A poll for Intrepid owners. Like or dislike

I keep reading posts about blown motors. I would like to hear from intrepid owners that might have good stories also. I just bought mine and I hope there are happy owners out there.

I have a 2002 w/ the 2.7, I absolutely love my car. I bought it in January '04 with 37,560 miles on it and it has been the most reliable car that I have ever owned. I get 22 mpg average, it has excellent performance, gets me down the road in no time, very roomy and extremely quiet; I like sitting at a stop light and not hearing the engine idle. It's so smooth, I have to look at the tachometer just to make sure it's still running (it helps when the car has 3 mufflers plus 2 cats). I had one minor issue that occurred in February of this year where my water outlet housing started leaking on me, had to replace it, no biggie quick fix. I take extraordinary care of this car, I change the oil every 3,000 miles and use synthetic, the last owner who had it used synthetic on it since day one, and when I replaced the tranny fluid on my car, I used Mopar ATF +4, make sure you use this fluid only or else you'll have transmission issues. There's only one downside to this great car, the resale value sucks! My '02 w/ 63,000 miles on it is only worth $6000 trade-in! Needless to say, I don't plan on trading this car in any time soon, but I love it and plan on keeping it for as long as I possibly can. If you can, get a K & N filter (about $40) that'll improve mileage and power, not by a great deal, but you'll never have to buy another air filter again when you buy K & N.

FREAKNASTY that is the kind of experience I am hpoing to have with my car. This is the quietest, smoothest running car that I personally have ever owned. Great gas mileage for that large of a car also. It rides a family of 5 more comfortable than anything I've ever seen.

if you treat it like a newborn child, it'll be the best car you've ever had. I know a lot of people who hate Chrysler vehicles for the problems they have had. My car before this was a '92 Dodge Spirit and that was another great car. Other than the timing belt breaking, that was an awesome car, only reason why I don't have it anymore was because it met its demise w/ a head-on collision. Just take really good car of your Intrepid and it'll last you a long time. I work for a dealer and most 2.7s I see (for that fact 98% of them) are long-lasting vehicles. The only 2.7 I've seen was b/c a guy went 11,000 miles before he changed his oil. I've seen these engines have as high as 160,000+ miles w/ no major problems, just some blue smoke coming out of the tailpipe b/c of failed valve guide seals. And that's not on all of them.

I've got a 99 Intrepid with the 2.7 and to this day i've only had one major problem out of it. I'm at 122,000 miles and it starts up faithfully everyday through rain sleet or snow. As of now, my speed sensor just went out, but again, that's no major problem. I replaced my oil pan and keep the oil and coolant changed. I hear alot of people comming down on this car pretty bad, but i gotta say for my money, it's been pretty reliable to me.

My dad's got a 94 3.3L intrepid with 216,000 miles and it runs like it's brand new. The transmission is a little jerky, but it's the original so we don't blame it.

It's a daily driver too... my dad drives it about 30 miles total every day and it doesn't give him any trouble. Very good car.

my car haves transmission problems and it only has 89,110 miles!!!!

Ouch... that's the original transmission in my dad's car as well...

The decision is split in our household.

I have to admit that our 1999 Intrepid is pretty sexy in appearance.

It gets great gas mileage (28.7) measured over 10 tanksfull.

Fluids are easy to check and fill with the 2.7 liter engine.

It handles really good in snow.

Downside: (125K miles)

A/C compressor replaced.
Twin radiator fans smoked and had to be replaced.
CV joints are getting noisy and ready to be replaced.
The electric windows on the passenger side of the car don't operate even though a new master switch was installed. Where is this relay they say is supposed to be there.
Way too much is left in the hands of the computer.
Finally, the transmission has decided to act up.

RM

Anybody have a problem with their 2.7 Liter Chrysler engines? We have a 99 Intrepid, just bought it, had less than 27 hours altogether and car went from good to knocking, stalling, sputtering, clunking, etc. It's funny... there has been many problems with this style engine, and Chrysler recalls Park locks and Recliner bolts...

my car has only 87k and the problems are endless... stuttering at highway speed, cutting off in the parking lot, and dying electric system(battery/alternator) Now i remember why I alway stuck with chevys

I have a 2000 and have had no major problems at all. I have about 80K miles on it. The only thing I noticed lately is that my trunk release doesn't work with the trunk in the down position and a couple drops of oil on the garage floor. Not sure what is up with the oil leak. I need to get under there and take a look.

