Owners have filed 749 complaints on the Chrysler LHS, covering 1994–2001. The system named most often is Steering (123 reports). Worst years by volume: 1994, 1999, 1995; cleanest: 2001, 1997, 2000. 60 reports describe a crash, 23 a fire. On average the car was 5.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chrysler LHS
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 749 LHS complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Steering 123 Read
2000 lhs steering mechanism ruptured and caused consumer to lose control of the vehicle. *ts the manufacturer denied the consumers claim stating they didn't find and defects in the steering system
While driving 30 mph in rainy conditions the consumer attempted to maneuver a curve when the steering wheel locked up which caused the vehicle to hit a tree
Vehicle steering would start pulling to the right and then the left. Noise coming from front end and very loud at times while turning. And sometimes would not turn it would lock up no control then you would get control of the steering. We had car into the dealer and they could not find a problem. Vehicle then started…
Fuel System 103 Read
Had received recall notice 98V184000 & notified dealer. Took vehicle to dealer & had "o" rings repaired under recall. Picked up vehicle & it was running rough. Tok vehicle back to dealer when other drivers started flagging owner down due to vehicle on fire. The recall remedy had failed & vehicle had caught fire
While driving 10 mph consumer was informed that vehicle was on fire. The consumer smelled fuel, and noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood. The consumer pulled over, and noticed that fluid was leaking from underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the…
Bad seal design on front fuel rail/o ring seal breaks and fuel sprays, causing fire
Engine And Engine Cooling 76 Read
Dt: when the consumer's wife started the vehicle it went forward while the vehicle was in park. This caused vehicle to run over a short wall. This resulted in injuries to the driver and the passengers. Upon impact, airbags failed to deploy. The consumer believed that the problem was the transmission. Recall work done…
I was pussing on the gas to heat up the engine, while my foot on the gas pedal the gear changed from park to reverse, thank god there was no one behind the car because it moved in reverse direction like a rocket from the drive way to the street to hit another standing car and moved off the street. Other than body…
While driving on highway 55 mph white smoke came out the back of vehicle and car started to accelerate. Pulled over, white smoke came out of engine then turned into flames. Contacted fire dept. Consumer contacted dealer and manufacturer
Power Train 70 Read
Vehicle floor shifter interlock system failed (see NHTSA campaign id # 04V021000), car rolled and caused some minor property and vehicle damage, could have been much worse. The 2000 lhs is not covered under above mentioned recall. The problem is exactly the same. Recall should be expanded to include later models…
When starting vehicle with foot on the brake, and vehicle in park, vehicle went into reverse, causing a collision/injury. Cause unknown
My vehicle was parked, not running and no key in the ignition. My son went into the vehicle and accidentally hit the gear selector knocking the transmission in reverse. He got out of the car and it was rolling backwards. He attempted to stand behind the vehicle to stop it and was knocked clear of said vehicle. The…
Structure 55 Read
Loss control of vehicle, frontal collision, impact 12:00 position speed 25 mph, driver side airbag did not deploy
Splitting dashboard I noticed that is was a slight slit in the dashboard throughout the summer it started getting bigger, as time went on it has gotten almost half foot long. I paid to have it repaired it cracked again in the same spot, I tried to repair it myself and it didn't look too good so I took it in to have it…
Dash cracks around passenger side airbag. Appears to be expanding and the only option for repair, due to the location, is complete replacement of the dash
Service Brakes 52 Read
While pulling into garage consumer applied brakes there was no braking ability, and vehicle hit the house. Damage to vehicle was $ 5600.00. Dealer stated there was nothing wrong with the brakes.on may26, 2002, again while parking, consumer applied brakes, there was no braking ability.vehicle hit garage, damage to…
I tried for over a mile to disengage the cruise control with the switch and brake. I started on level land, went uphill and down and had the brake to the floorboard. There were toll booths with a number of occupied vehicles in line. To avoid injurying or killing someone, I left the roadway hitting barriers and…
Upon test driving this vehicle I noted to the salesman that the brakes felt like they woudnt stop the car -they set up an appointment to check the brakes and relpace the hood shocks -upon keeping the appointment they replaced the hood shocks and let my wife leave w/o checking the brakes -a dodge technician told me…
Electrical System 51 Read
Consumer states that the starter caught on fire while driving 35-40 mph. Local fire department and state police arrived to extinguish the fire. Dealer and the manufacturer has been notified. Feel free to provide any further information
I put power steering fluid in and motor oil and transmission in the car and it caught on fire. My kids was in the car with me
Consumer awoke to a small fire in garage due to an electrical problem that occurred in the engine compartment. Dealer determined starter spring broke causing it to remain engaged while driving. *ak.et
Air Bags 32 Read
The contact owned a 2001 chrysler lhs. While the contact was driving 40 mph, another vehicle did not yield to the right of way. As a result, the contact slammed on the brake pedal and crashed into the rear side of the other vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. The contact's sustained minor injuries and bruising to…
I was involved in a three car accident. The car I was driving was a 2000 chrysler lhs. I t-boned a car resulting in both cars being totaled. The damage to the front of my car was extensive: hood, fenders, front end, and radiator all destroyed. Neither of the two front air bags deployed
Consumer was in a collision and air bags did not deploy, resulting in injuries. Dealer was not contacted at the time of this call. Ph
LHS 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 7 | 1 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 20 | 1 | |
| 1997 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 9 | 5 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags,seat Belts,vehicle Speed Control | 7 | 2 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 14 | 13 |
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 | 175 |
| Average complaints per series | 4.3 |
| Worst single series | 26 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.5 years |
A model average of 4.3 hides a worst series at 26. 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 LHS?
By complaint volume, 1994, 1999, 1995 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 LHS years are the cleanest?
2001, 1997, 2000 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chrysler LHS have?
749 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1994–2001. Of those, 60 describe a crash and 23 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.