Headlight failure or clouding on the 2003 Dodge Dakota
When headlight failure or clouding gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Dodge Dakota report headlight failure or clouding at a median of 65,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 13th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 30,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 90,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 59,047 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
13% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28,953 miles | 37,200 miles | 63,000 miles | 68,500 miles | 88,000 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
Putting it right typically runs $150–$1,800 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 8 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2008, at a median of 45,000 miles, and latest on the 1998 at 155,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
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.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Recall 04v216000/windshield wiper module motor: after this recall repair was performed on the consumer vehicle. The consumer states, that whenever the vehicle is being driven in inclement conditions it causes the windshield wipers and the headlight to stop operating. The dealer was not notified at this time.*ak
Recall 04v216000/windshield wiper module motor: after this recall repair was performed on the consumer vehicle. The consumer states, that whenever the vehicle is being driven in inclement conditions it causes the windshield wipers and the headlight to stop operating. The dealer was not notified at this time.*ak
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 dodge dakota quad cab. On september 12, 2008, the passenger side low beam headlight failed to illuminate. The light bulb was replaced, but the failure persisted. The contact reviewed the wiring diagram for the vehicle and noticed that there was no power coming out of the central timer module. Through online research, the contact realized that he was experiencing the same failure as noted in NHTSA campaign id number 02v322000 (exterior lighting:headlights:switch). The dealer stated that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle has not been taken to the dealer. The current mileage was 86,000 and failure mileage was 85,000. Updated 10/16/08. *lj updated 10/20/08. *jb
Also reported on the 2003 Dodge Dakota
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Premature brake pad or rotor wear
Other suspension problem
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
Other brake problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 10 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 headlight failure or clouding happen on the 2003 Dodge Dakota?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 65,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is headlight failure or clouding on the 2003 Dodge Dakota?
10 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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