This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Complaint concerning: NHTSA preliminary evaluation #PE14022 on Saturday 9/13/14 I was driving home from the store on a residential road going 35 miles per hour and my vehicle began to flash the ABS light. Then the emergency brake light began to flash, the touch screen went blank. My radio and A/C shut off, the windows would not roll down. The mileage meter read 0, than started to read miles up to 80 miles per hour. I lost power steering, and the power brakes!! my car was 100% inoperable!!! I tried to coast to the side of the road, almost hitting several motorist and pedestrians as I had not control over the breaks!!! my daughter and I were almost killed B/C I was unable to stop or steer and almost had a head on collision!! I coasted to the side of the road, when my car completely died!! would not recognize the key, could not open the trunk, etc. I had my car towed to my Dodge dealer, they notified me that the alternator went out, drain the battery completely! the alternator on this car is too weak for the size of the vehicle! repairs cost me $1,500 total, not covered under powertrain warranty! this car is only 2 yrs. Old! this should not happen with a new car! I contacted Chrysler Corp. Office and they did not offer me any assistance! some one will die due to this type of vechicle flaw! there needs to be a recall on this issue!!!!!!!!!!!
Battery saver mode appeared on my dash. Wasn't sure what it meant so I told my husband to take the car to get a diagnostic test done. He went to auto zone to get it check and upon getting this done he stated "the car is going crazy" every light imaginable was appearing. The windows wouldn't go down, the radio stop playing, the steering wheel wouldn't move. In so many words the car just died.... I had to get my car towed to a service center once there I had to purchase a battery because they said the battery was dead. Once the battery was installed the car started again, but they couldn't test my car because there system wasn't up to date. So I was able to drive my car home. While driving home the battery saver mode light appeared again then the battery light appeared. I called the Dodge dealership near me and spoke to someone in the service department who told me that light indicates a bad alternator and that I will need to replace mine and being that my warranty has expired I will have to pay out of pocket and of course it is pricey.
A message appeared and indicated battery saver mode. I decided to go and get a picture of the message to show the dealership but when I turned the car on the ABS and traction control lights also turned on. The car was also making a screeching noise. I proceeded to drive around the block at which time a burning smell started. As I came around the block not faster than 5-10 mph the burning smell got stronger and the car started trembling and I couldn't turn it off or put it in park. The shifter would just slide up and down never parking. I couldn't take my foot off the break because it would keep moving almost wreaking into my husbands truck. Finally the car started trembling and other panel lights appeared and turned off.(transmission and engine light) finally the wipers came on for a few minutes. Prior to this I had already taken the car in twice for the ABS and traction control lights.
While driving my entire instrument panel started shorting out. Before I was able to stop my car it completely died leavin me without steering capability. I couldn't even open the trunk where the actual battery is. The battery was completely dead. The problem turned out to be the alternator. I had to repair the alternator rotor and get a new rectifier and bearings. The manufacturer would not cover this under warranty. I believe this part was faulty and should be recalled. Apparently the premature failure of this part it is commonplace for this vehicle. I wasn't going very fast and was able to begin pulling over and slowing down. As it was I did not have enough inertia and was still partially in the road way. Had I been on the freeway, this could have been deadly. I did not even receive a battery low warning previous to this incident.
Driving on a turnpike with the cruise set at 75mph and the "battery safe mode" indicator came on. From then in a matter of seconds my radio first shut off, then my forward collision sensor, then my blind spot sensor. Then in the next following minute or so, every electronic device shut off and my car went into "limp mode". it was raining and my windshield wipers stopped working and I had to get to the side of the turnpike fast. With rush hour traffic all around me and me having to find my way through the traffic to the shoulder safely with no blinkers, power steering, windshield wipers, and my car would not run over 1200 or so RPM's. my car was slowing fast. By the time I got to the shoulder my car had died. I had it towed to my house. Tried to jump it with no success. I took the battery to get it checked not thinking about how I would get back into the trunk. I had to crawl through the back seat access to the trunk and pull the emergency trunk cable. Battery was fine after all, and turns out it was the alternator, which I figured from the start, I was just covering my bases. Next looking for a new alternator or to get it repaired, I could not do either. All places, pep boys, O'reily's, auto zone, and Napa did not have this alternator available. I went to get it repaired and they said the part I needed was on national backorder. My only way was to go to a dealership to buy a new one. Luckily no accident happened on the turnpike, but it was a dangerous situation and could have turned out very bad for me and my 2 year old son in the backseat. This is a problem Dodge needs to recall or cover the cost for it before someone is killed. The major safety concern is how the car deals with this failure and makes it completely unsafe to drive within a matter of minutes from the first indication of a problem.
- Yukon, OK, USA
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I was driving home on a Friday night around 10 P.M. on the highway 101 going South. All of a sudden my car ( Dodge Charger) starts making a peculiar noise, shortly my car gave me a message saying " battery save mode" my car was becoming very difficult to drive and very hard to work the steering wheel, luckily I was able to exit on the nearest exit. My I was driving 35mph on the road suddenly it went from 30, 20, 10 mph and than stopped, my car completely shut down I was not able to turn it back on. I was very scared just thinking what would have happen it my car would of shut down on the freeway. I've been reading allot of complains online and this is not a rare case. A lot of Dodge customers are complaining of bad alternators coming from Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep. I hope this gets investigated and recall this car it is very unsafe!