Chrysler Corp's cab forward design really gives me a lot of interior room. I am kinda tall at 6'3" and the four of us (my family) fits quite nicely. I can sit in the back sit with no problem at all. We don't fit into a comparable GM product like the Bonneville or LeSabre.

I just recently purchased a 1999 Dodge Intrepid for $3,900, it has 84,000 miles on it, the interior is great except for a crack in the crease of the front passenger side dash. The body has two small dents on the hood, and two 3 inch scratches with some rust in them. My car was running very ruff during idling making a light clicking sound, along with a high pitch engine strain noise. So I recently took the vehicle to the auto doctor for a diagnostic check and I was told that the front seal has a leak (to fix: $800); the Coolant Hose is leaking (to fix: $300); the Water Pump is squealing (to fix: $500); the car puffs out a whitish blue smoke when pressing the gas when idling from a stop, the mechanic recommends a Valve Job (to fix $1200). The repairs total $2,800; Should I sell my dear Intrepid or should I nurse my vehicle back to health with a cheaper hospital bill estimate? The car has a nice modern body design for its 1999 age, and is very roomy, with nice acostics. My girl friend has a 2002 model that she purchased brand new for $24,000, she is owes $14,000 on it today, although the retail is only worth $7,500. The only problem she has is a knocking sound when turning corners. I hope I did not fall into a money pit, will you guys offer some advice and could you guys also pray for a speedy recovery of our Intrepids. Thanks for listening!

I just recently purchased a 1999 Dodge Intrepid for $3,900, it has 84,000 miles on it, the interior is great except for a crack in the crease of the front passenger side dash. The body has two small dents on the hood, and two 3 inch scratches with some rust in them. My car was running very ruff during idling making a light clicking sound, along with a high pitch engine strain noise. So I recently took the vehicle to the auto doctor for a diagnostic check and I was told that the front seal has a leak (to fix: $800); the Coolant Hose is leaking (to fix: $300); the Water Pump is squealing (to fix: $500); the car puffs out a whitish blue smoke when pressing the gas when idling from a stop, the mechanic recommends a Valve Job (to fix $1200). The repairs total $2,800; Should I sell my dear Intrepid or should I nurse my vehicle back to health with a cheaper hospital bill estimate? The car has a nice modern body design for its 1999 age, and is very roomy, with nice acostics. My girl friend has a 2002 model that she purchased brand new for $24,000, she is owes $14,000 on it today, although the retail is only worth $7,500. The only problem she has is a knocking sound when turning corners. I hope I did not fall into a money pit, will you guys offer some advice and could you guys also pray for a speedy recovery of our Intrepids. Thanks for listening!
I don't know how mechanically inclined you are, but you could probably do alot of that yourself. A water pump is not a big deal...take off belt, loosen bolts, and put new pump and gasket in. probably about 60 or 70 bucks. Also I might check a used parts dealer in your area. You may be able to get some low mileage parts for cheap and those places are usually a lot cheaper on labor....i had to have my steering rack replaced for a 98 intrepid and the used parts place was 600 cheaper....although i ended up doing it myself for $35 dollars...it did take 11 hours though. I would never go by those diagnostic places because they want you to spend your money. My 98 intrepid has 175,000 miles on it and is still in pretty good shape even after being in an accident.....only big problem was replacing joints up front in suspension- 1500. other than that good car

had a 97 3.8 and loved it even when i had to do the head gaskets, very easy car to work on and fast too. would still have it if my soninlaw hadnt wrecked it. i would highly reccomend an trepid and not highly reccomend a sable!!! mercury will never get my buisenss again! we put over 100k on the intrepid and had no probs till our kids started driving it. what a great car.
russe203...get a book on the intrepid and you can do the work yourself , the knocking sound on turning corners is probably a steering control arm bushing, look at back of engine by firewall and can see the main steering controller and two arms most likely one has a bushing gone out. the part runs bout 40 to 50 bucks at napa auto parts and is fairly simple fix. just mark the adjustment nut and put back to same adjustment when reinstalling. 300 for a coolant hose!!!!! wow i am in wrong buisness. 20 bucks max., if you have the 3.8 engine doing water pump is easy but be sure to set timing correctly according to book (chiltons or haynes) if not it will not start but is easy fix too. is it smoke or steam coming out? but neway find another reputable shop those places do want your money and they charge way to much.

