1985 CHRYSLER LEBARON — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 10 complaints · 6 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (4 complaints · 40.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 0
  • Fires 2
  • Injuries 0
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1984 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution ENGINE appears in 4 of 10 owner complaints (40.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 4 complaints, 40.0% of reports ENGINE 4 · 40.0% · 2 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 1 complaints, 10.0% of reports SEAT BELTS 1 · 10.0% STEERING: 1 complaints, 10.0% of reports STEERING 1 · 10.0% STRUCTURE: 1 complaints, 10.0% of reports STRUCTURE 1 · 10.0% SUSPENSION: 1 complaints, 10.0% of reports SUSPENSION 1 · 10.0% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 1 complaints, 10.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 · 10.0% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 5 complaints, 50.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5 · 50.0% · 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
ENGINE 4 40.0% 0 crashes · 2 fires
SEAT BELTS 1 10.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 1 10.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 1 10.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 1 10.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 10.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5 50.0% 0 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Apr 1996; the first recall shown was reported in Dec 1984. 1996-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Dec 1984 Apr 2008 Recall campaign 84V163000 ◆ Recall campaign 84V163000 Recall campaign 85V010000 ◆ Recall campaign 85V010000 Recall campaign 88V061000 ◆ Recall campaign 88V061000 Recall campaign 88V105000 ◆ Recall campaign 88V105000 Recall campaign 89V011000 ◆ Recall campaign 89V011000 Recall campaign 08E033000 ◆ Recall campaign 08E033000 Investigation PE87045 ● Investigation PE87045 Investigation EA88008 ● Investigation EA88008 Investigation C88001 ● Investigation C88001 Investigation EA91010 ● Investigation EA91010
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q2 Owner reports 1
1996-Q3 Owner reports 4
1997-Q3 Owner reports 1
1999-Q3 Owner reports 1
1999-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 84V163000
Recall campaign 1 85V010000
Recall campaign 1 88V061000
Recall campaign 1 88V105000
Recall campaign 1 89V011000
Recall campaign 1 08E033000
Defect investigation 1 PE87045
Defect investigation 1 EA88008
Defect investigation 1 C88001
Defect investigation 1 EA91010
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (6)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 08E033000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    THE NUTS INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGING FOR THESE BALL JOINT ASSEMBLIES ARE MISSING THE INTENDED PREVAILING TORQUE (SELF-LOCKING) FEATURE. IF THE INCORRECT NUT WAS TO BECOME LOOSE, THE JOINING MEMBERS MAY LOOSEN LEADING TO A SEPARATION OF THE BALL JOINT. THIS MAY RESULT IN LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    FEDERAL MOGUL WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE PARTS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 22, 2008. OWNERS CAN CONTACT FEDERAL MOGUL AT 877-489-6659.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 84V163000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEAT BELTS
    Consequence:
    Not available in the source record
    Remedy:
    INSTALLATION OF MISSING CENTER SEAT BELT WILL BE DONE WITHOUT CHARGE.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 85V010000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
    Consequence:
    Not available in the source record
    Remedy:
    REPOSITION AND TIGHTEN TO THE PROPER TORQUE LEVEL OF THE FUEL HOSE CLAMP.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  4. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 88V061000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEATS
    Consequence:
    SEAT FRAME COULD FRACTURE AND RESULT IN SIGNIFICANTREARWARD MOVEMENT OF THE SEAT BACK.
    Remedy:
    REPLACE FRAME WITH PROPER POWER SEAT FRAME.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  5. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 88V105000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, FUEL LEAKAGE COULDRESULT IN A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    RELOCATE PRESSURE REGULATOR; REPLACE FUEL SUPPLY WITH FORMED HOSE WITH REVISED ROUTING CONFIGURATION TO ENSURE SEALING INTEGRITY.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  6. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 89V011000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    THIS COULD RESULT IN SOME FORWARD, BACKWARD OR LATERALMOVEMENT OF SEAT, CREATING A POTENTIAL FOR LOSS OF CONTROL OF THE VEHICLEWHICH COULD RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT
    Remedy:
    REPLACE DRIVERS SEAT FRAME WITH A STRENGHTENED VERSION; ALSO, REINFORCE POWER ADJUSTER FRONT CROSSMEMBER TO INCREASE RIGIDITY OF SEAT ATTACHMENT SYSTEM.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-22
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 10 complaints · page 1 of 1

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-22.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources