Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 03/09/2011 | 16000 | ||
| First off, i bought this car from my sister...the ball joint broke on me within a month...probably not her fault. however the car was making a lot of noises and clanks and creaks, i was told it was just the bushings, guess i found out it wasnt the hard way. about a monthe after the ball joint was replaced the rear strut broke and was rubbing the inside of the rear passenger tire. after that was fixed, about 3 weeks later i was driving home from work and heard an odd grinding sound started to sound like a flat, pulled over to discover that all of my lugnuts had been pushed off somehow and the rim had grinded down the posts. it was only holding on by 1 lugnut and it was almost off too. most recently the car keeps overheating, replaced the thermostat, and checked all fluids none of which were leaking. still haven't figured that one out...all the fans are running also. and today the caliper broke while i was driving. it caught on the rim and made me come to a forceful stop. i dont know if this is just bad luck or a piece of crap car, hopefully these situations re occuring one after another isnt happening to anyone else. i regret the day i ever bought this car, constantly sinking money into it just to keep it running, i swear im gonna scrap it as soon as i get my taxes, i couldnt let any one else own this godforsaken car | |||
| 02/19/2010 | 100000 | 1 | |
| While parked and turned off, my '01 dodge stratus r/t encountered an engine fire. the entire engine is almost beyond recognition. there was no indication that anything of the kind was wrong; the car had been running as usual. a simple google of stratus engine fire turned up an overwhelming occurrence of stratus owners with this same problem. it appears to have started near the fusebox, which was also the location of the fire in the countless search results. the car had idled too high from a few days after i purchased it. we had the idle air control valve changed and the idle speed adjusted by the shop four or five times, yet nothing would stop the high idle. the only thing that would decrease it was to turn the air conditioner on--which brings me to another problem. the drain holes for the air conditioner are not sufficient for drainage. thus, running the ac leads to water pooling in the driver's side floorboard. all we could get the shop to do was blow out the drain holes and check for clogs. so, if we wanted the car to idle at a lower speed, we would have to deal with a couple inches of water on the floorboard. *tr | |||
| 04/10/2006 | 80000 | 5 | 02/13/2005 |
| I bought my 2001 stratus r/t used. not even a year after i had bought it, i had to pay over $100 to get it to idle right. then i was in a not-at-fault accident 6 mos. later with over $8,000 in damages to the front end and the air bags didn't deploy. after the wreck i had to pay over $ 1,300 to get the shocks & struts fixed just to have it mess up not even 4 mos. later. it also as a rotten odor coming from it occasionally. i also paid almost $200 for a new battery to have it start to drain not even 6-7 mos. later! and when the battery had to be cleaned, i had to get it re-idled again! now it won't stay started unless you're giving it gas. i love the look, but worst car i ever bought. and it's not even paid off!!!! *e.g.* *tr | |||
| 07/28/2006 | 1 | 11/30/2000 | |
| I bought this car brand new... drove it off the lot feeling confident and now 5 years later there is barely any paint on it and i can't keep the check engine light off. the clear coat started cracking early of 2003. when i asked the dealer about the paint situation they asked me how many miles were on my car and then said they couldn't do anything. my question is what does the milage have to do with the paint job???? also the check engine light randomly comes on. i have needed some normal maintenance on my car but this last time, earlier this year i took it in for the light. they said it was nothing, charged me $100 and then sent me on my way only for the thing to come right back on the next day. this is all very discouraging because this vehicle is not even paid off yet. *jb | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 04/14/2002 | 11440 | 5 | 01/12/2001 |
| I bought this car brand new off the lot on 01/12/01 with 14 miles on it. 04/14/02 i was driving the car when the service engine soon light came on and stalled out in the middle of an intersection. when the car was able to be started again, blue smoke was coming out the back. i parked the car nearby and let it sit for about 20 minutes, and when i tried to start the car again, it would not stay running, and there was more blue smoke coming out of it. i called the dodge towing service, and had the car towed to the original dealer that i bought it at. they fixed the problem and told me i had dirty gas particles. i have had the check engine light come on 4 times since that, and the car stalls when in idle while the light is on. the dates are as follows 04/14/02, 06/24/02, 01/13/03, 04/07/03, and 04/29/03. the dealer has on this last attempt to fix my vehicle that the fix they have applied again is not permanent (said it may work for another 4 months) and that they do not have any answer for what they need to do in order to make my vehicle a safe car to be in again. they are admitting to me that this is an electrical engine problem, and that they have other consumers out there having the same problem i am. in the meantime, i had sent a letter of defect notification to the manufacturer, dated 04/22/03. the letter was sent certified, and return receipt. i received a phone call from the manufacturer the morning of 04/28/03 confirming that they received my letter and paperwork regarding the lemon law. as of today, 05/06/03, the manufacturer is telling my dealer service manager that they would be more than happy to trade me into another vehicle, but that they do not want to buy the vehicle back, despite the lemon law of az 44-1261. i am in the process of contacting the az attorney general, and filing a complaint with the center for auto safety. thank you. *nlm | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - EMISSION CONTROL - CATALYTIC CONVERTOR | |||
| 07/15/2003 | 45000 | 10 | 10/15/2001 |
| The mass air flow sensor is defective, chrysler dodge insisted it was not covered under warranty. the car had 45000 miles on it when the car began to fail. the car puts out a rotten odor and fuel fumes often fill the car.*ak | |||