Ok, this is my first car and I just purchased it.
96 Stratus 2.5 L V-6
123K miles

Although I will need to replace the tires and rear brakes right away, the rest of the car looks and sounds good. I am crossing my fingers that this car doesnt become one of the many out of nowhere Stratus horror stories I keep reading about. I need this to get me from home, to college, to work and back at least for a couple of years. I was lucky to find one with the nice V6 auto and all the power options, plus leather and a CD player for under $2000.

Any advice, words of wisdom? Anyone a fan of their stratus? Anything particular about this car I should look out for? Thanks for reading.

 

I love my strat. I haven't hear to many horror stories about the first gen strats. if you take care of it it will yake care of you. If it was me with that many miles on it i would do a engine flush and oil change along with a pm service on it. Plugs, wires, fuel filter, fuel system cleaning,

 

My buddy Drew has a 98 Stratus, and he babies the heck out of it. It's like his child. He loves it and I've rarely heard him have issues with it in the 6 yrs I've known him. Having said that, if you take care of it and do the proper maintenance, it should be a good car for you.

Sounds like you got a great deal and welcome to the Stratus club!

 

Yea I think I got a pretty good deal. The guy was an honest car reseller. He buys cars wholesale and then sells them for a little bit of profit as a hobby. I definately know this car needs an immediate oil change. The air conditioner was flushed recently. Unfortunately I hear that the maintenance for this car, other than the basic maintenance is difficult to do. For any 96 97 Stratus owners, what should I be considering to replace soon? Alternator belt looks ok, but what about the timing belt. I cant even find it on this car (although I havent had too much time to inspect it) I do regular maintenance on the family car and I drive the heck out of it. I hope this car will prove to be as reliable as the trusty Caravan.

 

Get the tranny flushed, there the weak link in the 1st gen stratus. If you did fluid changes often you won't have a problem. The timing belt would not be a bad idea its probably over due at that milage unless it has already been replaced. At that milage I would just over do the maintenance and you will be fine.

 

Could you be more specific about this weak link in the first gens? I just finished cleaning the car out and changing the fluids today. The previous owners really beat the crap out of this car, I cant believe its in such great shape still...
Well, I gotta find out where I can get a tear in the leather fixed, and the driver's door also has a little squeak to it when it opens fully, must be either bent or rusted.

Anyone know where I can find an owners manual for this car? As far as I can see, the timing belt looks in good shape and tight. Is there any way for me to know if it will need to be replaced soon?