1999 Dodge Intrepid SE from North America - Comments

Hello All,

Came across this page looking for a possible solution to a problem I have with a 99 Intrepid. I bought the car with 34,000 miles on it and really did not think to get an extended warranty. I should have because within a few short months the AC went out due to a fan motor. Of course at the time it was a modular repair and over 300.00 in parts alone. I waited and had my wife drive my car while I was gone for about 4 months. Checked on the fan when I got back and bought the fan as a separate unit and had it fixed for about 150.00. My next problem is a reoccurring one. I keep getting water in under the carpet and found that under the drivers side a puddle of water sits there. It has caused the carpet to get a bit moldy no matter how many times I clean it. I have taken it to the dealer and they can't find where the water is coming from. Other than this I like the car and I will check my oil more frequently and hope my engine does not seize up. But with the problems I have and the dealer unable to find the source of the leak, I will not buy another Dodge product again. If anyone has had this same problem let me know how it was corrected. Thanks Gene

Gene465@aol.com

I have the exact same problem as you.

"But here is my newest problem that no one can figure out: the car simply stalls and won't start again for a good 20 minutes. This has happened:

1. while idling,

2. when you just press the gas pedal (like when at a stop light), and

3. the most fun yet, at 65 mph on the highway."

Same exact. I took it to the dealer after waiting until it started, paid him $200+ to diagnose that the computer said nothing happened. It is doing it again. The check engine light comes on and the car shakes and looses all power. The first time this wonderful thing happened to me I was going 70 mph on the Garden State Parkway... it started to stutter/shudder and it just shut off. Which was beautiful because I was in the fast lane going up a hill, so I had to make my way immediately to the right shoulder, because there was none on the left. It was very scary loosing power steering etc. Then it started up after 15-20 minutes still stuttering and then I got it up to about 45 mph for about 5 minutes and it acted like it never happened... until today. I am taking it out of the driveway and put it into drive and it was a very hard shift. Then 2 minutes later the check engine light comes on and it starts stuttering again.

I also had the ghost dome lights situation.

I have a '99 Intrepid w/90,000 bought exactly 1 year ago.

I don't want to waste money to change all sensors etc.

If anybody figures this out... please post it.

~Pissed off in New Jersey.

I have had similar problems with my 99 Intrepid. 56k miles: Engine knocking noise, car stalling when idle, A/C has gone out once since owning this car after 1 year. I had the car towed to the local dealership recently only to have them tell me the piston in the 3rd cylinder was misfiring and that the engine could not be fixed and would have to be replaced at a cost of $10k. They charged me $120 just to tell me this on a car THEY represent!!! I told them they were high on replacing the engine and went out that night and bought a 99 Camry. A friend who owns a wrecking yard tells me that he replaces 3 2.7L engines on these cars each month. He says these engines were manufactured in France and were very poorly made. Apparently the cooling system is too small for the engine and the oil feed lines are too small not allowing enough oil to lubricate the engine. I will NEVER buy another Chrysler product. The company I work for has a few Chrysler vans for our service technicians and they are all ready for the junkyard. No one in our company will ever buy a Chrysler product based on this experience. From the poor products that they produce to the poor service from the local dealership I am amazed that ANYONE purchases anything from this pathetic company. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE!!! They should not be allowed to do any more injustice to the general consumer. The only way to beat a company the size of Chrysler is to do it in numbers. Anyone putting together a class action suit should contact me as I am more than happy to participate and come to the plate with my story and can contact me via e-mail at jchim32@yahoo.com.

Our 99 Concorde has a nasty problem. Runs fine--starts shaking, loses power, then grinds to a halt. Wait 20 minutes, starts up fine, the the same thing happened again!! ANY insight would be greatly appreciated!!! Yakfulness@hotmail.com Thanks!!

I own a 1999 Intrepid 3.2L with 45k miles. Since we've owned it we have had the driver side window fixed 2x. That was under warranty. Then we had the transmission stuck in 1st gear problem. That too fixed under warranty. Then, just after the warranty ran out, the right rear window quit working from the drivers controls. It will roll down with the control on the door. We learned to live with it. No big deal. Then, the instrument panel lights started flickering. I found that the adjustment on the dash seemed to be the culprit. If you turn the light intensity down a little bit it will stop. It did for me. At least... for now.

