2008 Chrysler Crossfire: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2008 Chrysler Crossfire
On the 2008 Chrysler Crossfire, the failure owners report most often is airbag inflator rupture, with 8 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 25,000 miles. Overall it scores 66 out of 100, high risk for a 2008.
High risk for a 2008 — 238th riskiest of the 356 2008 vehicles we can rate. 30 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What breaks on the 2008 Chrysler Crossfire
Owners have reported 5 named failure modes on the 2008 Chrysler Crossfire, and the three most-reported carry 60% of everything filed, so the trouble here is concentrated rather than scattered.
Airbag inflator rupture leads with 8 reports and about 1.5 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other visibility problem follows with 8 reports, median 20,000 miles.
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault follows with 2 reports, median 55,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into airbag (10), glass (8) and body (2).
When these failures get reported
15 of the reports on the 2008 Chrysler Crossfire came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 25,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 67% by 50,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 20,000 and 30,000 miles, which alone holds 33% of the dated reports.
60% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, which is early enough that a fair number of these cars were still under a factory warranty when the owner complained.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
How bad it is when it goes
Nothing in the reports on the 2008 Chrysler Crossfire mentions a crash, a fire or an injury. That is the ordinary case and it is worth stating: most defect complaints are about a car that stopped working, not one that hurt somebody.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 3.53, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: airbag inflator rupture at $0–$0, other visibility problem at $150–$1,400, airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault at $300–$1,600 and other body or interior problem at $200–$2,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
3% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbag inflator rupture | airbag | 8 | 2 | — | 16k | — | 1.5 | $0–$0 | Critical |
| Other visibility problem | glass | 8 | 6 | — | 22k | — | 1.5 | $150–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault | airbag | 2 | 1 | — | 53k | — | 0.4 | $300–$1,600 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 2 | 1 | — | 20k | — | 0.4 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other engine problem | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 12k | — | 0.2 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Unclassified problem | other | 9 | 4 | — | 53k | — | 1.7 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2008 Chrysler Crossfire draws about 5.7 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 84th percentile of complaint rates among 2008 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 5,229 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2008 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Airbag inflator rupture
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2008 chrysler crossfire. The contact stated that the rear windshield detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the windshield needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16v081000 (air bags); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 7,100.
"takata recall" since receipt of takata airbag recall on 11 april 2016 (from fca), my crossfire has been parked. Fca customer assistance calls (with limited email contacts) in the 60 days has gotten me nowhere in regards to information about when my car will be fixed. Fca says (3 different 'special handling' csu agents) that I have to speak to them about my issues by phone only (latest 'higher-up' agent emailed me that their 'policy' is they must speak by phone, they will not deal with this by email). Some history, the local dealership was surprised by the recall (11 apr, 2016). They looked it up, said no information is available, would not issue any loaner (I asked) & said they could not disconnect the defective airbag. According to the NHTSA website, I live in zone 1. Fca will not even tell me what zone they are classifying my vehicle in (assigned zone denotes repair priorities). The last email I received from fca csu (today), the agent said my car was safe to drive. Frankly, I do not believe my airbag is safe. I instructed fca 'special handling' agents (twice by email and once by phone), that if they do not answer my specific…
Other visibility problem
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler crossfire. The contact stated that the adhesive on the rear glass window became loose. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 13,763.
Backing out of a parking space, I saw a sudden movement through the rear view mirror. I heard a thump. I slammed the brake and got out thinking I'd hit a child or maybe a dog. Much to my relief, there wasn't anyone or anything behind my car. I got back into my car and let my heart rate slow down and began to back out again. It was almost dark. I waited for a car to pass. Lit by their headlights I noticed that the view out of the window seemed different. I couldn't see the lines of the wires in the rear window defroster. I turned and saw that the rear window had fallen out and was laying down almost flat just behind the safety bars located just behind seats. I pulled forward and discovered that only the bottom of the window was still attached by the adhesive that is supposed to secure the window to the convertible top. I had purchased a 5 year, 100,00 mile extended warranty from chrysler. I contacted them and was informed that the top was not covered. The reason I purchased the extended warranty was because the salesman stressed the expense of replacing a convertible top. I paid 2,595.18 to the local chrysler dealer to replace the…
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Takata recall - 16v-081 driver airbag light is on. Unable to register the vehicle due to inability to fix it since the chrysler has basically abandoned this car. There is no expectation of the recall parts being made available. This car is now a loss to me since no one wants to risk driving it and harming themselves. *tr
Recalls on the 2008 model year
NHTSA has issued 1 recall campaign covering the 2008 Chrysler Crossfire, affecting an estimated 5,229 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover air bags:frontal:driver side:inflator module. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
One caution about reading these together: a recall usually raises the complaint count for the same part, because owners who read about it go and file. The mileages stay informative; the counts get noisy.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
711,159 vehicles 2016-02-11- Defect
- Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. (MBUSA) is recalling certain model year 2009-2010 ML320 BlueTec 4Matic, GL320 BlueTec 4Matic and R320 CDI 4Matic, 2011 E350 Cabriolet and E550 Cabriolet, 2009-2011 ML350, ML350 4Matic, ML550 4Matic, ML63 AMG, and C63 AMG, 2010-2011 ML450 4Matic Hybrid, E350 Coupe, E350 4Matic, E550 Coupe, E550 4Matic, and E63 AMG, 2011-2012 GL350 BlueTec 4Matic and R350 BlueTec 4Matic, 2009-2012 GL450 4Matic, GL550 4Matic and R350 4Matic, 2007-2008 SLK280, SLK350, and SLK55 AMG, 2011-2014 SLS AMG Coupe, 2012 SLS AMG Cabriolet, 2013-2014 SLS AMG GT and SLS AMG GT…
- Consequence
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- MBUSA will their notify owners, and Fiat Chrysler will notify the affected Chrysler owners. Dealers for the respective brands will replace the driver's frontal air bag module, free of charge. This recall began November 2016. Mercedes-Benz owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372 and Chrysler owners may contact Fiat Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2008 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
Where 2008 sits in the model line
High risk for a 2008 — 238th riskiest of the 356 2008 vehicles we can rate. The comparison is always within the same model year, so an older car is never penalised for having had longer to break.
Across the 5 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2006 comes out best at 61 and 2004 worst at 66, with 2008 itself at 66.
If the model year is negotiable, 2006, 2007 and 2005 score lower than 2008 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2004–2008 generation specifically, 2006 is the strongest year at 61 and 2004 the weakest at 66.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2004-2008 generation, 2006 Chrysler Crossfire scores best at 61 and 2004 Chrysler Crossfire worst at 66.
Where these figures stop being useful
30 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 30 reports, 15 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 50% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2008 Chrysler Crossfire?
The most-reported failures are airbag inflator rupture (8 reports, median 15,000 miles), other visibility problem (8 reports, median 20,000 miles) and airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault (2 reports, median 55,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2008 Chrysler Crossfire reliable?
It scores 66 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 238th riskiest of the 356 2008 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2008 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Chrysler Crossfire is best?
Within the 2004–2008 generation, 2006 scores best at 61 out of 100 and 2004 worst at 66. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed