1998 Chrysler Cirrus LXi

Summary:

Costly and mysterious

Faults:

I just purchased a 98 Chrysler Cirrus Lxi this past year. The car ran great and I fell in love with it.

Within the last two months however; I want to dump it. I haven't had the car stop while driving, but I got a 6th cylinder misfire code one day when the engine light came on. I had the plugs and wires replaced. No engine light since.

Since then my car has been back to the mechanic because the car will start one day and not another. It also jerks when it does decide to start like the plugs are missing and when coming to a stop, it acts as if it wants to stall. So back to the mechanic, distributor cap and rotor was replaced with no improvement.

Then we tried replacing the crank shaft sensor. Car drove for a day and then wouldn't start the next. It started today but not yesterday. I'm scared to drive it anywhere because it still jerks, and I'm afraid that if I go to a store and come back out, it may not start again. No engine codes are showing up and the mechanic is puzzled. He seems to think (after talking to a friend from a dealer) that's it's the distributor. Part is $1300. I'm just not sure if it's worth putting it on for that amount. I could get a used car at the price that it is costing to get these repairs.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 7th February, 2009

16th Jul 2009, 16:15

If it's the distributor, for a 1998 Chrysler Cirrus LXI I priced one at a Auto Zone and it was only like $230.00. So check with Auto Zone first, because it will not cost no $1,300.00 for a distributor. And also another thing to consider if it really is the distributor, there is something wrong inside the engine, and it's not worth fixing. It could possibly only happen again... big problems...

14th Mar 2010, 22:04

Been down this road. My 98 Cirrus stopped dead in its tracks. Computer showed no codes. No check engine light. Sometimes it would start and die. After running a lot of diagnostics of my own, including a new engine computer, I put in a rebuilt distributor and a new crank sensor. That did the trick. Still get Check engine light for misfires on like 4 different cylinders but it runs fine so I just leave the check engine light on. Good luck. BTW this engine is prone to distributor failures, because the electronics and coil are in it.

1998 Chrysler Cirrus LXI 2.5 litre

Summary:

Defective off the line, fixable but costly

Faults:

My car started right up at the used car lot. All was well until three months later; the car started stalling for no apparent reason. Several times, I was nearly hit by trucks and cars while trying to manuever the car off the road. After stalling, the car started up within 20 minutes.

I needed new brakes after 4 months.

The moon roof panel became stuck after coming off its tracks.

Some rust has started to form on the bottom of the car.

General Comments:

I was lucky to find a good mechanic who replaced the spark plugs, wires, rotor, blew out the fuel injectors and did some other magic. The car is now running very well. It cannot compare to the quality of my previous 1991 Toyota Camry, which was the best car I've ever owned, hands down. I have owned at least 8 cars so far.

It cost over $1150.00 to correct the stalling problem. I believe it was worth it because the car now runs very well. The power has substantially increased and the car starts on the first crank; no more stalling (fingers crossed).

I have read several on-line reviews of this make and model, and believe it should have been recalled because it was so dangerous to stall without warning, in all kinds of weather.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th June, 2008

20th Jun 2008, 10:47

Apart from the moonroof, everything you've had to repair is fair wear and tear on a nine year old car.