Now, our latest problem is the A/C. It quit blowing cold air a few weeks ago and I took it in to have it serviced. They put die in the system and couldn't find a leak. They charged the system and it worked fine for about 3 weeks. Until today, it quit again...I'm thinking it's probably like the other's with evaporator leaks. Will let you know. Also, I've been noticing that I've been getting a distinguishable vibration from 60-70MPH. I originally thought it was just that the tires needed balancing, but after hearing all of the rotor problems I wonder???

I've been a Dodge fan all my life, well, a MOPAR fan. I have to say after spending as much money as we did on this car, which is fully loaded by the way, to baby it 4 years and have all these problems is very disappointing to say the least. Class Action...I'm in!!!

Swiggins3@cfl.rr.com.

I own a 2000 Dodge Intrepid with 55K miles. Three days ago it stalled as I was driving on the freeway. I had to have it towed to the dealer to the tune of about $100 dollars (only half is covered by the extended warranty). It has been at the dealer now for three days and all they can tell me is that I had a "low oil condition" which resulted in my engine stalling. I just changed the oil two and a half months ago with some synthetic oil which is supposed to last for six months! I faithfully change my oil and have never had this problem before. It's still at the dealer because I refuse to believe that low oil is the problem. Now that I read everyone's post, I'm beginning to think the Intrepid may be a lemon!

I cannot believe that Dodge isn't taking responsibility for these problems and have sent them a complaint via their website.

Contact me for a class action suit at wellsclan@earthlink.net.

Well, believe it or not, I am the person that initially posted this entry 58 entries ago. I still own this car, but am planning to sell it soon. Everyone that is reading these comments needs to know that if you haven't changed the coolant, to do so immediately. The original coolant is Dex coolant and will sludge up your cooling system. There are class action lawsuits on Dex coolant if that tells you something. I turns to sludge also and will only aggravate the oil sludge problem in your engine. Go with the green stuff. Also, if you haven't already lost your engine, immediately change the oil to a synthetic oil, either Amsoil or Mobil1 10w/30. Numerous mechanics are telling me that the temperatures in the top end of this engine are extremely high and literally baking the regular oil causing sludge. If you have sludge now, flush the engine, change to synthetic oil, pray and sell it. Another expensive repair that I had done a year ago was the A/C evaporator needed replaced. This cost me $1,800 at the local dealership in parts and labor (mostly labor). The last item I would suggest if you plan on keeping your Intrepid is to immediately change the transmission fluid to Amsoil synthetic. I did so and have not had any problems. I may have done the next owner a favor as well as soon as I sell this car.

I own or rather, am still paying for a 1999 Intrepid. Bought it used w/58,000 miles on it. Did the car fax check on it, and thought I got a wonderful car. The day I drove it off the lot I had the oil changed. Shortly after that the transmission started hesitating to shift, so I took it in and had the transmission fluid flushed and changed. Normal things you sometimes have to do to a used car I thought. Until I found this web site, looking for someone to tell me where in the world the battery compartment is. Then it was like reading a bio of me and my car. My dome lights are all out, my passenger side window has the mood swings I've read about, my dash lights go dim and bright at will and yes I've had to have the infamous input speed sensor replaced.I've also had to replace all four rotors which they told me was very common on these cars and the front right link pin is bad which causes a horrible clunking noise when I'm driving. And now the oil seems to be evaporating and from what I've read here tonight I'm going to be needing an engine soon. Thank God I have my 93 Ford Ranger to fall back on should this happen. Law suit...I'll jump on that band wagon.E-mail me if anyone has one going. Never another Dodge, that's for sure.bobbirae2@verizon.net.

Just a short note to repeat the problem stated earlier by another writer. I have a 96 Intrepid. I enjoy driving the car. Lately there were noises in front when steering. It appears the steering rack and pinion mounting bushings are bad. The problem I am told that in order to correct the problem and obtain the bushings I would have to purchase the entire unit for $975.

I am certain there are those of you who have found some way to purchase the bushings without the entire unit. This is what I am looking for I would like to continue driving the car if I can find the bushings. If any of you know where I may get these bushings please let me know, and thanks. I liked checking out this site and hope I can find out about a solution. Email me at: delahunt@juno.com.

