1991 DODGE SPIRIT — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-21 94 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (21 complaints · 22.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 8
  • Fires 7
  • Injuries 9
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 1990 →
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 ENGINE appears in 21 of 94 owner complaints (22.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 21 complaints, 22.3% of reports ENGINE 21 · 22.3% · 3 fire reports AIR BAGS: 12 complaints, 12.8% of reports AIR BAGS 12 · 12.8% · 4 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 11 complaints, 11.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 · 11.7% · 3 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 11 complaints, 11.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 11 · 11.7% STRUCTURE: 7 complaints, 7.5% of reports STRUCTURE 7 · 7.5% · 1 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 6 complaints, 6.4% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 · 6.4% · 1 crash reports SUSPENSION: 5 complaints, 5.3% of reports SUSPENSION 5 · 5.3% FUEL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 4.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 4 · 4.3% · 1 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 3 complaints, 3.2% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 3 · 3.2% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 64 complaints, 68.1% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 64 · 68.1% · 6 crash reports 6 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 21 22.3% 0 crashes · 3 fires
AIR BAGS 12 12.8% 4 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 11.7% 0 crashes · 3 fires
POWER TRAIN 11 11.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 7 7.5% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 6.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 5 5.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 4 4.3% 0 crashes · 1 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 3 3.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 64 68.1% 6 crashes · 6 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, none on file, and NHTSA Defect Investigations 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.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995. 1995-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 1995-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1995-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1995-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1996-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1996-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1997-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1998-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1999-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2002-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports May 1991 Jan 2003 Investigation PE91080 ● Investigation PE91080 Investigation PE96008 ● Investigation PE96008 Investigation PE96036 ● Investigation PE96036
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 8
1995-Q2 Owner reports 6
1995-Q3 Owner reports 7
1995-Q4 Owner reports 5
1996-Q1 Owner reports 3
1996-Q2 Owner reports 3
1996-Q3 Owner reports 7
1996-Q4 Owner reports 5
1997-Q1 Owner reports 3
1997-Q2 Owner reports 2
1997-Q3 Owner reports 5
1997-Q4 Owner reports 2
1998-Q1 Owner reports 3
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 2
1998-Q4 Owner reports 1
1999-Q1 Owner reports 3
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 2
1999-Q4 Owner reports 7
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q2 Owner reports 3
2000-Q3 Owner reports 2
2000-Q4 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q2 Owner reports 2
2002-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q1 Owner reports 2
Defect investigation 1 PE91080
Defect investigation 1 PE96008
Defect investigation 1 PE96036

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 94 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 Aug 21, 2026
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