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Dodge Intrepid

3457 messages,  Last post on Oct 08, 2012 at 5:35 PM

You are in the Dodge Intrepid Forum.

What is this discussion about? Dodge Intrepid, Sedan

Messages Page 252 of 347

#2503 of 3457 IS THIS A GOOD DEAL? by setzer

Sep 07, 2004 (8:46 pm)

My parents can get a 2000 Dodge Intrepid with 55,000 miles on it for $5600. The guy that is selling it doesn't own it, but his company is willing to let him pay $5600 to close out the lease and he wouldn't mind selling it to someone else for the same price he paid for it. My aunt works with the guy (thats how we found it) and she said the car is overall in good condition besides a few minor things that you would get with any 5 year old car. The only problem is that they would have to drive it up from California to Portland, OR. They have to make a decision tomorrow morning so any quick help would be great! Thank you!

#2504 of 3457 Masonmi... by andre1969

Sep 08, 2004 (7:51 am)

I put some Yokohama Avids on my Intrepid about a year and a half ago. Before that, I had some cheap Continental tires, and before that the Eagle GA's that came with the car. I'd say the only thing the Yokohamas give up is a little bit of ride quality, and they seem a bit noisier. I think that's because they have a longer treadwear rating, so they're not as "soft" of a tire. The Eagles that the car came with had a 300 treadwear rating, and were pretty much reduced to racing slicks at 30,000 miles. They were expensive, too. At the time, even on sale, I think replacement of all 4 tires would've been over $500. In contrast, the Yokohamas were about $250 online (can't remember if I got 'em at www.tirerack.com or www.discounttire.com), and the local garage charged me $50 to mount and balance them. The Yokohamas had a 620 treadwear rating, more than double the Eagle GA's. I think they improved the Eagles a bit over the years though, so maybe the newer ones don't have that same crappy treadwear rating?
 
I've been happy with the Yokohama's so far. They seem to hold the road pretty well, and even in wet/snowy/icy weather, they've been fine.

#2505 of 3457 Re: Masonmi... [andre1969] by masonmi

Sep 08, 2004 (12:39 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Sep 08, 2004 7:51 am)
Thanks for the reply, I like the handling of the the Eagle GA's that I currently have, I'll have to keep the Yokohama's in mind when I change the Eagle's out, to bad the Eagle's don't have a longer tread life.

#2506 of 3457 Re: I've thought about that too... [andre1969] by kingtut

Sep 11, 2004 (9:20 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Jun 17, 2004 8:13 am)
I had a 1999 Intrepid with the 2.7L engine and NEVER, NEVER had to crack the engine open. The only time I had service on the engine was for a camshaft position sensor at 50,000 miles and spark plug replacements at 130.000 miles. I waited too long for the spark plugs... Two are "welded" to he head and stayed there. As for brakes, my first brake job was at 74,000 miles! I had gone through a total of two sets of rotors for 156,000 miles. One radiator fan had to be replaced at 135,000 miles. The check engine light came on at 140,000 miles (catalytics). When I traded in the car (for a 3.5L Intrepid), I had 156,000 miles on the car. It was starting to burn some oil (about 1 qt per 1,000 miles), and I was getting nervous about the timing chain (still original).
 
I had trouble with the trans, but just sensors again (input and output speed sensors).
 
It's possible that I had little trouble with this car because I used it for highway driving (about 3 hours per day), 80 to 100 miles per day.
I don't think I was lucky, and I certaintly didn't baby the motor. I pushed my car to the limit almost daily.
 
I finally traded in the car on a new SXT trep today. I'll let you know how that turns out...
Personally, I think that the car was extremely well engineered.

#2507 of 3457 CONTEMPLATING by 2k1olds

Sep 12, 2004 (5:45 am)

purchasing a 2002 Intrepid SE with 61,000 miles on it. Is there anything I should look for as far as routine problems with this car?

#2508 of 3457 Kingtut... by andre1969

Sep 12, 2004 (6:14 am)

if you don't mind me asking, how much of a trade did you get for your '99? Last year, I came close to trading in my '00, which had about 86,000 miles on it at the time, for an '02 Intrepid R/T with about 35K on it. At first they said my car was worth $3500, but then quickly bumped that up to what I owed on it at the time, $4822. That's pretty much where it stopped though, because once I drove the R/T, while I liked it, I didn't like it better enough than my '00 to even think about trading, so I didn't push negotiations any further. Plus, they couldn't produce any service records for it (I wanted to at least see a tranny service at 30K...I'm anal about that stuff!), and they couldn't give me an answer as to whether it had a 3/36K warranty or the longer one (5/70K? 7/70K?) that they instituted sometime in mid-year.

#2509 of 3457 2k1olds... by andre1969

Sep 12, 2004 (6:23 am)

I'd say if the car has good service records with it, and the price is reasonable, that it should be a good buy. With that kind of miles, I'd imagine a lot of it was highway. But then again, I put about 30K on my '00 in the first 10 months, because I delivered pizzas part time!
 
Here's a few things I can think of, though...
1) brake rotors: they're really easy to warp, on any car nowadays, because they cut 'em so paper thin.
 
2) thermostat housing: the one on my '00 2.7 started leaking, just a little bit. Ended up costing about $210 for the local mechanic to replace it. They might've fixed that problem with the newer models, but my mechanic told me back then that it was fairly common.
 
3) power windows: I haven't had any problems with mine, but a few other posters on here had mentioned power window problems in the past. I think one guy had to have all 4 replaced! Under warranty though, IIRC. Again, that might be something that's improved with the newer models.
 
4) transmission: Chrysler still has a reputation for problematic transmissions, but I think for the most part it's more talk and bad memories than it is reality, nowadays. Still, make sure it shifts okay, and check the dipstick to make sure the fluid doesn't look nasty or smell burnt.
 
5) sludge: the 2.7 does seem more prone than the 3.2/3.5 to developing sludge, and the 2.7 is also a pretty expensive engine to rebuild, or buy used. I think for the most part if you change the oil regularly and/or use a synthetic, you should be fine. But since this car already has over 60K miles on it, I'd make sure that I could get ahold of some service records for it. That would be true of any car at that age though, not just the Intrepid.

#2510 of 3457 Random Thought by rbenton

Sep 12, 2004 (9:20 pm)

I'd always thought it was weird when the local dealer had bench seat Intrepid's in stock, not just one but a couple. A split bench front seat is mismash with the exterior design of the car.

#2511 of 3457 I've been seeing more of those... by andre1969

Sep 13, 2004 (4:52 am)

as well. Seemed like they were pretty rare a few years back, when I bought my 'Trep, but now I see them on a regular basis. I wonder if maybe when it came to do the final run of Intrepids and Concordes, they had a bunch of bench seats left over, and so they stuck them in the cars just to use them up?
 
My godmother used to have an '00 Intrepid with a bench seat. She liked it for the extra width it gave, not that she's big-boned, or big-bunned, or anything like that! But for 3-across seating, I'd think it would be useless. The Intrepid might have the shoulder room for it, but there's no room for your knees or legs there, the way the dash juts out.

#2512 of 3457 Front bucket seats........ by mike372

Sep 13, 2004 (1:38 pm)

are the ONLY way to go with the Intrepid! Even the console and shifter looks better than in some other cars ie. the Monte Carlo.

Messages Page 252 of 347

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