1992 Dodge Colt Problems: Seat belts (13 Complaints)

The most-reported problem on the 1992 Dodge Colt is Seat belts (54% of 13 owner reports). There are 2 safety recalls. Check the VIN and inspect Seat belts — this is the NHTSA file, not a score.

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-09-07 13 complaints · 2 recalls

What problems show up on the 1992 Dodge Colt?

7 of 13 filings named Seat belts (54% of the file). That is what owners wrote, not a shop diagnosis of the vehicle in the driveway.

Second is Engine (1 reports).

There are 2 official safety recalls on this year. They were filed about Seat belts. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov — a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific truck.

The 1991 has 17 reports on file; this year has 13. A smaller lifetime total is not a clean bill of health. If you need a fairer comparison, use the equal-time view.

What to check before you buy a 1992 Dodge Colt

A useful visit to this page takes five minutes. YearTell does not score years and cannot see the vehicle in front of you.

  1. Look up the VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov. This year has 2 campaigns on file below.
  2. Seat belts. Check that every belt latches, retracts and that related recalls are closed.
  3. Engine. Have a shop check for oil consumption, coolant leaks, rough idle and unusual engine noise.
  4. Transmission / driveline. Have a shop drive it and check the transmission: hard or delayed shifts, burnt-smelling fluid, and 4WD engagement if equipped.
  5. Skim a few owner reports below for Seat belts. Look for the same symptom repeating.
  6. Take that list to a mechanic. Do not turn the complaint total into a score.

What owners reported

System named most often: Seat belts 7 complaints · 53.9% of the file
Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths in those filings:
  • Crashes 0
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 0
  • Deaths 0
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-09-07 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.

Which systems owners named

Share of owner complaints filed against each vehicle system. These shares are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold.

Which systems owners named Seat belts (SEAT BELTS) appears in 7 of 13 owner complaints (53.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. Seat belts (SEAT BELTS): 7 complaints, 53.9% of reports Seat belts (SEAT BELTS) 7 · 53.9% Engine (ENGINE): 1 complaints, 7.7% of reports Engine (ENGINE) 1 · 7.7% Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN): 1 complaints, 7.7% of reports Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN) 1 · 7.7% Steering (STEERING): 1 complaints, 7.7% of reports Steering (STEERING) 1 · 7.7% Suspension (SUSPENSION): 1 complaints, 7.7% of reports Suspension (SUSPENSION) 1 · 7.7% Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY): 1 complaints, 7.7% of reports Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY) 1 · 7.7% Unclassified NHTSA leftover: 8 complaints, 61.5% of reports Unclassified NHTSA leftover 8 · 61.5% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

“Unclassified NHTSA leftover” is not a car part. It is a filing bucket and always sits last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
Seat belts (SEAT BELTS) 7 53.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
Engine (ENGINE) 1 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN) 1 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
Steering (STEERING) 1 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
Suspension (SUSPENSION) 1 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY) 1 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
Unclassified NHTSA leftover 8 61.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record

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

When reports and recalls showed up

When owners filed reports, and when recall campaigns showed up.

When reports and recalls showed up Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Oct 1995; the first recall shown was reported in May 1997. 1995-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 1995 Apr 2002 Recall campaign 97V063002 ◆ Recall campaign 97V063002 Recall campaign 97V073002 ◆ Recall campaign 97V073002 Investigation PE96007 ● Investigation PE96007 Investigation EA96014 ● Investigation EA96014
  • Campaign 97V063002 was reported 565 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 97V073002 was reported 374 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q4 Owner reports 1
1996-Q2 Owner reports 1
1996-Q3 Owner reports 3
1998-Q4 Owner reports 1
1999-Q1 Owner reports 1
1999-Q2 Owner reports 1
1999-Q3 Owner reports 1
1999-Q4 Owner reports 1
2000-Q2 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 97V063002
Recall campaign 1 97V073002
Defect investigation 1 PE96007
Defect investigation 1 EA96014
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-09-06 Open source record

Safety Recalls (2)

Official campaigns. Each one says what could go wrong and what the dealer was told to fix.

In short, these campaigns were filed about Seat belts.

  1. Recall campaign 97V063002

    Safety recall 97V063002

    Report date
    Component:
    Unclassified NHTSA leftover
    Consequence:
    IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THE SEAT OCCUPANT MAY NOT BE PROPERLY RESTRAINED.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE DOOR LATCH SWITCH WITH A SWITCH THAT UTILIZES REDUCED LUBRICATING GREASE, IMPROVED CONTACT SURFACE, AND A DIFFERENT RUBBER ISOLATION BOOT.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
  2. Recall campaign 97V073002

    Seat belts

    Report date
    Component:
    Seat belts (SEAT BELTS)
    Consequence:
    IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THE SEAT OCCUPANT MAY NOT BE PROPERLY RESTRAINED.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSTALL A NEW REPLACEMENT GUIDE RAIL THAT INCORPORATES A DOUBLE LIP DUST SEAL AND AN ANODIC OXIDE COATING.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record

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

What owners actually wrote

Short excerpts from the public NHTSA file. Look for the same symptom repeating.

