2004 Dodge SX 2.0 Base from North America - Comments

Nothing as of yet.

I love this car. It has the handling of an early model Neon with the comfort and luxury of a higher end Chrysler. It's a sporty, affordable little car. It includes such standard features as:

-Fog lights

-Air Conditioning

-AM/FM CD Player

-Low-back bucket seats (VERY comfortable!)

-White gauge faces with a standard tachometer

-Much more!

The cabin is ergonomically designed and everything is easily within reach.

I just purchased my 2004 SX yesterday after a long and exhaustive search... This little car is so comfortable! In fact, that was the deciding factor in my purchase. There are definitely cheaper, more well equiped cars out there... for example the Chevy Optra, but the SX is by far the more comfortable, well put together of the herd.

I wish I could say I enjoyed the purchasing experience as much as I enjoy my new car however. I will leave it at this... I thought the days of the snake oil salesman, and sleazy tactics we're long gone... apparently Dodge hasn't heard the news. I am livid over my buying experience!

That being said... even though I am extremely unimpressed with my Dodge dealer, I am very happy with my SX and can't wait to have fun hot rodding her a little bit.

I can agree about the dealer experience. I just went for a test drive and it seems Chrysler still believes in the high-pressure sale. I didn't buy, but they were very aggressive, especially on price.

Test driving the car I found it very good, ergonomically designed. Comfortable seating, but high lumbar tended to cut into the legs slightly. Biggest drawback was a very harsh ride that had the car bouncing on larger bumps and feeling every crack on the road. Roof pillars tended to be in the field of vision which takes getting used to.

Good responsive engine, smooth and much quieter than the Cavalier's buzzy Ecotec engine. SX is nice and nimble feeling, a fun car to drive.

I just purchased my SX 2.0 and I just love it. I was driving a '95 Neon before and the difference is incredible. The SX 2.0 drives smother, accelerates faster and the passenger room is awesome

Just purchased a brand new 2004 Dodge SX 2.0 here in Cambridge, Ont. Canada.

September 15th, 2004.

2,800 kilometers..

Steering Gear and Rack Replaced November 12th, 2004 (warranty)

Sure hope this is not a sign of things to come...

I purchased a 2004 Dodge SX almost a year ago and I've put

21,000 kms on her already and I have to say my experience

overall has been excellent.

I've followed the recommended maintenance schedule for the

car and have had no problems whatsoever.

The car made a great impression on me with the stability

and control I retained while driving in at least 2 feet of

snow, this little car had no problems with corners or snow

drifts, even passing SUVs along the way!

The only aspect of the car that I dislike at all are the

taillights and the wheel covers (on the base model).

I bought my 2004 SX 2.0 in April of 2004 and by Spring of 2005, I already had to replace my Radiator. Now it is one year later and once again, the rad has gone. I haven't even owned this car for 24 months and I have had to replace the

Rad twice!! Don't get me wrong. I love my car. It's sporty, fun, fast and I'm sad they aren't going to make them anymore, but obviously my car's lot has something wrong with it. But as far as the rest of the car goes, it's great. But I definitely don't want to replace my Rad again next spring. Hopefully 3 times a charm.

