2021 Dodge Challenger: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2021 Dodge Challenger
On the 2021 Dodge Challenger, the failure owners report most often is differential or transfer case failure, with 3 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 15,000 miles. Overall it scores 78 out of 100, severe risk for a 2021.
Severe risk for a 2021 — 66th riskiest of the 231 2021 vehicles we can rate. 30 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What owners report breaking
Owners have reported 14 named failure modes on the 2021 Dodge Challenger, and the three most-reported carry 30% of everything filed, which is an unusually even spread for one model year.
Differential or transfer case failure leads with 3 reports and about 0.8 per 1,000 vehicles.
Fuel pump failure follows with 3 reports.
Instrument cluster or gauge failure follows with 3 reports.
By system, the reports fall mostly into drivetrain (4), infotainment (4) and fuel (3).
At what mileage it happens
Too few of the reports on this year carry an odometer reading to describe the timing: 4 of them do. The mileages quoted elsewhere on this page come from the modes that have enough of them.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 14. The full list is in the table below.
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
Severity, and what it costs
Across the named modes, 4 mention a crash, 1 a fire and 1 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 4.87, 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: differential or transfer case failure at $900–$4,200, fuel pump failure at $600–$2,600, instrument cluster or gauge failure at $350–$1,400 and seat belt or retractor failure at $200–$900. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
20% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Differential or transfer case failure | drivetrain | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.8 | $900–$4,200 | High |
| Fuel pump failure | fuel | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.8 | $600–$2,600 | High |
| Instrument cluster or gauge failure | infotainment | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.8 | $350–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Seat belt or retractor failure | airbag | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.6 | $200–$900 | High |
| Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure | steering | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.6 | $700–$2,600 | High |
| Other engine problem | engine | 2 | 1 | — | 16k | — | 0.6 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.6 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| CV axle or driveshaft failure | drivetrain | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $450–$2,200 | High |
| Backup camera failure | infotainment | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $250–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Airbag failed to deploy in a crash | airbag | 1 | 1 | — | 45k | — | 0.3 | $1,000–$5,000 | Critical |
| Automatic braking for no reason | adas | 1 | 1 | — | 17k | — | 0.3 | $0–$1,500 | Critical |
| Air conditioning failure | hvac | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $400–$2,800 | Moderate |
| Tail light, brake light or signal failure | lighting | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $100–$900 | Moderate |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 6 | 1 | — | 8k | — | 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 2021 Dodge Challenger draws about 8.5 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 89th percentile of complaint rates among 2021 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 3,543 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2021 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
Recalls on the 2021 model year
NHTSA has issued 2 recall campaigns covering the 2021 Dodge Challenger, affecting an estimated 3,678 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 electrical system: instrument cluster/panel and visibility:windshield. 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.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL
135 vehicles 2021-08-26- Defect
- Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) is recalling certain 2021 Dodge Challenger vehicles. The affected vehicles do not illuminate their safety system status indicators sufficiently in both daylight and nighttime driving conditions. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 101, "Control and Displays."
- Consequence
- Without visible safety system indicators, a driver may not receive information regarding vehicle safety, increasing the risk of injury or a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will re-program instrument clusters with the correct software version, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on October 5, 2021. Owners may contact FCA US LLC customer service at 1-800-853-140. FCA US LLC's number for this recall is Y58.
VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD
21,258 vehicles 2021-07-08- Defect
- Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, and Chrysler 300 vehicles. During manufacturing, the windshield may not have been properly bonded to the vehicle, allowing it to detach in a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 212, "Windshield Mounting."
- Consequence
- A windshield that separates from the vehicle during a crash can increase the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will remove and replace the front windshield urethane sealant, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on August 31, 2021. Owners may contact FCA US LLC customer service at 1-800-853-1403. FCA US LLC's number for this recall is Y47.
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 2021 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
How 2021 compares with the other years
Severe risk for a 2021 — 66th riskiest of the 231 2021 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 15 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2008 comes out best at 61 and 2020 worst at 82, with 2021 itself at 78.
If the model year is negotiable, 2008, 2023, 2017, 2012, 2011, 2018, 2013, 2016, 2014 and 2015 score lower than 2021 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 2020–2023 generation specifically, 2023 is the strongest year at 62 and 2020 the weakest at 82.
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 2020-2023 generation, 2023 Dodge Challenger scores best at 62 and 2020 Dodge Challenger worst at 82.
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, 4 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 13% 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 2021 Dodge Challenger?
The most-reported failures are differential or transfer case failure (3 reports), fuel pump failure (3 reports) and instrument cluster or gauge failure (3 reports). 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 2021 Dodge Challenger reliable?
It scores 78 out of 100 on our risk index, which is severe — 66th riskiest of the 231 2021 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2021 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 Dodge Challenger is best?
Within the 2020–2023 generation, 2023 scores best at 62 out of 100 and 2020 worst at 82. 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