On July 21, 2014 while driving on a two- way street, several of my dashboard lights flickered and wipers came on and off while driving approximately 50mph. I kept driving when gradually my car began to lose power, the dash board notified me that it was going into power saver mode. Less than a minute or two later, my power steering was gone. The car stalled in the middle of traffic as I was making a turn hoping to avoid an accident. The vehicle wouldn'??T start after multiple attempts to jump it. I called the dealership and they gave me the number to a tow truck company. On July 22, a service advisor called to inform me that the alternator was bad and I also needed a new battery due to the bad alternator. I told him I had warranty on the vehicle. He told me I had 5 year powertrain warranty for 5yrs/100,000miles and electrical is 3yrs/36,000miles. At this time I had 54,139miles. It cost me $1,056.15 to have the dealer install a new alternator, battery, and towing fees. This is a safety issue that needs to be addressed via recall. The vehicle isn't old enough to have alternator issues. Only 2 years this definitely requires a recall.
Sunday I was riding home from getting something to eat I was going about 47 mph whenmy battery power saver indicator lit up. So I was a little confused of what was going on. Then all of a sudden my speedometer and everything on my dashboard started going crazy, and then it went out. So I thought it best for me to pull over into a gas station, but when I tried to pull over it was hard for me to turn the steering wheel and when I press the gas the car wasn't moving it was just moving with the speed it was already going. Thankfully I was by heel and I rode down into the gas station. I tried to turn the car off but I couldn't because all the power in the dashboard had going out all the power was gone. So the car literally drained itself of power for the next two minutes and then it drained out completely of power. So I set a few minutes and the battery did recharge enough for me to make it home. The next day I went to advanced auto maybe a quarter-mile from my house and I had them do a battery and alternator check. What came up was the alternator was bad it was not sending enough current to the battery and that the battery was being drained. This is a 2012 car with 61,000 miles on it. I have not done any alterations on this car everything is factory, and I've got it maintenance when it needed maintenance like my oil change and changing the differential fluids nothing major though. I have also taken it back for all the recalls as well. This cars alternator should not go out this early in the cars life use their is something wrong.this is a very big safety issue because a car was coming as I was trying to pull in the gas station and I was hitting the gas pedal and it would not go thankfully the call slowed down enough for me to make it in. Please check I see other people are having problems with this alternator issue early in there cars life this should not be happening.
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. While driving 45 mph, the instrument panel illuminated intermittently. While in reverse, the vehicle jerked and became difficult to operate. The dealer stated that the battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The failure mileage was 81,000.
I have a 2012 Dodge Charger SXT 3.6 litre, on the 13 of Aug 2014 I was driving at approximately 50 miles per hour when my battery light came on I was only 5 miles from my house right after light came on car said it went into battery saver mode radio shut off I thought it would be ok to drive it home since I was close to my house and it was in battery saver mode then all of a sudden all warning lights in vehicle went off trip info screen went blank and wipers came on and my power steering shut off then came back on then off again I almost crashed I was going around a corner at the time now mind you I was on a road where there was no shoulder to pull onto car was still running but if you tried to accelerate it wouldn't go, I also tried to shut car off at one point and it would not even shut off I kept hitting off button at this point smoke coming from under hood and I smelled something burning I was freaking out because car wouldn't shut off smoke coming out and I couldn't even unroll window or open door while it was running because door lock engaged car was making some weird noises finally shut off got out of car opened hood alternator was smoking hot. Currently had car towed to local Dodge dealership two days later I'm still waiting to see if this will be covered under warranty. I will tell you this the service manager at dealership told me this a huge issue with Chrysler 300's Dodge Chargers and Jeep Cherokee's and normally it's not covered right now at my dealership they have 2 Chrysler 300 1 Charger and 1 Jeep Cherokee plus my Charger makes 5 cars in there dealership with same issue. I smell lawsuit.
First of all the customer service at the local dealership! sucks! when you called they (it's a call center), and they transfer where no one ever picks up. My problem occured on 8/6/2014. My car was driving in battery mode (which is not listed in the manual by the way). So, I called the Dodge chyrsler customer service to find out what was going on 1-800-423-6343. Only thing they advise was take to the dealer for diagnostic testing (which you the consumer have to pay for). Now remind you I have only had this car for one year and I am the second owner. I have kept up all my oil changes and regualr maintenance required for mileage, but all all of sudden the freaking alternator goes out on a 2012 Dodge Charger. Of course this does not sound right. So, I get a call back from the local dealership and they advise me that it will be $655 plus diagnostic. I have beed advised by the dealership as well as the chysler group llc customer center they can not assist with cost due to decline matrix and the history of the vehicle. I have gotten nothing but bs from everyone in regards to the so called case no. They gave me. The cutomer service representative have been extremely rude. I ask for a manager which they advised me they could not give me. (remind you again I use to work for a call center) I have not never heard a rep telling a customer you can not speak to a manager. Bull crap! also, I was told they are not allowed to give out headquarters numbers or information of address (which I ended up google the information). I planned on taking this matter up. I have electric issues, airbag issues, and more since I got this vehicle. Everyone tried to warn me about buying a Dodge, but I guess they were right ang I was wrong. Thanks, a concern owner of a Dodge Charger.
