1996 Dodge Avenger ES from North America - Comments

The Sun roof would not open and close right within one year of purchase. The starter died. Two new batteries died within one year. Two sensors died. The passanger side door controls fell threw the door. The right side front strut has been replace twice. I have received 4 recalls from ford. The transmition seal blew. The windsheild whiper motor died. The shifter ball joint will be replaced for the second time soon.

I love the way this care looks, but am unhappy with the quality of the car as well as the very poor gas mileage. I take very good care of my care white is the only reasone that it still runs well and looks new. The bad gas mileage as well as the over normal ware and tare on the transmission is most likey due to the "poor design of the car" says one of the customer reps. at Dodge. According to him most of the parts used on the car are to small and weak to be used on a 4300 lbs stock car. Here is a note regarding one of the other reviews. A reviewer stated that his 1996 Avenger ES has the same engine & parts as an Eclipse, this is not true. All 1996 Avenger ES have a 2.5 VS engine straight out of a 1996 base model 3000GT. The dash, door covers and sunroof are from a 1996 eclipse though.

I am wondering if I should listen to what that person has to say about the Dodge Avenger... they spelled every other word wrong, and I don't know if they sound trustworthy...

The performance and reliability of any car, from any manufacture, completely coincides with the amount of effort the owner puts into the vehicle. Honestly, if the car is driven as expected, most problems can be avoided.

I have a Dodge Avenger and it works very well actually. I don't understand why all those things could go wrong. Something had to have happened or the driver might have done something wrong. I do not think a car would have that many things wrong with it at all. They would not put a car out and sell it if it was poorly constructed.

I have had my 96 Avenger for 5yrs, and have had very good luck with it. I have the 2L 5spd and honestly get 44mpg on the highway! The only thing I have had to replace is a front wheel bearing and some smaller pieces like interior light switch between the doors, front plastic piece where foglight would go (hit by rock). I don't know what the first guy was talking about when he said there were 4 recalls to FORD? There was a recall for front struts if I remember, I really like this car and think I will keep it for a project car someday, its got great lines!

I owned a 96 ES and everything, but the engine had problems strait out of the showroom. I sold it two years later because I beleaved it to be a lemon. I soon after bought a 97 4 cylinder and it is slow, but nothing has gone wrong yet.

I have to agree with the first guy-even though yes, he did have several spelling errors. I myself had several problems with my 1996 ES avenger. I took good care of this car-oil changes every 3000 miles, check ups, you name it. I still put it in the shop 13 times! Three O2 sensors, a new computer and fuel injector system, (luckily both still while under warranty) $450 brake job at 40k miles, and I finally was able to get out of this lemon at 92k miles. I drove it 15 miles to a dealership where it ran hot all the way. lemon lemon lemon. I love my Toyota Camry-so reliable!

I have a 1996 Dodge Avenger ES. I bought it in 1998 and it had 45K miles on it. To be honest, I have no complaints about the car. Other than replacing little things here and there, I haven't had any problems.

I agree with another person on here who said something like any car needs to be taken care of. Besides my regular oil changes, etc., I make sure the system is checked regularly (especially before long trips) and I pay attention to every nuance.

Most of my friends laugh at how often my car is "at the dealership", but I have the last laugh when they're paying a car note while my car is paid off and closing in on 150K miles... while STILL in great shape.

My husband and I bought our 96 Avenger ES (auto.) used about a year ago. Unfortunately the poor thing was not taken care of very well, but since she's been in out hands she's had oil changes every 3-4 thousand miles, tires replaced, brakes soon to be replaced, a door handle that was replaced (it broke off right in my hand!) and yet doesn't work still : (. There are minor cosmetic things that need to be done still, but even though she wasn't taken care of she shows she's a trooper and runs pretty well for us still. We have minor things wrong such as, every once in a while you'll be driving and it won't shift so the RPM's will keep going up if you increase in speed, it's only happened a couple times since we've had it. But other than that not too bad, although, we are about to sell her to someone else.

I bought my 1999 dodge avenger and 99 must be a much better year than a 96. I bought my car as a "R" title. It was hit in the back and that didn't bother me much since the car is front wheel drive. Due to my own carelessness I put the car into a ditch backwards at fifty mph and totaled it again. Sounds impossible, but I did it. Any way mine is indy red with 18 inch rims and is in perfect condition. It's pretty hot and I always catch eyes. I bought her with low miles and now she has over 120000 miles and drives perfectly. She shifts extremely smooth and the engine is like new and doesn't use a drop of oil. I don't get too good of mileage in city driving, but out on the highway I drive around ninety and that is where the car really shines. going up the mountains she stays in overdrive and gets up to 34 miles per gallon. I installed a remote started and plan on hitting 250000 on her. Great Car.

I bought a used 1998 ES model from a shady used car dealer last year. Whoever had the car before me put it through a lot of abuse in just 65,000 miles. Mostly it was just body damage (a dent in the side that I fixed and bent rims which I've fixed until I buy new ones when I'm finished with college). The car has given me no trouble whatsoever, so if you're complaining about so many car problems at once, it may not be the Avenger that has the problems, it may be the driver. I've since put in custom headlights, custom painted interior, brand new sound system and the car is a bute.