2000 Dodge Stratus from North America - Comments

I have a 2000 Dodge Status. I had started having trouble with the gears slipping out. I then took it to a garage where I was told the transmission had been damaged by the differential pin. The pin did not have two metal pieces that was needed to hold it in place. The 2001 status has these two metal pieces. The pin popped out and damaged a lot in the transmission.

This car has a lot of problems concerning the transmission.

Hello, I have 115,000 miles on my 00 Dodge Stratus. I recently had my automobile serviced at the dealer who suggested I have my transmission serviced as well. At that time the sensor was also replaced. Since then I've had to take my car back to the dealer as there was a leak at the bottom of the transmission, (first time leak). They said the leak was from another area (coils) in the transmission. Anyhoot, about $450.00 later, I noticed the leak still present. In addition to this,...when I am going to brake the car seems to gult or buck. The dealer wants to look at the car again, but I'm hesitant. I get the feeling that I was taken for a ride. When we intially took the car in the teq said the car was in good shape, no leaks under or anywhere else. Do you know anything about this bucking while coming to a stop? Any advice would be helpful & appreciated. tcpolchies@juno.com.

I have one also at 120,000+ miles. It will also "buck" while coming to a stop sign if I break strong. Not enough to leave black marks, but hard breaking.

Yes, I've heard several people talk about how their dealer, mechanic, or lube shop advised them that they needed major transmission work because they "saw a leak." My general advice would be that as long as the car is moving under its own power and isn't giving you any problems, don't worry about a couple drops of fluid. If it's not enough to be losing a pint of transmission fluid a month (by the way, you should check your transmission fluid every month by the proper method), and the whole underside of the car isn't coated with transmission fluid, then don't worry about it on a car that already has high miles. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. By that age, they all will drip out a few drops of oil and transmission fluid, and if a garage makes a big deal out of it, they're just trying to drum up business. When you guys describe the car bucking or making a jolt when braking, are you talking about a really hard downshift? If it wasn't there before, but is there now after somebody worked on the transmission, I'd take it to a different shop. Some newer Dodge automatic transmissions seem to be very sensitive to using the correct kind of fluid, and if some generic garage put in the wrong style fluid, they may have screwed you.

I am on the net trying to check out some info on my 2000 Dodge Stratus. It is driving with 220,000 miles on it. Ever since 2005, it seems as though I've been consistently taking it in for major work. (ie transmission, manifold, radiator...) I know it has a lot of miles and I do a lot of driving, but the same problems keep coming up. I read the above comments and it sounds all too familiar. They are things I have been experiencing myself with my own car.

I'm taking it in on Monday to get some diagnostics checked out since the check engine light is on and the gears are slipping and it has trouble shifting from time to time. My car 'bucks' when I come to a stop as well. We'll see what happens, I guess.

Our 2000 Dodge Stratus has a stutter in the engine. This seems to happen more when it warms up, but has become more frequent in the last month. We've had it on a diagnostic scan, and they said nothing showed up. Any ideas??