Total Complaints
4 filings
DODGE D250 · model year
4 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1988DODGED250 carries 4 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 1988 D250 is steering:column with 2 filings, followed by power train:manual transmission:column shift assembly (1) and electrical system:ignition:anti-theft:control module (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 20 investigation files overlapping the 1988 D250, and 1 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
4 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| STEERING:COLUMN | 2 |
| POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION:COLUMN SHIFT ASSEMBLY | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:ANTI-THEFT:CONTROL MODULE | 1 |
SINGLE BOARD ENGINE CONTROLLER FAILS TO POWER IGNITION SYSTEM WHEN UNDER-HOOD TEMPERATURE RISES ON WARM DAYS, SHUTTING THE ENGINE DOWN UNEXPECTEDLY. *AK
TILT STEERING BOX ROD BUSTED OFF FROM THE BUSHING, RESULTING IN WHEEL LOCK UP, STEERING CONTROL LOST, ALMOST ACCIDENT, REPLACE STEERING COLUMN AND SWITCHES. TT
TILT STEERING BOX ROD BUSTED OFF FROM THE BUSHING, RESULTING IN WHEEL LOCK UP, STEERING CONTROL LOST, ALMOST ACCIDENT, REPLACE STEERING COLUMN AND SWITCHES. TT
THE SHIFT ASSEMBLY BROKE. PLEASE DESCRIBE DETAILS. TT
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.