I too have 1998 intrepid. I loved this car. Several times I have experienced lights going on and off day or night, but technician said at the dodge dealer where I got the car that nothing showed. Airbag light too showed up. Had window fixed once and now the window will not go up or down on drivers side such a pain. Also had to have speed sensor replaced under 60,000 miles. Now today check engine light has come on and every thing seems to be okay. So I guess it will have to go in shop to see whats going on. I'm scared to find out what is going on especially after reading all this. MEmerson53@msn.com.

Were do I start, I have a 1998 intrepid 62,000 miles and I need a new motor in it. my windows do not work, (nothing works in the car). I know someone that works at a dodge place and they said that the 2.7 motors are no good, problems after problems. the holes that the oil goes thought are to small, the 1998 and 1999. they do not make that type of motor anymore. anyone that has a 2.7 motor in there car please please email me, there is got to be something we can do. just think about some of the people that are still paying on the car and cannot drive it. I really think that a lawsuit is the way to go. please email me at, jennbaker@bellsouth.net. thank you very much.

I just heard about this web site from my father in law today. I have a 1999 Dodge Intrepid that I purchased new in December of 1998. I too have run across the same problems most people here have experienced. Here is what failed during the 36 month 36,000 mile warranty: Front passenger window motor, rear drivers window motor, front sway bar steering links, leaking coolant air bleeder (looks like thermostat cover, but is not), transmission overflow out the filler tube (dealer said it was filled too high from the factory), loose transmission line where it meets the radiator, and the windshield wiper motor that was intermittent on the intermittent setting. Here is what has failed outside the 36 month 36,000 mile warranty: Rear caliper seized and destroyed the rotor at 44,000 miles, both the input and output speed sensors went out at 52,000 miles, and now I have a radiator overflow problem that the dealer does not know how to fix. The coolant appears to come out the overflow after I turn the car off. Thanks to you folks, I'll take a closer look at the radiator fans that I suspected before. Now for the scary part, I am dreading what I am hearing about the oil return tube and the 2.7 liter V6 engine seizures. I have changed to oil religiously every 3,000 miles, but from what I hear, this may not be sufficient to prevent the problem. Currently I have 57,000 miles on the car and will most likely sell it.

My wife purchased a 98 Intrepid in 99 with 20k miles on it. The right window motors were not working, but later started working. The interior lights started coming on and off within the past year. My wife loves her Intrepid and has the oil changed regularly. The reason I visited this site is that I happened to be following her and saw a puff of smoke every time she left off the gas petal and then accelerated again. This explained the oil that was disappearing. What I want to know is why it is smoking. The car has 63k miles and should not be smoking. Are the Piston Rings of poor quality or is it the Valve Guides. I would like to fix it before it gets any worse.

We also have a 1999 Intrepid... where do I begin?? The Transmission sensor went out... we have had the A/C fixed twice the first time was 30 miles over the warranty and they did not want to cover it... after a call to the corporate office they did... the second time which was only 6 months later they would not cover it so we a fan replaced as well as an A/C part from a mechanics shop that we only had to pay $340 instead of the $800 the dealership wanted to charge. We have had every window at one point not work then all of a sudden begin to work except for the rear passenger has not worked for over a year. Three of the door lock motors make this awful sound when you lock/unlock them however, I refuse to pay the $150 per door the dealership wants to charge to fix them. Also, we have the same issue with the drivers window popping out of the track. We have replaced the rotors. Yesterday my car seemed like sluggish to crank and this morning... it took three attempts before it would. All the lights would flicker inside on each try. Sorry to all who own this vehicle - as we will NEVER own a dodge either. We are in if there is a class action law suit...Jomico89@aol.com...Thanks.

Wow, I guess I'm adding my name to the long list of disappointed Intrepid owners! I have a 2000 Intrepid with over 95,700 miles on it. I cannot complain about warranties because I bought it used as is at a used car dealership. The car runs fine except now I notice the infamous oil light is flickering during idle at a traffic lights. The car has to be warmed up before this starts. By the way the oil was just changed as well as the filter. Also the engine has a slight rattle to it during idle and feels like its not shifting gears at high speeds. I had the lemon check done at the Dodge dealership for $69.00 and they verified the slight rattle means the transmission needs service. I'm glad its tax refund month!! I hope the oil problem is just a sensor (I'm praying it is!) Oh and I did have the transmission fluid flushed, but that did not help the slight rattle, a little, but not resolved. I love my Intrepid, but I wonder after reading all these comments at what cost?? Email me at larich1970@aol.com.