1994 DODGE SHADOW — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 91 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (14 complaints · 15.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 19
  • Fires 3
  • Injuries 15
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1993 →
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 14 of 91 owner complaints (15.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 14 complaints, 15.4% of reports AIR BAGS 14 · 15.4% · 11 crash reports ENGINE: 11 complaints, 12.1% of reports ENGINE 11 · 12.1% POWER TRAIN: 10 complaints, 11.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 10 · 11.0% · 4 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 8 complaints, 8.8% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 · 8.8% · 3 fire reports STRUCTURE: 6 complaints, 6.6% of reports STRUCTURE 6 · 6.6% SEAT BELTS: 5 complaints, 5.5% of reports SEAT BELTS 5 · 5.5% · 1 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 4 complaints, 4.4% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 4 · 4.4% · 1 crash reports VISIBILITY: 4 complaints, 4.4% of reports VISIBILITY 4 · 4.4% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 3 complaints, 3.3% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 · 3.3% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 77 complaints, 84.6% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 77 · 84.6% · 18 crash reports 3 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 14 15.4% 11 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 11 12.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 10 11.0% 4 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 8.8% 0 crashes · 3 fires
STRUCTURE 6 6.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 5 5.5% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 4 4.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 4 4.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 3.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 77 84.6% 18 crashes · 3 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 Aug 1999. 1995-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1995-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 1995-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1995-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1996-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1997-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2000-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 1995 Jul 2007 Recall campaign 99V212000 ◆ Recall campaign 99V212000 Investigation PE96008 ● Investigation PE96008 Investigation RQ99006 ● Investigation RQ99006 Investigation DP03002 ● Investigation DP03002
  • Campaign 99V212000 was reported 1,659 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 5
1995-Q2 Owner reports 5
1995-Q3 Owner reports 5
1995-Q4 Owner reports 3
1996-Q1 Owner reports 1
1996-Q2 Owner reports 9
1996-Q3 Owner reports 3
1996-Q4 Owner reports 6
1997-Q1 Owner reports 4
1997-Q2 Owner reports 3
1997-Q3 Owner reports 2
1997-Q4 Owner reports 1
1998-Q1 Owner reports 2
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 4
1998-Q4 Owner reports 2
1999-Q1 Owner reports 2
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 2
1999-Q4 Owner reports 1
2000-Q1 Owner reports 6
2000-Q3 Owner reports 7
2000-Q4 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 2
2001-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q4 Owner reports 2
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q4 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 99V212000
Defect investigation 1 PE96008
Defect investigation 1 RQ99006
Defect investigation 1 DP03002
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. 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 91 complaints · page 1 of 4

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