I'm SERIOUSLY looking at Stratus R/T's or SXT's in a 2 door 5 speed and wanna know if they are Mitsu's?

Are the 3.0's the same smoke burners that came in every v6 FWD from the 80's and 90's??

What about the 2.4's? Do they have all the headgasket issues of the Neon's?

What type of isses do I need to watch out for and are some years better than others??

Up until yesterday was gonna buy a Dakota, but, I really like the look of the Stratus and the mileage HAS to be better than a truck!

 

The 2.4 in the coupe is way different than that in the sedan and neon. Yes, the coupes are 75% Mitsubishi. 01-02 and 03-05 are a little bit different body wise, thats all.

 

Ok, so do these cars have the quality control issues and poor engineering of the older Mitsu cars, IE newer ecplises, Diamontes etc?

 

They are quite reliable. I have had zero major problems with my car. If you regularly maintain the vehicle, you shouldnt run into trouble. I have seen the odometer of one reach 268,977 miles.

 

The main things to watch out for are paint fade on the black 01/02s, headlight hazing (a maintenance issue), and engine tick, which can be remedied.

 

If you want a car to last, just keep up with maintenance, I love my strat, I haven't had one problem with it yet , and hope not to in the future. As Dan said, the coupes are based off a Mitsubishi Eclipse, and the Sedans are completely different. Anything you see from an Eclipse (Suspesnion, Motor, Exhaust with an extension, wheels, brakes.)

 

What of the engine tick?? My 02 hasa tick..(rightside of engine), is this something I should be getting checked out right away??

Thanks

 

Coupe or sedan? I assume coupe. Its the lash adjusters. Im not sure exactly what is going on, but a 1/3-1/2 can of seafoam before an oil change will fix it right up. Also there is set of things you can do to free them . I forget exactly, but holding the idle at 3000rpms until it stops ticking, then releasing, then back to 3k rpms if it does it soon after. It will clear the lifter up and the tick will subside.

 

Yes it's a Coupe. I did a little Googling after reading this topic and the Lash adjusters seemed to be mentionedthe mostfor the problem. Thanks so much for the info