1999 DODGE DAKOTA — Complaint #158300
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about EQUIPMENT:MECHANICAL:WRECKER AND WHEEL LIFT DEVICES filed July 12, 1999
NHTSA complaint #158300 (ODI reference 708547) concerns a 1999 DODGE DAKOTA and was filed on July 12, 1999. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as equipment:mechanical:wrecker and wheel lift devices, 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: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
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 DAKOTA cohort independently describe similar equipment:mechanical:wrecker and wheel lift devices 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 1999 DODGE DAKOTA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
WHEN I ORIGINALLY BOUGHT THE DAKOTA R/T, I WAS TOLD THAT I COULD TOW UP TO 6400LBS. I JUST FOUND OUT FROM OTHER SOURCE THAT THE TOWING WAS REDUCED TO 2000LBS. CALLED CHRYSLER SENDING SOME LETTER AND A YELLOW CARD. IS THIS A SAFTY ISSUE?
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 158300 |
| ODI Number | 708547 |
| Date Filed | July 12, 1999 |
| VIN | 1B7GL22Z3XS |
Similar EQUIPMENT:MECHANICAL:WRECKER AND WHEEL LIFT DEVICES Complaints for 1999 DODGE DAKOTA
DODGE HAS DENIED ME COMPENSATION FOR A 69% REDUCTION IN TOWING CAPACITY THAT WAS OFFERED TO OTHER OWNERS SOLELY BECAUSE I BOUGHT THE VEHICLE USED. IT WAS PURCHASED 3 MOS. OLD WITH 3K MILES BEFORE THE
VEHICLE GETS SQUIRELLY WHEN TOWING TRAILER 5000 POUNDS)WITHIN RATED 6000 WHEN PURCHASED
REDUCED THE TOWING CAPACITY WITHOUT NOTIFICATION OF OWNERS.SAFETY ISSUE. *AK
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.