2008 Dodge Avenger
Complaints about this year name park far more often than the model's other years — 21% of them, about 8× the usual rate of 2.5%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 844 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 205 |
| Involving a crash | 38 |
| Involving a fire | 26 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 22 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- park — 32.3% of this year's complaints, against 12.8% across the model's other years (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: park, shift, gear, out park.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- shift — 15% of complaints, 10× usual
- out park — 10% of complaints, 24× usual
- gear — 13% of complaints, 8× usual
What owners wrote
2008 DODGE AVENGER. WILL NOT SHIFT OUT OF PARK INTO ANY GEAR PAST REVERSE. CAN GET IT TO GO INTO REVERSE IF HOLD THE SHIFTER MANUALLY, BUT FEELS SPRING LOADED BACK INTO PARK.
WHEN THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE, HE WAS UNABLE TO SHIFT OUT OF THE PARK GEAR. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 61,927.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 08V152000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 07V104000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
- 07V426000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 07V473000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
- 07V414000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES
- 07V240000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Dodge Avenger was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2008 Dodge Avenger? What happened to yours?
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