Faults:

Extremely susceptible to rust. Bad for snowy climates where they may use lots of road salt.

Rear under-panels severely rusted out. They seem to trap water and dirt very easily.

Headlights fogged over, replaced at 155,000 miles. Very expensive!

Rear shock mounts rusted out and broke off at 170,000 miles.

Turn signal switch failed at 188,000 miles.

Transmission failed at 189,000 miles.

General Comments:

I am an owner of multiple Chrysler vehicles, and I honestly have to say this one is a big disappointment.

It's a fast little car that handles well and gets pretty decent fuel mileage (average 27 mpg).

Not a whole lot of interior space.

Hard to find parts for, therefore making it expensive to maintain.

Also hard to find a mechanic who doesn't cringe when you bring it to him.

Faults:

I had a flat right front a while back, but $152 dollars later for a Nexen 250\17, I'm back on the road.

The car hasn't cost me much money; I'd say less than $500 have been spent on problems.

I have put about 7000 miles on it in 8 months, and it drives and runs like a beauty.

I'm about to start fixing her up with a body kit and some wacky interior colors. All in all, I may put $4000 dollars to get this car at the level of looks and performance I expect from this sporty two door coupe.

General Comments:

Runs strong and rides like a Cadillac.

The cabin area seems a little tight for anyone over 6ft.

Faults:

If your Avenger stalls when it is cold, but will restart and runs fine when you have your foot on the gas, your idle air control valve needs to be replaced. It will cost about $60, I replaced mine with a 8mm socket, 1/4 drive. It does take a little patience to reach it, it is located behind the throttle body between the engine and fire wall.

I have replaced the coil packs a few thousand miles ago, otherwise it is great at repelling mosquitoes.

Faults:

Hello, I have a 1997 Dodge Avenger ES 2.5l V6 automatic transmission.

I have a problem on the car that I've been fighting for years!!! I'll get up in the mornings to go to work and start it, it idles rough, shaking the windows and sputtering around, revs up and down, wanting to die out on me. If you keep giving it gas from the pedal, it's fine but as soon as you let up it dies.

The check engine light is on, but it keeps reading random cylinder misfire. Sometimes you'll get up and go to start it and it won't even turn over?

All the sensors under the hood have been replaced, distributor, cap, button, plugs and wires, intake gasket, EGR, alternator, starter, battery, fuel pump, 02 sensors, TPS, transmission screen and filter all replaced plus much more!

Once it warms up in the mornings, it will run fine, but the check engine light still flashes and will run like crap for about 10 minutes after pulling out of the driveway, then it runs perfect.

I've been stumped for years and I'm about to give up and crush it, LOL.

It's a really nice car. I've got a new set of Magnum R/T wheels and tires on it, and I swear the tires don't even have 300 miles on them; can't keep it running long enough.

Faults:

Multiple tires; 95% of the tires replaced were front tires.

Very frequent brake repairs once every year or so.

Always had problems shutting the drivers side door in cold weather. The window would lay on top of the glass seal instead of under it. Also the window would rattle when the door was shut.

Water pump leak at 90,000 miles (timing belt replaced at that time).

Clear coat of paint started to chip around this time also. After the clear coat gone, the paint chipping was next followed by rusting.

Front lights fogged up.

Two cracked blinker lights.

Leaking windshield seal.

Gaskets replaced - this was recommended after a routine oil change, the car ran great until then. All of the following happened very shortly after the work was done:

My trip meter stopped working.

Stalling in cold weather, stumbling up hills. Driving down a major road, it suddenly just revved high in 1st gear. Took it to a transmission specialist, who said it needed to be drained and refilled. Ran fine for awhile after, but continued stumbling and high revving in cold weather.

Crankshaft leak (during this time the oil gage was never consistent).

Check engine light on all the time, most recently anti-lock light on after braking.

Smell of gas from exhaust. Occasional gray smoke as well from the exhaust, accompanied by an almost stalling sound in the engine.

General Comments:

I love the handling of this car at high speeds, and its smooth handling in and out of traffic.

The color choices of this particular model are not very appealing.

On the highway, the extra power is there when needed. Although it's kinda slow getting up to speed, after the car gets past about 60 you have to watch it cause it will get past the speed limit very smoothly without you even knowing.

I am a proud owner of a 1997 Avenger ES with about 137,000 miles and counting. It is the best graduation gift anyone can receive. I am so glad I stumbled across this site, because I was losing faith in how much more my favorite car could take.

Like I had mentioned before, I had taken my car to a transmission specialist after a scary stalling/high revving incident. He gave me (at the time) scary news that my transmission might not have much life left, he had found metal chips in the drain pan. (Of course then he hit me even harder when he told me the price tag of a new and refurbished tranny). Yikes! Reading from some of these reviews and tidbits, I will now look more towards the crank sensors and the idle air intake valve. I did remember reading about faulty sensors in my Haynes manual that I purchased at Advanced Auto Zone.

Despite all its faults and being through two major hurricanes, it still has some kick to it, and is a blasty blast to drive.

**** About the key copying - try the Mitsubishi dealer or a hardware store. ****