Owners have filed 46 complaints on the Dodge Monaco, covering 1990–1992. The system named most often is Visibility (16 reports). Worst years by volume: 1991, 1992, 1990; cleanest: 1990, 1992, 1991. 2 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 5.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Dodge Monaco
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 46 Monaco complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Visibility 16 Read
Windshield wipers fail intermittently
Heater core failed, causing fumes/odor to enter into vehicle prior to/after recall repairs (94V-006)
Heater core bypass is deffective. Tt
Service Brakes 13 Read
ABS, experience brake failure, loss of effectiveness, impact 12:00, speed unknown due to come down a hill. Tt
ABS brake failure, vehicle involved in frontal collision, impact 12:00 position, speed 20 mph, pedal went the floor and had extended stopping distance
Wheel cylinder failed, causing leakage
Seat Belts 5 Read
Axle failed
Recall 95V213000/active seat and shoulder belt: dealer refusing to honor recall. *ak
Front motorized shoulder belts do not work. Tt
Vehicle Speed Control 3 Read
Sudden acceleration, causing accident/injury
While driving 60-70 mph with the cruise control, the vehicle speeded up suddenly to 90 mph. The driver put on the brakes and they resisted. After the incident, the owner had to get new brake pads because they had worn
While driving and stepping on the brakes the engine increases the rpms, and the engine check light keeps coming on intermittently. The dealer finds this model has an electrical system that is a "nightmare." owner believes that chrysler has produced a product that has inherent electrical problems and no one is trained…
Power Train 3 Read
Suspension system failure, cv joints have failed, inner and outer axle assemblies had to be replaced. Tt
Windsheild wiper motor went out twice. Tt
Three out of four door handles failed, not allowing occupants to exit from the inside. Now, the electric power windows (4) failed to function, not rising when button is depressed. Please describe details
Electrical System 2 Read
Vehicle failed to move due to broken axle shaft, also replaced 2 outer cv boots
Cv joints/boots failed three times
Engine And Engine Cooling 2 Read
The seat belt track and assemblies were replaced under recall 95V213 but not returned to working order, both front seat restraints continue to malfunction and are inoperable, additionally the work performed has caused multiple electrical malfunctions in the vehicle rendering many of its systems, including the a/c…
Engine overheated. Also, cruise control failed
Fuel System 1 Read
Fuel pump vehicle stalls without warning. Tt
Monaco 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 2 | — | |
| 1990 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — |
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 | 32 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.4 |
| Worst single series | 4 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.2 years |
A model average of 1.4 hides a worst series at 4. 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 Monaco?
By complaint volume, 1991, 1992, 1990 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 Monaco years are the cleanest?
1990, 1992, 1991 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Dodge Monaco have?
46 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1990–1992. 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.