CarComplaints.com Notes: The Dodge Stratus, Intrepid & other Chrysler sedans are infamous for oil sludge problems with the 2.7L V6 engine. If someone offers to sell you a 2.7L V6 model, it's only worth the price of the scrap metal it's going to shortly turn into.
NOTE: Only the 2.7L V6 has the oil sludge problem. Our "Avoid like the Plague" designation is ONLY for models with the 2.7L V6 engine. All other available engines are very reliable with no major problems.
Even with regular maintenance, the oil sludge defect eventually destroys the 2.7L engine typically around 80,000-100,000 miles. The only true fix we know about is to put in the larger 3.2L engine, which has a great reputation. Also the 2.4L engine doesn't have the oil sludge problem.
This issue was never deemed a safety defect by the Feds, so there was no recall. In the end, Chrysler got away with FOUR YEARS worth of defective 2.7L V6 engines in their sedans.
The transmission felt at first like it was just taking a little too long to "find" 2nd gear, then 2nd and 3rd... sometimes it jerked into gear once it found it. What I mean by finding it was that you would hear it slip out of 2nd gear and it would have that high pitched whirring sound til it grabbed 3rd and it jerked. Then it lost the vacuum. (dont know what that means, just what my husband said) Then it began to start in 2nd IF i could get it to go at all. I got to work this morning and I hope I can get it to take me home before it finally gives out... I complained to some people bout it and a lot of the men spoke up that Dodge transmissions always give out around 80K miles. Wish I'd have known that 4 and a half years ago. I still owe over 2000 dollars on it and I'm stuck!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
The transmission felt at first like it was just taking a little too long to "find" 2nd gear, then 2nd and 3rd... sometimes it jerked into gear once it found it. What I mean by finding it was that you would hear it slip out of 2nd gear and it would have that high pitched whirring sound til it grabbed 3rd and it jerked. Then it lost the vacuum. (dont know what that means, just what my husband said) Then it began to start in 2nd IF i could get it to go at all. I got to work this morning and I hope I can get it to take me home before it finally gives out... I complained to some people bout it and a lot of the men spoke up that Dodge transmissions always give out around 80K miles. Wish I'd have known that 4 and a half years ago. I still owe over 2000 dollars on it and I'm stuck!
Dodge sucks.
- ginamay82, Tyler, TX, US