2002 Dodge Stratus SE from North America - Comments

The engine overheated and ceased up. There was nothing wrong with the cooling system though, the dealer told me that there were plugged oil passages in the engine and it was starved of oil. After doing some research I have found that this is a common problem on Chrysler's 2.7 liter V6. I have only owned Dodge products until now, I believe they make a good vehicle, but not a good 2.7 V6. If you buy a Stratus, get the 4 cylinder or the extended warranty and dump it before it's up. My last car was also a stratus with the 2.4 liter 4 cylinder. Never had ANY trouble with that motor, should have kept it.

Avoid 2.7.

Rides great, very quiet, handles like a sports car.

Comfortable, makes you feel sophisticated.

Hard to back up, poor rearward visibility due to high rear end.

Headlights fill up with water vapor in the carwash... becoming stained.

Engine sounds like a spaceship toy.

I had a 2002 Dodge Stratus SE Plus. It had almost all the options, and I loved that car. Nicest car I ever had, and I miss it to this day. But it got transmission work and a new alternator under (extended) warranty in under 20,000 miles that I had it (I bought it at about 40,000). That was the warranty work, however the brakes went, and the wipers never worked right. Those were my only complaints. The car was pretty fast, pretty comfy, very stylish, sporty, and fun! I had the 2.7, and I got rid of the car before it failed.

If you look at www.2gss.org, and search for "2.7 failure" you'll find out why they fail. It has to do with flashing (extra metal flakes) left on the parts at the factory clogging up at a certain point causing a timing chain tensioner to fail resulting in poor oil flow overheating the oil causing it to caramelize and seizing the engine.

Using Synthetic oil can prevent the problem (I always used Synthetic, but I got rid of the car because for how much I was paying per month, I wanted less problems... So I got a Suzuki!!)

I have a 2002 Dodge Stratus SE+ that I bought used in July of 2004. I had 26000 miles on it at the time. I now have 40000 miles on it and only had to have new brakes and oil changes done. The car still rides smooth as the first day that I bought it. I wouldn't trade it for any other car.