Audited US model-year file

1987 DODGE Dakota

Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.

Model-year evidence is not a VIN check.

A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.

Official VIN lookup ↗

01 · Safety actions first

2 NHTSA recall campaigns

Exact model-level NHTSA results for 1987 DODGE Dakota. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.

01
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 1987-04-14

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:LINKAGES

Campaign 87V050000
Summary

SPEED CONTROL SYSTEM CABLES MAY PARTIALLY DISENGAGE AND BIND AT THE CARBURETOR THROTTLE LEVER ATTACHMENT.

Consequence

THROTTLE WOULD STAY PARTIALLY OPEN WHEN ACCELERATORPEDAL IS RELEASED.

Remedy

INSTALL A WASHER AT SPEED CONTROL CABLE TO CARBURETOR THROTTLE LEVER ATTACHMENT TO ELIMINATE POTENTIAL FOR THIS CONDITION.

02
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 1986-08-18

PARKING BRAKE:CONVENTIONAL:MECHANICAL:LINKAGE AND CABLE

Campaign 86V115000
Summary

THESE TRUCKS WERE EQUIPPED WITH REAR PARK BRAKE CABLES WHICH CAUSED LIMITED REAR BRAKE SHOE TRAVEL RESULTING IN THE PARKING BRAKE SYSTEM NOT HOLDING THE VEHICLE IN THE REVERSE DIRECTION WHEN PARKED ON A 20% GRADE, AS REQUIRED BY FMVSS 105. CONSEQUENCE OF DEFECT: IF THE TRUCK IS PARKED ON AN INCLINE AND THE PARKING BRAKE SET, IT MAY ROLL BACK CAUSING DAMAGE OR AN ACCIDENT.

Consequence

Remedy

REPLACE BOTH REAR PARKING BRAKE CABLES.

02 · Owner allegations

20 NHTSA complaints

Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.

Crash mentions
0
Fire mentions
2
Injuries reported
0
Most-reported component labels
STEERING5
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING3
SEAT BELTS3
STRUCTURE3
FUEL SYSTEM2
GASOLINE2
Complaints across nearby Dodge Dakota model years

Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.

  1. 201987
  2. 551988
  3. 631989
  4. 631990
  5. 1281991
  6. 2161992

A dash means NHTSA holds no complaint record for that exact year, make and model. See all Dakota years with specs and fuel economy →

03 · Agency review

0 NHTSA ODI investigations

An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.

VERIFIED EMPTY IMPORT SNAPSHOT

No exact NHTSA ODI investigation row was matched.

The checked bulk snapshot returned zero investigation action numbers for 1987 DODGE Dakota. That is source coverage, not proof that no issue exists or will be investigated later.

04 · EPA configurations

Fuel economy & specifications

FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.

EPA configurations
6
Combined economy
12–21 mpg/MPGe
City / highway
11–19 / 15–25 mpg/MPGe
Engine displacement
2.2–3.9 L
Cylinders
4–6
Fuel type
Regular
Drive
4-Wheel or All-Wheel Drive · Rear-Wheel Drive
Vehicle class
Special Purpose Vehicle 2WD · Standard Pickup Trucks
Annual fuel-cost estimate
$3100–5400

05 · Evidence strength

Exact identity. Explicit limits.

No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.

exact match

Recall campaigns

2 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.

exact match

Complaints

20 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.

verified empty

ODI investigations

0 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.

canonical only

Model aliases

Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.

not published

Manufacturer ownership

No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.

PUBLIC EVIDENCE PASSPORT

Identity, freshness and provenance.

The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.

Permanent public ID
https://modelyearfacts.com/vehicle/1987/dodge/dakota
NHTSA make ID
476
NHTSA model ID
1941
Match key
1987 · DODGE · Dakota · US
Live evidence requested
EPA publication catalogue
Complaint matrix snapshot
Imported safety snapshot
nhtsa-investigations · verified empty

NHTSA ODI investigations

Action number, component, subject and open/close dates from the approved bulk import; long summaries omitted.

Open official source ↗
US-market boundary

Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.

06 · Research paths

Diagnose first. Confirm fitment.

These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.

Offers status: held

Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.