600

Dodge 600 Reliability

Owners filed 10 complaints — 1 per production run against 3.73 for the market. The typical failure comes at 0 years, and the basic warranty runs out at 3.

NHTSA owner complaints · 10 complaints · 1984–1987 · Updated Sep 19, 2026
Quick answer

The Dodge 600 draws 1 complaints per production run against 3.73 for the average car — better than typical. Failures cluster at 0 years, so only 0% of them fall inside the 3-year basic warranty.

Dodge 600 years to avoid — and the best ones

Ranked by complaints per production run rather than by raw count. A raw count only tells you which year sold well — the best-selling year always looks like the worst car. Dividing by the number of runs removes sales volume and leaves the fault rate.

FIG.01·Dodge 600 — complaint rate by model year
Model yearPer runComplaintsRunsEnough history?
1987133yes
ROWS 1·SOURCE NHTSA complaints, grouped by VIN production run

What actually fails — and at what age

Systems by number of complaints, with the age at which each typically goes. The age column is the useful one — it tells you what to expect next on a car you already own, and what to inspect on one you are about to buy.

FIG.03·Dodge 600 — what fails and when
SystemComplaintsTypical ageCrashFire
Power Train3
Fuel System2
Gasoline2
Vehicle Speed Control1
Structure1
Service Brakes1
Hydraulic1
Seats11
ROWS 8·SOURCE NHTSA complaints

What else in this class

Same vehicle class as the Dodge 600, so the comparison is fair — an estate against an estate, not against a coupé. These 6 share its class; open any of them to see its own build years and failure ages side by side with the 600.

FIG.05·Dodge 600 — rivals in the same class
Same class as the 600Complaints on recordRecall campaignsYears built
Toyota Camry19,9931631983–2026
Honda Accord24,2364151981–2026
Dodge Challenger1,691771981–2026
Toyota Prius12,8491112001–2026
Hyundai Elantra9,0491161992–2026
Nissan Altima15,6331461993–2026
ROWS 6·SOURCE NHTSA complaints and recall campaigns

These are totals, not rates: a model that sold in millions collects more of both. Open one to see its complaints per production run — the figure this site is built on.

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How we measure it

Reliability scores usually arrive as a number out of five with no working shown. The Dodge 600 figure here comes out of 10 individual reports, and here is exactly how they were turned into a rate — two steps in it are arguable and you should be able to argue with them.

Rate, not total. Volume alone would decide the ranking, so we divide by the number of production runs — the distinct first-eleven-character VIN prefixes on record. The Dodge 600 alone splits into 10 runs carrying 10 complaints — 1 per run against 3.73 for the market.

Age, not year. Incident date minus model year gives the age at failure, which is what the warranty question turns on. It is why our «worst year» rankings exclude anything built in the last 6 years — those cars simply have not had time to break yet.

What this is not. Filing with a federal regulator takes effort, so what you see are faults someone judged serious — not scratched paint, not running costs, not how nice the car is to live with. For the Dodge 600 the file runs from 1984 to 1987, so the older years carry a full life of reports and the newest carry almost none.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Dodge 600 reliable?

It draws 1 complaints per production run against 3.73 for the average car, so better than typical. Failures cluster around 0 years of age.

What are the best and worst years for the 600?

Not enough model years with sufficient history to rank.

How long does a 600 last?

Complaints reach their halfway point at 0 years. That is when faults start being reported in volume, not when the car stops — but it is the point at which ownership starts costing money.

Will the warranty cover it?

Basic cover is 3 years / 36,000 miles, and 0% of reported failures fall inside it. The rest are yours.

What fails most often?

Power Train with 3 complaints.

Complaint records from NHTSA, grouped by VIN production run (characters 1–11). Rates, age-at-failure and warranty coverage computed by ForCar. Model years newer than 6 years are excluded from rankings — complaints accumulate for a decade. Last updated Sep 2026. — ForCar Reviewed by , founder of ForCar.
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