1992 DODGE SHADOW — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 72 complaints · 4 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (12 complaints · 16.7%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 14
  • Fires 3
  • Injuries 9
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1991 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 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 AIR BAGS appears in 12 of 72 owner complaints (16.7%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 12 complaints, 16.7% of reports AIR BAGS 12 · 16.7% · 10 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 6 complaints, 8.3% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 6 · 8.3% · 2 fire reports STRUCTURE: 6 complaints, 8.3% of reports STRUCTURE 6 · 8.3% POWER TRAIN: 5 complaints, 6.9% of reports POWER TRAIN 5 · 6.9% ENGINE: 4 complaints, 5.6% of reports ENGINE 4 · 5.6% STEERING: 4 complaints, 5.6% of reports STEERING 4 · 5.6% · 1 crash reports SUSPENSION: 4 complaints, 5.6% of reports SUSPENSION 4 · 5.6% SERVICE BRAKES: 2 complaints, 2.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 2 · 2.8% · 1 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 1 complaints, 1.4% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 1 · 1.4% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 62 complaints, 86.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 62 · 86.1% · 12 crash reports 2 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)
AIR BAGS 12 16.7% 10 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 6 8.3% 0 crashes · 2 fires
STRUCTURE 6 8.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 5 6.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 4 5.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 4 5.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 4 5.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 2 2.8% 0 crashes · 1 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 1 1.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 62 86.1% 12 crashes · 2 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 Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Feb 1992. 1995-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 1995-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1995-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1995-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Feb 1992 Jan 2015 Recall campaign 92V015000 ◆ Recall campaign 92V015000 Recall campaign 96V229000 ◆ Recall campaign 96V229000 Recall campaign 97V078000 ◆ Recall campaign 97V078000 Recall campaign 99V212000 ◆ Recall campaign 99V212000 Investigation PE94069 ● Investigation PE94069 Investigation PE95002 ● Investigation PE95002 Investigation EA95017 ● Investigation EA95017 Investigation EA95029 ● Investigation EA95029 Investigation PE96008 ● Investigation PE96008 Investigation PE96036 ● Investigation PE96036
  • Campaign 97V078000 was reported 850 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 99V212000 was reported 1,668 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 7
1995-Q2 Owner reports 9
1995-Q3 Owner reports 3
1995-Q4 Owner reports 2
1996-Q1 Owner reports 2
1996-Q2 Owner reports 2
1996-Q3 Owner reports 2
1996-Q4 Owner reports 4
1997-Q1 Owner reports 5
1997-Q2 Owner reports 3
1997-Q3 Owner reports 10
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1998-Q4 Owner reports 3
1999-Q1 Owner reports 2
1999-Q2 Owner reports 3
1999-Q3 Owner reports 5
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 2
2002-Q1 Owner reports 2
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 92V015000
Recall campaign 1 96V229000
Recall campaign 1 97V078000
Recall campaign 1 99V212000
Defect investigation 1 PE94069
Defect investigation 1 PE95002
Defect investigation 1 EA95017
Defect investigation 1 EA95029
Defect investigation 1 PE96008
Defect investigation 1 PE96036
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (4)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 92V015000

    Report date
    Component:
    STEERING
    Consequence:
    FRACTURES OF THE UPPER STEERING COLUMN SHAFT COUPLINGBOLT RESULT IN A LACK OF COUPLING LOAD ON THE SHAFT AND LOSS OF STEERINGCONTROL.
    Remedy:
    REPLACE THE ZINC PLATED BOLT WITH A PHOSPHATE PLATED BOLT.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 96V229000

    Report date
    Component:
    STEERING
    Consequence:
    IF THE STEERING WHEEL SEPARATES FROM THE CENTER HUB ATTACHMENT TO THE STEERING COLUMN, LOSS OF CONTROL CAN OCCUR INCREASING THE RISK OF AN ACCIDENT.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE STEERING WHEEL FOR ARMATURE CRACKS IN THE CENTER HUB ATTACHMENT AREA. ANY STEERING WHEELS SHOWING CRACKS WILL BE REPLACED. ALL OTHER VEHICLES WILL HAVE A REINFORCEMENT PLATE INSTALLED TO PREVENT STEERING WHEEL SEPARATION IN THE EVENT CRACKING OCCURS.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 97V078000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEATS
    Consequence:
    IF THE BOLT FAILS WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING DRIVEN, THE DRIVER COULD LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, INCREASING THE RISK OF A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE LOWER SEAT BACK ATTACHING BOLT ON THE DRIVER'S SEAT WITH A HIGHER STRENGTH BOLT THAT INCLUDES A SELF LOCKING NYLON PATCH.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  4. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 99V212000

    Report date
    Component:
    SEATS
    Consequence:
    IF THE BOLT FAILS WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING DRIVEN, THE DRIVER COULD LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, INCREASING THE RISK OF A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE LOWER SEAT BACK ATTACHING BOLT ON THE DRIVER'S SEAT WITH A HIGHER STRENGTH BOLT THAT INCLUDES A SELF LOCKING NYLON PATCH.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 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 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 72 complaints · page 1 of 3

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 2026-08-21 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: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources