Faults:

When I first bought the car, there was a skip from 3rd to 4th gear. After a transmission service the car has given me flawless reliability.

General Comments:

Even though the car is quite large for a single 25 year-old, it's reliability and performance has made me quite a fan.

I take long trips through-out the Pacific Northwest and the car never gives me an ounce of trouble.

It is hard to find a better family car for the price.

I would not recommend all Dodge products, but I would anyone looking for a quality car to look at the Intrepid.

Faults:

I have had to replace the rotors twice in the last year, and the pads three times.

General Comments:

I love the speed and handling.

I can only imagine what this car would be like if it had a turbo unit.

Dodge should consider a full stick shift.

Faults:

OK, where do I start? Acquired the vehicle in 1998 with 37K miles on it. Later on I found out that it had been a rental.

Vehicle ran fine for the six months and then the nightmare started: first, it overheated in the middle of December in Florida!! Turned out to be a defective water pump. Vehicle didn't have 45K miles yet. Cost me about $300.

In 1999, I moved to California. All the way through, the vehicle kept running very hot. Of course, it was the middle of September, so it was still pretty warm, especially in the desert. After getting to California, the overheating problem continued and had a friend mechanic look at it. Once again, the water pump was out. Vehicle had around 55K miles. Again, I shelled out another $300.

Same year, just a couple of months later, the tie rod problem (which apparently is very common) appeared. The part is not very expensive, but because of where it is located, it cost me 6 hours of labor to get this fixed. Another $500.

Throughout this time, the overheating problem continues, even during the cool weather.

Then in 2000, yet another $200 in repair because of an O-ring leak (another common problem).

Late last year, the timing belt had to be replaced and once again, due to the design, almost 9 hours of labor because the engine physically had to be removed to get to the timing chain. Repair cost close to $1000.

Now in 2002, yet another water pump and finally, the car was on its last legs: just last week on our trip to Las Vegas, the engine finally gave up. A rod blew in the engine at 100K miles. Approximate repair cost: $4400. As you can imagine, the car has been sent to a salvage yard. The one thing that hurts even more is that I had just spent $200 on "maintenance fees" (smog check, AC check up, etc.) the week before.

General Comments:

About the only good point on this vehicle is the way it handles--when it ran, it definitely was a smooth ride.

Faults:

I have had no problems whatsoever with this car.

General Comments:

This car has more than enough power. The comfort is great for both long and short distance. This car surpasses any of the Chrysler Mini vans I have previously owned.

Faults:

Fog light switch broke at around 80,000.

The auto switch for rolling the window down started being flaky around 90,000.

General Comments:

Roomy and spacious - I have had 6 adults seated with little discomfort.

The 3.5L engine moves the Intrepid swiftly!

The ride is smooth and stable.

No problems whatsoever with the car's mechanicals.

Faults:

Water pump went out.

Tie rods went bad - caused a wobble in the front end.

Transmission had major shutter problems because I used a small amount (2oz.) of wrong transmission fluid.

General Comments:

DO NOT use any other transmission fluid except what is recommended. TRUST ME!

The power from the 3.5L engine is smooth and constant. If you have slight delays in acceleration when you step on the gas, buy a K&N air filter. It makes a huge difference for only $50.

Faults:

Water pump failed.

Tie rod ends shot.

Mis-shifts during gradual acceleration @ 50mph.

Slight hesitation during hard acceleration.

General Comments:

The car is too heavy for its suspension.

Has an extremely impressive engine response: 1/4 mile run: 15.75 sec @ 98 MPH (decent for a front drive slug of a sedan). Has an impressive torque curve that remains fairly constant from idle all the way to the redline. Translation: you'll feel acceleration in every gear at the redline (most would severely drop off).