While driving my several of my dashboard lights flickered while driving over 50 miles an hour (note: Although I selected 50 mph, I drove at varying speeds due to start/stop traffic - the initial issues happened at above 50 mph), I started smelling burning smell - likely wires and became concerned, I also heard a strange whizzing sound. I kept driving when gradually my car began to lose power, the dashboard notified me that it was going into battery saving mode and then less than a minute or two later, my power steering was gone instantly, the car stalled in the middle of traffic as I was coming around a turn, hoping to avoid an accident in the middle of rush hour. I was able to make it to the hill ahead and let gravity pull me into a safer place. I did not know what happened. I called for a tow truck and had no power left, not even enough to turn on the flashers. The car did not restart. I had the car towed to sears for a charging system diagnostic and turned out that the alternator was dead. The battery was also dead. I paid for a new battery and confirmed that the alternator was not charging the new die-hard advanced gold battery I just purchased. I had it towed a second time to take it to the Dodge dealer because I was informed that it was unsafe to drive it, even though the dealer was only 16 mins away that same day. The dealer confirmed that the alternator was dead. We will confirm main cause today. This car is a 2012 and I could not understand how a car that new even with 101,000 (a large % are highway miles) could have a bad alternator go that soon. So far, my bill will be over $1000 just to replace the alternator in addition to the $233 I had to pay for the battery at sears. More diagnostics are being done at this time. They mentioned that it was unrelated to any prior recalls.
My 2012 Dodge Charger was doing just fine, there was absolutely no indication that would have led me to believe it was going to die on me soon. I bought it in may (used), and it is now August. It has just over 41K miles. I was driving about 60mph and this message came on "battery saving mode", I got to the store and pumped gas, turned it back on just fine and the message was still showing, then drove it less than a mile while hearing this slight high pitch noise that sounded like it was coming from under the hood. I reached my destination and when I turned off there was this burning smell and some clear smoke coming from under the hood. We opened it and saw and smelled more smoke along with a burned rubber smell coming from under the left side of the panel covering the engine. Now my car won't start at all and I keep hearing that it could be the alternator, and that it is under investigation for a possible recall. I don't know if I have to take it to the dealership and pay for it to get fixed if there's no official recall on it yet or what. I have also heard that it has actually caught fire for other people in the forums I've read, so now I have to also have it towed. Don't know what to do.
Alternator going out!!!!! Charger just gave me the "battery saver mode". ABS light came on, brake light came on and the stereo shut off. 2 hours after its back to normal. Called dealership, they will charge me $95 just to test it, not acknowledging any issues with car, and will likely cost me $500 plus to fix. Taking it to autoparts store to have alternator tested for free, then having it towed home. "battery saver mode" is a sign that the alternator is defective which in turn damages the battery, if you search the Dodge/Chrysler forums you will find that many people have this issue which results in car becoming completely undrivable. It starts with the error, then the car shuts down the stereo and other electronics so it can have enough voltage to run the engine and then the engine dies.
Was driving approx 45 miles an hour when smoke was coming from engine bay. Burnt smell when opened hood and smoke coming from alternator. There was also a battery failure due to alternator.
Was cruising at 50mph when all electrics died.. would not restart. Dodge official garage has told me alternator and battery failure. They want to bill me but I see there is an investigation already underway regarding this
While I was driving home my car lost all power and the engine had shut off on me. I was able to safely pull to the side of the road where I was able to get the battery out and taken to autozone where they were able to put enough charge to the battery to allow me to finish getting the car home. The next morning there was no power to the battery. Upon having a mechanic look at it he told me the alternator was bad.
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that the sensor had illuminated for the traction control and battery saver mode intermittently. The contact experienced the vehicle shutting off and going into battery safe mode repeatedly. The contact had to recharge the battery to get the vehicle to restart on several occasions. The radio had shut off each time the vehicle went into battery safe mode. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who replaced the alternator and the battery. The failure recurred with the battery safe mode sensor and traction control sensor illuminating. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the alternator was not charging which may indicate it was faulty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
I was driving into a martin's grocery store parking lot when I noticed the engine high temperature light illuminated, I immediately parked vehicle and turned the engine off.I then noticed steam escaping from underneath hood, I got out and away from the car, and I immediately called crossroad Dodge dealership srvuce department in prince george, va.I talked with a male service technician about what happened and he replied",let engine cool for 1 hour before driving it to dealership, I waited 1 hour and then drove it to the dealership.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Cincinnati, OH, USA