opinions on new dodge dart

[swynx]

been carefully weeding thru piles of crap to find my girlfriend a reliable car. shes into great gas mileage. she doesnt care about speed. i want reliability. and she wants an auto. not sure about new/used. she likes the focus i know to stay away from the spi engine.

saw a commercial on the dodge dart. somethin like 40 mpg highway. a turbo model available. awd. under 18k new.

whats not to like? with the winters here id like to get her an auto awd car with great gas mileage at what seems to me a decent price compared to other cars.

although the radio sayed dodge had the most problems last year?

 

[shane96ranger]

Sooo.... 40mpg's and it's AWD?

 

[Jim Oaks]

Vanessa was car shopping recently and we looked at a few cars including the Dart. The Dart is a really nice car, and would be my first pic as far as looks and feel go. Unfortunately at the time, Dodge didn't have any incentives to buy. It didn't compete to well on price with other cars in its class. I never see any on the road around here (Canton - Youngstown). I'm starting to think Dodge isn't selling any.

 

[wildbill23c]

Sooo.... 40mpg's and it's AWD?

AWD is an option on them, and they're a 4 door sedan not like the original Dodge Dart that most people think of, kind of like how they screwed up the Dodge Chargers by turning them into a sedan.

 

[shane96ranger]

AWD is an option on them, and they're a 4 door sedan not like the original Dodge Dart that most people think of, kind of like how they screwed up the Dodge Chargers by turning them into a sedan.

That's really neat.

But does the AWD get 40mpg's?

I never see any on the road around here (Canton - Youngstown). I'm starting to think Dodge isn't selling any.

I've never seen one on the road here either.

 

[wildbill23c]

That's really neat.

But does the AWD get 40mpg's?

I highly doubt any model gets 40mpg, maybe 30mpg would be a better reality number. The AWD model will definitely get less fuel economy than the FWD model. Plus the additional AWD cost and the added maintenance cost wouldn't be worth it IMO. I have 2 4WD trucks and the 4WD gets used maybe once or twice a year if that even. Its just really not worth the extra maintenance unless you plan on using it all the time.

Dodge quality has gone down the crapper the past 10 years or so, I won't look at vehicles from GM, Dodge, or Ford anymore due to the horrible quality standards they've adopted.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

AWD is an option on them, and they're a 4 door sedan not like the original Dodge Dart that most people think of, kind of like how they screwed up the Dodge Chargers by turning them into a sedan.

Rather the opposite of the Charger. They a rather uninspiring car and made it into a 4dr that actually looks decent.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Dodge quality has gone down the crapper the past 10 years or so, I won't look at vehicles from GM, Dodge, or Ford anymore due to the horrible quality standards they've adopted.

Thats funny right there.

 

[94 lngbd]

My parents had a 1962 Dodge Dart SW (440 SERIES) NOT 440 engine, But it did have a 361 HP big block motor. That 361HP only was available in Cop cars,Taxi cabs & Station Wagons. It came equipped with factory Dual exhaust,dual point dist.,what they called back then 3/4 race cam & a Carter 4bbl. carb. Even the block was stamped 361HP. It was very fast & was even a 9 passenger. 3 front ,3 rear & 3 in cargo area seating in a 3 cushion seating arrangement.

 

[97RangerXLT]

The Dart is a nice looking small car. As for Dodge Quality, I have owned a 1994 Intrepid, which engine wise was one of the best cars I have ever owned. the only thing that killed it was a dumbass in a round about. it had almost 200k and no engine problems whatsoever. The body and interior on the other hand were pretty horrible. very cheaply made. Now fast forward to 2009, and we bought a Charger brand new. The body and interior on that car is great. no issues, no rattles and we have had it almost 4 years and 80,000 miles. it drives great and rides great. The engine is the 2.7 which is quite frankly too small for that large of a car. Everything I have heard on the newer dodges is that they have improved even more quality wise.

I would give the Dart a look over. it might be what you need.

AJ

 

[Twister]

I would give them a little more time or atleast wait till the 2014 model year is out. Brand new cars have lots of problems they need to weed out.

 

[rtg143]

We have the Chargers in our fleet as police cars since 2009 and have had so much trouble with them that we're trying the Caprice and Taurus. The next one they say they'll try is the Explorer. Our Dodge pickups have been trouble too. Some of the City workers own them and some are okay but not as good as the Ford or Chevy trucks.

 

[PanamaExpat]

If she's looking for fuel economy and not worried about performance get her a Prius.....

 

[swynx]

I would give them a little more time or atleast wait till the 2014 model year is out. Brand new cars have lots of problems they need to weed out.

this was my first thought. as reliability is my main concern. my only other concern with this is that the 1.4l turbo is going to.be the main engine. or so ive been told. and ussually anything with a turbo gets hot rodded. ill probably buy her a 2000+ focus i know there good cars.

as for the prius. i drive when we go places and i refuse to drive a car with that center of the dash layout bs. its distracting. if i find it ditracting she definatly will.

one thing i was wondering is how well built the 1.4l is? i reckon its the same engine as the fiat 500?

 

[martin]

I don't believe economy and awd belong in the same sentence, regardless of what the manufacturers will have you believe. The focus is reputedly a reliable and economical unit (they're everywhere), if you equip it with a set of good quality snow tyres it would probably meet your needs.