AtWhatMileage
Steering · 17 owner reports

Other steering problem on the 2008 Dodge Charger

2 crashes 1 injury 3 of the 17 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.

Reports of this failure 17
With an odometer reading 15
Reports per 1,000 built 0.3 per 1,000
Filed below 36,000 miles 7%
Mention a crash, fire or injury 3
Typical repair $350–$2,400
What it means when it happens High
Rank among this year's problems 9th

When other steering problem gets reported

Owners of the 2008 Dodge Charger report other steering problem at a median of 85,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles, from 15 reports that carried an odometer reading.

A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.

The mileage distribution

The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 160,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 114,662 miles across the middle 80% of reports.

When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.

7% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.

The whole distribution

Percentiles of the 15 odometer readings owners gave.
10th25thMedian 75th90th
46,276 miles 60,000 miles 84,000 miles 137,000 miles 160,938 miles

Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.

What a percentile can and cannot tell you here

These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.

What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.

Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.

What happens, and what it costs

Of these reports, 2 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.

Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.

The same failure on other years

The same failure is reported on 13 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 600 miles, and latest on the 2015 at 115,000 miles.

By volume the 2006 carries the most reports, with 40; the 2008 has 17. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.

If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.

What owners wrote

Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.

I have a 2008 dodge charger, which has had several electrical problems to occur since I purchased the vehicle in aug., 2008. 2 of the problems could have caused serious injury if I had wrecked when the sterring wheel locked or just the other day the fan blade motors locked up and bursted my radiaotr. This vehicle is too new to have so many defects, especiall linking to electrical matters that are not recognized by the power-train warranty, which I feel should have all been covered the the warranty. After reading http://www.daimlerchryslervehicleproblems.com/, I wish this was brought to my attention before making the decision on this dodge vehicle. The car has several years before being paid off, but I am now terrified to continue driving this vehicle knowing anything, unplainable can happen at anytime. Something needs to be done about dodge, chrysler, jeep for putting people's lives in danger. *kb

84,000 miles NHTSA complaint 865161 filed 2011-07-05

Driver had been experiencing intermittent problems with esp bas light coming on along with occasional popping sounds from steering wheel when making turns. On day of incident, driver was attempting to make a (left) u-turn in a median. Steering wheel turned approximately 3/4 of one revolution and would not turn any further to left. Driver jerked on steering wheel a few times which 'broke loose' lock and turn was able to be completed. Vehicle was driven to one dodge dealership for inspection and driver was told no problems could be found. Upon leaving dealership, esp bas light come on again. Driver took vehicle to a second dodge dealership where diagnostics revealed a faulty steering angle sensor. Sensor was replaced and no further problems have been experienced at this time. *tr

71,120 miles NHTSA complaint 937730 filed 2012-09-05

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 dodge charger. The contact stated that the steering wheel suddenly became hard to turn. The failure was experienced several times. The steering returned to normal function when the engine was restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to have a diagnosed performed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 39,000.

39,000 miles NHTSA complaint 975076 filed 2013-04-22

Also reported on the 2008 Dodge Charger

Other electrical problem

214 reports median 99k

Airbag inflator rupture

53 reports median 119k

Other engine problem

40 reports median 81k

Radiator or coolant leak

39 reports median 91k

How far this goes

Complaints are voluntary, so 17 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.

Questions this page answers

At what mileage does other steering problem happen on the 2008 Dodge Charger?

Across 15 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.

How common is other steering problem on the 2008 Dodge Charger?

17 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.

What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars

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