I have read the above comments, interesting. I'm afraid to say this I was looking for a very reliable car, but I'm about to purchase a Dodge SX 2.0 Sport and I'm a student and I've worked hard for my money while attending college, and its about that time to buy a new car, I was really trying to stay away from dodge neon as I heard so many scary stories, you know the whole ordeal, anyways I was driving one night cruising in my souped up civic hatch back, and I heard a white dodge neon pass by from behind me because I was "cruising" anyways I heard the engine in the dodge, sounded like he had CAI, and maby headers, nevertheless the sound of that engine was so sweet I fell in love with it even though I dislike the exterior I was crazy about the growling engine, later I found out that it was a dodge SX 2.0 and that it's a bit different from neon, however you might be thinking if I'm a student why did I say its about that time to buy another car as if I got a bank load of money to do so, well that's not the case, lets just say I've driven the crappiest cars in Canada, my first car that I "owned" was a 1989 Honda accord drove it for 1 year bought for $1500 spent $4000 in new parts finally tranny got so stiff, I sold it before it was junk, got back $600, second car a 1989 civic H/B bought for $1500 with 400,000 km put a new engine for $400 stock 1.5 ltr and another $2000, car was problem after another sold it 1 year later, next another 1990 civic H/B for $2000 bought from 1st owner, car ran like new so damm quiet,5 months later, just about everything went wrong, I replaced the engine, tranny, springs, oil pan, battery, distributer, alternator,, exhaust, heater coil and about $5,000 in new parts from wholesale and did most of the work myself. And then I bought a 2000 Impala used police car for $700 look clean, but the tranny and engine are done, drinks gas like we drink water and things are gone very bad with it, so my point is I got fed up with all these cars and money wasted thinking they'll last, and most of it was my fathers advice even though I knew he was wrong, but I had no choice he was paying the insurance so I had to do what he said, so I decided to go brand new, now I don't know if the dodge will give me problems or not, I really hope not, but from the reviews compared to the neon and this SX, I think i'll take a chance, oh and the other thing when ever you have a problem with a part and its the same problem after fixing it more than once its not the car, its the people who are fixing your car, make sure your car gets the part installed for what you paid, most will put in a cheap knock off brand look alike and save themselves money, and simply, because the mechanic doesn't know you well enough to care to properly install your part, which is the biggest cause of a part going bust more than once.Make them show you the installed part at the end on or in the car, no matter what.

I purchased the SX 2.0 in October of 2004 and for the first 60,000 kms it rode well except for the wheels seemed to be always off balance and I seemed to fly through the gas! My luck has definitely ran out now at 68,000 kms. I just found out my rad is gone and once the dealership service guys fix that, I am told that there is a good possibility that my transmission may be gone as well. People may be thinking, that their transmission would be covered by their warranty powertrain (100,000kms) if it failed, but apparently in my case, it doesn't cover it. The dealership and some woman from the warranty office in Windsor, Ontario says the tranny won't be replaced by warranty because the problem originated with the rad (which has just went off my 60,000kms warranty). I am very dismayed to say the least. The rad job and flushing is going to cost me a whooping $1500.00 and to know that the tranny will cost me god knows how much has left me feeling really sad about the purchase of a brand new car that is only 3 years old. The service at my dealersip wasn't the greatest and to make matters worse when I called the Wannaty people in Windsor, I was permitted to speak to only one woman. When I requested to speak to someone else for their opinion, she flatly refused. I am thinking that urely there must be another contact person in all of Chrysler Canada, but I am told no there is not. I am very disatisfied because once I researched this car, I am troubled by just how many people have been in my shoes with a bad rad and then a shot tranny. In fact, the service department knew exactly what was wrong with my car even before they looked at it for god sakes. One guy there told be that these cars are famous for bad rads causing tranny damage. Waranty guys told me that they used to give assistance for people like me, but their acts of goodwill are finsihed. I told them that this act of goodwill was actually called a possible recall investigation. So for all of you who are praising the SX 2.0 Dodge, please beware after your warranty ends at 60,000 kms. I am in the process of fixing my car at the dealership and keeping my fingers crossed I can get it sold ASAP. I`m sorry, but there is no way people should have to pay an arm and a leg to drive a car that never did drive right in the first place. Very sad story indeed. I have promised myself never to drive a Dodge again. By the way, remember those Dodge Caravan tranny problems in 1999, well my friends if you are driving a SX 2.0 we are all driving towards that kind of end where nobody will help you, but everyone knows that the problem is with the way the vehicles were made. My heart goes out to anyone out there that is driving this car and thinking rather stupidly that all is going well. Just go look up radiators and SX 2.0 and I`m sure you won`t be long singing your praise. Take it from someone who knows!

