2004 Dodge Stratus SXT from North America - Comments

Headlight sensor needed to be replaced soon after purchase.

At 3,000 miles, a stop/bang developed at 25-30 mph. This was "corrected" but still occurred occasionally. Dealership said there was nothing more they could do for it.

At 6,000 miles, rotors were warped and had to be replaced. At 12,000 miles, rotors were warped and had to be replaced.

Dodge is a master at building comfortable cars. Unfortunately, they tend to build them with inferior materials. (How's your Dodge Caravan faring?)

In doing research on the rotor problems I had, I discovered that warped rotors are a perpetual problem with Dodge vehicles. The fix is actually an upgrade to a better rotor to the tune of 400.00. It makes me angry that they twice blamed it on my driving habits. I have never had to replace rotors in any car I've owned. It was frustrating to have a new car that shuddered each time I applied the brakes. I began to feel that although the car was comfortable and fun, I could not trust the integrity of the vehicle, or the company that made it. I was so angry about this, that I chose to get rid of the car, as the next set of replacement rotors would not be covered under warranty. This was at a 1,500.00 loss. Buyer beware.

Unfortunately, This problem does not only apply to Chrysler products. I have a 2003 Ford F250 4X4 super duty with turbo diesel. It has 4 wheel disc brakes. The front rotors went south @ around 16,000 miles. I took it back to the dealership. Of course brakes aren't covered as a warranty item. They cut them and replaced the pads for the tune of about $350.00 At 26,000 miles they warped again. (incidentally I was warned by someone outside an auto parts store who had the Identical truck as mine, About the front brake rotors) It seems as though Ford will skimp on something as important as brakes to keep the overal cost down on the vehicle during production. However they didn't seem to mind 1 bit at charging the MSRP of $40,340 for this vehicle. The shocks self destructed @ 34,000 thousand miles as well. The brake and shock problems are gone. I had to roll up my sleeves and do them myself. With the best after market parts I could afford. So far no problems.

You would think that if you liked this car and the upgrade to better rotors was $400. You would have kept the car and done the work instead of loosing more than double trading it in. P.S. I have had a lot of new cars. I get tired of the same old thing so I have a tendency of trading in a lot more than I should. My Ford Taurus both the `99 and `01 had rotor problems. My Nissan Pathfinder had rotor problems and so did my Ford F150 both `97 and `00 and my `00 Mustang had rotor problems. All not from driving habits just bad materials. You would be surprised how cheap and easy these are to take care of if you take the time to learn to do it yourself. Just a thought. My `98 Stratus had same issue, but I am still buying an `05 Stratus R/T sedan this monday. I hope it works out...

If you really liked the car why didn't you just upgrade the rotors? Just a thought.

My f-250 has been a great truck up till the problem of not starting because of the oil pump losing pressure and thus causing the fuel not to be fed to the injectors. The oil pump and fuel pump are all the same and ford refused to fix it even though it was supposed to be under warranty.

My Plymouth Voyager (same as a Dodge Caravan) is doing just fine at 220,000 miles, thank you.

I have a 2004 baby blue Stratus SXT and I love it!! The only problem I have experienced was a fried battery... my car is so comfortable and sometimes you don't realize how fast you're actually going till you look at the speedometer... registered at 140 and it does it all the way!!!