I have been half heartedly looking to replace my 98 Avenger [246K+ miles and it still is running and driving great] I test drove a 2004 2.7ltr Intrepid today and I liked everything but the tire noise. The car had 119K miles on it and it rode and drove pretty good BUT, I have always stayed away from Intrepids due to the 2.7 sludge problems. I will admit that I don't change my oil every 3K miles. Sometimes my Avenger will probably see 7500 easily between oil changes [I have never had an engine related poblem with that car] So is the 2.7 flawed on a 2002 and newer Intrepid? What kind of gas milage should I expect out the 2.7?

 

I will take the lack of comments as a no on buying the Intrepid. I should just stick with what works and that has been my Avenger for the last 7 years

 

We just bought a 2002 Intrepid. If I had done my research before hand, I would not have bought it, but now that it's sitting in the driveway, we've decided we like it. We're trying to decide whether we should swap in a 3.5 or just go through the 2.7. It's not blown yet, so a simple overhaul would be cheap. We've been out shopping junk yards for a 3.5 today with no luck.

All of the salvage yard people have told us to overhaul and unload it, but it's kind of growing on us. We love the style, the interior space and the way it drives. It has 128k and still looks like new car in and out. If it were not for emissions testing, I'd find a way to drop in a SB Chevy, blown hemi or something else cool. I'd also like to suicide the back doors. This car would look way too cool with suicide doors.

 

2.7s don't blow up for no reason. Change the oil and make shure the waterpump isn't leaking and you'll be good.

 

I know that not all blown 2.7's are due to frequent oil changes. There was a design flaw but what years did that effect? But after much thought I know I am sticking with my Avenger. [Why on earth would you stick a small block Chevy into a Dodge? If you want to do something like that there is a nice 360 offered from Mopar Performance

 

Just to be different. A big block blown hemi towering out an Intrepid hood would just be the coolest though. The thing to do would be to cut the floor and firewall from an Intrepid body and drop it on a pro-street tube chassis. Then you can run all the horsepower you can afford and probably get an exemption from emissions testing.

 

I am trying to figure you out? Are you 17 and you think it would be cool to see a street version of a matchbox car? or are you and old guy going through a mid life crisis and you have more money than you know what to do with so you waste it on a useless vehicle? The only changes in my Avenger is custom wheels [American Racing Torque Thrust II] and a custom audio/visual system. I spend my money on keeping the car in the best shape possible so that I know it won't quit on me any time soon [246K+ miles and it is still running and driving better than most cars I have test driven] Goog luck with a car that would get 4 miles per gallon. But for now I just want to know if the Intrepids 2.7 is a worthy buy or should I look elsewhere? Since I like 4 cylinders I am leaning towards a new Avenger. I am happy with what I have now but I need a 4 door [without a blown Hemi sticking out of the hood]

 

scatpackmopar, from what I have read, the issues with the 2.7L having sludge problems in the latter years of the Intrepid were lessened by claimed enlargements to the oil passages. You should do oil changes ever 3K miles and knowing this engine's history and reputation, you must take into account that this engine needs a lot of TLC if you want it to last. If you are going to have an issue with not getting this done when it should be done, you should probably look into using synthetic oil (which seems to lessen the symptoms). As far as the fuel economy is concerned, I do not know for sure other than I have talked to people who owned 1st gen Intrepids with 3.5L engines (like mine) and decided to switch to 2nd gen Intrepid with 2.7L since the original claim was so optimistic, the results were they got the same fuel economy and lost power.

What I have received from my 3.5L Intrepid with probably 35%city/65% highway with using the A/C only when I need it, driving it conservatively most of the time, a K&N drop in, 10% Ethanol is just under 25mpg. On a pretty much highway trip, I can get over 30 quite easily but I still keep my foot out of the throttle and avoid using the a/c when possible.

As for the Avenger option, that 2.4L isn't a proven design yet. Even if they have the lifetime warranty, remember that if something goes wrong and they found you were late on an oil change or anything else, they will use that to weasel out of their commitment. The only one I would go with would be the 3.5L honestly, but then again I'm bias after having a good experience with this engine and knowing enough people that have had good luck as well (one person claimed his sister put 285K on her's before it was wrecked in a snow storm).

Another option would be a 3.2L V6 found in some 98-01 Intrepid ES models. Those were supposed to be more fuel efficient than the 3.5L in theory and never had the oil sludge or timing chain snapping issues. They had a few more electrical issues than the 3.5L, but nothing that expensive.

The fact of the matter is I don't trust nor like the 2.7L personally so I would recommend avoiding it and going with a 3.2L or 3.5L LH car or if you want to shop outside of Chrysler, try an 04 or newer Grand Prix with the 3800.
As for rrc1962, how would you expect to do that on a FWD car with an automatic that would certainly not be able to handle that much torque?

 

Thanks for the info. After much thought I have decided to stick with a 4 cylinder car. I think we are going to buy my wife a Ford Escape [she likes Fords] and I will wait and see what they do to the Avenger [it is supposed to be getting a make over soon] For now my 98 Avenger w/ the 2.0 is holding up and is giving me nor real issue to get rid of it.

 

I'm middle aged and just like well built, late model hot rods with real horsepower. Daily drivers are one thing..hot rods and customs are another. The daily driver gets you to work and back...A custom provides enjoyment in other ways. Surely you've seen a custom car or two. Building them is a hobby and is more fun that driving the finished car.