2014 Dodge Avenger: Recalls You Might Come Across - VehicleHistory (2023)

Debuting in 1994, the front-wheel drive mid-sized Dodge Avenger first premiered as a two-door coupe produced by Mitsubishi until 2000, before being brought out of retirement in 2007 as a four-door sports sedan. The car had a decent showing in sales, peaking with 96,890 units in the U.S. in 2012, before being retired as a mass production model with the 2014 Avenger.

Named the “Most American Made” sedan by the Kogod School of Business,the Avenger feels like a throwback to another time. The first-generation was a staple of the National Hot Rod Association, and was the signature car of the “Dodge Boys,” Darrell Alderman and Scott Geoffrion. The 2007 model was used as the “Car of Tomorrow” in that year’s NASCAR Nextel Cup season. The 2014 remains a favorite among gearheads, a heavy-duty piece of American musclewith a V6 engine getting173-283 horsepower and delivering a nice, satisfyingvroomwhen you hit the gas.

They, quite literally, don’t make ’em like this no more.

The 2016 Recall

As of the time of this writing, the 2014 Dodge Avenger has been on the road for about six years now with only one recall on file with the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration.

S61

Affecting an estimated 1,435,625 Avengers, Jeep Patriots, Dodge Calibers, Sebrings, Chrysler 200s and Compass models, all dating from 2010 to 2014, recall 16V668000 had to do with the OCR, or Occupant Restraint Control module. The module had a tendency to short circuit, which would result in the restraint system effectively just plain not working. The seat belt pretensioners, side airbags, and frontal airbags were all at risk of failure to deploy in the event of an accident.

The irony of modern vehicle safety features is that they do save lives. If they didn’t, your provider wouldn’t give you such generous insurance discounts for having them in place. But with more sophisticated seatbelt and airbag systems in place, you need more sophisticated tools with which to control and manage them and make sure that they’re working as intended. More sophisticated tools means one more thing that can go wrong. One more thing that occasionally needs to be repaired, updated or replaced.

Ultimately it’s a net gain, but you can’t blame someone who gets a recall notification and wishes we could go back to the days of the lap belt and the “uh oh” handle above the door.

The recall was announcedon September 15, 2016, with inspection and repair beginning on August 15, 2017 under the recall number S61.

This is sort of a long turnaround time for a recall. Typically, automakers want to get the repairs done as quickly as possible, and you’ll generally find repairs starting within a couple months of the recall process getting started. But in this instance,Chrysler was still getting the replacement parts together. On October 26, 2016, owners were sent interim letters letting them know that they were working on it, but it might be awhile.

Owners were notified to contact Chryslerat 1-800-853-1403, or the NHTSA at 1-888-327-4236 to see about getting their cars inspected and repaired.

Just One Recall?

One reason why the 2014 Avenger may not have many recalls could have to do with the relatively modest sales figures compared to the previous year. The 2013 Dodge Avenger sold 93,842 units, while the 2014 sold just 51,705, a little over half of the previous year’s numbers.

If the carmaker doesn’t catch a defect on their own, the process typically begins with complaints from owners. These complaints are registered with the NHTSA. If they get enough complaints, they start an investigation. If the investigation proves that the problem owes to a factory defect, they work with the company to issue a recall.

Fewer drivers means fewer complaints, which means lower odds of a recall.

Even so, just one recall in six years is pretty low, and the only explanation for that is that a 2014 Dodge Avenger is a pretty good investment.