Hi all. I am considering purchasing a 98 - 2001 intrepid. I drive alot and I need to make cetain that I have as reliable a car as I can get. I personally like the styling, room and performance of the car. But can it be reliable enough to drive it 200k +? Pros and Cons are appreciated.
Ummmmmmmm, the original poster is considering a 98 - 2001 which, in my book, means a used vehicle. Being discontinued won't really affect the value of a used vehicle that has been in production for as many years as the Intrepid.
I have a 2000 3.2l it has been an excellent car. The only complaint I have with it is the crappy brake rotors that warp long before your brake pads need replacement.
I'll put my 2 cents worth in... I have a 00ES w/ 3.2L engine, leather, autostick, CD changer and sunroof. IMHO...I'd put this car up against anything. That said, now some specifics. Have 58K miles on it. Many of the miles are highway, very little metro city miles. Don't use the autostick much...no need. Wife has lead foot so city mileage isn't great but will get 28-32 MPG on the highway at 72 MPH. Maintenance issues...factory radio/cassette went out after warranty. Bought a used one on Ebay for $75 now all is well. There is what I think is a VERY slight seepage from a "weep hole" on the differential. I will have it looked at when I have the drive belts changed at 60 K for preventive maintenance. Understand there is a TSB on this. 1 recall (seat bolt) that I'm aware of. Livability issues. None. We have 2 young kids and the trunk swallows up everything. Bottom line: If the car was totaled tomorrow, I'd get another one or a 300M (don't need to pack as much now that the kids are out of cribs :-)) For a more complete picture/opinion, visit
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You'll find some "unfortunate luck" with some folks and their 2.7L engine. Have yet to hear any complaints about the 3.2L or 3.5L engine. HTH
It is the best looking and confortable car I got in my life. But it is the worst reliable car also. It as only 47 000 milles on it and I got many reliability problems that never occur in 12 years with my 1992 ford tempo.
Just to mention some
1-On day it refuse to go out of park and it cost me a fortune at the dealer to repair it
2-Fan blower resitor block has a one shut thermistor (The thermistor worth less than 1$) but the dealer will change the resistor block and it will cost you arround 100$ (a women said that a dealer charged her around 600$ for the repair)
3-My suspension is to be changed
4-Today I just lost my brake suddenly, like in James Bond movies, I was lucky to survive and more lucky not to kill any one. It was a chance that my emergency brake was brand new ( I had to change it 3 months ago)
I am not the only one to have problems you can look at:
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After around 3000$ of repair in the last 12 month, I could not say that it is a reliable car.
Read thru most of Mychrylsersucks. Windows were indeed a problem on the 1999 300M. So was road noise if you kept the Goodyear tires. Chrysler had mine replaced at 10k miles for vibration problems. When the new ones started vibrating again after another 10K I bought Michelins. Most of the rest of it looked like a lousy dealer too lazy to look for a bad ground connection.
I looked at a few posts at the gluckman site but with no dates of postings that I could see the complaint page did not seem particularly worthwhile. The poor guy with the rust spots on his 2 cars probably should be looking at a factory he parks his car near instead of Chrysler for the problem. There are tons of white Chryslers in my area with no paint issues. If he has 2 separated by many model years I would look in his neighborhood and not the paint job.
When a dealer engages in fraudulent charges, you can't blame the car.
Probably a misdiagnosis. My personal experience says that shops will
*ALWAYS* tell a customer that they need new struts when they get a complaint of *ANY* suspension behavior or noise at anything over 50k miles, when 19 times out of 20, the particular cause of the complaint is something much simpler and cheaper (worn sway bar bushing, simple alignment problem that is easily fixed with an inexpensive kit to extend camber adjustment range, etc.). I see it all the time. The alignment shop told me I needed new struts when I complained of a thumping noise going over bumps - glad I didn't believe them - turns out I needed $20 worth of sway bar bushings (took 30 minutes to replace).
So what caused it - doubtful it was a manufacturing defect. What are you not telling us about the history of your brakes? With a dual circuit brake system like cars are required to have, it would be very unusual to totally lose brakes (i.e., would require two failures - very unlikely on a properly maintained vehicle).
Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")
New air conditioning evaporator - $1,800 Cdn New fuel pump assembly because fuel sensor quit working - $675 Cdn
Other than those repairs, nothing too major and not much to complain about. I find the car reliable and comfortable. However, I think in a little while, it's going to turn into a money pit. Time will tell.
Was that due to the bad Shell gas in Canada that was reported to have ruined sending units? I may be wrong, but if the time frame and location was right, you may be able to get reimbursed by Shell.
Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")
I looked into the 'Shell Gas' situation. Seems there is a class action suit pending in the Province of Quebec where the problem originated. I live in Ontario. I will be looking into it further. Thanks for your comments.
It was the brake booster that failed. Like you are, I am very surprised that when this piece fail you can loose suddendly all brake power. I don't know if it is the same on other cars, but this is totaly against the fail safe principle. Any way it is very scarry when it append to you.
You don't lose brakes at all when the booster fails, and its exactly the same on all cars with power brakes. Pedal effort does increase significantly, but this is a fact that any driver should be aware of. Read your owners manual. In fact, the same thing can happen if you simply run out of gas and use the brake pedal 3-4 times while coasting to a stop, using up all the vacuum reserve in the booster. Again, read the owners manual. I suppose you're equally unaware of the fact that steering effort gets much higher if you run out of gas, too? I hope to God you're not on the road anywhere near me! All drivers should be able to understand common side-effects and failures and how to deal with them or they should tear up their drivers license and buy good walking shoes.
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