How many miles will a 1997 Dodge Dakota last?
NHTSA holds 32 owner complaints on the 1997 Dodge Dakota that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 6 past 150,000 and none past 200,000. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 446 complaints on this model year, 140 of them with a mileage, and half of those mileages are at or under 72,000 miles; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 140 complaints on the 1997 Dodge Dakota that list mileage, the middle half came between 50,000 and 100,000 miles; 32 (23%) came after 100,000 miles, 6 (4%) after 150,000 and none after 200,000.
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How many miles will a 1997 Dakota last?
The 140 mileages owners gave run from 20 to 190,000 miles. A quarter are at or under 50,000 miles, half at or under 72,000, three quarters at or under 100,000 and nine in ten at or under 124,219; 32 (23%) came after 100,000 miles, 6 (4%) after 150,000 and none after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 1997 Dakota wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Most of these reports came early in the vehicle's life: 108 of the 140 came at or under 100,000 miles. The 32 past that mark show the 1997 Dakota still being driven at those mileages, not how many reach them: NHTSA's file counts complaints, not the vehicles on the road.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 20 miles |
| 25th percentile | 50,000 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 72,000 miles |
| 75th percentile | 100,000 miles |
| 90th percentile | 124,219 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 190,000 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 32 (23%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 6 (4%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | none |
Every model year together: Half of the 3,138 NHTSA owner complaints on the Dodge Dakota that list mileage came after 52,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Dodge Dakota last? →
Common problems with the 1997 Dakota
NHTSA's file holds 446 owner complaints on the 1997 Dodge Dakota. Owners named the suspension most often: 142 complaints, and half of the 87 that list a mileage came after 61,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 142 | 87 | 62,000 |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 68 | 10 | 70,000 |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | 49 | 13 | 75,000 |
| Power Train | 46 | 9 | 53,980 |
| Air Bags | 37 | 5 | 104,000 |
Of the 446 complaints, 42 report a crash, 7 report a fire and 22 report an injury (30 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 1997 Dakota a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 1997 is a good or a bad Dakota: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 1997 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 446 complaints, the 1997 ranks 7th of the 25 Dodge Dakota model years from 1987 to 2011 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2000 (806). The fewest: the 2009 (18).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 Dakota | 20 | 1 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1988 Dakota | 55 | 2 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1989 Dakota | 63 | 6 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1990 Dakota | 63 | 0 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1991 Dakota | 128 | 3 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1992 Dakota | 216 | 8 | Under 10 mileages |
| 1993 Dakota | 134 | 11 | 80,000 |
| 1994 Dakota | 166 | 15 | 120,000 |
| 1995 Dakota | 208 | 24 | 96,850 |
| 1996 Dakota | 189 | 24 | 88,500 |
| 1997 (this page) | 446 | 140 | 72,000 |
| 1998 Dakota | 545 | 210 | 68,000 |
| 1999 Dakota | 641 | 329 | 60,000 |
| 2000 Dakota | 806 | 359 | 52,000 |
| 2001 Dakota | 678 | 413 | 50,000 |
| 2002 Dakota | 678 | 503 | 39,000 |
| 2003 Dakota | 296 | 222 | 34,290 |
| 2004 Dakota | 206 | 167 | 51,000 |
| 2005 Dakota | 470 | 328 | 58,500 |
| 2006 Dakota | 285 | 161 | 55,000 |
| 2007 Dakota | 145 | 95 | 50,196 |
| 2008 Dakota | 91 | 60 | 51,243 |
| 2009 Dakota | 18 | 10 | 38,000 |
| 2010 Dakota | 35 | 22 | 49,800 |
| 2011 Dakota | 44 | 25 | 42,000 |
1997 Dodge Dakota recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 12 recall campaigns that name the 1997 Dodge Dakota (5 vehicle campaigns and 7 equipment or tire campaigns that name this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 09E025000 | May 11, 2009 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS |
| 09E012000 | Apr 7, 2009 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING |
| 08E064000 | Oct 20, 2008 | SUSPENSION:FRONT:HUB |
| 06E065000 | Jul 17, 2006 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING |
| 06E026000 | Mar 23, 2006 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 1997 Dakota lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 1997 Dakota.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 306 of the 446 complaints on the 1997 Dodge Dakota give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA name counted: DAKOTA. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only this one.
- Recall-file name matched: DAKOTA.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
1997 Dodge Dakota questions
How many miles will a 1997 Dodge Dakota last?
NHTSA holds 32 owner complaints on the 1997 Dodge Dakota that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 6 past 150,000 and none past 200,000. Of the 140 complaints on the 1997 Dodge Dakota that list mileage, the middle half came between 50,000 and 100,000 miles; 32 (23%) came after 100,000 miles, 6 (4%) after 150,000 and none after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 1997 Dakota that never had one.
What are the most common 1997 Dodge Dakota problems?
NHTSA's file holds 446 owner complaints on the 1997 Dodge Dakota. Owners named the suspension most often: 142 complaints, and half of the 87 that list a mileage came after 61,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 446 complaints, 42 report a crash, 7 report a fire and 22 report an injury (30 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 1997 Dodge Dakota a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 1997 is a good or a bad Dakota: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 1997 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 446 complaints, the 1997 ranks 7th of the 25 Dodge Dakota model years from 1987 to 2011 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2000 (806). The fewest: the 2009 (18).
How many recalls does the 1997 Dodge Dakota have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 12 recall campaigns that name the 1997 Dodge Dakota (5 vehicle campaigns and 7 equipment or tire campaigns that name this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 1997 Dodge Dakota before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 1997 Dodge Dakota.