Owners have filed 176 complaints on the Dodge Stealth, covering 1991–1996. The system named most often is Power Train (95 reports). Worst years by volume: 1992, 1991, 1993; cleanest: 1996, 1995, 1994. 4 reports describe a crash, 2 a fire, 5 a death. On average the car was 9.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Dodge Stealth
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 176 Stealth complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 95 Read
While driving, the oil light appeared on the dashboard and remained on. The consumer pulled into the parking lot. The consumer noticed oil had leaked out of the vehicle. The consumer had the vehicle towed. The mechanic informed the consumer that the oil galley plug needed replacement. 671 recall notices from the…
The transmission in the car has failed
Transmission sycross failed. Parts not available. Must buy entire transmission from dealer
Seat Belts 30 Read
Driver side seat beat buckle does not work. Tt
Failure in retracting of driver's side seat belt. Have to retract seat belt manually
Seat belt sticks when pulled out, allowing excess slack in belt. No incident of injury, but excess slack could prevent operator from being restrained properly
Air Bags 11 Read
When driving at 35mph the consumer rear ended another vehicle and the air bags on the driver side and the passager side didn't deploy. *ak
Vehicle was involved in a frontal collision and the driver's air bag deployed, causing major injuries including death. The air bag plastic covering caused the skin to tear from neck to the ear to the bone, causing the lungs to collapse. Also, caused a air bubble in the brain which resulted in the driver going brain…
While driving 50 mph, the vehicle had a direct frontal collision. Both airbags deployed, but hospital claimed airbag caused the occupant's lungs to collapse and an air bubble to the brain, causing occupant to be brain dead. Occupant had no prior health problems and was seat belted
Service Brakes 10 Read
Applied ABS brakes on wet surface at 45mph and brakes failed without warning, vehicle slipped/lost control, resulting in an accident
ABS brakes failed, rotors failed once and brake pads malfunctioned 3times, also battery failure
ABS malfunction
Engine And Engine Cooling 6 Read
Vehicle continually experiencing engine stalling due to engine failure
No summary
Gmc/gm filled my jimmy at the factory with dexcool. Dexcool is invasive and destructive to the vechicle I paid over 35 k for gmc/gm has sent service sheets to their dealerships with instructions to be followed exactly to purge the contamination from the cooling system. Gmc/gm has hidden this problem because of the…
Suspension 4 Read
Lower control arm failed, causing loss of control of vehicle/accident/injury. (attorney for client)
Bought from a small car lot, had car for less than 30 days and tire blew out due to bad alignment. Was told by a mechanic that the car needed about $1610.00 worth of repairs. It needed a tune up. Had radiator leak/spark plug wire shorted out /fuel injection cleaning/ coolant service/antifreeze/new thermostat, and…
I have replaced the axle rear,internal, drive shaft, clutch, and a few more relating parts in the one year I've owned this car. It has become a very pricey car, now the water pump, timing chain tensionor, and a valve job are required. 2,700 is what I was
Visibility 4 Read
Rear window wiper switch would not disengage leaving the rear wiper on constently. The rear wiper switch on the dash had to be replaced to solve the problem
The pulley and cable assembly on the power window regulator is not strong enough to support the weight of the window and fails after some time. What exactly happens is the piece of metal to which the pulley and cable guides are attached warps inward towards the window, and when it warps far enough, the plastic shaft…
Sunroof window exploded in outer and inner of the vehicle, resulting in injuries to daughter. Tt
Electrical System 3 Read
Alarm system shorted out, causing fire
Dashborad caught fire when starting vehicle
Idle reeves up to 2000 rpms, causing a surging problem. Tt
Stealth 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 2 | 1 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 1 | 1 | |
| 1992 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 1991 | Air Bags | — | — |
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 | 95 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.9 |
| Worst single series | 10 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 9.2 years |
A model average of 1.9 hides a worst series at 10. 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
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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 Stealth?
By complaint volume, 1992, 1991, 1993 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 Stealth years are the cleanest?
1996, 1995, 1994 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Dodge Stealth have?
176 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1991–1996. Of those, 4 describe a crash and 2 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.