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-09-07
Safety incident filters
Showing 10 of 13 complaints · page 1 of 1
2002-05-23Seat belts (SEAT BELTS)Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 8010423
CrashFireInjuryDeath
THE PASSENGER SEATBELT DOES NOT WORK. THE SEATBELT WILL NOT SLIDE BACK AND FORTH DUE TO CABLE POPPING OUT. PLEASE ADD VIN.*JB
2000-07-21Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY)Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 865848
CrashFireInjuryDeath
GLASS WAS SCRATCHING BADLY, AND WAS GETTING WORSE. IT WAS WHITE IN COLOR. NOT ABLE TO SEE OUT OF WINDOWS. NOT VISIBLE TO DRIVE. *AK
2000-04-18Suspension (SUSPENSION)
NHTSA ODI 721614
CrashFireInjuryDeath
HARMONIC BALANCER BOLT "BACKED" OUT - WAS ADVISED IT WAS MANUFACTURE DEFECT BUT BECAUSE IT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY IT WOULD NOT BE COVERED - WAS ADVISED THAT IF THEY HAD TO COVER EVERY MANUFACTURE DEFECT THAT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY THAT THEY WOULD "GO BROKE"- I HAD TO REPLACE THE ENGINE WITH A '93 ENGINE (COMPATIBLE W/ MY '92) WHICH HAD 30,000 MILES ON IT, 35,000 MILES AFTER INSTALLING THE ENGINE, THE HARMONIC BALANCER BOLT "BACKED" OUT AGAIN, CAUSING THE ENGINE TO SEIZE UP. I WILL NEVER BUY A CHRYSLER PRODUCT AGAIN!!!!!
1999-11-17Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 853041
CrashFireInjuryDeath
THE HOOD OF THE CAR FLEW OPEN WHILE DRIVING IN TRAFFIC. *AK
1999-07-20Seat belts (SEAT BELTS)
NHTSA ODI 842704
CrashFireInjuryDeath
AUTOMATIC SEAT BELT DOES NOT RETRACT FROM THE RETRACTING MECHASIM , CAUSING IT TO BECOME INOPERABLE. PLEASE GIVE ANY FURTHER DETAILS. *AK
1999-04-06Seat belts (SEAT BELTS)
NHTSA ODI 834936
CrashFireInjuryDeath
RECALL # 97V073000; MITSUBISHI/DRIVER'S SIDE GUIDE RAIL/CONSUMER STARTED HAVING TROUBLE AFTER HAVING RECALL SERVICE. THE MOTORIZED SHOULDER BELT DOES NOT TRAVEL ON THE RAIL. DEALER WANTS TO CHARGE CONSUMER TO CORRECT PROBLEM. *AK
1999-02-19Engine (ENGINE)Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 835066
CrashFireInjuryDeath
EXHAUST MANIFOLD IS PRONE TOO WIDE/CRACKING, CAUSING THE EXHAUST TO ESCAPE INTO THE FRESH AIR INTAKE AND THEN INTO THE VEHICLE. WHEN SEARCHING FOR REPLACEMENT, DIFFICULT TO FIND ONE WITHOUT THE SAME PROBLEM. *AK *ML
1998-11-23Seat belts (SEAT BELTS)Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 831227
CrashFireInjuryDeath
DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT BELT WOULD NOT RELEASE TO BE USED. BELT WILL RETRACT WHEN DOOR IS UNLOCKED. BELT IS ONLY TRIGGERED BY DOOR CLOSING OR OPENING. *AK SOMETIMES THE DOOR HAS TO BE REPEATEDLY OPENED AND CLOSED TO GET THE BELT TO CROSS OVER CHEST. * YH
1996-09-04Seat belts (SEAT BELTS)
NHTSA ODI 508208
CrashFireInjuryDeath
AUTOMATIC SEAT BELTS FASTEN TIGHTLY, PINNING FRONT PASSENGERS AGAINST THE BACK OF THE SEAT, CAUSING DISCOMFORT/IMMOBILITY.
1996-08-27Steering (STEERING)Unclassified NHTSA leftover
NHTSA ODI 801387
CrashFireInjuryDeath
THE PASSENGER'S SIDE SHOULDER BELT SOMTIMES TIGHTENS UP WHEN IN USE . PLEASE DESCRIBE .

Frequently asked questions

What are the most common problems on the 1992 Dodge Colt?

Owners named Seat belts most often — 7 of 13 reports (54%). That is the NHTSA file, not a diagnosis of every vehicle.

Are there recalls for the 1992 Dodge Colt?

NHTSA lists 2 safety recall campaigns. They were filed about Seat belts. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov; a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific vehicle.

What should I inspect before buying a 1992 Dodge Colt?

Look up the VIN for open recalls. Check that every belt latches, retracts and that related recalls are closed. Then skim owner filings for the same symptom and take that list to a mechanic.

Does a high complaint count mean I should skip this year?

No. Counts are reports people chose to file and they are not adjusted for sales volume. YearTell does not publish scores or a list of years to skip. Inspect the vehicle.

EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record

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 2026-09-07 Open source record

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

Source: NHTSA ODI / recalls, snapshot 2026-09-07. YearTell is not a government agency.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources