1997 DODGE STRATUS — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 347 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (142 complaints · 40.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 28
  • Fires 34
  • Injuries 23
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1996 →
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 142 of 347 owner complaints (40.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 142 complaints, 40.9% of reports ENGINE 142 · 40.9% · 1 crash reports 7 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 34 complaints, 9.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 34 · 9.8% · 3 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 27 complaints, 7.8% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 27 · 7.8% · 1 crash reports 15 fire reports SERVICE BRAKES: 27 complaints, 7.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 27 · 7.8% · 4 crash reports AIR BAGS: 19 complaints, 5.5% of reports AIR BAGS 19 · 5.5% · 14 crash reports 1 fire reports SUSPENSION: 18 complaints, 5.2% of reports SUSPENSION 18 · 5.2% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 16 complaints, 4.6% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 16 · 4.6% · 5 crash reports STEERING: 14 complaints, 4.0% of reports STEERING 14 · 4.0% · 1 crash reports 4 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 2.6% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 9 · 2.6% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 204 complaints, 58.8% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 204 · 58.8% · 21 crash reports 20 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 142 40.9% 1 crashes · 7 fires
POWER TRAIN 34 9.8% 0 crashes · 3 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 27 7.8% 1 crashes · 15 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 27 7.8% 4 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 19 5.5% 14 crashes · 1 fires
SUSPENSION 18 5.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 16 4.6% 5 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 14 4.0% 1 crashes · 4 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 9 2.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 204 58.8% 21 crashes · 20 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 1997. 1997-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 1998-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 1998-Q4: 16 owner reports 16 1999-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 1999-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 1999-Q3: 18 owner reports 18 1999-Q4: 18 owner reports 18 2000-Q1: 29 owner reports 29 2000-Q2: 16 owner reports 16 2000-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 2000-Q4: 15 owner reports 15 2001-Q1: 25 owner reports 25 2001-Q2: 17 owner reports 17 2001-Q3: 13 owner reports 13 2001-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2002-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2002-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2002-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2003-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q1: 11 owner reports 11 2004-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2005-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 1997 Oct 2020 Investigation EA97016 ● Investigation EA97016 Investigation PE02082 ● Investigation PE02082 Investigation EA03011 ● Investigation EA03011
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1997-Q2 Owner reports 3
1997-Q3 Owner reports 5
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 3
1998-Q2 Owner reports 8
1998-Q3 Owner reports 9
1998-Q4 Owner reports 16
1999-Q1 Owner reports 13
1999-Q2 Owner reports 10
1999-Q3 Owner reports 18
1999-Q4 Owner reports 18
2000-Q1 Owner reports 29
2000-Q2 Owner reports 16
2000-Q3 Owner reports 17
2000-Q4 Owner reports 15
2001-Q1 Owner reports 25
2001-Q2 Owner reports 17
2001-Q3 Owner reports 13
2001-Q4 Owner reports 6
2002-Q1 Owner reports 13
2002-Q2 Owner reports 4
2002-Q3 Owner reports 10
2002-Q4 Owner reports 5
2003-Q1 Owner reports 7
2003-Q2 Owner reports 1
2003-Q3 Owner reports 5
2003-Q4 Owner reports 4
2004-Q1 Owner reports 11
2004-Q2 Owner reports 3
2004-Q3 Owner reports 4
2004-Q4 Owner reports 6
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q2 Owner reports 5
2005-Q3 Owner reports 2
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2006-Q3 Owner reports 2
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 2
2007-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 2
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q3 Owner reports 1
2013-Q3 Owner reports 1
2018-Q3 Owner reports 1
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 EA97016
Defect investigation 1 PE02082
Defect investigation 1 EA03011
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

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 347 complaints · page 1 of 14

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