1999 Dodge Intrepid LX from North America - Comments

The list would be shorter if I told you what has not gone wrong with this car.

5,500 miles, windows quit working, dealer replaced all motors.

9,600 windows quit again, replaced motors with second generation motors according to dealer.

15,000 miles electrical problems start. Lights flicker, headlights blink on and off. People are constantly thinking I am flashing lights at them.

22,000 the A/C goes out on the car. Dealer replaces the evap. coil. I am thanking god I got a Factory Extended Warranty from the dealer.

At 27,000 the A/C goes out again. Dealer replaces the entire system this time.

At 33,000 miles the front seat breaks and causes the back of the seat to fall all the way back while I am driving down I-95 at 70-75 miles per hour. We cross the center line almost hitting North bound traffic head on with my children in the car. I stopped at the first dealer, they refused to come out and look at it, instead sent me on my way telling me to call my regular dealer and make an appointment to have it repaired. I filed a complaint with the Federal Highway Safety Commission and Dodge. No response from anyone, but see 3 years later it becomes a recall item.

At 63,000 miles the engine starts knocking. I am told by the dealer the engine is blown. They rebuild it.

At 63,300 miles (Three Days Later) the engine blows again. I take it back and the dealer refuses to fix it. Seems I was not sold a Factory Extended Warranty, I was sold a insurance policy. The company blames the dealer for faulty work, the dealer says they did what they were told by the insurance company. My car sat there for 3 months while we fought with them. We called Dodge and was told, we do not get involved in dealer / customer warranty disputes.

I had to finally pay $9,600 dollars for a new engine.

63,313 That's right 13 miles back to the shop again. The dealer left the trunk open and the battery went dead. They jumped the battery and blew the starter, but failed to tell me this before letting me leave the shop. The car sat in my driver for two days and they finally came and towed it back to repair it.

78,000 miles the A/C goes out again. I go to a A/C shop only to find that the fans do not work. All the relays are burned out. When we replace them the wiring catches on fire. We find a screw put in from the factory that went through the wiring harness from the factory. This caused the wiring to short out different things in the car. We repaced this wiring and now the A/C works great, the engine has no more problems with sludge buildup, the flickering lights stop flickering. The shop feels the car ran hot for years due to this defect and that is what caused my premature engine failure.

At 110,000 the transmission speed sensors went out.

At 138,000 the entire transmission went out and had to be rebuilt.

At 168,000 I had to rebuild the front end, replace the starter again, and other electrical items.

At 168,500 after replacing all the items recommended by the dealer the water pump went out. In order to correct the water pump you must tear down the entire top of the engine, replace the timing chain, guides, pull the heads, cams, and the entire front of the car. The water pump cost $40 dollars. The labor cost and associated items to go along to replace it $1400 dollars.

I driver the car on the highway with very little city mileage. I use it about 90% highway. So far I have spent over $17,000 in repairs on a vehicle that I spent $21,000 on the purchase price when new.

I love the ride, I love the performance of the car when it works. However, the repair issues along with the dealers attitude and the attitude of Dodge Corporate ensures I will never buy another Dodge. I will make sure anyone I know does not buy a Dodge. If there is a lawsuit on this car count me in big time. Contact me at tmgr869@hotmail.com or brow38@bellsouth.net.

I feel bad for you dude, that car is a piece of crap.

But I had to lmao at your headline comment...

$9600 for an engine? In a Dodge?

Fantastic review!

It is March 2006, and I have been considering buying an Intrepid. There are a few around town selling for a few hundred dollars. I've always driven old Buick (LeSabres, Park Avenue etc) and Pontiac (6000, Parisienne), and they're cheap to fix and reasonable reliable (no major flaws). I always wanted an Intrepid or LHS, they look nice.

My consensus of the reviews, this must be a seriously crap car.

But this review is outrageous. $9600 for an engine. Chrysler has made a killing off of REPAIRS!

I could go buy myself a dozen or so Intrepids for that price!

I might just go down to that shady dealer and pick up that $500 Intrepid, just for kicks and see how long it will run without a repair.

I wonder if the new Magnums and Chargers are just as crap. Time will tell.

Hey uhhh I got a '99 with almost 100,000 and I'm not havin any problems with it at all. the only work I've ever done on it was routine oil changes/tune-ups every 5500 miles, yes I know, that's 2500 over the suggested mileage, but I'm not havbing any problems.

I share your pain! I've had my '99 Intrepid for 4 years and in that time I've had the A/C seize, which burned off the belt, which resulted in my alternator dying along with my battery. I've had to replace the speed control sensor 3 times. I had to have the front suspension replaced after 2 months of owning it. Was sold the car with the wrong size tires on it. Been having my dome light flashing on and off while driving, which freaks me out @ night. The welding on the converter cracked next to the manifold making my car loud which cost me $450 to have fixed. And now I've been told my engine is blown and they want $3000 to fix it. I think I might just pay a crackhead $20 to blow it up and be done with this piece of crap!

Your engine was knocking and they told you it was blown?!? Man they must see you as an easy target.

I just bought an intrepid from an auction, for 800 dollars, the engine is knocking, someone told me its probably a broekn piston shaft...

Does anyone have an idea about what wrong...

A lot of people have told me the car is OK, but having read ur comments I feel discouaraged to have bought this car.

I also just bought a 99 Intrepid and now I am regretting it having read all this stuff about them..

My dad have an Intrpid and the Engine went, Get a Grand Prix!!! You'll love it!!!

YIPES!!! I'm waiting to pick up my 99 Intrepid today from the dealership. I decided to buy it Friday and they said they wanted to take it in to charge everything up and make sure everything is working properly, they found there was a problem with the water pump and said they were fixing it, I'd be able to pick it up Monday (today), but through the weekend I've read some pretty bad reviews.

I'm wondering if I would be able to pick out a different vehicle.

I've been looking at buying a used Intrepid, but they sound like a piece of crap. My '92 Buick has fewer problems than this car. Thanks for the reviews; you saved me from owning one of those piles!