Dodge Dakota vs Jeep Cherokee

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Dodge Dakota	Jeep Cherokee
Complaints on file	9,236	20,992
Model years covered	1985–2011	1973–2026
Worst model year	2002	2015
Best model year	2009	2006
Crashes reported	691	997
Fires reported	178	443
Injuries reported	356	562
Deaths reported	24	23
Most complained-about part	Suspension	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	13.5%	9.6%

Dodge Dakota by year

3 1 21 65 88 88 161 314 159 240 294 250 650 793 1,011 1,096 945 946 419 287 598 385 167 131 23 48 53

85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Suspension 2,348 25.4%

Brakes 1,449 15.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,060 11.5%

Steering 723 7.8%

Airbags 691 7.5%

Engine & Cooling 597 6.5%

Electrical System 465 5.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 238 2.6%

Jeep Cherokee by year

1 1 1 1 8 24 26 72 118 287 368 297 175 571 618 732 584 496 553 516 508 329 18 3,965 2,662 2,046 1,927 992 2,418 382 214 73 4 5

73 78 80 81 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 06 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 26

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 5,604 26.7%

Engine & Cooling 2,904 13.8%

Electrical System 2,409 11.5%

Brakes 2,197 10.5%

Other & Unspecified 1,775 8.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 967 4.6%

Body & Structure 892 4.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 780 3.7%