1994 Dodge Dakota problems
The 1994 Dodge Dakota has 240 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (14%) concerns brakes. After that come electrical system (10%) and air bags (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 240 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 14% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 44 and 4
- Injuries and deaths
- 29 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 115,000 miles 18 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 2 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 0 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 2 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 18 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 115,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 44 complaints mention a crash; 4 complaints mention a fire; 29 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 90% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1994 ranks 13th most-complained-about out of 21 model years of the Dodge Dakota with enough data (145 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Owner was involved in a direct frontal collision while driving at 40-45 MPH and there was no deployment of the driver's side airbag. Owner notes there was damage to passenger's side as well
While making left turn, steering wheel locked up, lost control, truck rolled into 8 ft ditch on right side, airbag did not deploy.
I have a "pristine" dodge dakota that I purchased from the original owner. It currently has 34,500 miles on it and I recently had to replace all of the ball-joints/ upper & lower/both sides. I have heard of recalls for dakota ball-joints. Did any of the recalls cover a 1994 model ? - please advise. Thank you.
Night driving, smelled electrical smoke in cab. Headlamps went off then came back on after 5 to 10 seconds. Moved headlamp switch in and out but condition still persisted. Luckily I was less than one mile from home on divided hwy with no traffic. If lamp switch is off then there is no smell of electrical smoke. When lamp switch is in either the parking or the headlamp position, can smell electrical smoke and light work intermittently. This is second failure in 2 years. Lamp switch failed.