Owners have filed 335 complaints on the Dodge Shadow, covering 1987–1994. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (45 reports). Worst years by volume: 1993, 1994, 1991; cleanest: 1987, 1988, 1989. 52 reports describe a crash, 17 a fire, 2 a death. On average the car was 4.9 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Dodge Shadow
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 335 Shadow complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 45 Read
Engine valve leaked oil on the mainfold, resulting in a fire
No deployment of air bag in accident
Engine fire
Seats 43 Read
Request additional information on seat back failure
Driver's side seat bolt that attaches the recliner machanism to driver's seat broke, and seat fell all the way back, driver was in a lying position,.consumer lost control and landed in a ditch
The car is under recall for seatback failure, and the dealership would not make an appointment for the remedy. The owner got into an accident because of the recalled part
Air Bags 37 Read
While driving vehicle at 20-25 mph ran into a tree and there was no deployment of the driver's side airbag. Owner also notes that chrysler engineers went to look at vehicle after accident and told owner airbag was working
Consumer was traveling about 45mph, going down a hill, and lost control of vehicle. Vehicle hit a bush and a telephone poll, and stopped on impact. Driver's side airbag didn't deploy. Dealership was aware of problem
Car involved in head on collision and driver side airbag did not deploy. Please describe details. Tt
Power Train 32 Read
My car slipped out of park into reverse and ran me over. I broke my back in three places
Automatic transmission was idling in park, and it jumped out of gear by itself. Tt vehicle hit a tree
Dt: the vehcile is a 1993 dodge shadow es. The problem started sometime in march 2001. The contact had just pulled into a fuel station and put the vehicle into park, when she noticed black smoke coming from underneath the dashboard in he steering wheel area. She took the vehicle to a dealership. They found the…
Structure 25 Read
Clutch noise in first and second gear
Cross member failed
Paint peeling of hood, fenders and roof
Seat Belts 21 Read
Seat belt did not properly restrain seat occupant upon rear end collision
The driver side retractor did not retract during an accident, resulting in an injury
Front passenger's restraint belt does not retract. Manufacturer contacted. An apointment for repair has been made
Electrical System 20 Read
When consumer parked vehicle she was still inside, and she started smelling smoke coming out of the vents. Her son opened the hood, finding all the wires burned, and vehicle caught on fire
Electrical, tail lamp, brake lamp wiring, and wiring harness
Vehicle stalled, causing loss of control/rollover/injury. (attorney for client)
Suspension 20 Read
Brakes continue to compress after vehicle is stoped or in bumper to bumper traffic
The left weld joint of the rear sway bar which is located under the rear end of the car broke, causing instabillity
1) rear stabilizer bar broke in half. 2) alternator belt slips off continuously, resulting in total power failure*ak consumer states no longer own vehicle, but prior she was told that there was nothing wrong at least three times then dealer told her it was missing a splash kit which she did purchase but did not…
Shadow 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Air Bags | 11 | 2 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 11 | 6 | |
| 1992 | Air Bags | 9 | 3 | |
| 1991 | Air Bags | 12 | 1 | |
| 1990 | Air Bags | 7 | 3 | |
| 1989 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | — | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1987 | Fuel System, Gasoline | 1 | 2 |
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 | 260 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.3 |
| Worst single series | 4 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.9 years |
A model average of 1.3 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 Shadow?
By complaint volume, 1993, 1994, 1991 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 Shadow years are the cleanest?
1987, 1988, 1989 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Dodge Shadow have?
335 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1987–1994. Of those, 52 describe a crash and 17 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.