What 247 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Dodge Dart

I have less than 55,000 miles on this vehicle, and my shift linkage bushing has failed, making it so my car is stuck in gear and the shifter inside the vehicle will not work at all. There was a recall in 2019 for this issue, and it seems it hasn’t been satisfactorily remedied and another recall should happen. I purchased the vehicle one year ago (Oct 2024) from a Honda Dealership. This should definitely not be happening with a car less than 10 years old with less than 55,000 miles. It has made my car inoperable. Luckily I was backing into a fuel station spot when this happened, so I was going very slowly. I just was not able to remove my key, start the car, or drive it afterwards.

NHTSA ODI 11691723

The Dodge dart has a malfunction that might have contributed in many crashes this car has been involved in. The issue is that some darts will experience a malfunction where the lights inside the car will randomly flicker (should they be on), digital dash will also flicker and navigation screen will either restart or just shut off. The biggest problem in all of this is that the power steering will always temporarily shut off and make it extremely hard to steer the car for a few seconds and this can happen during turns. The reset can also happen many times in a row forcing the power steering to be shut down for multiple seconds longer than the avg like 5-8 seconds. within that reset all lights on the dash will flick on and off and if you have cruise control on, it will shut off permanently until you restart the car. Sometimes the reset doesn't successfully turn on and the navigation will remain off indefinitely and will blast hot air into your cabin forcing you to park and restart your car. If your dart slows down to a stop the power steering will shut off forcing you to attempt to park your car with an extremely stiff power steering or you can restart your car for a chance to regain some assitance from the PS. Sometimes putting the car in reverse shuts off the car. The issue that the car displays when these errors occur is "Service Power Steering" or "Service Electronic Braking System" weird request when the braking is just fine. Dealership cannot diagnose this issue because the codes seemingly clear themselves as if nothing has ever happened. I have found a few others with similar issues to mine on Reddit as well as The Dodge dart forums. This issue also happens at random. There isn't a trigger or requirement for it to happen. You can be sitting at a parking lot with the car on in park and it might just reset itself for no reason and give you a stiff wheel.

NHTSA ODI 11553891

ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM SERVICE LIGHT COMES ON AND OFF AS WELL AS THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT. THE ANTILOCK BRAKE SYSTEM IS NOT WORKING AT ALL AND SKID CONTROL DOESN'T WORK EITHER. BRAKES ARE HARD TO PUSH OFTEN AND VEHICLE IS MORE AND MORE RELUCTANT TO STOP. THE VEHICLE IS ALWAYS IN MOTION. STEARING IS HARDER WHEN THE VEHICLE SLOWS OR STOPS ALSO. THE ISSUE BEGAN AT THE SAME TIME AS THE ANTILOCK BRAKE ISSUE. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ALSO CAME ON. ALL LIGHTS WHERE CLEARED AT MY LAST SERVICE BUT CAME BACK ON IMMEDIATELY FROM LEAVING THE DEALERSHIP I SERVICED IT AT. I HAVE KIDS I TRANSPORT IN THIS VEHICLE AND FAILING BRAKES UNDER 90000 MILES IS A BIG DEAL. APPROXIMATE MILEAGE IS 83000.

NHTSA ODI 11378531

WHEN PUTTING THE CAR INTO GEAR, AND TURNING THE WHEEL AND STARTING TO MOVE, THERE IS A POPPING/SNAPPING SOUND COMING FROM THE FRONT END. IT HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP THREE TIMES FOR THIS ISSUE. FIRST TIME WHEN IT WENT TO THE SHOP, THEY REPLACE FRONT STRUT MOUNTS. THIS LASTED ABOUT 6 MONTHS AND THE NOISE HAS COME BACK. SECOND TIME THEY SAID I NEEDED A NEW TIE ROD. REPLACED AND WITHIN A WEEK LATER, COULD HEAR THE NOISE AGAIN. TOOK IT BACK TO THE SHOP AND THEY COULDN'T DIAGNOSE IT. THEY LOOSENED ALL THE NUTS AND BOLTS ON THE FRONT END, RETIGHTENED/TORQUED THEM, AND WITHIN A FEW DAYS AFTER LEAVING THE SHOP, THE NOISE CAME BACK.

