Owners have filed 484 complaints on the Chrysler LeBaron, covering 1983–1995. The system named most often is Power Train (101 reports). Worst years by volume: 1994, 1995, 1992; cleanest: 1983, 1984, 1985. 52 reports describe a crash, 35 a fire, 2 a death. On average the car was 5.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chrysler LeBaron
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 484 LeBaron complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 101 Read
Vehicle was running when knocked out of gear
Consumer parked car in the driveway, the gear shifted out of park, rolled down driveway and hit tree
Rear axle separated from the vehicle, causing vehicle to spin out of control/accident
Engine And Engine Cooling 57 Read
Serpentine belt came off twice, once causing accident
Engine compartment fire
Engine fire resulted from a minor accident
Structure 56 Read
Door had creaked without warning it flew open and fell off catching me and my seatbelt pulling me out! The drivers door feel off and I see that this is common! You never thought someone would hit the asphalt or another car would hit the door and crash. Why haven't they rewelded or added extra metal strength to these.…
Car sold to me with a cracked/broken frame, informed by reliable sources that sale was illegal
Door hinge failure
Suspension 40 Read
Rear axle weld failed
Vehicle drifts to the right
Rear axle control arm failed causing the axle to fall apart
Electrical System 39 Read
Driving vehicle at speed 30mph, under the hood engine compartment fire due to an electrical short; also, loss of power
The contact owns a 1995 chrysler lebaron convertible. When the driver attempted to use the emergency brake, he noticed smoke surrounding the dashboard area. He removed the instrument panel and checked the wires. The contact found exposed wires and a gap between the wires. The vehicle will be taken to the dealer for…
Computer shorted out, causing a fire
Air Bags 33 Read
Had an accident, air bags deployed, air bag caught on fire and burned driver
Violent deployment of driver's/passenger's air bags during rear end collision t 5 mph, resulted in tearing off passenger's thumb and severe hand damage
Consumer was in an accident and air bags deployed. Consumer stated that insurance company and dealership did not think that airbags should have deployed. License plate was bent
Service Brakes 28 Read
ABS brakes failed on three different occasions, lst one resultin gin a crash
While driving experienced transmission malfunctioning, dropped down into low gear, then suddenly vehicle accelerated out of control, engine overpowering brakes, vehicle hit a wall
ABS: seems as though there is still room for pedal to move after pressing brake pedal; vehicle still rolls ahead; rearended another vehicle. Tt
Steering 23 Read
Steering failed,resulting in a crash / unable to direct vehicle
Vehicle pulled in front of tractor trailer,causing the tractor trailer to broadside vehicle.also, cosco css to disconnected from base, and ejected the child from vehicle. Detective passing this report on to NHTSA
Engine fire
LeBaron years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Air Bags | 5 | 4 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 6 | 4 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 1992 | Air Bags | 9 | 6 | |
| 1991 | Air Bags | 5 | 1 | |
| 1990 | Air Bags | 5 | 2 | |
| 1989 | Air Bags | 6 | 5 | |
| 1988 | Air Bags | 5 | 2 | |
| 1987 | Electrical System | 3 | 5 | |
| 1986 | Electrical System | 4 | 2 | |
| 1985 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 3 | |
| 1984 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 1 | |
| 1983 | Seats | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 321 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.5 |
| Worst single series | 11 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.8 years |
A model average of 1.5 hides a worst series at 11. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the LeBaron?
By complaint volume, 1994, 1995, 1992 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which LeBaron years are the cleanest?
1983, 1984, 1985 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chrysler LeBaron have?
484 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1983–1995. Of those, 52 describe a crash and 35 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.