2004 Dodge Stratus

Don't Buy!!

By Katie (WI) on Thursday, May 02, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 88,000

Pros: "Looks good"

Cons: "Bad motor"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 1

"I owned a 2002 Dodge Stratus for awhile with the 4 cylinder engine and I absolutely loved it. When it came time to get a new car I wanted another Stratus so I got another 2002 Dodge Stratus but this time with the 6 cylinder, the 2.7 motor, which I later found out is a HORRIBLE motor. First of all the dealership charged me way too much for the car, being that the car was already 10 years old but I thought it would be worth it being that the car only had 80,000 miles on it. I thought it might actually last me, but no I was wrong. I purchased the car in late August of 2012 and had no problems for the first few months. Then the low oil pressure light started to flicker when I was stopped at stop lights or turning. The car always had plenty of oil in it, mechanics said it was probably just a bad sensor. So i continued to drive it daily, in early March while driving down the freeway the car just seized up. No warning signs whatsoever. With only 88,000 miles and only having the car for barely 7 months and taking very good care of it, it still blew up! Now I am out a car and the $5,000 I spent on it. I will never purchase another, there should be a recall on the 2.7."

2 people out of 2 found this review helpful

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Absolutely one of the best cars I've ever owned!

By rjc24 (CA) on Monday, April 01, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 189,000

Pros: "Great price, fun to drive, great gas mileage,"

Cons: "None of which I can think. Great car."

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"Great on the freeway/traveling long distances, 30+ mpg; 20+mpg around town. Comfortable, easy handling (I did change the stock steel wheels and opted for wider tires with taller wheels 16 v. 15 ins. The car has held up well, no major problems, but at this mileage I'm thinking it's time for a change. Have a friend interested in buying it; but I will have my mechanic check it thoroughly before even beginning the discussion. The car has all the bells and whistles except a moon/sunroof. Lighted vanity mirrors for both driver and passenger. Sound system is deluxe (Has a booming bass I only discovered by accident.) and car has great acoustics for its size. As I said above, absolutely one of the best and most reliable cars I have ever had. I would buy it again."

4 people out of 4 found this review helpful

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Poor quality, good reliablity

By MercOne (AZ) on Wednesday, March 06, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 67,000

Pros: "Handling, Price, Reliability"

Cons: "Interior quality, design, mpg, seat comfort."

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 2

"2004 Stratus Couple RT 3.0 Pros: Reliable, good speaker system, easy to handle, hugs the road exceptionally well. Cons: Lack of interior lighting, the interior is made of cheap plastic, the vent under the window broke and popped up within a month of ownership, the dash warped completely within weeks of ownership. Lumbar support digs into your lower back and non adjustable. Mileage is worse than my old car(74 Duster). Leg room is pretty low and I am under 6ft tall. Horrible interior design. Could have shrunk the trunk to allow more cab space, can easily fit 4 people in the trunk and maybe 3 in the entire car."

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Worst vehicle ever!

By rjcfireball (LA) on Tuesday, February 26, 2013

I owned and sold this car
Reason: awful car! - My approximate mileage is 150,000

Pros: "Good acceleration and gas mileage"

Cons: "TCM--more problems than it's worth"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 1

"When I got the stratus three years ago, I was pleased at first. It accelerated nicely and had great gas mileage. The car soon gave me a lot of problems. I would drive it on the highway on cruise control. Without warning, the engine light would illuminate, the car would be knocked out of cruise, and promptly go to 40 mph. I would try to accelerate again, and it would fight and sputter back to 60 mph, refusing to go any faster than 60 mph. I took the car to the dealership for repairs numerous times and was told it was a simple wiring issue. Two weeks later, I had the same problem. After reading the owner's manual, I found the problem was with the car itself. The car is built with a Transmission Control Module (TCM) that regulates the automatic transmission to 2nd gear if it "senses" an issue with the car. The TCM caused more problems than it was created to fix. At the time I traded in the car, it NEVER operated outside of the TCM's regulated "reset mode." Bottom line, I would have much rather replaced the car's transmission than to have had to deal with the TCM. It is an AWFUL car.....please don't buy this car!"

