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are the new tires any quieter than the old GAs?
Thanks Marcus, Indianapolis IN
I remember the treadwear rating on them was 300. The tires I have now have a 560, so if everything's proportional, I'm hoping I get around 55-56,000 miles out of these! I forget exactly what type of tires they were. I know they're Continental, and they're a bit firmer-riding than the Eagle GA's
Picked up the Allegra's at Sam's Club and was pleased with the cost, installation, etc. Recently rotated them--after 10K--for the first and did a 4 wheel alignment. The fronts--at least to the naked eye--showed damn near no difference in wear from the rears..
What can you Intrepid owners tell me about that year, reliability wise?
TIA
I'm sure the tranny has been improved since 1998, but even at that time, I don't think it was much of a trouble spot anymore.
I'd say just follow general common sense here. Try to get one that's not too ragged out, and has had the maintenance kept up on. It might be a good idea to have the tranny serviced, just as a precaution. It's common for the wrong fluid to get put in these, which will cause them to fail prematurely. Make sure your mechanic uses Type 4 (9196) instead of Type 3 (7176) ATF.
I do have to confess that my experience with the Stratus wasn't stellar. It had to have things fixed almost 4 times a year, from small to big ones, while it was in warranty. In the next 2 years I've had it without warranty it developed small issues that I've been postponing (like a leaky AC).
Having said this, I'm still a little wary of another Chrysler, even loving the way they look and handle. I understand that the Intrepid has had a much better dependability record than the Stratus, but is it so for a Chrysler or in its category in general?
TIA
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1872238768
Here's a rundown of what I've had to do to my '00...
30000 miles: new tires, tranny service
35000 miles: power lock actuator in driver's door replaced under warranty
39000 miles: new front brake pads (cheap no-name brand: I learned my lesson!)
~43000 miles: power passenger mirror broke
~45000 miles: door seal shrinkage in back
51000 miles: new rear brakes, leaking thermostat housing replaced
61000 miles: tranny service, alignment
70000 miles: new front brakes (nice Bendix brakes this time)
In addition, I've changed the oil every 3-4K miles, and rotated the tires every 3rd oil change. I've also replaced the pcv valve and air filter about every 15K miles or so.
It hasn't been a perfect car, but then I don't think there is such a thing! Just for reference, my Mom's '99 Altima dropped its tranny around the 35K mark, and she's a lot more gentle on cars than I am. Most of her driving is highway commuting to work, while a good deal of mine, for a few years, was delivering pizzas!
I too reiterate the tranny fluid issue should you find one and have the transmission serviced--you'll find my (potential catastrophic) experience listed previously in this board. My most significant costs were new front pads, and new tires. I've tended to allow the oil change intervals to go longer as I used synthetics.
ANDRE1969--how are those new Bendix pads working? My are "breaking in"...a bit less grabby but still strong after 3000 miles. Driving back from Virginia to PA last night and played "high speed" cat and mouse with a red Intrepid R/T from New York. We certainly made good time. My "little ol'" ES kept with him--but we when did a brief foot-to-the-floor run he was able to pull away quite handily. I'll admit we made it to about 110-115 mph before cutting back.
(Dear Safety [non-permissible content removed]'s--it was a brief full throttle run on a mostly empty Interstate). All in all I was pleased with my 3.2's performance!
I haven't had a chance to really get out and gun the car lately, though. I did have it up to around 100-105 a few months ago (before the new pads), but nothing so exciting lately. The tiny 2.7 does have some kick to it at higher speeds. Next time around though, if I get another 'Trep, I'll probably opt for a larger engine, unless the base plant gets radically upgraded or something.
My experiences with the 2.7 were equally positive. I got rear ended in my old vehicle early in the summer of 1999. So, for about 2.5 weeks I had a base Intrepid with the 2.7. Despite having only 9000 miles, this thing RAN. My brother and his wife had a late 90's Avenger with the Mitsu 2.5 V6 and would marvel at the mid-high rev power of my rental 2.7. I think it was probably a "strong" version of the 2.7 allowing for subtle differences among engines. For some reason--although my 3.2 is superior in all respects--that little 2.7 got me grinnin' alot!
My '00 just hit 73,000 miles last night. It seems that this winter is taking its toll a bit more on fuel economy than the last 3 winters I've had the car. The worst fuel economy I ever recorded on a tank was just under 20 mpg, a few winters back. I haven't calculated yet, but it seems like I'm doing worse this time. Then again, it feels like this winter's a bit colder, at least so far.
Granted, I do the work myself, and will be taking it into the dealership to get a shrunken door seal replaced and have them check the drive belt tensioner. Other than that, everything works as intended with the car was built. Mileage is a little below expectations, but I have the 3.5 high output, drive in suburban and city areas, and usually around 75 mph on the freeway (faster than that when i can get away with it, the R/T is rock solid at 90 mph).
I'll probably throw in an oil change and transmission fluid change when I get the warranty work done, the dealer has higher profit margins on nonwarranty work, so maybe they will try a little harder on the warranty work.
