2011 DODGE CHARGER — Complaint #1085467
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FLUID filed July 11, 2014
NHTSA complaint #1085467 (ODI reference 10609918) concerns a 2011 DODGE CHARGER and was filed on July 11, 2014. The owner reports the failure occurred on April 9, 2014. The vehicle had 37,500 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Maryland based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as service brakes, hydraulic:fluid, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: yes, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. No VIN was supplied by the filer, so this complaint contributes to model-year trend data but cannot be tied to a specific vehicle.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same DODGE CHARGER cohort independently describe similar service brakes, hydraulic:fluid failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2011 DODGE CHARGER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 DODGE CHARGER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 45 MPH, SMOKE WAS SEEN FROM THE HOOD OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL AND THE BRAKES FAILED TO RESPOND. THE VEHICLE WAS PLACED IN NEUTRAL AND WAS ABLE TO STOP. IN ADDITION, THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE FAILED TO POWER OFF. SMOKE THEN BEGAN EMITTING FROM THE VENTS AND THE DOORS LOCKED AND UNLOCKED INDEPENDENTLY. THE CONTACT WAS UNABLE TO EXIT THE VEHICLE AND THE ENTIRE VEHICLE BECAME FILLED WITH SMOKE. AN INDIVIDUAL WAS ABLE TO OPEN THE DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR FROM THE OUTSIDE FOR THE CONTACT TO EXIT THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT DISCOVERED THAT THE MASTER CYLINDER AND BRAKE FLUID RESERVOIR HAD CAUGHT ON FIRE AND SPREAD ACROSS THE ENGINE. THE ENGINE BURNED AND THE ENTIRE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE CAUGHT ON FIRE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS ABLE TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 37,500. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1085467 |
| ODI Number | 10609918 |
| Date Filed | July 11, 2014 |
| Failure Date | April 9, 2014 |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.