inspection the brackets that hold some sort of spring-loaded mechanism appear to have cracked/broken to allow the head rest to open up.

NHTSA ID

11602305

Incident

Jun 15, 2024

Passenger side active headrest deployed without accident while sitting in driveway no one in or around vehicle and also not running.

NHTSA ID

11599856

Incident

Jul 7, 2024

I was driving along thankfully at a low rate of speed when suddenly my passenger seat head rest popped really loud and sprang open. Scared the Crap out of me, and caused me to swerve really hard and almost out of my lane. Thank God no one was sitting in the passenger seat at the time!!

NHTSA ID

11594662

Incident

Jun 16, 2024

The passenger side head rest deployed for no reason. Has not been in any accidents. Shop states it would cost me $850 to get fixed. I believe this is a defect of the part since I was just going down the road when this happened. As I said before I have not been in any accidents. Please send me a replacement for this vehicle or put out a recall on this. I have seen that there is multiple people having this issue.

NHTSA ID

11593657

Incident

Jun 11, 2024

The passenger side active head restraint headrest deployed while driving. Upon activation, it struck the passenger in the head causing dizziness and pain. According to a few online forums, this has been an issue for some time. No one has inspected my vehicle so far but me. The headrest is unable to be reset. There was no warning and no lights or messages indicating the failure.

NHTSA ID

11590810

Incident

May 25, 2024

Was driving and noticed my headrest was actually touching my head, it had deployed like it should when you hit an accident. Nothing was hit.

NHTSA ID

11581223

Incident

Apr 4, 2024

While driving down the interstate, the passenger headrest deployed and hit my husband in the back of the head, jarring him and hurting his neck. This is the second time this has happened, the first time was on the driver’s side and dodge repaired the issue. The plastic clips holding the metal latching mechanism snapped and the headrest deployed. I called the dealership and was told there were no recalls. There were no warning lights or signs that this was going to happen. At this time I have not turned it into insurance or filed a police report because it was a faulty piece of equipment within the car. If this would have happened on the driver side, it could have caused a wreck or knocked the driver unconscious. Even in the passenger seat, this causes serious injury concerns to the neck and head.

NHTSA ID

11548529

Incident

Sep 30, 2023

Upon arriving home, I parked the car in the garage. As I was collecting my belongings to exit the car, the driver's headrest "exploded" sharply striking me in the back of the head. While I was uninjured - beyond the resulting headache - this appears to be a defect with the vehicle. On inspection, it appears the plastic retaining bar failed causing the headrest to separate.

NHTSA ID

11546844

Incident

Sep 26, 2023

Sitting at drive through and driver headrest exploded and hit me in the back of the head. Thank God I was not moving at the time and my car was in park or I may have wrecked! Startled me and I was dazed and confused because I couldn’t figure out what had happened! This just happened a few hours ago so I have not been able to report it or have it checked out. I did take several pictures. There were no warnings or anything and it just happened as I was sitting there! If I had been driving, it could have been catastrophic! My neck is sore and I have a headache.

NHTSA ID

11546116

Incident

Sep 22, 2023

Rackin pinion, Lumbar drivers seat stopped working, 120v outlet came out, jerking at pulling off, all dash components do things when ever. Electrical issues within radio and dash.

NHTSA ID

11542180

Incident

Oct 5, 2022

Headrest deployed under normal driving conditions

NHTSA ID

11535229

Incident

Jul 22, 2023

The passenger head rest popped/exploded and juts forward and will not close back. I was advised that it is an airbag recall issue. However after checking my vin nothing is shown listed here. On a google search it says there is a ten year unlimited mile recall.

NHTSA ID

11509764

Incident

Jan 23, 2023

Jan 24 , 2023. Drivers Active Headrest was deployed. No incidents/accidents and must be replaced looks like the plastic retaining hooks malfunctioned. must be replaced. UNKNOWN exactly what happened. Hea

NHTSA ID

11503822

Incident

Jan 24, 2023