I have a 1995 intrepid that has 227000 miles and the only trouble I have had so far is a flex plate $600.00 and water pump $35.00 did it myself. I love my car still rides smooth alot better then my wifes 99 ponc Grand prix GT.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h258/anita_blackwidow/PiggyWavingHi.gif

Hello Readers!
Gosh do i need some major HELP, and if anyone out there has the time to help me out, i'd be the most happiest lady in Michigan about now. Let me explain my situation.
I have a 94 intrepid 3.3 i bought it about 2 and a 1/2 years ago, and at 90 thousand miles the trans went out on it and i had it taken to Multi-state transmission and they said i needed a need trans put in and there went 2 thousand dollars for a rebuilt transmission. Barely 30 thousand miles later, i'm driving along and the car wont go into 3rd gear. I pull over, let it cool off and it starts up and drives again, and about 10 minutes later, it did it again. Now being fearful of another 2 thousand dollar bill for another trans, i got the car home and called Multi state transmission and they said my car wasnt in warrenty now and they'd charge me... I called American Transmission who is much closer to me and they came and towed my car at my request because i didnt want to take any chance of making whatever is wrong, any worse, so they towed it 19 miles and charged me 110.00. 2 days later the guy calls me and states he doesnt know what is wrong, and he said he wanted 300 to drop the trans and look at it, and from there on who knew how much it could cost. I got leary and said NO. I went and got the car and a friend of mine, said he could look at it, while leary i accepted because of my money situation, and he said i needed another transmission, so i went to a junk yard and got another one and brought it to him. He installed it, and he said while taking it out he noted a broken trans mount, so i had that fixed, then he called and said i needed a transmission cooler unit, so i paid him 80 dollars for that, then he called and said he needed fluids and i gave him 20 dollars for that, then he called and said something about sensors, so to make a longer story shorter, i have given him, trans included near 700 dollars and the car still isnt fixed. I went yesterday after him having it 3 weeks now, and i brought it up to a transmission place called Independent Transmission of Michigan, Inc in Detroit Michigan, and a man named Neil said he'd look at it. Well about 3pm a guy named steve called and said they wouldnt be able to get a look at my car until today, but said something about a code 45 hard? and they thought MAYBE it was electrical.
I wanted to state to you too, it seemed right before this happened, and NO I DONT use the car to haul stuff, or pull heavy objects, its just used to go to the doctors and to the grocery store, that the fan by the radiator kept going on more often but the car wasnt showing it as being HOT, OR even warm for that matter.
So what i guess i'm asking you is what is wrong with my darn car? this is the third transmisson, and I've put in two of them. The car itself, motor wise never has given me any problems, but the trans IS, and im so afraid of whom to trust, and how do i know if there being fair or truthful? The person who worked on my car i'm worried did more harm then good, and i just dont no what to do and i dont know anyone being a widow that knows anything about cars, and when these guys are talking to me about my car, i'm clueless and dont understand what the heck they are talking about.
From what i've been reading intrepids seem to be popular for trans problems, and i have no idea why mine keep going out. What does code 45 mean? and IF this transmisson place states i need work is there anyone out there that i can contact to see your opinion before i let somoene else touch it? The place is called Independent Transmission of Michigan, Inc on W. six mile Road in Detroit Michigan, has anyone heard of it?
sorry for the continous babble, but i hope what i've typed helps you to be able to help me figure this out.
Thank you in advance for your time and patience,
Anita Black

Here's my .02 cents worth!

I own a 1996 Intrpeid ES with the 3.5 Engine. This has been my daughters car for the last 3 years but we just bought her a new Montero for graduation. This car has 175000 miles on it. I'm not going to lie, it has had some issues in the years I've owned it. Most of them were small but aggravating to isolate. I did have the trany rebuilt last year, but the shop indicated that the previous owners had run dexron in the tranny, not ATF4 like it should have had (i guess it was full of dexron at the time!). Since my daughter got a new car, I was going to get rid of this one. I had to replace the tires and front struts since they were shot and it wasn't until then that I noticed how well this blasted car really handles! I have been driving it on my work commute for a week now and actually liking it! It runs great and is getting 28.5 MPG to boot! Other than a couple of warning lights going crazy and blinking whenever they want to, this car is still VERY sound!

