1996 Dodge Stratus from North America - Comments

Before I purchased this Vehicle at 116,000 miles there were a ton of problems, but I will only list the ones I experienced.

-The first problems I noticed was an electrical problem that caused the mileage and tachometer to turn on and off randomly.

-It also had a problem with one of the doors so it was always "open," causing the interior lights to sit on constantly, unless I shut them off altogether.

-Lastly, the horn didn't work at all.

-A few weeks after purchasing, the timing belt broke, taking out all my pistons, etc, so I had a rebuilt engine put in. Cost $700.00 from a friend mechanic.

This is when the trouble started:

-The car then ran for a couple more months, but would randomly die, losing all power, including power steering, making it almost impossible to pull over.

-We had the Crank sensor replaced twice, to no avail. $300.00.

-We had the front brakes replaced because they were ground right down to the rotors. $200.00.

-We continued to have the dying problem, sometimes including a check engine light and the cruise control turning on and off by itself, and it would never pull any codes or even brake down for our mechanic.

-We eventually brought it to the Dodge dealership which they said we needed a new timing belt (again!) and a new battery. Cost: $750.00.

-They then decided it was the computer (our suggestion) so they replaced the computer and ALL the wiring in the car engine for free.

-It needed an inspection, but didn't pass, so they had to keep adjusting the computer until it would pass. They replaced the horn for $16.00.

-The problem still continued so we had a co-pilot installed as even the dealer had no trouble with the car - it only seemed to brake down for us.

-When the car broke down the co pilot recorded information on the engine, and it seemed to be a fuel problem. The dealership ran tons of tests, but could not find any trouble with the fuel, so they sent the results to Chrysler to get their opinion, but never heard back. They suggested we replace the fuel pump for $350.00, but instead we sold the car.

I purchased this car for $1,575.00 and sold it for 1,000.00. Not only did I not get back what I paid, but I put in more money than the car was even worth (a quote on Nada.com put it as 1,700.00).

The car was completely unreliable and for every week that we drove it, it spend 2 weeks at a repair shop.

I owned the car for 14 months and only got 3 solid months and 15,000 miles of reliable driving out of it.

The only good things about the car were:

Roomy and comfortable

Sleek design

Drove nicely, when it drove

Good gas mileage, when it ran enough to put gas in it.

My last car was a 1989 Dodge ram 50 that I got for like 900 bucks and that was a blast to drive. However it also had engine trouble, telling me that Chrysler-Dodge is not a reliable company to buy from.

If your previous Dodge was unreliable, why did you buy another one... with over 100,000 miles at that? That's too many miles to be buying a dodge. They just don't last that long.

"My last car was a 1989 Dodge ram 50 that I got for like 900 bucks and that was a blast to drive. However it also had engine trouble, telling me that Chrysler-Dodge is not a reliable company to buy from."

Well, that certainly doesn't fit with my experience of Dodge. My 1985 Dodge 150 has over 250,000 miles on the original engine and transmission. I wouldn't hesitate to own another, except mine is still going so have no need to look for one.

"If your previous Dodge was unreliable, why did you buy another one... with over 100,000 miles at that? That's too many miles to be buying a dodge. They just don't last that long."

I'd have to disagree strongly with that statement. In 20 years of driving, I've only needed to own two cars--both Dodges. I've had one since 1987 and the other since 1996, and they're both still going. The one I bought in 1996 already had 163,000 miles on it when I bought it, and I've put another 90,000 miles on it since then.

Knowing the vehicle had 116K I believe most cars need timing belts replaced in mutilples of 60K so if you went past 120K you were probably past due for a belt replacement.

Sorry, but the way I read your review you are describing minor electrical problems in a 10 year old car and problems related to lack of maintenance by not changing timing belt at specified intervals and problems as a result of a faulty engine swap/engine overhaul by your friend. In that respect this is almost an irrelevant review that does not describe Chrysler/Dodge cars one way or another.

Really! Are you serious. Your review is not even a little helpful. Calculating the mileage and regular maintenance, you got what you paid for. When you sold the car and it said it was worth $1700, you only paid $1500. What in the world do you expect?

I personally do not care much for Dodge vehicles, but I know if and when I purchase them I check everything, if in my personal opinion the car is not worth what the asking price is. I make a take it or leave it offer, to what I feel it is worth.

It does not appear that the minor issues with this 10+ year old car, affected your drive-ability. Other than the neglected maintenance.