Used Dodge Charger, Challenger and Chrysler 300: the years to avoid

Three cars, one platform, one record. The Dodge Charger, Dodge Challenger and Chrysler 300 share their recall campaigns almost line for line, and their years to avoid are the same: 2011 to 2014 on the Charger (scores of 27, 24, 46 and 41, all AVOID), 2012 to 2014 on the 300 (28, 35, 38, all AVOID) and 2012 on the Challenger (45, AVOID). The years to buy start at 2015 and get better: in 2020 to 2022 the Charger scores 88, 90 and 91, the Challenger 94, 90 and 92, and the 300 91, 90 and 91. The 2012 Charger, at 24, is the lowest score of the thirty-nine model years in this guide, and the 2011 Charger has the most complaints, 694.

The electrical years

The component that defines 2011 to 2014 on all three cars is Electrical System. On the Charger it is 395 complaints in 2011, 359 in 2012, 167 in 2013 and 109 in 2014, first place every year and more than half of the 2011 car's 694. On the 300 it is 119, 212, 131 and 72, again first every year. On the Challenger it is 103, 138, 104 and 60. No other category on any of the three comes close in 2011 to 2013; in 2014 the 300's Power Train, at 69, is nearly level with it.

The recall record says what part of the electrical system was at fault, at least for some of it. Three campaigns cover the alternator on the 3.6-litre engine: 14V634000 (08/10/2014, 2011 to 2014 Charger, Challenger and 300), 17V435000 (10/07/2017, the same years, cars with electro-hydraulic power steering) and 17V741000 (21/11/2017, 2014 cars), the last stating plainly that the alternator may suddenly fail. Campaign 12V197000, from 02/05/2012, covers the 2011 and 2012 Charger and 300 because they may lose ABS and stability control function due to an overheated power distribution centre. Campaign 14V101000 covers the 2011 and 2012 Charger's halogen headlamp sub-harness, which may overheat, and Exterior Lighting is the second component on the 2011 Charger with 158 complaints. Campaign 13V118000 is for improperly sized terminal crimps in the air bag circuit on 2011 to 2012 cars of all three. The 2011 Charger carries 11 campaigns, 9 of them safety-critical; the 2012 Charger 12; the 2012 300 has 9, 7 safety-critical.

Air bags and the transmission, 2012 to 2014

Two more categories sit beneath the electrical ones. Air Bags is second on the 2012 Charger with 111 complaints, second on the 2012 300 with 83 and second on the 2012 Challenger with 47, and three campaigns address the passenger frontal air bag inflator on these years: 16V352000, 18V021000 and 19V018000, the last issued 15/01/2019 and reaching 2011 to 2015 cars. The Charger alone also has 15V467000, for side impact sensor calibrations that may be overly sensitive on 2011 to 2014 cars.

Power Train appears on the 2012 Charger (65), and on the 300 it is third, second, second and then first from 2012 to 2015, with 79, 58, 69 and 24. Campaign 16V240000 covers the transmission control module on 2012 to 2014 Chargers and 300s, and 13V610000 the output shaft of the all-wheel drive transmission on 2013 cars. Campaign 17V097000, from 14/02/2017, covers 2014 to 2017 all-wheel drive Chargers and 300s whose front driveshaft bolts may loosen and let the driveshaft disconnect.

2015 onward: the turn

The 2015 model year is a break in the record on all three cars. The Charger drops from 343 complaints to 135 and its score rises from 41 to 76; the 300 from 236 to 97 and from 38 to 76; the Challenger from 147 to 126 and from 66 to 67. Electrical System falls out of first place on all of them. From there the Charger is a BUY in every year to 2023, the 300 in every year but 2018, and the Challenger in every year from 2016.

There are two dips. The 2016 Charger's top component is Structure with 53 complaints, and campaign 16V043000 is the reason: on 2011 to 2016 Chargers, lifting the car with the supplied jack without chocking the wheels can damage the body-side sill. The 2018 300 is a CAUTION at 50 on 152 complaints, with Electrical System back at 68 and Unknown Or Other at 52; the campaigns on it are 18V280000 (an incorrect transmission park lock rod), 18V524000 (under-bonnet wiring) and 18V332000 (wiring). The later campaign 24V198000, issued 14/03/2024, recalls 2018 to 2021 Chargers and 300s because the side curtain air bag inflators may rupture, and Air Bags is the top component on the 2019, 2020 and 2021 Charger (49, 36 and 15) and the 2019 and 2021 300 (22 and 8).

The Challenger's separate record

The Challenger is the best of the three by every measure the site has. Its total is 1,245 complaints against 2,860 for the Charger and 1,676 for the 300; it has 47 recall campaigns against the Charger's 80; and its worst year, 2012, scores 45 where the other two bottom out at 24 and 28. Its 2011, 2013 and 2014 cars are CAUTION rather than AVOID, at 59, 60 and 66 around the 2012 dip, and from 2016 it is a BUY every year, with 2020 (94 on 20 complaints), 2021 (90 on 19) and 2022 (92 on 9) the cleanest years of any car here. Its own campaigns are few: 13V103000 for a battery cable on 2013 cars with the six-cylinder engine, 14V749000 for an instrument cluster that may go inoperative on 2015 cars, 17V431000 for 5.7-litre cars with the eight-speed automatic that may not stay in Park, and 21V664000 for indicator brightness on 2021 cars. The 2023 car is the one soft spot at 75 on 41 complaints, led by Visibility/Wiper with 13, and it shares 24V112000 (parking brake adjustment, 15/02/2024) with the other two.

Ranking

First the Challenger, for the reasons above. Second the 300, which has three AVOID years but a lower complaint rate than the Charger in every shared year but 2018 (its 2012 peak is 30.4 per year on the road; the Charger's 2011 and 2012 are 46.3). Third the Charger, which has four AVOID years, 80 recall campaigns and the two worst scores in the guide. In the 2020 to 2022 years the three are within a few points of each other and the choice is a matter of body style, not record.

What to check before you buy

• On any 2011 to 2014 car, run the VIN against the three alternator campaigns (14V634000, 17V435000, 17V741000), the power distribution centre campaign (12V197000, Charger and 300 only) and the passenger inflator campaigns (16V352000, 18V021000, 19V018000).
• On an all-wheel drive Charger or 300 from 2013 to 2017, check 13V610000 and 17V097000 and listen for driveline noise on the test drive.
• On any 2018 to 2021 Charger or 300, confirm 24V198000 for the side curtain inflators.
• On a 2018 car of any of the three, confirm the park lock rod campaign 18V280000, and test that the car holds in Park on a slope with the engine running.
• On a 2023 car, confirm 24V112000 for the parking brake.

Summary

Avoid the 2011 to 2014 Charger, the 2012 to 2014 300 and the 2012 Challenger; the electrical record on those years is the worst thing in this guide. Buy from 2015 on any of the three, and from 2016 on the Challenger, with 2020 to 2022 the cleanest years on all of them. If the choice is open, the Challenger's record is the best, then the 300, then the Charger.