The Dodge Hornet draws 1.81 complaints per production run against 3.73 for the average car — better than typical. Failures cluster at 1 years, so only 91.5% of them fall inside the 3-year basic warranty.
Dodge Hornet 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.
| Model year | Per run | Complaints | Runs | Enough history? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 21 | 13 | too new | |
| 2023 | 26 | 13 | too new |
When it starts to break
Not the calendar year the complaint was filed — the age of the car when it failed. That age decides who pays: inside the warranty the manufacturer does, outside it you do.
| Age at failure | Complaints | Running total | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 years | 25.5% | covered | |
| 1 year | 59.6% | covered | |
| 2 years | 91.5% | covered | |
| 3 years | 100% | you pay |
Basic warranty on this car is 3 years / 36,000 miles. Only 91.5% of reported failures happen inside it — the remaining 8.5% come out of the owner's pocket. Powertrain cover (5 years / 60,000 miles) reaches further, but it only covers engine and transmission, and most complaints here are not either.
What actually fails — and at what age
Ordered by how often owners reported each system, with the age at which it typically goes. On a Dodge Hornet the early trouble is Electrical System and Forward Collision Avoidance — reported at around 1.3 years, so a car still under warranty is the one to check for it.
| System | Complaints | Typical age | Crash | Fire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical System | 1.3 yrs | — | 1 | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance | 0.9 yrs | 1 | — | |
| Unknown Or Other | 1.6 yrs | — | — | |
| Back Over Prevention | 1.3 yrs | 1 | — | |
| Service Brakes | 0.7 yrs | 1 | — | |
| Steering | 0.4 yrs | — | 1 | |
| Engine | 0.5 yrs | — | — | |
| Lane Departure | 1.5 yrs | 1 | — |
What else in this class
Same vehicle class as the Dodge Hornet, 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 Hornet.
| Same class as the Hornet | Complaints on record | Recall campaigns | Years built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota RAV4 | 168 | 1996–2026 | |
| Jeep Wrangler | 285 | 1986–2026 | |
| Honda CR-V | 177 | 1997–2026 | |
| Tesla Model Y | 100 | 2020–2026 | |
| Mazda CX-5 | 33 | 2013–2026 | |
| Nissan Rogue | 94 | 2008–2026 |
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.
Good year or bad year — the VIN settles it.
- Check any VIN against complaints for its exact build year and plant
- Exact value for that car, adjusted for its mileage
- Full research report as a PDF you can hand to a mechanic
- Alerts if a recall lands on a car in your garage
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we measure it
Reliability scores usually arrive as a number out of five with no working shown. The Dodge Hornet figure here comes out of 49 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 Hornet alone splits into 27 runs carrying 49 complaints — 1.81 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 Hornet the file runs from 2023 to 2025, so the older years carry a full life of reports and the newest carry almost none.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Dodge Hornet reliable?
It draws 1.81 complaints per production run against 3.73 for the average car, so better than typical. Failures cluster around 1 years of age.
What are the best and worst years for the Hornet?
Not enough model years with sufficient history to rank.
How long does a Hornet last?
Complaints reach their halfway point at 1 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 91.5% of reported failures fall inside it. The rest are yours.
What fails most often?
Electrical System with 21 complaints, typically at 1.3 years of age.
Mark ForCar as a preferred source and our data shows up first in your Google results. One click, no account.