10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 6 / 31
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 4 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 54,349 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. While driving 20 mph, all the warning indicators on the instrument panel illuminated and the windshield wipers began to operate independently. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled, but was able to restart. The dealer diagnosed that the alternator and battery failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign numbers: 14V634000 (electrical system) or 16V379000 (electrical system). The failure mileage was 72,000.
- Pace, FL, USA
My Dodge Charger went dead while I was driving one day. The battery indicator came on and charging system on my monitor, I was driving with my wife in the car and I was lucky to be able to turn on a side street as the wipers came on and suddenly I had no more power to steer the car. I had my hazardous lights on too and everything then went dead. I was lucky that day and god watched over me and my wife. When my roadside service got there and he tried to give me a jump it would not start and he tested the battery and it had a full charge on it. I had the car towed to the Dodge dealer that night. The next day I went to find out that the alternator was fried. I looked up at the time my vehicle was down before my roadside service got there that night. I founded out there was a P60 recall alternator (amp 160) for Dodge Charger year 2011-2014. I called Chrysler corporation the night I went down, and they looked up and said it was not on my vehicle. They said I had a amp 180, but after getting a new alternator in my Dodge Charger I'm still having problems with a battery save mode that keeps popping up on my monitor screen. I pleaded with the Chrysler corporation that something is wrong with the alternator and that night I could have died. If I was on the highway. I don't feel safe everyday driving, because I have to get on the highway to go to work. I'm going back to the Dodge service department to get this battery save mode checked out, because they used one of the P60 recall alternator to fix my vehicle. I think they don't have a stable alternator, because it is probably draining the battery.
- Cincinnati, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. While driving 60 mph, the "driver assistance no longer available" message appeared. In addition, the brakes seized without warning and the vehicle stalled. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 14634000 (electrical system) as the cause of the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 85,000. Updated 01/11/2017 status update. 03/24/17. Updated 7/10/18
- Palatine, IL, USA
We started to smell a when we pulled over the car stoped running would not start and the alternator was smoking. We were on the highway and pulled over on a parking lot.
- Alliance, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. While driving approximately 20 mph, the instrument panel flashed rapidly and the vehicle lost power. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V634000 (electrical system). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 33,000. The VIN was not available.
- Mckinney, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that the radio and electrical system failed. In addition, the battery warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the alternator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 14V634000(electrical system), but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
- Jacksonville, FL, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. Without warning, the contact heard a loud abnormal noise. The instrument panel gauges and warning indicators randomly flickered and the vehicle stalled. The contact noticed excessive smoke emitting from the motor and stated that the alternator assembly prematurely failed. The contact received several recall notices and was to check with the dealer to determine if they could diagnose the failures. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 164,000.
- Lexington, SC, USA
Our car was running fine until this event. We came out of a store 2 blocks from our home and started the car. It immediately had a new whirring noise and the battery symbol came up on our dash display. We started to drive towards our home, to get our car there and out of the street. The car then displayed "switching to low power mode" on the dash display. Within the first block the the car starting smoking from under the hood. We pulled into our driveway and parked. The car shut itself off and was dead. More smoke continued to come out from under the hood. We opened the hood and visualized the alternator smoking continuously. We did not attempt to do anything else with the car. The next day we had it towed to the "my mechanic" auto repair shop, our usual and trusted repair shop. After inspection of our vehicle, the mechanic told us the alternator had burned out, and in turn, burned out the battery and both had to be replaced. After the repair our Charger runs fine. We have kept our alternator and battery for further inspection.
- Seattle, WA, USA
While I was driving my car towards my house. The battery light went on. On the dashboard I checked and it said "battery safe mode on". as I kept on driving the stereo went out. That's when I stopped and search the problem on the internet. It seem that alot of people had probkems with it and it was the alternator. I was still a long way from home so I kept on driving. But then the car stalled really bad and it would not go any more it was just on. I called the dealer today if the could fix it since it was a recall on the Dodge Charger 2012, but when I did they told me that my car did not have the recall and that I had to pay 700 dollars plus the labor to get it fix. I just want to know why if alot of people are having the same problem why cant they fix mine.
