Occasionally (as in once or twice a week), when I start my car, my odometer lights, fuel gauge, speedometer, and other meters don't come on, my AC won't blow cold air and my windshield wipers won't come on. This happens only in the afternoon when it is hot and on the hot days. Yet my car will run like normal. What is wrong and do you think it will be expensive to get fixed?

They come on a few miles into the drive or when I repeatedly turn my lights on and off

 

my guess is that a solder joint on the back of the cluster is loose, most likely a ground point, since it's not JUST the cluster. If it only does it when it's hot, some parts may have expanded and stopped touching, contract and make contact when they cool off. If you get the car cooled off after a bit do they come back on?

 

they come on a few miles into the drive or if I repeatedly turn my lights on/off

 

OK. Start off with your ground points behind the cluster and in the harness that handles the lights (the control arms). If all those wires check out, remove the cluster and make sure there is no broken soldier joints on the back of it.
Not sure why the lights kick it back on... But I know that if I leave my car in the sun all day with the windows full closed, my turn signals don't flash (stay steady on) until it cools down a bit in the car.

 

so I likely shouldn't have this problem in the winter?

 

My car did this when I was on a trip in Mississippi with some friends and one of them started my car with the WRONG KEY. It was a key for my chevy S-10, but it actually started the Stratus. Crazy, right? The same symptoms as you have here. AC didn't work, gauges etc; it was really strange. I was asking myself, "okay, what happened to my car?" Then, to my surprise, we find out my friend had started the thing up with the wrong key to begin with. Ugh! It sounds like ratsttam is on the right track.

 

If the solder joints are heating and cooling, eventually they will work themselves apart to the point that it WON'T work at all... Either way, it's something that should be fixed sooner than later, since it may impact more than just your gauge cluster over time.

 

how expensive is it to get that fixed?

 

It never hurts to ask the dealer, but for some reason any type of electrical work like that on cars, I trust the dealership more than a regular mechanic. At least you'd get an idea of the pricing. Personally, I would use the dealer to fix it, if you can afford it and its definitely the problem.

 

if you're good with tools, and electronics equipment, you can probably find and fix it yourself, for just a few dollars and a LOT of hours... I don't recall ever seeing your exact problem with the strats, but I know the XBox 360's had the same problem. The joints would come loose from being hot, and stop working. The "ring of death" as it is called.
This is an issue that either you're comfortable working yourself, or is best done by a dealer or independent garage that specializes in electronic issues. Good Luck! Post back and let us know exactly what was found!