1996 Dodge Stratus ES review from North America
"A total piece of junk that will put you in debt"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
The wipers worked whenever THEY wanted to.
My head gasket blew at 45,000 (i found this out from dodge) I replaced again at 106,000.
Front Drivers seat broke, my back killed me all the time.
There was a bad seal on the windshield, whenever it rained the drivers side carpet would be soaked a from water and it would smell like mildew for days after.
The computer Chip malfactured.
The interior light by the air/heat setting went out.
Check engine light would come on, but didn't come on if there was no oil in it, neither did the oil light.
Rear door gaskets were messed up from lack of use.
Rack and pinion needed to be done.
The trans went one day on me all of a sudden when it was fine.
Rear main seal was replaced.
Oxygen Sensor.
Lower ball joints were replaced.
Engine mount was cracked and needed to be replaced.
The brakes never worked well no matter how good of a pad I bought.
That's all I can think of at the moment.
General comments?
I bought the car after the transmission on my saturn went. To this day I regret it. I put so much money into that car. It looked really nice, or at least okay for an 18 year old with no money really to buy something nice. The car was actually scary to drive because it had horrible handling. The brakes never felt like they gripped, it was aweful. My stepfather put hours and hours of work into that car for me, he replaced all the seals in the transmission and it went very shortly after. I did buy this car with a lot of miles, but it seemed like everything that we replaced, was already replaced by previous owners. I would NEVER EVER buy another dodge. I've heard so many things about there cars, I heard that Jeeps are very bad to so stay away. I wish they would actually take all this into consideration. But they don't car they built crap. And they should definately recall the 2.4 liter engines on them. Save tons of money don't, but one.
Recommended reviews
| I would never buy a Dodge Stratus again |
| Singing of the Sirens |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Year of manufacture | 1996 |
| First year of ownership | 2002 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2003 |
| Engine and transmission | Automatic |
| Performance marks | 3 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 0 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 4 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 1 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 0 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 106000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 129000 miles |
| Date of Entry | 21st July, 2003 |