Owners have filed 5 complaints on the Dodge DIPLOMAT, covering 1985–1988. The system named most often is Service Brakes (1 reports). Worst years by volume: 1986, 1988, 1987; cleanest: 1985, 1987, 1988. 2 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 11.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Dodge DIPLOMAT
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 5 DIPLOMAT complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 1 Read
While driving tried to put on brakes and the pedal went to the floor. The vehicle didn't stop untill it crashed
Seat Belts 1 Read
The seatbelt did not restrain the occupant while involved in a collision. Please describe. Tt
Tires 1 Read
Consumer heard a loud noise whereupon the vehicle pivoted on the left rear swinging around 180 degrees to the right, upon inspection the consumer noticed that the entire tread separated from its casing causing damage to the wheel well, folding the trailing edge, warping the chrome radius trim and abrading the paint…
Power Train 1 Read
On vehicle of transmission, lost the over drive and also the reverse getting a clunk when shift into reverse at any speed only had 14,000 on the vehicle (2) the reverse plate according to a transmission restorer was compleletely groved was unable to salvage transmission (3) had to rebuild entire transmission and…
Electrical System 1 Read
Wiring harness shorted, causing vehicle to stall
DIPLOMAT 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 1 | — | |
| 1987 | Tires | — | — | |
| 1986 | Power Train | 1 | — | |
| 1985 | Electrical System | — | — |
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 | 5 |
| Average complaints per series | 1 |
| Worst single series | 1 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 11.8 years |
A model average of 1 hides a worst series at 1. 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
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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 DIPLOMAT?
By complaint volume, 1986, 1988, 1987 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 DIPLOMAT years are the cleanest?
1985, 1987, 1988 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Dodge DIPLOMAT have?
5 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1985–1988. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 0 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.