1994 Dodge Intrepid ES review from North America

Replaced the front rotors.

Replaced front pads.

Replaced PCV sensor on intake plenum.

Replaced PVC hoses.

Replaced inner tie-rod end bushings.

Replaced inner tie-rod/rack&pinion retaining bolts and lock.

Engine warning light comes on when I switch from low-beam to high-beam lights when driving at night. The engine was fine and there was no serious problem, but just weird to have this electriacl glitch.

Cruse control didn't work when car was purchased.

A/C system didn't work when car was purchased.

Original factory CD player/stereo had been removed by previous owner. No big deal.

I purchased the car for $100 from a girl at my job who'd treated the car poorly. Being mechanically minded and good with fixing cars, I thought it an opportunity to have a nice car. She'd somehow sheered the bolts that hold the inner tie-rods to the steering rack and the car was marooned in a parking lot for 2 months. She had been told it would cost $1000 to fix the steering, so she gave up on it. I figured out a sneaky was to get the sheered bolt lengths out of the rack without having to pull the rack out of the car or take it to the dealer for repair or buy a used rack from the junkyard to replace it with (Ha! Ha!). That was the only major repair that needed to be done. The retaining lock and new inner tie-rod bushings were all that was need to make the car drivable again (approx. $75 for parts from dealership).

She said the car had lousy pick-up and poor gas mileage. It turned out the PVC rubber hoses and PVC sensor were melted and needed replacement. That fixed the mileage and performance problems (approx. $100 for parts from dealership).

The front brakes, on inspection, looked thin and one rotor had a groove worn into it from her neglecting the grinding sound coming from the front end. I replaced both front rotors and pads as well as the rear shoes, though they still loked OK. Braking system working perfectly (approx. $75 for parts by ordering through mail order part supplier).

The cruse control problem was rectified with a junkyard servo and now works perfectly ($50 for used servo from junkyard).

The air conditioning system needed one hose replaced and the system recharged. Fortunately, that was all ($125 for hose through mail order parts supplier and $65 for system recharge).

The electrical glitch as well as the lack of a radio is going to be taken care of this summer. A reputable auto electronics shop quoted me a ballpark figure of $100-$200 to fix the car and included installing whatever stereo I brought to them.

Since then, my Intrepid has been very reliable and comfortable to own and drive. I have spent only about $500 total for parts and a service for the A/C, not including the purchase price. I've had it for a year now an intend to keep it until it rusts away under me.