NHTSA ODI 11219777

'TAKATA RECALL' ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO MY CAR WOULDN'T START. I THOUGHT IT WAS DUE TO THE COLD WEATHER. THE 2ND DAY SAME THING WOULDN'T START AND HAD TO END UP GETTING JUMPER CABLES. THE 3RD IN THE MORNING AGAIN SOME TROUBLE BUT NO CABLES WERE NEEDED. BUT LATER THAT AFTERNOON I HAD TO GO TO MY CHILD'S SCHOOL. GOT DOWN FOR WHAT WAS NO MORE THAN ABOUT 7MINS CAME BACK AND MY CAR WOULDN'T START. HAD TO GET CABLES. SOON AS WE GOT THE CAR GOING WENT TO AUTOZONE AND THEY CHECKED IT SAYING IT WAS THE BATTERY. SO I BOUGHT ANOTHER BATTERY THEN AND THERE. HOOKED IT UP. THE CAR TURNED IN FINE BUT MY POWER STEERING LIGHT CAME ON. THE STEERING WHEEL WAS SO STIFF TO TURN BUT I HAD TO GO. AND LUCKY ME IT WASN'T A FAR DRIVE AND PRETTY STRAIGHT. ABOUT 3 DAYS FROM THEN WE TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP. LET THEM KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AND THEY SAID THAT ALL THEY NEEDED TO DO WAS REPROGRAM THE MODULE. BUT THEY CALL BACK 15MINS LATER SAYING THEY COULDN'T DO IT BECAUSE THE MODULE WASN'T COMMUNICATING BACK AND THAT THEY NEED $230 TO RUN A DIAGNOSTIC SO THEY CAN KNOW WHAT WAS THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM. I DIDN'T HAVE THE MONEY TO SPARE AT THE TIME. SO I SAID NOT NOW. ONCE THEY BROUGHT MY CAR AROUND, THEY LET ME KNOW THAT NOW THE OVERHEARING LIGHT CAME ON AFTER THEY LOOKED AT IT. ON THE WAY HOME THE CAR TURNED OFF AT A MAIN STREET, LUCKY US I GOT TO TURN INTO A PARKING LOT AS IT TURNED OFF ALL WHILE I,HUSBAND,AND MY DAUGHTERS. TURNED IT BACK ON AND CAME BACK ON FINE. THEN ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS COME HOME AND HOPE THE CAR WOULDN'T TURN OFF AGAIN. THE AIR,HEADLIGHT,AND BLUETOOTH CAN NOT RUN AT THE SAME TIME CAUSE THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS AND HEADLIGHT WILL FLICKER AND THEN THE CAR WILL TURN OFF.

NHTSA ODI 11151058

THE GEAR CHANGE ISN'T WORKING, IT SEEMS TO BE A SMALL GAUGE THAT KEEPS POPPING OUT AND NOT GRIPPING WHEN I CHANGE GEARS. I HAVE BEEN DOING IT MANUALLY.

NHTSA ODI 11124053

BRAKING SYSTEM FAILURE WHEN TRYING TO STOP . BRAKES WOULD PRESS DOWN BUT NOT SLOW THE VEHICULAR DOWN. THE BRAKES WOULD RANDOMLY FAIL WHEN STOPPING ON BOTH HIGHWAY AND IN URBAN AREAS. ALONG WITH THAT THE COMPUTER WOULD FAIL AND THE ABS LIGHT,THE ENGINE LIGHT , AND THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT WOULD COME ON ALONG WITH THE BATTERY LIGHT. ALL THE PROBLEMS HAPPEN OVER TIME AND RANDOMLY OCCURRED. THE FEAR FOR MY SAFETY AND MY FAMILY'S SAFETY SHOULD NOT HAPPEN WHEN DRIVING A NEWER CAR ! I HAVE HAD A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE BECUSE THIS HAPPENED GOING DOWN HILL AND I HAD TO WAY TO STOP TILL THE LAST MINOR AS THERE WAS A SHARP TURN PLEASE I JUST WANT THE CAR FIXED.EVERY OCCURRENCE HAPPENED WHEN THE VEHICULAR WAS OPERATING AND IN MOTION

NHTSA ODI 11122398

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 DODGE DART. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL HAD BEEN LOCKING AND JERKING IN EITHER DIRECTION, CAUSING THE CONTACT TO HAVE TO CORRECT THE FAILURE EACH TIME IT HAPPENED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER (WEST BROTHERS CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM, 3 NORTH SERVICE ROAD, SULLIVAN, MO 63080, 1-(877) 327-6183) TWICE, BUT THEY WERE UNABLE TO CORRECT THE FAILURE. DURING THE THIRD VISIT, THE DEALER INDICATED THAT THE ELECTRONIC STEERING BOX NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS NOT AVAILABLE. *TT *TR

NHTSA ODI 11064795

WHILE DRIVING THIS CAR AT MULTIPLE SPEEDS, THE CAR SLOWS DOWN AND COMES TO A COMPLETE STOP, I HEAR A NOISE AND THE GAS PEDAL VIBRATES, THE STEERING AND GAS PEDAL LOCKS UP. THIS EVENT HAS HAPPENED 3 TIMES WITHIN FOUR DAYS LEAVING FROM MY GARAGE, ON THE INTERSTATE AND A CITY STREET. THE CAR WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP LAKELAND CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM AND I WAS TOLD THE CAR WAS DRIVEN BY THE TECHNICIAN 11 MILES AND THERE WAS NO INCIDENT AND AT THIS POINT THE CAR CAN NO LONGER BE DRIVEN DUE TO A GASH IN THE TIRE. HOWEVER, A MULTI-POINT INSPECTION, OIL CHANGE AND TIRE ROTATION WAS DONE ON THE VEHICLE 8/22/2017 AND A GASH IN THE TIRE WAS NOT NOTED ON ANY PAPERWORK NOR WAS IT REPORTED AS A PROBLEM.

NHTSA ODI 11019202

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 DODGE DART. WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING AND THE STEERING WHEEL SEIZED. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE AND DROVE AWAY. THE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 26,841. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

NHTSA ODI 11010624