1996 Dodge B Series

Routine

Owners filed 6 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the service brakes, hydraulic › foundation components › disc › rotor. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Vehicle Speed Control1
100
Structure › Body › Door1
000
Steering › Gear Box › Shaft Sector1
000
Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc › Rotor1
000
Power Train › Automatic Transmission1
000
Electrical System › Wiring › Front Underhood1
010

What owners reported

Newest filings
Electrical System › Wiring › Front UnderhoodFire
Filed Jun 9, 200437,960 milesMD

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS 1996 DODGE B VAN WITH 37960 MILES. THE DRIVER DROVE APPROX. 2 MILES TO HIS FIRST JOB. NOTICED NOTHING UNUSUAL. PARKED IN FRONT OF THE CUSTOMERS HOUSE,NOTICED NOTHING UNUSUAL. DROVE BEHIND THE HOUSE TO THE JOBSITE AND SMELLED SOMETHING BURNING. EXITED THE TRUCK AND SAW FLAMES FROM THE RIGHT FRONT WHEELWELL. HAD THE FIRE DEPARTMENT EXTINGUISH THE FIRE. AN INVESTIGATION BY AN OUTSIDE CONTRACTOR,HIRED BY DAIMLERCHRYSLER WAS INCONCLUSIVE AS TO THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE, BUT LISTED A PROBABLE CAUSE AS THE HEATER BLOWER MOTOR. THE BLOWER MOTOR COULD NOT BE FOUND AT THE TIME OF THE INVESTIGATION! VERIZON HAS EXPERIENCED MANY BLOWER MOTOR FAILURES AND BLOWER RESISTOR FAILURES IN THIS MODEL VEHICLE. VERIZON HAS EXPERIENCED SIMILAR FIRES IN THIS MODEL VEHICLE AND FEELS THAT THIS FIRE WARRANTS FURTHER INVESTIGATION. *AK

Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc › Rotor
Filed Mar 18, 1997MD

WARPED BRAKE ROTORS, CAUSING VEHICLE TO PULL TO THE LEFT, ALMOST CAUSED A HED-ON ACCIDENT, ALSO PREMATURE WEAR OF BRAKE PADS AND FAULTY DRAG LINK. *AK

Steering › Gear Box › Shaft Sector
Filed Mar 5, 1997MA

STEERING SHAFT BECOMES LOOSE IN THE SLIP JOINT. *AK

Power Train › Automatic Transmission
Filed Jan 9, 1997CA

WHEN SHIFTED INTO GEAR THE TRANSMISSION SLIPS, THE ENGINE RACES, THERE IS NO POWER IN THE WHEEL . *AK

Structure › Body › Door
Filed Nov 7, 1996IA

WIND NOISE IN BOTH FRONT WINDOWS. *AK

Vehicle Speed ControlCrash
Filed Jun 14, 1995OR

VAN IN PARK;ENGINE RUNNING;OCCUPANTS GOT OUT;AFTER 1 MINUTE, REVERSE PARKING LIGHT CAME ON;VAN BARRELED DOWN;WENT THRU GATE, NEARLY KILLING DRIVER;LEASED CAR.

6 of 6 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 1998
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
1998180160Routine
19972010Routine
1996 — this page6010Routine
19957010Routine
19949030Routine
19921010Routine
19901000Routine

Compare every B Series year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.