This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The passenger side low beam headlight went out the other day and when I went to change it the connector that attaches to the bulb was melted. Two week later the drivers side low beam light did the same thing. The bulbs that were in there at the time the connectors melted were oem rated bulbs. I contacted the dealer and they said the only thing available at the time was to buy the entire wiring harness and that would run close to $800.
A co-worker informed me that my driver's side headlight was out on the 30th of August. When I changed out the bulbs for the headlamps, I noticed that the wiring harness showed signs of overheating. The driver's side headlamp worked for a short period of time and then went out. Upon taking the car to the dealership, they indicated they didn't think repair would be covered under the warranty. I subsequently went online and found two recalls for 2011/2012 dodger Charger police vehicles that match my problem exactly. The recalls are #94303 and #94301. When I called Dodge about this, they took my VIN and told me my car wasn't covered under the recall and wouldn't be covered unless enough people complained about it. These recalls state "the low beam headlamps of some vehicles could fail due to an overheated bulb harness connector." Both of my low beam headlamp bulb harness connectors have black marks indicating overheating.
The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that the driver's side headlight suddenly failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was found that the bulb harness had failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number 12V042000 (electrical system, exterior lighting, service brakes, hydraulic). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000. Updated 03/31/14
The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that the driver's side low beam head light would not illuminate and a burning odor was present inside the vehicle. The contact discovered that the driver's side low beam head light bulb harness had overheated and melted. The contact stated that the driver's side head light bulb had been replaced multiple times. The vehicle was diagnosed by the dealer but not repaired. The contact was informed that the defect was caused by a faulty head light bulb harness connector and that the connector needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 62,000.
The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Charger. The contact discovered that the low beam headlight wiring harness was melted. The contact replaced the bulb and the plug. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or a mechanic for inspection of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 95,500.
- Emory, TX, USA
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On January 19th 2014 I was driving to work and the car went into battery saver mode the ABS light came on, the radio shut off and the car started to shake and it went dead on a busy intersection. I had it towed to pep boys they changed the battery just so I can get it to Dodge to replace the alternator it was a factory defect in the alternator wiring which is not on the recall list so, I had to pay $700. When I got the car back 2 days later. I noticed when I'm driving one headlight goes out. I saw a recall on the 2011 Charger police vehicles headlight harness burning out but nothing on the base model SE which are having the same problem. I pay too much money a month for this car to come out of pocket for these factory defects. Dodge/Chrysler need to do something about this or they will lose alot of customers.
The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the driver's side head light failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the wiring harness had melted and shorted out the bulb. The dealer stated that both the wiring harness and the bulb needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred on the passenger's side of the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 51,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Headlight connection plugs melted lights don't work on low beams. Police vehicles have been recalled for this problem but not all others. Dealer wont fix wants me to pay for it. I think Chrysler know that there is a problem because that why they recalled all police vehicles. I think this is a safety problem, when driving at night and your lights go out from light plugs melting and I or my wife and kids cant see the road and possible get into a wreck or plugs get hot enough to catch the car on fire. Something need to be done.
My driver's side low beam headlight went out. I discovered the jumper harness connector melted, causing the light to go out. The headlight is fine, the jumper harness connector melted, causing the bulb to malfunction. I know that Chrysler has recalled 2011 and 2012 Charger police vehicles for this same problem, which clearly indicates there's a defect in manufacturing. So, I believe all Dodge Chargers should be recalled for this problem due to safety concerns for night time driving and possible fire hazard. Shouldn't civilian's cars be just a safe as a police vehicles?
My passenger side low beam headlamp went out. I purchased a new bulb but when I went to replace it, I noticed that the harness attached to the bulb was scorched and melted. I replaced the harness along with the bulb. The headlight worked for a few days but no longer does. I noticed there is a recall for a similar problem but when I contacted the dealer, they informed me that my car was not part of the recall even though the problem is identical.
Noticed that the passenger side low beam headlamp was not lighting. Installed a new lamp with the same current and power specs. With less than 4 hours on the new lamp it also failed to light. Removed the lamp and found the connector shell/housing charred and brittle. Contacts on one side of the connector and both the original and replacement lamps were discolored by intense heat. Evidently, the connector contact was not providing a solid connection with the lamp terminals, and the high resistance connection resulted in overheating and melting of the connector, a dealer service advisor informed me that this is a known, ongoing problem for which the solution is to replace the entire wiring harness at the owner's expense. Research indicated that the problem has been acknowledged by Chrysler, but only police vehicles have been recalled. To avoid spending hundreds of dollars to have the entire harness replaced, the original connector has been removed and a replacement connector installed. Whether "new" harnesses installed to fix the problem use the same inadequate connectors is unknown.
The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that the headlights suddenly failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was found that the headlight harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was scheduled for repairs. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number 12V042000 (electrical system, exterior lighting, service brakes, hydraulic). The failure mileage was 52,000.
The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that while driving 40 mph, the passenger's side low beam headlight bulb failed. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the technician stated that the wiring for the light assembly was melted. As a result, all of the wiring needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 68,000.
Driver side low beam light went out. Tried replacing the bulb, which was much more difficult than anticipated so, decided to take it to the Dodge dealer I purchased the car from. Received a call from the service department only to be told that it was not the bulb but was the entire wiring mechanism and the wires had "melted". I have been a loyal Dodge customer for many year, despite many difficulties with other Dodge models. Most recent, this headlight issue, not covered under any recall (even after reading all these complaints) and I am over my 36,000 mile warranty, I am extremely disappointed in Chrysler! not only because of the cost of this repair, but now I worry that if the heat is enough to melt the wires, what happens the next time I am driving and the wires actually catch fire? guess Chrysler will issue a recall once someone is severely injured or worse case dead because of this issue!
The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Charger. The contact stated that the exterior lights stop working. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing and the technician stated the wiring harness was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 38,000 and the current mileage was 43,000.
Drivers side low beam went out while driving at night. While changing the bulb, I noticed that the connector and bulb were melted, black, and brittle. The new bulb lasted two days before it went out. Contacted Dodge about the recall on Dodge Charger police vehicles, but VIN specific recall does not cover my vehicle. Now I'm forced to get the harness repaired at my own expense. Does not seem right that there are so many others with the same problem, but Dodge is not fixing the problem"?"
Same as everyone else. Started with having to replace both lightbulbs multiple times. Dealer said it was wiring harness but not covered by recall. Within 6 months major catastrophic failure with alternator and battery, again not covered.
2011 Dodge Charger drivers side low beam headlight went out during low visibility, further investigation revealed the wiring harness leading up to the bulb overheated and is resulting in intermittent operation. It is sometimes possible to manually move wires to get the headlight back on but eventually it goes back out. Head light has been replaced a couple of times but this is not the root cause, root cause is something is causing the wires to overheat.
Have a 2011 Dodge Charger that head light went out. Had it replaced and a few days later went out again. The next day car wouldn't start. Had to have car towed to dealership. Had to replace alternator and battery. Cost over $ 800 to get fixed. Don't understand with so many complaints that are identical why Dodge hasn't had a recall. Seen where police cars have been recalled. Going to contact an attorney to see what options I have bc this is just wrong.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Wichita, KS, USA