DODGE · vehicle model
DODGE NITRO
1,632 NHTSA complaints and 11 safety recalls across model years 2005–2012.
- Complaints
- 1,632
- Recalls
- 11
- Model years
- 7
The DODGENITRO appears in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database with 1,632 consumer safety complaints and 11 recall campaigns across 7 model years (2005–2012). That averages roughly 233 complaints per model year. Report counts can differ between model years for many reasons; this dataset does not establish the cause of a difference.
Complaint volume on a nameplate alone is not a reliability verdict: a long-running bestseller can accumulate more filings than a low-volume niche model because more vehicles are on the road. The table below shows report counts and published NHTSA crash-test ratings side by side for each model year. The filing-year histogram shows the timing of submitted reports, not a causal trend.
NHTSA has 20 investigation files tied to this model, with 1 currently open. Investigation records, complaint reports, and recall campaigns each provide different context. Use the official NHTSA VIN lookup and the underlying notices to research a specific vehicle; PlainCars does not infer a vehicle-risk or pricing conclusion from these records.
Complaints by Year
Complaint Filing Trend
NHTSA complaint volume by year filed (not model year).
Filings moved from 470 in 2017-2021 to 88 in 2022-2026, a fall of 81.3%. That is the 15th percentile of change across the 772 nameplates with enough filings in both windows to compare, where 0 is the steepest fall and 100 the steepest rise.
Filing volume, not a reliability verdict: counts also move with how many vehicles are on the road, how old they are, and whether a recall drew attention. Computed from this portal's NHTSA filing-year records over the same two windows the trend rankings use.
Year filed (bar labels show the complaint count).
Compare DODGENITRO to Similar Vehicles
NHTSA Investigations 1 Open
Vehicle entrapment
Back up camera failure
Vehicle entrapment
Active Head Rest Inadvertent Deployment
Chrysler's execution of 13V-528 & 529
Alternator failure
Rear suspension knuckle fracture
2000-2001 DODGE RAM PICKUP HOOD LATCH
ENGINE STALLING & ELECTRIC POWER LOSS
SIDE CURTAIN AIR BAG FAILURE
Frequently Asked Questions
How reliable is the DODGE NITRO?▼
What years of DODGE NITRO are available?▼
Does the DODGE NITRO have safety ratings?▼
What are the most common DODGE NITRO complaints?▼
How do I check if my DODGE NITRO has been recalled?▼
Data sources
Data vintage: August 2026. 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.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. DODGE NITRO totals are aggregated from the linked NHTSA model-year rows; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.