So I bought a 99 Intrepid a few months ago after pouring over what car to get for my wife. She has had several Jeeps, all of which had little problems, but it was time to get something with a little better fuel economy. We looked at various vehicles ranging from New Beetles to Ford Focus to, well, you name it. We wanted to get a Subaru, but could not find one that was a reasonable price that didn't have 300,000 miles on the ticker.

Every vehicle we would find, I would come onto the web to check on reliability or known chronic issues and it was very tiring. Every vehicle I checked on was fraut with issues. Excessive oil consumption and parts falling off of the New Beetle. Transmission failing over and over in the Volvo X70. Engine sludging in Toyotas. Chronic head gasket issues in Subarus. Engine sludge and timing chain issues in the 2.7 liter engine of the 2nd gen Intrepid. Heck, my Ford F150 could catch fire at any given moment. Finally we had had enough and just went and found a car that was in good shape and was something we would want after deciding there is no such thing as a truely reliable automobile.

So we found a 99 Intrepid, 2.7 with 79,000 on the ticker. Drove it, it drove fine, came with snow tires. I was satisfied, it didn't leak or shake or rattle or any of that, so we bought it. After all was said and done, the guy told me "Oh by the way, you have to run 20w50 in it, because the guy before me ran 20w50 in it". Of course I was mildly horrified, but at the same time I have heard of people running the thick stuff in cars. Wasn't a lot that could be done anyway.

So we got it home, and that was that until it came time for the oil change. It was within 500 miles of it's oil change due date when I bought it. Anyway, I decided I would run 10w30 in it, keeping in mind that it was possible this thing had low oil pressure. By then I had tormented myslef by reading on the net about the 2.7 burning oil, sludging, timing chain breaking, you name it. I had even read about that supossed tierod issue where the bolts that connect the tierods to the steering rack would shear and cause a loss of control. I dismissed that on early on after reading about the police intrepids and how they did very well in the testing for law enforcement use, but ultimately did not go into widespread use probably because they were destined to be discontinued. Police don't commit to a car that will not be made anymore.

I changed the oil, used 10w30, and there was no knocking, no blue smoke, all was well, or so it seemed. I started checking the oil, and the oil level started to drop at a pretty decent rate. Then my wife told me that the oil light came on. She said it flickered at a red light. I checked it out, drove it around all day and it flickered once. I also started to notice a small bit of oil on the garage floor. I looked underneath and saw oil on the pan and near the oil fliter and assumed I was messy when I changed the filter. Then the wife called me one day telling me the car would not start. I drove to her place of work, it cranked slow and started. I turned it off, and it would not start. I jumped it and it started and we got it home. I checked the battery connections, cleaned them, charged the battery, still would not start. I jacked the car up and started checking connections. The bolt that holds the main power cable on the starter was loose. Tightened it, problem solved. I still have no idea why they used 20w50, unless they saw that oil light flicker and thought it had low pressure.

I decided to check on that oil seepage I saw while I was underneath, the oil pressure sensor was soaked in
oil. I realized oil was actually leaking throught it. I figured I would get a new sensor. The following weekend we were driving when we got to a red light, and the engine stopped. After a fare bit of cranking, it started, and the check engine light was on. Not good. Next day had the codes scanned at an aut parts place, turned out it was the cam sensor. I got a cam sensor and an oil pressure sensor. both problems solved. No more oil loss, and the car runs fine. Oh, I also had to replace the heater fan resistor because the fan only worked on high when we bought it.

One thing I noticed was copper rtv around the valve covers and the front cover of the engine. I am pretty confident either the engine had been replaced or has had the timing chain/water pump replaced. Obviously I cannot confirm this, but there is not much of a reason for those to have been off except to work on that stuff. It runs fine, gets great economy. I don't worry about it because I have owned almost 40 cars, and they have all had "issues" that they are known for, but I have never had any major problems. I consider what I went through on this car to be normal used car stuff. I have never bought a used car and not had to fix some little thing that comes up. If the engine explodes tomorrow, I'll live. I refuse to be stressed out over it. After all, My F150 was supposed to have caught fire and killed me by now and that hasn't happened.

It seems that the used Intrepids have a bad rep, but lets be honest. Most used Intrepids on the road are from rental fleets, and we all know how vehicles are cared for in rental fleets, and we all know how people drive rental cars. I must say though that I have never seen an oil sensor leak though the body, but whatever...

 

The Intrepids are very solid cars. The 3.2/3.5l are a better engine, but the 2.7's will hold up. They just lack power and tend to consume more oil than the SOHC V-6's. I bought my '99 ES in 2001 because we see so few of them in the shop for anything beyond maintenance. Just over 100k miles now, only repairs have been the master window switch (auto down quit, very irritating), the digitalHVAC control module (screen went blank) and frontbrakes at 84k. I did my Plugs, Timing belt, tensioner, waterpump and thermostat at 98k, but that's maintenance. I did replace the harmonic balancer at that time, as I was bothered by the deterioration of the rubber that was visible. Figured better safe than sorry for only $87. Eventually I will do a transmission flush, but the stuff is still bright red and smells new, so I continue to wait. Will probably do struts some time in 2008, but they're not leaking, the car rides fine and tires wear evenly. I do my oil changes every 3k with Valvoline full synthetic 10w30 and do a full inspection at these intervals, so no problem goes unnoticed for long.

I average 24.2 MPG, with my commute being a mix of highway and in-town. Interstate travel, 27-29, depending on how fast I go.

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The oil sending unit issue on the 2.7's is a common problem. There are multiple TSB's about it. That's probably why the last owner switched to 20w50, but that is way to thick for the tight tolerances of the 2.7 DOHC engine. 5w30 or 10w30.

The inner tie rod issue only affects 1st gen ('93-'97) LH cars. And a person would have to have ignored the horrible handling and godawful thunking for a looooong time before the bolts actually broke.

The cam sensor failuresare not unheard of, but I can't say I've ever known the starter power cables to get loose on their own.

Only recommendation I can make on 2.7l carsis to check the oil and coolant regularly; if the water pump leaks, it will contaminate the oil.

 

My first Intrepid, which I bought for my wife in late 95, was a new 96 wih a 3.5. Mostly country driving gave me about 21 mpg. An absolutely fantastic car. Other than routine serviceing at the dealer, our only problem was a front tire tread separation. The dealer instantly replaced the full set of tires. My wife passed away in late 98 and I gave the car to her kids.

Five years ago I bought a 98 Intrepid, 2.7 liter engine, about 90 K. It started and ran well. After a couple months I noticed a bit of blue smoke on acceleration. The guy at the Firestone dealership said that my intake valve seals were bad, a common problem on the 2.7. He also said that to install new seals on the 2.7 was a major (read very expensive) task on the overhead cam engine. Instead of spending $1,200 bucks, use synthetic oil. I changed oil and the smoke went away. Hmmm.

A couple weeks later my cam timing sensor went out. A really quick fix. A couple years later, middle of winter, my heater resistor went. This time I went to the Dodge garage for immediate service and got burned for $200. The heater worked but my wallet was hurting. Last month my starter went out. That's when I found out that you can't buy starter solenooid switches anymore. So I replacedd the whole starter. Examination showed that the solenoid can in fact be easily dissassembled. Now I need to see if I can find the internal switch contact plate. Last week my heater resistor went again and this time I'll know better.

I get about 21 mpg with mostly city driving and on balance its a good car.

I've mixed emotions over buying a 03 or 04 before they all go away in favor of lesser vehicles.