- Sonoma, CA, USA
The radio turned off, every light on the instrument cluster lit up, wipers turned on automatically, lost both power break and power steering. All this at over 50 mph with our young son in the back seat....eventually my wife was able to get the vehicle stopped, but even after many attempts was unable to put the car in park. Eventually the car just completely died. She was stuck in the middle of a turning lane and wasn't even able to turn on the emergency flashers. The car ended up being towed to the nearest Chrysler dealership and diagnosed with a faulty alternator to the tune of almost $900. Financial burden aside, this was a very frightening experience for my wife and son, and although the car has been repaired neither my wife nor I feel entirely comfortable driving the car by ourselves much less having our young son in the back seat.
- Cape Coral, FL, USA
My car was running perfectly fine, then out of the blue, I received an error message which read "battery saver mode". there was absolutely nothing wrong with my battery. After maybe two minutes, all the electrical systems in my car started shutting down. Maybe a minute later, my car was completely disabled in the middle of a busy intersection. All power to the vehicle was dead, so I couldn't even turn on the hazard lights to warn other drivers. The cabin began to smell very strongly of an electrical fire. I got out of the vehicle and opened the hood. There wasn't a visible fire, but there was smoke. I had the vehicle towed to the Chrysler dealership, where they informed me my VIN wasn't covered under the P60 recall. I spoke with Chrysler customer assistance, and they informed me that my alternator assembly wasn't deemed as defective. I had the exact same problem of all the vehicles under recall, but apparently not enough of my particular alternator assemblies have been reported defective to warrant a recall for my VIN. I would've been in big trouble if this happened with my children in the car. I had little to no warning off what was going to happen. Chrysler knows this is an issue, but they refuse to acknowledge it to avoid paying for the recalls. I would be extremely grateful to have this problem investigated. Please contact me for any additional information you may need. Thank you.
- Erwin, NC, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. While driving 50 mph, the battery warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle after several attempts. The vehicle was taken to be diagnosed. The contact was not informed of a cause for the failure. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V634000 (electrical system). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 52,000.
- Round Rock, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. While the vehicle was at the dealer for a safety inspection, it was diagnosed that the front passenger side seat sensor and the wiring harness needed to be replaced. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 13V118000 (air bags). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 29,600. Updated 12/20/16 the consumer stated there was a recall on seat sensor and harness but the VIN # was not included in the recall.
- Tolland, CT, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a complete loss of power. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the failure was due to the alternator. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 14V634000 (electrical system); however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
- South Weymouth, MA, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that the vehicle randomly stalled several times. The vehicle was towed more than three times due to the failure. The front passenger side electric window failed to go up and down intermittently. The dealer was notified of the failure several times and indicated that the parts were not available. The contact was uncertain of when the vehicle would be repaired according to NHTSA campaign numbers: 15V467000 (air bags and seat belts), 16V043000 (structure), and 16V352000 (air bags). The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was not available. Parts distribution disconnect.
- Stockton, CA, USA
I have a 2012 Dodge Charger with 60,000 miles on it yesterday the alternator had a catastrophic failure while my wife was driving the car on a state highway. The vehicle shut down while she was in the roadway but she was able to pull to the roadside because she was on a down hill slope. When we tried to jump start the vehicle it started smoking the jumper cables. Our car has the 180 amp alternator I see where there is a already a recall on the 160 amp alternators for this vehicle I think there may be a problem with the 180 amp alternators too because the problem sounds the same.
- Clarksburg, WV, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. While driving 35 mph, the vehicle stalled and the battery warning light illuminated. The contact pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road. The contact noticed a burning odor and observed smoke fumes from the hood. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the alternator failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V634000 (electrical system). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,000....updated 09/14/16
- Portsmouth, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a complete loss of power while being operated. The brake and air bag warning indicators illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 14V634000 (electrical system); however, the first dealer stated that the parts to do the repair were unavailable. The vehicle was towed to another dealer where it was diagnosed that the alternator shorted out the battery. Additionally, the alternator malfunctioned and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000. Parts distribution disconnect.
- Cardington, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Charger. While driving approximately 45 mph, the radio and headlights failed to work. The check engine and anti lock brake system warning indicators illuminated and the windshield wipers activated. Next, all the warning indicators began flashing and the ability to steer and brakes failed. The contact had to maneuver to the side of the road. As soon as the vehicle stopped, it stalled. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 77,000.
- Marion, SC, USA
- Richland, WA, USA