Summary:
If you buy one make sure it has been taken care of it's entire life or youll regret it!
Faults:
Radiator was replaced shortly before I bought it at 75000 miles.
Head gasket twice, 85000 and 100000.
Odd noise in transmission when making left turns under acceleration.
Valve going bad causing extreme power loss on highway.
Problems with front brakes and rotors almost constantly.
Rear differential replaced, gears stripped.
General Comments:
I bought this car from a friend which was my first mistake, never ever do that. There was a clunking noise when I bought it, he said the dealer said it was nothing, turned out to be a bad rear differential. Shortly after that the car began overheating, turned out to be a bad head gasket. Shortly after that a strange noise developed in the transmission and I still havent found the cause of that. I have had to replace rotors a few times in the 3 years I have owned it. Just in the past month it has began overheating again and so far a radiator flush, and thermostat havn't worked so I'm afraid its the head gasket again.
So over all I have had a ton of problems with it. Luckily I am able to do a lot of the work myself, but the amount of money I have put into the thing is ridiculous. I understand that it is an old truck, but I take care of it and I still get these reoccurring problems. It has been my experience that Dodge trucks just aren't made with the most reliable technology, I have seen about 6 or 7 of them in my group of friends and average repair costs of about $5000 each. Sure they are great looking and require little work when new, but after they approach 80/90k it seems like everything starts to fail at the same time.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 31st January, 2006
16th Oct 2008, 00:01
The old 2.2 & 2.5L engines were known for having problems with air getting trapped behind the thermostat, causing the thermostat to not open properly and/or soon enough. Drilling a very small hole in the thermostat in the area that the coolant contacts will permit the air to pass by into the radiator, which will then expel the air via the overflow bottle. Give it a try, it has helped me out a number of times.
18th Feb 2009, 15:12
I have a 1992 Sport with a 3.9L. It has been super reliable. I am at 246,000 miles and it still runs great, gets 22-25 mpg, and the only repairs have been the usual- brakes, tune- ups, hoses etc. It is rusting but I live in Michigan and road salt is part of the food pyramid!!!! Really sorry to hear you had all that hassle!
18th May 2010, 01:27
320,000 MILES, original engine & transmission, never had any major repairs just maintenance, except for changing the fuel pump. Who could ask for ask for more.