New to this place (nice forum, by the way!) and am looking to purchase a 2000 or 2001 Stratus for my mother. Her 1992 Pontiac Sunbird LE finally died, and is going to one of the charity places as a donation; now she needs a reliable small car to get her around town (<5,000 miles/year). I suggested the 4-5-year-old Stratus, and she seems OK with that. Most of the older ones seem to have way too many miles, or have been damaged. If the vehicle of choice has a few extras (power driver's seat, power windows & locks), that will be good, as her arthritis bothers her when she has to slide the seat forward (barely 5 feet tall).

The plan is for her to look at and test drive one this weekend. She is fiercely independent, but has no experience in choosing a car - my father always took care of that stuff in the past, but is deceased and she is on her own with some help from me.

My experience with Mopar stuff has been great for the past 30+ years, so I am optimistic. My first car was a 1964 Plymouth Fury, and I have also had vehicles ranging from a Horizon TC-3 to Imperials; all were great cars. I now drive a 2002 Jeep GC Overland and even that has been trouble-free, so I figure an established model like the Stratus should be a good choice.

So, what should I look for? Any known problems with the 4-cyl engine? Mileage on the prospective cars is in the 16,000-27,000 range (former lease cars), and all are said to be in excellent condition with the local dealership (reputable) providing a warranty.

Thanks in advance for the advice and suggestions.

 

the four cylinder is, as I understand it, pretty solid. You might want to be careful with the 2001, it was the first year for the new design, and it might have some minor flaws they fixed in the later years, I don't really know though. It'll be a good car for her though.

 

Thanks for the quick response. I will definitely look over everything on the cars we look at very closely. As with most dealers, I have heard some good and bad about one place where we are going, mostly related to service concerns. Whichever she buys, it will probably be serviced by an independent shop near her home. The only warranty involved will probably be a 30-day dealer warranty, unless she goes with a 2002 that has some factory warranty left on it. If that is the case, then it would go to a local Dodge dealer.

We will be out today looking around, and will report back with any findings.

 

OK.... we did the shopping trip and found a really nice 2001 (Champagne Gold) SE 4-dr with 31,000 miles and a V-6. Lots of nice features, including side air bags the required power seat. It drove and handled perfectly, and the body looks great. It was a lease car from Ohio, and looks to have been treated well. My mother seemed to really like the car, and noticed that the V-6 is a lot stronger, but quieter, than the Pontiac 4-cyl. That Dodge really flew; she hit the gas, and it darn near became airborne.... after that, she was much lighter on the loud pedal . I drove it up a long hill and back down; the brakes and driveline seemed to be tight and in perfect shape. Carfax showed some suspension work was done a while back (possibly the control arm replacement recall). No leaks or mechanical oddities were noted. This car brought back memories of my (former) Intrepid.

The only concern for my mom was that she will have to acclimate herself to the differences between the Stratus and the old Pontiac which she drove for 12 years. At her age, it may take a bit longer - although at my age, sometimes those things take a bit longer as well. She noticed the 4-disc CD changer, and said, "I don't even own any CD's!" Maybe I should load that baby up for her with some of her favorite music (she loves the Pavarotti and Beverly Sills stuff)....... hey now, there's an idea for Christmas .

One thing I noticed was the lack of an ABS light when starting the engine. Not having an owner's manual (yet), I have to ask the following: Could it not have ABS or could the ABS not be working (unlikely, I hope, because one would expect the light to stay ON if the system had failed), or maybe there is no such light, and it has ABS? I cannot imagine one of these cars (sold new for >$18,000 in October, 2000) not having ABS as standard equipment [sm=dontgetit.gif].

One web site showed that ABS was standard equipment, while another showed it as an option ($565.00). Maybe I should try to obtain the factory build sheet for this car.

Any further help and/or ideas are appreciated.

 

I'd get the factory build sheet. I know on the stratus coupe, the SE's have it as an option, but its a standard feature on the R/T trim model.

I just checked. Yes on every trim lower than the R/T (with the Magnum V6 engine) it is an option. So no the vehicle isn't equipped with it. If you talk to the dealer they may be able to install it for you, but it depends on what the dealer wants to do. Good luck with everything

 

you know, we're just getting our winter weather, and this car has some really great feedback as to what's happening.

 

It was one heck of a day today. my mom took delivery on the 2001 Stratus SE, and already said she likes it. She even took the owner's manual indoors with her when she arrived home so she could read up on where everything is located (controls, etc.).

The sales rep was very good (helpful), but the business manager tried to sell her the extended warranty ($1100.00) and an electronic rust inhibitor ($300.00); she declined for now, and all is cool.

One thing she had to learn was to not hit the accellerator as hard as she did with the old car. The Dodge really takes off and flies if more than a little gas is applied. Figuring that she normally refuels about once every 4-6 weeks, this will remain a low-mileage car for as long as she owns it. Her averahe weekly mileage is really low (~30 or less), although she and her friends will probably be tearing up the streets during the next few weeks just for the fun of it.

I attached two pictures of the new beast.

 

Very very clean, glad shes happy with it Good luck to her with it in the future!!

 

It is definitely in showroom condition; she said the last time she had a car that was really comfortable was in the 1970's, when she and my dad drove Imperials. Since then, they have had various brands and sizes, but this one is a very smooth runner. I figure the local LEO's will be watching her, although she said she is going to be very careful with that 200 HP . Kind of odd seeing somebody her age getting excited about a "new" car...... must be the other one had worn out its welcome, and she was just putting up with it.

 

Thats so cool though! I'm gonna be excited about cars until the day I die! lol. Thats why im going to school for autobody.