Dodge Stratus Years to Avoid, Problems & Recalls

Which Dodge Stratus years should you avoid?

Going by 2,654 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Dodge Stratus years to avoid are 1999, 2000 and 1996.

19994.1× the usual share of fires, crashes and deaths for a car of its age (59 fires, 23 crashes, 2 deaths).
20004.0× the usual share of fires, crashes and deaths for a car of its age (64 fires, 16 crashes).
1996554 complaints, 2.8× a typical Stratus year, most often about the engine.

How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →

Year	Complaints	Recalls	Fires	Crashes	Most reported	Status
2007	2	0	1	—	Child Seat	Routine
2006	74	3	3	19	Suspension	Routine
2005	62	6	2	14	Suspension	Routine
2004	144	7	1	24	Suspension	Routine
2003	75	6	—	7	Air Bags	Routine
2002	150	6	4	10	Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine	Routine
2001	186	14	2	8	Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine	Fatalities reported
2000Avoid	216	9	64	16	Steering › Hydraulic Power Assist › Hose, Piping, and Connections	High concern
1999Avoid	251	7	59	23	Steering › Hydraulic Power Assist › Hose, Piping, and Connections	Fatalities reported
1998	272	7	17	25	Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine	Above average
1997	349	7	32	28	Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine	High concern
1996Avoid	554	11	36	36	Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine	Fatalities reported
1995	318	11	13	28	Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine	Above average
1992	1	0	—	—	Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components	Routine

Year

Complaints

Relative volume

Recalls

Fires

Crashes

Most reported

Status

2007

—

Child Seat

Routine