I'm giving my Tacoma 4x4 a break and getting a lot better gas mileage.

s

We bought a 99 3.2 es new. On the plus side, the car is comfortable, rides well, responsive, and gets good gas mileage. It now has 81k babied miles on it, but there's always something wrong with it. One of the scariest things was the power brake booster suddenly failed, and on this car standing on the brake pedal just barely slows you down. power window motors, heater actuator,broken spot weld (leak), oil pan,transmission sensors,door window lift, radiator fan failure, door speaker rattling,trunk won't remote release, now the ac is leaking freon and we're starting to get dead starts(turn the key and nothing happens). This one has always been adult driven and dodge serviced. I don't think they are very good cars

About 2 years ago I bought a 1995 Dodge Intrepid for 2500 bucks.. the car had 132k miles on it and ran beautifully... since then all I have replaced on the car was a water pump, that whole main belt(dumbfounded I can't think of the belts damn name), and one of the back bearings because it went really sudden and locked up my tire! other than that I've only had to put new tires on it and get it an alignment. It's now been 2 year and the car has 170k on it and stills runs like a top.. it's gettin older I know but everthing still works beautifully in her (air,heat,cruise,ect). So I love this car it has never given me any problems whatsoever. Although one time the tranny wouldn't shift out of 1st but I quickly diagnosed the problem and fixed it.. all it was is there was completely no tranny fluid in there due to a small leak in the hose.. but as soon as I filled her up she ran like a top again and I haven't had any problems with the tranny since then.. that was prolly 3k miles ago.. so over I LOVE THE CAR :grinyes:

OK,
Here's the deal. When you offer a car for sale to the general public, I.E, Stock, average Detroit Iron, your basic everyday joe is going to drive the car to and from work, an occasional road trip, change the oil every three thou...or so. Change out tranny fluid and filter once a year, Use the oil change place down on main st. where Billy works..........No...........When you buy an Intrepid, your' of that distinctive group of people who drive the car off the lot, head down to the Parts store. You buy a K&N Filter and 5 Qts. of the best synthetic oil you can find. Then get a Fram Double gaurd oil filter, or better and a drain pan. You then buy a specially made precision 17 MM wrench that fits the drain plug so snugly, you have to tap it on with a small hammer. With floor jack and stands on hand, you raise the car and set up the stands, because its going to your sweet little tail end thats going to be changing the oil, because you need to protect your sweet little $15,000.00 investment. If anyone else comes within 5 inches of the hood release, you knock them smooth out. If I wanted this kind of headache, Id buy a 1957 Rolls Silver Wraith. Because if Im going to baby a car to that extent, its because its going to the Kruse auction next week and is going to fetch me a cool $30,000 profit. Come on people, lets be realistic......

.......Road

I just purchased a '97 Trep with a 3.3 and 150,000 miles. The car has great performance, roomy, quiet inside, no complaints at all. The transmission had a bit a a downshift jerk to it. I changed the filter and tranny fluid withthe correct Chrysler stuff and the trainy is running great now. I hope the honeymoon lasts.

I bought new Intrepid new in 2000 I just love this car, treat it like a baby, I have not had any real problems just the ususal new tires...etc, I change the oil every 3000 miles I have 47,710 mile on it now, i just had the trans oil changed. Im planning on keeping this car for quite awhile. Good luck with yours!
Big #43 Bobby Labonte fan

Just bought a used 1999 Intrepid with only 115,000 kms. Great shape, I just love the car. I do however have a very loud grinding sound from engine on initial startup, especially when it's rather cold in the morning. After first initial startup, it works great and all subsequent startups are fine. This is somewhat baffling. Other than that, this rides and sounds like a beautiful machine. Regards, Nul

An old thrd but I had to answer. We bought a 2000 ES with the 2.7 off the showroom floor. It now has 180,000kms (112,000 miles). I do all the misc service myself. Only time I had to bring it in was the timing chain tensioner ($500). Other than that it still drives and handles like a new car. Still has the original brakes and rotors. On the hwy it gets up to 38 mpg. This thing just won't quit.
Because of the mileage, we have been looking at new vehicles, but I'm having a hard time replacing it compared to what you get in a new car.
the only sad part is you get nothing for resale on these things. It's better for me to drive this till the wheels fall off, but that might be for quite a few more years.