2 people out of 2 found this review helpful

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GREAT QUALITY CAR

By Ninja (KS) on Sunday, February 10, 2013

I owned and sold this car
Reason: Needed A Truck - My approximate mileage is 70,000

Pros: "FUN, SPORTY, GOOD PRICE, SEXY"

Cons: "I don't have her anymore......."

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 9

My baby!

"I purchased it in 2007 19,000 mile, sold it 2/10/13 it with 69. This is long review! Let me start with a few thing this R/T is cleans up very well! FWD make the car easy to handle through all seasons. I have taken this car into the mountains to go snowboarding and only got stuck twice (Longer front end and rear sections you cannot hook onto either side for towing your butt out of a sticky spot! BUT having theis it does increase the cabin space for front and rear setting, very nice travel car, lots of leg room!. HUGE TRUNK! I had 2 12's in the truck and had room to spare! Larger than normal rear blind spots while backing out because of the top frame design. (The section that holds the rear window on both sides) This is too thick but you learn to work with it. 3.0L V6 isn't as powerful as my dad's Aventador but it goes about 16.8 in the 1/4 mile. Very little mechanical issues. I had one major issue, the torque converter. It needed to be replaced under warranty HORRIBLE SERVICE FROM DODGE! Took over 5 weeks to get my car back and never had a rental or heard back from them with a status. (oh we ordered.. oh our tech was sick... oh we need reorder we were missing parts)! It was covered and never had any more issues. Tires run 120 per tire... a little more than I liked for my college The auto stick shift is fun but always made the car shift harder (as if it was in a sport mode) so I never used it. Large mid compartment up front for storage but none in back-row seating (only downfall there) Never understood the cup holder design in the front. Front holder is too far forward so the largest cup you can put in is a 12oz can because of height restrictions. The car does have a main cup holder that can holds 42 oz cups and a third inside of the compartment up front. Car has two smoke outlets one hardwired to the battery for ease of charging my iphone 5 (in the front compartment) and then another up front, ignition controlled. Cannot count how many night we have had with the sunroof open. Not very useful but fun to have when your cruising with my wife as the D.D.. This is one of the only sun roofs that has never leaked or whistled on the highway. Bringing me to the next topic: it pretty quite on the highway like a 6/10. I would give mine 7, 10 being highest only because those cooper tires were more quite than my bridge stones. The rear seats do fold down (only way we could get our snowboards in) allowing you to store almost anything you'd ever need. The coupe is cute but with it being so low to the ground the back seat is hard to get in and out of. The floor frame design does have a hump in the back seat (as if it was RWD) but its not. Just makes the passenger spilt their legs, not a big deal. The rear lighting is placed too far back. I couldn't tell you how many times i'd be hauling someone drinking too much and they'd go to lay their head on the wall and hit that switch and turn it on! HA! They'd turn it off than two minutes later do it again. Great stereo with the infinity premium sound was nice but like I said I up graded the head unit and subs! Great High school car or traveling car but would not recommend it for a starting family. I am switching to a Toyota Tacoma need the room for the oilfield tools! One more thing even though this car is lower to the ground the suspension is a little tight so you don't have to worry about bottoming it out. Occasionally I would hit my skid plate on the front because of the larger nose but rarely the lower part of the bumper. I GIVE IT A 9/10! Dodge dealership 3/10! realistic mpg (13 gallon tank) 250 in town 325-250 depending conditions. Handles corners like a CHAMP!"

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despite the horror stories its not bad

By meat6895 (OR) on Saturday, February 02, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 130,000

Pros: "has been reliable for me."

Cons: "Has not been reliable for many other people."

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 7

"I bought this car with 11,000 miles on it. It now is about 120,000 + miles. I had a TPS sensor go bad at about 100,000 piles which i had to order in and cost about $20 about 2 minutes to fix. But when i was replacing the sensor i noticed a small coolant leak coming from my "water inlet housing". It took about 4 hours for me to fix since dodge is notorious for needing specialty tools. you have to take the intake manifold off the motor to get to the water inlet housing. Also the power steering reservoir cracked which was an easy fix. The 2.7 motor is notorious for being a hazard but i really haven't had much trouble. There are lemons in every bunch and some good ones so maybe i got a good one."

3 people out of 4 found this review helpful

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