2006 Dodge Charger
Complaints about this year name tank far more often than the other years of this generation — 27% of them, about 18× the usual rate of 1.4%.
First year of a new generation. The Dodge Charger was redesigned for 2006. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 1,293 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 226 |
| Involving a crash | 21 |
| Involving a fire | 12 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 19 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- tank — 30.4% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the other years of this generation (10.8×). Owners wrote it as: tank, gas tank, fuel tank, filled.
- gas — 27.9% of this year's complaints, against 3% across the other years of this generation (9.3×).
- filling — 19.6% of this year's complaints, against 1.6% across the other years of this generation (12×). Owners wrote it as: filling, after filling, filling fuel, gas car.
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
- gas — 28% of complaints, 9× usual
- gas tank — 14% of complaints, 34× usual
- stalls — 14% of complaints, 27× usual
What owners wrote
GAS TANK EXTENDED LIFETIME WARRANTY. MY CAR STALLS AFTER REFILLING GAS TANK.IT DIES AT IDLE.IT DIES WHEN MOVING! IT IS VERY DANGERIOUS SITUATION!!
VEHICLE STALLS WHEN SLOWING TO STOP OR TURN, ONLY AFTER FILLING THE GAS TANK. THE STALLING PERSISTS, AND HAS LEFT ME IN DANGEROUS SITUATIONS, UNTIL ENOUGH FUEL IS USED. FROM 3/4 FULL AND LOWER THERE IS NO STALLING WHATSOEVER.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V352000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V313000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 06V149000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 05V460000 POWER TRAIN
- 08V583000 POWER TRAIN
How this was worked out
Every year of the Dodge Charger 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 2006 Dodge Charger? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…