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However, I have had the car jacked up and secured, and I've yanked on both front wheels as hard as I could, and nothing seems loose or wobbly. So maybe the clunking could just be the exhaust system, or something? Or just the natural creaks that come with older age?
Other than that, the car seems fine. I'm sure I'm going to have to get it in soon to get the rear brake pads replaced. The first set lasted 52,000 miles, and while I did a lot of stop-and-go pizza delivery driving back then, I also replaced them with cheap pads, which probably aren't as good as the OEM stuff.
Bob
Plus, we might need help in putting out an occasional flame war here and there, when someone comes on crying about how all Intrepids are a/an (fill in the expletive here) ;-)
Still, there's something I like about the Charger. For lack of a better way of putting it, I'd call it "kinda ugly, but still cool", perhaps in the way that my old '69 Bonneville was!
I'm going to at least check them out when they hit the showrooms, and see how I like 'em. And maybe the style will grow on me more. Sometimes, when a new style comes out, it takes awhile for it to grow on me. For example, I didn't really like the '02 Camry or '03 Accord when they came out, but I wouldn't be ashamed of either one today. While neither one excites me, neither one offends me, either!
And even when the Trep was redesigned for '98, I didn't like them at first. To me, the '93-97 had a futuristic look to it, where the '98 was just trying too hard, and a bit overdone, with its oversized headlights and such, and styling that somehow made it look stubbier, even though it was the same size outside, and actually a bit bigger inside!
I too, yearn for a return to cab forward styling. If DC has utilized the Daimler experience and technology at their disposal to design a few front drive, full size platform---imagine how good it might be. I've often wondered what a "3rd generation" Intrepid might have been with increased space efficiency, better engines, better crash results and a new platform.. Sigh...... I'd still consider a Magnum or Charger, though I suspect I'll end up choosing a Grand Caravan for pragmatic reasons.
Accord trunks are 13, Camry 14.5.
Just off the top of my head, here's what I can remember of trunk volumes:
Intrepid: 18.4 cubic feet (the first-gen was only like 16.1)
300: 15.9 cubic feet
300M: 16.7 cubic feet
Concorde/LHS: 18.8 cubic feet
Accord: 14.1 cubic feet
Camry: 16.8 cubic feet.
I've seen a few 300 trunks, as several people at work bought them. It's definitely smaller than the Intrepid's trunk, but still looked decent to me. Seems like the actual opening might be bigger though, so that could be part of it. Plus, I think the 300 has a folding rear seat standard, where on the Intrepid you had to get an ES for that.
Now the Ford 500 has a trunk of something like 22-23 cubic feet! You'd probably have to go back to around a 1973 Chrysler to get a trunk like that!
But, if you find the 300's trunk too small for you, I'm afraid the Charger's will probably be the same. I'm not really a big Ford fan, but I kinda like the new 500. It really doesn't stand out, as it's kinda conservative, but it's certainly a handsome looking car, and seems pretty well-built.
As much as I hate to say it, "Good Job Ford" or is that Volvo?
500 is decent on paper, have not looked at one closely, other than to say I've seen one or two on the road - they are virtually invisible, and nothing remarkable.
Crown Vic is a Crown Vic - what you see is what you get. Not trendy, not fancy, but built like a train locomotive.
Bob
My '99 ES has the 3.2. It was bought to last for years, with no plan to trade at any time. It has done great so far (6 years and 95,000 miles)
Unfortunately, it could be just about anything. On an older car, you could just blame it on vapor lock or something in the throttle/idle linkage, but with newer cars, god only knows!
When is the last time the car was tuned up? It might just need new spark plugs and a few adjustments here and there. Might also be one of the spark plug wires. As they age, they can cause seemingly strange, random, intermittent problems. Spark plug wires don't need to be replaced nearly as often as those older style ones that just popped off, but they're still going to wear out, eventually.
Let us know what you find out.
For lack of a better word, it seems like an "incomplete start" ? Like maybe I just didn't have the key turned to "start" for long enough, and that might've confused the part of the computer program that controls the spark/idle/etc?
As I live in Washington state, I don't think that "Hot Start" has anything to do with it in February.
Anyway, many thanks to those of you that responded to my question.
I had two 2.2 liter fours (a Reliant and an Omni GLH Turbo) that the timing belt went on, but those were non-interference engines, so no damage was done to the valve train either time.
"Thank you for your e-mail regarding your 2000 Dodge Intrepid.
The 2.7L V6 engine has a timing chain. DaimlerChrysler recommends that you have
the chain inspected at approximately 105,000 miles to determine if it needs to
be changed or adjusted.
I hope you find this information helpful.
Thank you again for writing."
I talked to my mechanic about it awhile back, and he said that as long as I keep up on oil changes, and don't let it run low, it should be good for a long, long time.
I'm at around 101,500 miles now, so I guess it's about time for me to look into it. I think if you get the timing chain replaced, you're supposed to do the water pump as well nowadays, aren't you? I know that water pumps aren't simple bolt-on, belt driven devices anymore, so they're probably a lot more expensive to replace than those of days gone by. Might be worth it to do both the chain and water pump at the same time.
back in october, i replaced the steering rack myself to save some money (it had gone bad due to an accident a couple years ago)
i went on vacation last month, and when i got back, the power steering was dead. it would turn if i revved the engine, and was going, but otherwise, nothing. i took it to a gemini garage. they have replaced the pump 10 times with pumps from different vendors, and the rack twice, cleaned out all the lines, and even replaced the lines.
every time, they drive around the block, it's fine, but then after a few minutes, it loses power again and stops working.
They've given up and suggest i take it to a dealership, but they also said they talked to mechanics at the dealership, and were told they dont know what is wrong either
luckily they're not going to charge me anything since they couldn't fix it, but now im wondering if the dealership is going to be able to fix it either, since everything has been replaced several times, what else could it be?
has anyone else heard of this kind of problem?
I really liked my Intrepid until last week...of course, as mentioned, Chrysler is ignoring their engine problem. Hoping for a class action suit...
I'm really not *too* concerned at this point if my engine were to go out on me, as the car does have over 100,000 miles on it and it's paid for. At this point though, I guess if the engine blew the car would be totaled. It would suck having to go get another car and get back into payments again, but at least it's not as bad as having something crap out on you while you're still paying for it!!
It's the same for the 3.5, starting in 2000. For some reason, the Gates catalog I'm looking at doesn't go up past 2000. Also, interestingly, the 3.2 appears to be an interference engine, while the 3.5 is not. Odd, considering the 3.2 is based on the 3.5.
I wonder if they make metal timing chain guides that you can replace the plastic ones with?
ES