2007 Dodge Charger
Complaints about this year name park far more often than the other years of this generation — 34% of them, about 7× the usual rate of 4.6%.
Generation 1 of the Dodge Charger, which began in 2006 and ran to 2010. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 570 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 226 |
| Involving a crash | 18 |
| Involving a fire | 17 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 18 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- park — 33.5% of this year's complaints, against 4.6% across the other years of this generation (7.3×).
- shift — 33.2% of this year's complaints, against 8.7% across the other years of this generation (3.8×). Owners wrote it as: shift, out park, lever, shift out.
- gear — 21.6% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the other years of this generation (7.8×). Owners wrote it as: gear, stated gear, gear shifter, park dealer.
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 — 25% of complaints, 11× usual
- out park — 16% of complaints, 35× usual
- gear — 21% of complaints, 9× usual
What owners wrote
THE GEAR SHIFTER WAS STUCK IN PARK. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INSPECTED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 13,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
WHILE ATTEMPTING TO DRIVE, THE GEAR LEVER FAILED TO SHIFT OUT OF PARK. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE [VIN] WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN.
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.
- 08V583000 POWER TRAIN
- 06V341000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 06V493000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
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 2007 Dodge Charger? What happened to yours?
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