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2009 Dodge Challenger

The Verdict

68 Solid Pick

The 2009 Dodge Challenger has 131 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. The most reported issues are electrical (46 complaints) and engine (43 complaints). With a Klunk Score of 68/100, it earns a "Solid Pick" rating. If you're shopping for a Dodge Challenger, consider the 2022 model year which has 93% fewer complaints.

Safe Bet

The 2022 has 93% fewer complaints

View the 2022 Dodge Challenger dashboard →

68

Klunk Score: Solid Pick

Fewer complaints than most vehicles. Generally dependable, but check the top problems below.

How is this calculated?

The Klunk Score ranks this vehicle year against all others in our database based on total owner complaints filed with NHTSA. 100 = fewest complaints (top tier), 0 = most complained-about. Scores above 60 are better than average; below 40 means more problems than most.

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Under the Hood

Each number is a complaint. Darker = bigger problem.

YearBodyBrakesElectricalEngineTransmission
200810630
2009185464319
2010371210312024
2011226117388
20123661662915
2013306973311
201431656485
20153311283222
2016223251414
20171712065
20182833067
20191932086
202050663
202160633
202251021
2023276250

By Category

Electrical
46
Engine
43
Transmission
19
Body
18
Brakes
5

By Severity

1
58
2
61
4
12

Worst Problems

Complaints

Electrical 1

I am currently waiting for a new Instrument Cluster, which is the cause of all of my problems, and which is why I failed the emissions test.

36mo ago
Brakes 1

On several occasions while driving the vehicle would would appear to lose power and the front wheels would shake. After turning off the engine and restarting the car the problem resolved itself. It was taken to the dealership and they said they could not replicate the problem. Two days ago it did the same thing along with the passenger side front wheel heating and smoking. It was towed to the dealership again. The technician called to say that when he got into the car the brake pedal went to the floor and wanted to know if happened the day before. He was advised the pedal was fine and the brakes were stopping the vehicle. He said the brakes were worn down and the entire brake system needed replacement. There was no issue reported with the brakes on the previous inspection at the dealership in December 2022.

39mo ago
Engine 2

THREE TIMES NOW THE THROTTLE HAS GONE TO WIDE OPEN AND STICKS FOR ABOUT 5 SECONDS. SCARES THE LIVING CRAP OUT OF YOU.

40mo ago
Electrical 1

The contact owns a 2009 Dodge Challenger. The contact stated while driving at approximately 30 MPH, the "check air bag" warning light illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local parts store where it was diagnosed and determined that the driver's side and passenger’s side air bags needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 18V021000 (Air Bags) and NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V444000 (Air Bags). The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 104,000.

44mo ago
Electrical 4

During an auto accident the ram emblem on my steering wheel shot off of the steering wheel when the air bags deployed and becoming a projectile and hitting me in the neck leaving a deep bruise and abrasions to the area the ram emblem hit. Its been nearly 3 weeks and the bruising is still present and the skin is still red from the injury. Attached and you can even see the ram horns in in neck. This photo taken later that day. If this can happen in my with my accident I was just lucky it didn't hit my eye or worse. The contact stated that they now have a permanent scar on their neck from the steering wheel projectile. They have not contacted the manufacturer and the vehicle is no longer in their possession.

44mo ago
Engine 2

Recall issues and manufacturers dont want to fix it.

55mo ago
Body 2

The contact owns a 2009 Dodge Challenger. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the contact heard abnormal sounds coming from underneath the vehicle. Upon inspection, the contact noticed that the subframe bolt had snapped off. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that they were unable to assist. The failure mileage was approximately 44,000.

57mo ago
Transmission 1

Faulty TCM After purchasing my car it would hard shift in the 3rd and 4th gear And I realize that shortly after purchasing it chant and then one night I was on the freeway and between 2 semi trucks when it's just neutral and then tried shifting into 2nd gear Which almost caused me to wreck in between 2 semi trucks which was not cool and Now my car only shifts into 1st and 2nd gear and when it gets to 3rd it neutrals , It won't go into 3rd or 4th gear . I took it into the dealership to get new software Uploaded on my TCM they said it was fine so I drove it out the parking lot and still doing the sa.e thing won't shift into 3rd gear so I took it to another shop to have it looked at because I didn't want to risk my life driving the car. I'm not gonna take it back to a place that just gotten to tell me that everything was fine when it's clearly not so we put it on a lift inspected it and it shifts from 1st all the way up to 4th no problem and then soon as you put it on the ground and start driving it ,it does the same thing neutrals when it gets the 3rd . Then after looking further into the car the mechanic noticed how small the groundwire was compared to the power wthe power wire and it wasn't getting enough voltage So I'm thinking that also could be a major issue Later on down the road And that might even be the cause of the TCM going bad . It's just crazy to me a car would be OKAY to be sold with the problems it has And there's a lot of people online with the same kinda of problems as mine All I have to say is I'm lucky that I'm alive due to These problems.

