2014 Dodge Charger
Complaints about this year name alternator far more often than the other years of this generation — 10% of them, about 26× the usual rate of 0.4%.
Generation 2 of the Dodge Charger, which began in 2011. 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 | 689 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 226 |
| Involving a crash | 83 |
| Involving a fire | 16 |
| Recalls | 10 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 21 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- battery — 19.7% of this year's complaints, against 6.3% across the other years of this generation (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: battery, alternator, mode, saver.
- charger driving — 9.6% of this year's complaints, against 1.8% across the other years of this generation (5.5×). Owners wrote it as: charger driving, warning indicators, medical attention, indicators illuminated.
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
- steering — 19% of complaints, 3× usual
- charger driving — 8% of complaints, 14× usual
- battery — 12% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
The alternator failed while the vehicle was in operation and it stalled without warning on the highway at 55 mph. This left the car without power steering and a dangerous situation until I was able to get the car to the side of the road. I was left stranded ha…
THE ALTERNATOR MAY EXPERIENCE DIODE THERMAL FATIGUE FAILURE DUE TO CYCLICAL LOADS INDUCED BY ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC POWER STEERING.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V018000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 18E053000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 18V332000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 17V435000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 17V097000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 17V741000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 15V467000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V043000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 10. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
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 2014 Dodge Charger? What happened to yours?
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