id drive it

[kcm1582]

I have a pact with......well, I guess myself, to never ever own a Dodge product.

I'd rather have no car than a Mopar.

Agreed. Even if they fixed all their problems and were making top quality products, I just can't bring myself to buy a Chrysler product.

 

[97RangerXLT]

I work with a guy who worked for Chrysler for 12 years. He is always going on about how he has never seen as many corrosion and broken rusty bolt problems as he has with Ford.

He has no response when I ask why every Caravan from 2000 to 05 has the shock towers and rockers rotted out, or why Chrysler feels the need to have a service part for the shock towers if MOPARS don't rot out.

From a person that owns two dodges...(a 94 Intrepid w/ 187,000 miles and a 09 Charger with 40,000 miles) I will say that at least for the intrepid, I have not ever had any issues removing bolts due to corrosion. the rocker panel on the driver side is just now starting to rust out, but I have had surface rust on the inside lower edge of all the doors for almost as long as I have owned the car, (wife bought it when we were dating in 2003, only had 58k on it) and starting to get rust on the lower edge of the trunk lid.

The 97 Ranger looks great. 137k, no rust on the body whatsoever anywhere, but there are parts under the hood that have bolts so rusted that it is flaking off. I had to pound on a 3/8" socket to remove a 10mm valve cover bolt this summer. the steering box if it ever goes out, I will probably have to use a cutting torch to remove it. many other bolts that are like this as well...

So I would say that you are both right, Ford uses lower quality fasteners than Dodge, but Dodge uses lower rustproofing standards on thier sheetmetal...

As for the transmission, that will probably be the thing that kills the intrepid. As far as I know it is original, it has ran pretty good for us for 130k miles that we owned the car, but I have heard horror stories on this transmission, especially the early years of the intrepid (93 and 94). There was a person on one of the intrepid forums that had a 95 with almost 500k miles on it, and that included replacing the transmission 3 times.

THe Charger I have not had to turn a wrench on... we got the lifetime warranty on it, so it has gone to Dodge when needing repairs (has had a few issues, most of them from the technician that replaced a leaking rear main seal at 3500 miles...I could give you a real good rant on that dipshit.)

AJ

 

[kcm1582]

most of them from the technician that replaced a leaking rear main seal at 3500 miles...I could give you a real good rant on that dipshit.
AJ

Oh Please do.

 

[97RangerXLT]

Our charger has been a royal pile of dog doo as well, but it all stems down to one incident...and how the technician handled it...

started at the first oil change. rear main seal was leaking. warranty fix, and then it gets good.

July 2009, first oil change, and they stated the rear main was leaking. they will fix under warranty at second oil change. (had to have the car a day to do so, as they had to remove the transmission to fix the car)

late August 2009. replace rear main seal.
October or so 2009. car went into limp mode. took it in. found a disconnected plug on a trans sensor (Huh?) plugged it in and said your good to go. got a block away from the dealer, went into limp mode again. took it back. they gave us a loaner and looked at it again overnight. found out the connector had a bad pin (gee how did that happen? )

early 2010. noticed a rattle coming from the engine. not a good sounding rattle either, but it was light. next oil change took it in and told them. they couldn't get it to reproduce the sound. ok whatever, its under warranty still and I had a feeling it would get worse. it did.

May 2010, took it back in to look at the rattle as it was worse now. still tried to deny it was happening, had a tech tell me it was the injectors firing (bullchit. way to irregular and only did it at idle or a hair over idle with no load on the engine.)
took the tech around for a drive to make it do it for him. he finally heard it. (was about to ask him to take me on a drive with a charger from the lot to show him the difference.) they determined it was the belt tensioner. they replaced the tensioner under warranty.

Noise was back the next day.

June 2010, took the car to Gatlinburg. came back and the rattle was really noticable. took it back in and this time they said it was the a/c compressor. ordered a compressor. replaced it, they called me and said that the compressor was done and they found that the alternator was making noise and going bad, so they ordered a new alternator!

picked up the car and guess what? the SAME rattle was still there!

got the alternator in a week or so later. they replaced it, and guess what? yep. still noisy as all hell. ( gotta wonder if these guys even test drove the damn car afterwards)

so now I am getting annoyed. take it back, they look at it and give me aloaner car again.

call the next day and guess what? the noise was from loose bolt on the flexplate!!

that finally fixed the problem.

One lousy rear main seal and an idiot technician cost Chrysler thousands of dollars in parts and labor on this car!

six months ago I take the car in and they notice another oil leak from the front of the engine..

that got fixed, and now it has yet another leak on the engine that needs to be fixed, and the differential is leaking... thank god for the Lifetime powertrain warranty...

AJ

 

[84bluebronco2]

Thanks for letting me know to never buy a new charger lolol

 

[shane96ranger]

Here's a Dodge my buddy worked on. It broke a valve spring, a valve, and bent this pushrod in cylinder 1.

 

[The Jester Race]

Oh shit, I didn't even see the clicky.

This is the only van I would drive. Jump to 4:35.


-Jester

 

[kcm1582]

Well AJ it sounds like they trained that tech as well as they build their cars. And remember it wouldn't be a Dodge if it didn't leak.

 

[97RangerXLT]

LOL... the Charger other than the issue with the leaks (Dodge= Drips Oil, Drops Grease Everywhere) has been a great car. very comfortable, good ride. plus lifetime warranty

AJ

 

[rangerluver]

Well, that seals my decision. I just bought the wife the new '11 GT 5.0 Mustang, love that car, and was wondering what I wanted in a year or so. I was torn between the Challenger, because of its killer good looks and displacement, and the Mustang GT500. I guess I know which I will be getting.

 

[MountainMike]

I see what you did there, a thank you would be nice

 

[kemo]

Dodge has a kickass history of factory tuned minivans... er uh, one van...

 

[GoodOld85BlueBalls]

Yea I own a van, 2002 Honda Odysey with 120,000 on it. Never done nuthing to it cept tires and oil changes. Oh yea and a timing belt. Best low maint vehicle I ever had.