So .. Little background

I have a 95 Dodge Dakota 4x4 (Replacing timing chain and water pump now) and a 2000 Dodge Durango (ended up replacing the motor), I have been looking at the Stratus for a while now. Im looking at some 2003's and 2004's (R/T or SXT) body style is nice.

Are they a good buy? I really dont want to get into one and then have the motor sludge like my durango or have to drop a tranny in.

Really I dont even care if its a stratus I get per say. Basically I need to meet these standards..Sporty but not a race car, Good gas Mileage, 2 door , leather seats, manual transmission 5,000- 6000 $
This is the only model car I see available with the features I want in this price range.

Narrowed it down to the Acura (cant afford.. usually around 8k ) Honda Prelude (Cant stand honda) and stratus (scared of the known failures)

Any advice


Thanks in advance

 

i have a 2002 rt coupe. 3.0L, autostick.

around 70,000 miles, driven hard and raced quite a bit since day one, but closely maintained. the only thing ive replaced was the motor mounts (i went to solid mounts), and pads/rotors. the rotors werent bad, but i got a good deal on slotted rotors.

the transmission is a little "looser" than id like, but it doesnt slip or anything like that. the engine oil when i drain it still looks clean.

the struts are a little noisy, but only on nasty bumps...the interior has held up very well in 6 years of use, and the body has remained very clean, although i dont drive it in the winter.

really, the only "problem" ive had was the stock amp going bad...around town i get about 22-23mpg, with the only current mods being a lower t-stat, full exhaust, and a cai...and on the highway, i get around 28-30mpg.

 

I haven't had one major problem with my car. You just need to make the Timing belt and water pump have been replaced around 75K miles. I made it to 105K then it was time to replace it. I currently have 133K miles on my car. I've loved this car ever since I've bought it. It's sporty looking especially if you get it lowered, decent amount of power. Not much for aftermarket, but we do share the same motor as the 3g eclipse, so some of the stuff is compatible (headers, intake, exhaust only need an extension, rims, brakes,)

 

No problems here. Motor mounts needed replaced, thats it. I havent done any major work to mine, and it has 96k on it. You won't be the fastest thing on the streets, but stock or modified, you will be lookin good. I have the 4cyl, and get a consistent 26.5 mpg highway/city mix, and just got 35.4 mpg all highway.

Only problem with the 2.5g coupe (03-05) is the warping dash. It 'unfolds' near the defroster. the 01/02 dash likes to crack.

 

i do have a cracked rear lightbar...but its blacked out so you cant tell anyway. i believe that many/most of them in 01-02 had this problem?

 

You mean internal cracks right? I have a few internal 'fractures' that look lighter red inside, but the bar itself isnt cracked.

 

you are correct...ive heard that some cracked clean through, but mine have not. it just looks like lines in the plastic, more than cracks. i seem to recall that some people on 2g got them replaced under warranty, but they werent recalled, so others had to pay like 100 bucks or something...and its not worth 100 bucks to me.

 

I got my 2005 SXT Stratus February 2006 and couldn't have been happier. Then it was 20K miles, I just rolled on 69K tonight, still purrin' like a kitten in my opinion. I got some maintenance things to work on coming up, but kept the oil changes regular and I don't get on it unless I need to/have to. I love the ride, handles well, and for a car, it seems pretty well balanced. For example, it just snowed here, and you know taking a 90 degree turn might not be right, but it doesn't really go out of line.

The only things I have done, I converted it from whatever the dealer put in to M1 at the time, I currently run Pennzoil Platinum 5w-20. It came with the deal for the K&N Oil filter I always buy, 5qt and the filter for 29.99. I also got filtermag for the oil filter. I added a K&N air filter which is due for cleaning when the weather fairs. I changed out the stock muffler and changed it to a flowmaster 40 series. Fit perfectly, shop did the work, and they put a magflo tip on, i thought that was funny but it fits perfectly to the contours of the bumper and the recessed cutout of the bumper.

I was recording before I did all of these changes, the MPG. I was getting 24 roughly (both freeway/town), after all of that I am getting a solid 25-26 in town depending on weather of course and traffic. Freeway I get 29. My tires are wearing on the edges so I am due for new tires now, I am pretty sure they were the originals, the tread warranty for these tires at the time according to Goodyear is 60K and I am at 69K now. Most freeway driving until this past August when I graduated from school.

I don't have a single leak, the suspension gets a bit squeaky, still looking for a way to cure that, hasn't done it bad this year yet though. I had one trouble with the headlighting switch shorting out disabling lo-beams, but i had high and daytime lights still. And Mopar claims they have fixed issues with the 2.7 with sludge, if you read the other thread you'll get more info about it there. Mostly the recommendation is, regular oil changes.

The last oil change I had this past summer, I opened up my filter to inspect the media and the spot where the magnet was. It was holding minute particles, and the media was clean. I was happy with the oil performance, trying this new oil I'll have to check the filter on next oil change.