12th Jul 2004, 16:24
I'll never buy another Dodge. Huge amounts of oil under car at 35K. Mechanic said the head gasket needed replaced. Thank goodness he's honest. He told me that Dodge may replace it for free, if not it would cost about $700. Dealership charged $50 to look at it and then replaced it for free. Transmission went out at 90K. In the process of fixing that so no cost estimate is available. Once the tranny is fixed this car will be sold. Power windows are beginning to fail as is power driver seat. Car also goes through brakes way too fast. New front brakes every 30K.
Car was fine up until about 80K miles. Way too early for a car to begin falling apart.
20th Sep 2004, 13:33
Very disappointed in our 99 Stratus. At 58k miles, our transmission has been slipping. Going 65 on the expressway, suddenly the car feels as though it's in neutral and all you are doing is revving the RPMs. Took to the mechanic who specializes in Transmissions and will cost $1500 to fix, minimum and we'll be without a car, causing a rental for 4 days.
We had the same problem with a 95 Dodge Intrepid that we had way back when... we were hopeful that it was a one time deal and that they'd have fixed any problems.
We're going to be in the market again soon for a new car and unfortunately, I don't think we'll be buying a Dodge again.
24th Jul 2005, 12:14
I had to replace the head gasket at 130,000 but the motor in this stratus was the more expensive of the 2 possible engines I could of had and the the cam-shaft had to be replaced as well 2500.00 was the cost just 1 month before it would have been paid off. Then transmission started surging like it didn't want to shift and it is now stuck in low. I hope it's just the sensors, but this car has been a headache with the injectors acting up as well.
18th Aug 2005, 09:56
Hey!, I have a 1995 Dodge Stratus ES, 2.5L V-6 all done up, I had the same problem with my car being stuck in second gear. It is the speed sensor. Also there was a knocking in my front end which ended up being the control arm joint or something along those lines... took 10 minutes to replace and cost $120 to fix. My fuel pump needs to be replaced, the car starts terrible!, Man it's a money hole, but it looks good. I have 170 000km on my stratus.
8th Apr 2010, 08:02
I've had a Stratus for about year and a half. My transmission is going out. When you speed up, it revs real high sounds like it is going to blow up or something. Then when you shift down, it's like hitting a brick wall.
Looks wise, this car is fine. Mine just completely broke down, it doesn't run. The auto locks are going out as we speak. I'm getting out of this piece of junk.
29th Jun 2004, 05:03
I just bought a 1999 dodge stratus 6 weeks ago. My check engine light just came on, my speedometer doesn't work and my RPM'S are running very high. This happened all at once. I am going to bring it back to the dealer as I paid for an extended warranty, but someone said it may be the speed sensor which sensors aren't covered under my warranty. What a trip. Like I have money to spend after buying this car with 113,000 miles.