2012 Dodge Charger — 5.7L

The 2012 Dodge Charger sits at the peak of a problematic stretch within its generation's federal record, registering 648 complaints, 14 recalls—the highest recall count of any model year in the dataset—and 219 technical service bulletins, with electrical system failures alone accounting for 207 of those complaints. Notably, 2012 actually represents a worsening versus its immediate predecessor 2011 (which posted 692 complaints but only 11 recalls), suggesting that the first full production year of the redesigned seventh-generation Charger exposed additional recall-worthy defects even as overall complaint volume began to ease. The 49 fire-related complaints are particularly concerning and concentrate the safety case, while 20 crash-related complaints and 3 active investigations reinforce that 2012 was under heightened regulatory scrutiny. The post-2012 trajectory is strongly favorable—complaints drop to 358 in 2013, 342 in 2014, and fall into the low triple digits or below from 2015 onward, with recalls settling into the 4–8 range—so the 2012 model year clearly marks the high-water mark of issues rather than a mid-cycle anomaly. For a used buyer, the data argues against choosing a 2012 specifically: a 2014 or later example from the same generation offers substantively lower complaint and recall exposure, and even the 2013 model year would be a meaningfully safer bet given its lower recall count and declining complaint curve. The concrete takeaway is that 2012 is the worst year in this generation to target, and shoppers should pivot to a 2014+ Charger to capture the same platform with materially cleaner federal records.