I had the same problem as most Dodge SX 2.0 owners will have or have had; the radiator needed to be replaced. I heard the same line as most of you heard or will hear; the transmission could be damaged as well. I brought my car it into my Chrysler dealer and they gave me a price of $1,500 to start. I just laughed. I got a new radiator off the net for $185.00 taxes included life time warranty and shipped to any garage of my choice. Go to a garage you trust get them to install your radiator. Get a transmission flush and you will save half of the cost. 90% of the time the transmission is fine. If transmission is leaking it is more than likely you need new gaskets.

My Dodge SX was purchased in the fall of 2003 with 74 km in Barrie, Ontario. As mentioned in one post, I thought the fuel economy was awful. Mine averaged 23 MPG highway almost the same as my mini van. Besides that, life was good with this car and felt I received good value.

Mid last year my luck ran out. At 74,000 km's the transmission failed on the way home from work on Highway 103 in Halifax Nova Scotia. It was under warranty with the 7 year or 115,000 km, whatever comes first, power train variety.

It was towed free and the transmission was rebuilt - not replaced. (As per the fine print in the warranty book) They also dinged me a $100 deductable. (Ditto) That was just petty and cheap. Not even worth taking from me.

As luck would have it, a few weeks later when they found out my Caravan was free and clear they called and wondered if I would like to get something new. The answer is flat out - NO!. Why? I was asked by the sales rep. I said that I wasn't about to make a huge purchase from a company who was so petty as to charge me $100 to fix their defective product. I was also not very comfortable with the service manager who made me feel I was stealing something because it was warranty work. So in the Clint Eastwood line "Go ahead, make my day" vain, I came up with - "Was that hundred dollars worth it, well was it."

Now it is January 15th, 2008, my SX has 95,000 kms and I was on my way home from work when the transmission started slipping - AGAIN. When I pulled in the driveway it smelled bad. I think the rebuild was a one year warranty, so at 6 months and 21,000 kms I think I'm a $100 repair away from being back on the road. The experience has left a bad taste in my mouth and I don't think I have faith in the product.

I have bought and driven Chrysler vehicles since my 1987 Dodge Shadow. I have been a happy loyal customer. The next vehicle purchse will now be off shore, most likely from a auto maker like Toyota or Honda. (Since they are manufactured in Canada in Alliston or Cambridge)

Update: Service informs me the rad failed putting anti-freeze in the tranmision and it is a $1,000 fit not covered under warranty. To me that is power train and should be covered by the 7 year/ 115 deal.

I just purchased a 2004 SX 2.0 a couple months ago. It had 67000 on it. I must say I really like driving this car. I had a97 before and it came with all the head problems that the older ones were having. I got rid of it before it reached 70000km. Needless to say I was a, but leery of buying another one, but had done some research and it seems like Dodge got the bugs worked out. I really enjoy the mileage. I'm getting a bit over 40 on the highway and I usually speed a bit so I would probably do better if I obeyed traffic signs. Handling is good. And the 5 speed shifts nicely. The dealership I'm not impressed with. when I bought it it was a nice day, but a couple days later when it rained the drivers side headlight took on water. When I went back to Vernon Dodge the salesman didn't really seem like he wanted to help at all. After a couple days of wrangling the manager agreed to go 75 bucks towards the purchase of a new one. Still cost me an extra 125.00 and I work at a parts store. If I didn't it would have been over 300 bucks extra. Then in really cold weather my oil pressure switch would act up. The service dept told me this was a common problem with these cars and that they would be willing to fix it for 1/2 hours labor plus the parts. I told them I would supply my own parts and they could change it at my next oil change. They said it would only be 30 bucks then since the car is already going to be up in the air. The sensor only cost me 8 buck with staff dicount at work. I can't understand why they want to nickle and dime me on this stuff after only 4 months, but whatever. The service dept isn't the ones giving me a problem the manager makes the call. Overall though, the car is great even if the dealership is a bit shoddy towards customer service. It's too bad they discontinued the model. It seems like they finaly got it right.