On advice of a friend who is a mechanic, I just started using Mobil 1 in my Explorer. I have coupons for one more oil change on the wife's 2002 Intrepid. So I will use dino for at least 5500 more miles, but will be taking over the oil changes from there.
I found this on the internet... http://www.car-truck.com/chryed/buzz/b121902.htm
but dunno how accurate it is.
I'd think Intrepid would be a good name to keep, though. It's been the strongest selling Dodge car in recent years, and put them back on the map, as far as full-sized cars go. Dodge was always a strong player in the compact and intermediate markets, but was weaker in the full-size arena. Think about it...how many really popular full-size Dodges were there? Most people probably couldn't even name a full-size Dodge off the top of their heads!
About the Stratus, yes, it has been "lightly" re-designed, along with the Sebring. As you may have noticed, DC re-did the front, rear, and interior on the Mitsubishi-built coupe models already, and they are now doing the same to the sedans. As such, the 2004 sedans can be ordered now and should be on lots anytime soon. The 2003 model year was quite short. Reason? Mainly poor sales, nowhere near what's needed to be successful. Look around the web, and you can see the pics.
The jury is still out on whether a large rear wheel drive car will sell in large volumes at a price point that they can make any money. (The Grand Marquis and Crown Vic's development was amortized long ago - it is a pretty cheap car to build) Was RWD chosen just so Daimler can amortize more of the development costs of Mercedes products over a larger production amount?
Yep, the Daimler merger is working out very well.
I think RWD could work, if they make it exciting enough. The Crown Vic and Grand Marquis don't sell because they're dull and have looked about the same since 1992, in spite of a few facelifts in between. A buddy of mine has a '95 GM, and the '03's are identical inside, with the exception of cheaper carpeting. They might make a good police car or taxi, but nobody really wants them as a family car anymore.
Also, with being a V-8 only model, Ford is only going to build so many CVs and GMs, no matter what the demand is for them. If they sell too many, then their CAFE numbers are going to sink and they'll get fined. At least with the upcoming LX models, since they're going to have V-6 engines as well, overall they shouldn't hurt DC's CAFE numbers too much.
The last year of the Trep is 2004. Aug 28 is the final build date of all LH cars
The website has a clear copyright policy in which it states that images may not be reproduced on other websites: http://www.daimlerchrysler.de/index_e.htm?/legal_e.htm
You can post links, but please don't exceed the character limit -- that screws up the screen for most of our members, and the page has to be scrolled left to right to read every single line on it. We get tons of complaints when that happens - it makes the page virtually unreadable.
If you have any questions, just drop me a line.
Thanks!
andre,
these pictures are in a chrysler press kit so i'm not sure why edmunds won't allow them.
here is that url:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?B2DD352F2
To his credit my 5 star service manager said that I should call the customer assistance line without hesitation. Am I being unreasonable or is something like this unacceptable? It's the only significant concern I've had in almost 49,000 miles.. Come on Dusty and others...let me know... Shake the trees....
what is the fix? btw, did you try not inserting the gas nozzle so far into the opening (joke there somewhere)? if i remember right my 2000 would do what you are experiencing on occasion, but not frequently. also, did you go to different gas station vs usual? sounds silly but i think some gas pumps are more touchy than others. just throwing out some ideas...take care...
The fix--such as it is--involves a new valve, some "bypass" of some sort.. I have the technical bulletin but that doesn't get me past the feeling that this just shouldn't happen. I've NEVER in the history of an automobile heard of this happening..
I've noticed though, that it happens at certain gas stations, and at some gas stations it's fine. Seems that it would always happen at Citgo. In fact, on Monday night I was taking the thing to the emissions test, and sucking fumes, so I pulled into a Citgo. Put the nozzle in, squeezed the handle, and got a nice splash-back of gasoline. If I put it in about half way though, and don't squeeze too hard (man, this conversation IS going downhill!), then I don't have a problem.
My 'Trep's been good so far, though, in that respect. I did get a little scare on Sunday morning though. We had a heavy frost, and I was warming up the car. Went to click the wipers to do a single swipe, and they came up about an inch and then stopped. They were fine once I clicked them off and then back on, but this has me worried. It happened a few more times that day, but has been fine since then. I wonder if they're about to fail? Oh yeah, I'm at around 74,500 miles, so I'm well out of the original warranty. My extended warranty is good through 100K miles, but has a $200 deductible. Watch this end up costing $199 or something like that!
I have an '00 base model 'Trep, currently with about 74,500 miles on it, and it's been pretty good so far. I've had the typical shrinkage of the rubber door moldings, a leaky thermostat housing, a bad power door lock actuator, and the remote passenger-side mirror quit working. No problems with the engine, tranny, or any of the really high-cost stuff, though.
If you do get the Intrepid, make sure you change your tranny fluid every 30,000 miles. And make sure they use the proper fluid, Type +4/9196. This is critical. Any other fluid can be fatal to the tranny.
HTH