The car had a slow oil leak starting around 60,000 miles. I avoided a major repair. After the car was paid off, I decided to invest some money to repair the oil leak.
New head gasket was installed at 105,000 miles by an independent garage. $1000.
There was still some leaking after that repair was a faulty cam-lock sensor, which was replaced, free.
No oil leak noticed.
The following might be attributed to floods in NJ. The transmission in/out sensors went bad one morning. Replaced at Chrysler in an hour for $200.
A week later, the ignition switch broke. Replaced. $130.
A week later the ignition switch broke again.
Replaced, and tested by the independent garage. It broke at the shop. The starter is bad; blows out the ignition switch. Replaced $490.
Car is now at 110,000 miles.
Other than the above repairs, I never took it into a shop for PM or repairs. I was able to do everything on a friends lift including replacing the?inner wheel hub?
So, I'm happy with the first 105,000 miles. I would hope American cars could be built to last like foreign cars.
The 2nd independent garage recommended I should have had the head re-machined flat so that the head gasket could have been repaired only once. The mechanic described that Chrysler machined the part poorly. If the car makes it another 45,000 miles, I may do that.
In case you're looking for symptoms.
When the car is stuck in 1st and 2nd gear, your speed sensors are probably bad.
If your car won't start, and a jump doesn't do anything, your ignition switch is broken, which is most likely a result of the starter being bad. Otherwise there is no reason for the ignition switch to break.
If you own this car, you will need to replace the head gasket.
The car was great for the first 105,000 miles. Even though the V6 would've given more power, the pickup with the V4 was acceptable. Quite spacious and comfortable.
Efficiency. A bit over 30 mpg in the car's younger days.
It still is close to 30 mpg.
Fairly comfortable on long trips.
Comfortable for tall rear passengers.
I thank you so much for this review. You have just saved me a lot of money. After reading what you wrote about speed sensors, I was able to ask my shop to check that first when my car wouldn't shift gears. The cost of fixing it is $111.10. Another shop I called wanted to go into the motor and charge much more. Again, I thank you.
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