2006 Dodge Dakota
Complaints about this year name steering wheel far more often than the model's other years — 6% of them, about 3× the usual rate of 1.8%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 284 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 91 |
| Involving a crash | 22 |
| Involving a fire | 7 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 15 mpg |
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME DIFFICULT TO MANEUVER. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO REPLACED THE POWER STEERING ASSEMBLY. THE [VIN] WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE AND VIN WERE UNAVAILABLE.
WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH, THE STEERING WHEEL BEGAN TO LOSE STEERING POWER AND SEIZED WITHOUT WARNING. THE FAILURE WAS PERSISTENT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE RACK AND PINON FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPAIRED. THE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 15V313000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V352000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V795000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 09E012000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING
- 06V039000 VISIBILITY
- 06V038000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
How this was worked out
Every year of the Dodge Dakota was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2006 Dodge Dakota? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…