60mo ago
Engine 1

I took my car to the dealer for recalls they didn’t fix anything they left my car out in the rain the hood up and Choppa had my car for a whole month did any nothing they were very courteous no customer assistance nothing

61mo ago
Body 2

The contact owns a 2009 Dodge Challenger. The contact stated that there was a blind spot on the passenger’s side rear-view mirror. The contact stated that due to manufacturing of the mirror, it was difficult to switch lanes or see oncoming traffic due to the defect. The manufacturer had been notified of the failure on several occasions but provided no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

61mo ago
Electrical 1

HAD A MESSAGE POP UP ON MY RADIO THAT THE WIRELESS MODULE IS BAD...CANNOT UNLOCK, LOCK, OPEN THE TRUNK OR REMOTE START THE CAR WITH THE KEY FOB.

67mo ago
Engine 1

VEHICLE STALLS RANDOMLY WHILE COMING TO A STOP. OIL LIGHT ILLUMINATES CAR LOSSES ALL POWER STEERING AND BREAKING. THIS HAPPENS WHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT OR TURNING AS WELL. PRIMARILY WHILE TURNING. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME ON A CITY INTERSECTION AND IN MY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD. I AM SCARED THAT I AM GOING TO WRECK BECAUSE OF THIS AND HURT MYSELF OR OTHERS. *TR

74mo ago
Transmission 1

CAR GETS STUCK IN GEAR WHEN PARKED AND IS DIFFICULT TO SHIFT WHEN DRIVING. THE CAR WHEN PARKED IS ON A FLAT SURFACE AND YOU NEED TO YANK IT OUT OF GEAR WHEN THE CAR IS RUNNING. IF YOU BACK UP THE CAR AND TRY TO TAKE IT OUT OF REVERSE YOU HAVE TO YANK IT OUT OF GEAR.

78mo ago
Engine 2

I HAVE EXPERIENCED NUMEROUS BREATHING DIFFICULTIES, I SUSPECT HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY THE AIR BLOWING OUT THE VEHICLES VENTILATION SYSTEM... I REGULARLY DEVELOP CHEST PAIN IN MY BREAST AREA AND MIGRAINE HEADACHES AFTER BEING IN THE VEHICLE FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD. I HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN TAMPERED WITH PRIOR TO MY PURCHASE . I'VE RECENTLY DISCOVERED FALSE INFORMATION RELATED TO THE OWNERSHIP OF THE CAR, THROUGH A CARFAX SEARCH

78mo ago
Transmission 4

I BROUGHT MY CAR 8 MONTHS AGO AND THE DELALERSHIP NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT ANY OF THE FOUR RECALLS I NEVER RECEIVED ANY PAPERS IN THE MAIL CONCERNING THE RECALLS AND THAT PUTS ME AND MY CHILDREN AT RISK EVERYDAY IT'S A SCARY FEELING I ALSO HIT A TREE THAT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET MY STEERING G WHEEL WAS HARD TO CONTROL AND MY BREAKS AS WELL

79mo ago
Transmission 2

THE VEHICLE IS EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTY TAKING THE MANUAL TRANSMISSION OUT OF GEAR WITH THE CLUTCH PEDAL FULLY DEPRESSED. THIS OCCURS ON BOTH COLD AND HOT START UP AS WELL AS WHEN DRIVING OR STOPPING DURING IN TOWN DRIVING. THIS CREATES A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN THAT THE DRIVER COULD INADVERTENTLY ROLL INTO AN INTERSECTION WHERE THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY, ANOTHER VEHICLE, PEDESTRIAN OR BUILDING. THE VEHICLE WILL "CREEP" ON FLAT GROUND IF IT IS NOT PLACED IN NEUTRAL AND THE BRAKE IS RELEASED. USING OUR FRIEND GOOGLE I HAVE RESEARCHED THIS ISSUE AND IT APPEARS FROM DISCUSSION ON MULTIPLE FORUMS THAT IT IS A KNOWN ISSUE FOR MY AND OTHER MODEL YEARS. TWO CASE NUMBERS FROM THE MANUFACTURER SEEM TO INDICATE THAT THERE IS A PROCEDURE FOR CORRECTING THIS ISSUE. CASE NUMBERS ARE K38556860 AND S1021000004. THE CASE NUMBERS ARE NOT RECALLS AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN NOTIFIED OF THE ISSUE BY THE MANUFACTURER. I HAVE ATTACHED A FILE WITH THE TWO CASES THAT EXPLAIN AN INSPECTION AND REMEDY PROCEDURE. 11/14/2019 IS NOT THE CORRECT DATE OF THE OCCURRENCE, IT HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. BEST GUESS IS THIS ISSUE STARTED SOMETIME IN 2016, EXACT DATE UNKNOWN, VEHICLE MILEAGE IS ESTIMATED. DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE POSSIBLE DANGEROUS SITUATION I FEEL THIS MUST BE ADDRESSED TO THE MANUFACTURER AND POSSIBLY MADE INTO A RECALL OF ALL VEHICLES AFFECTED TO ACCOMPLISH THE REMEDY AS DESCRIBED IN THE ATTACHED CASES..

81mo ago
Body 2

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 DODGE CHALLENGER. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 25 MPH, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED TO APPROXIMATELY 125 MPH WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT CALLED WATERMARK CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM AT 800-549-3637 (LOCATED AT 1055 CROSSING PL, MADISONVILLE, KY 42431) AND WAS INFORMED TO BRING THE VEHICLE TO THEIR FACILITY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 139,109.

81mo ago
Brakes 2

THIS CAR IS NOT FREQUENTLY DRIVEN AND SERVES AS A SPORTS CAR ONLY, NOT A COMMUTER, IT ONLY HAS 025,379 MILES ON IT. IT'S A SIX SPEED MANUAL TRANS WITH CLUTCH PEDAL. WHILE DRIVING THE CAR NOTICED WHAT FELT LIKE BRAKES (ALL OF THEM) DRAGGING, INCREASING THE LOAD AGAINST THE CLUTCH AND THROTTLE. NOT EXTREMELY BUT ENOUGH TO NOTICE. THIS SEEMED TO BE GETTING WORSE AND I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT A MALFUNCTION WITH COMPUTER OVERRIDE FEATURES LIKE "HILL-ASSIST" AND "STABILITY CONTROL", BOTH I GENERALLY SWITCH OFF. AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES OF DRIVING SLOW SURFACE STREET SPEEDS, STOP & GO, I CAME TO A STOP SIGN AND THE BRAKE PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR. THE CAR DID SLOWLY STOP. I WAS "ON ALERT" AND WAS USING THE GEARS TO SLOW ANTICIPATING A POSSIBLE FAILURE. WE WERE GOING TO DINNER AND AFTER ABOUT 4 MORE PEDAL TO FLOOR STOPS, IT WAS PARKED FOR JUST OVER AN HOUR AND REGAINED IT'S BRAKE PEDAL PRESSURE AFTER SITTING. I CAUTIOUSLY DROVE STRAIGHT HOME. THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASH OF ANY TYPE AT ANYTIME. I THINK THIS INDICATES SOME COMPUTER OR OTHER SYSTEM FAILURE CONNECTED WITH THIS. CONDITIONS WERE A 90 PLUS DEGREE DAY WITH THE A/C-ON. THINGS SEEMED HOT UNDER THE HOOD AND AROUND THE MASTER CYLINDER AND RESERVOIR WHEN I FIRST PARKED FOR THAT HOUR. OTHER THAN "NO WARNINGS", THE OTHER SIGNIFICANT FACT IS, NEITHER OF US SMELLED OVERHEATED BRAKE MATERIALS AS YOU TYPICALLY WOULD. THIS I FIND REALLY ODD BECAUSE IF IT WASN'T THE BRAKES DRAGGING ON THE CAR, WHY DID THEY FAIL AND GO TO THE FLOOR "WHILE HOT" ? AS IT IS MY HABIT AT ALL TIMES, I PULLED THE PARKING BRAKE RELEASE A LOT, ASSURING IT WAS OFF THROUGH THIS. IT'S IN WORKING ORDER AND HOLDS THE CAR WHEN I PRESSED IT'S PEDAL DOWN, CLICKING AND LOCKING IT TO DO SO. I KNOW OF OTHERS WHO HAVE HAD WEIRD BRAKE FAILURES WITH OTHER YEAR MODEL CHALLENGERS. PLEASE CHECK ON THIS ! THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

85mo ago
Brakes 2

STEEL BRAKE LINES RUSTED THROUGH AND DUMPED ALL BRAKE FLUID RESULTING IN TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE.... WAS PARKING THE VEHICLE WHEN LINE FAILED THANK GOD...

91mo ago
Body 1

CAR HAS A STARLING ISSUE COMING TO A SLOW START UP OR MAKING A RIGHT OR LEFT HAND HER CAR WILL JUST STORE THEN IT STARTS RIGHT BACK UP AND RUNS FINE DEALERSHIP HAS MADE NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO REPAIR STILL PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN TAKEN CARE OF

91mo ago

131 total

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