Faults:

-Lower ball joints and left tie rod replaced at 140,000 miles ($200)

-Upper ball joints replaced at 144,000 miles ($650)

-Rusting starting underneath the drivers side window.

General Comments:

-Overall, I don't think it's a bad car.. I think any car will start to have problems around 100,000+ miles. It gets pretty good gas mileage and I'm hoping it won't need any more money put into it for awhile now..

-Seats are comfortable

-Plenty of storage/trunk room.. That's very important, as I'm constantly lugging things to and from college!

Faults:

PCM Module.

Water Pump.

General Comments:

My grandfather owned this car. He bought it brand new. My dad bought it and the only thing that ever went wrong was the water pump and pcm module. Then my dad gave it to me for my first car. I don't know what all these idiots are complaining about, but for a car that has 100,000 miles on it, and 2 things went wrong since it was new. you can't go wrong. I love my Stratus. And I'm Sure it could beat any stock Honda out there.

Faults:

Master break cylinder leaked (was a recall $0) but very bad service at dealership. They did not tie down one of the two bolts. I guess you get what you pay for.

This car needs a lot of front disc brake pads (around every 30K miles).

If you maintain the car it will last you a long time. I had no other problems.

General Comments:

Very sporty and economical car. 170hp with 29MPG HWY and very good aerodynamic. Hemi trucks have no chance at 50 miles on interstate. A Mustang 5.0 will have a hard time to get you. But they will never get the MPG you will get! You can't kill this motor (by Mitsubishi) as long as you replace you timing belt every 100K.

Change all your fluids regularly at this car will last!

Faults:

Nothing serious has gone wrong with this car during the time I or the previous owner have owned it.

Typical things such as fuel pump, belts, battery, etc have been replaced, but there have been no unexpected or chronic problems.

General Comments:

I would hardly call this a "fun" vehicle, but it does have its moments.

The engine and transmission seem to be tuned more towards everyday driving than performance. This is good, because that's the reason my wife and I bought it.

I like to shift early at low rpm and get into higher gears as quick as possible. The optimum shift point for this vehicle seems to be around 3,000-3,500 rpm for perfectly smooth shifts. I have to keep reminding myself of that, because I generally like to shift around 2,500 rpm - there's always a slight "lurch" at anything below 3,000.

The car is very small inside. I am not tall (5'10") and my head almost brushes the ceiling. On sunny days, I don't even need the visor down...actually, I can't put the visor down - it blocks my view of the road. However, the car is perfect for my 4'10" wife.

The cab forward design makes the edge of the windshield seem a loooong ways away - if they had chopped a few inches out of that they could have cleared up some interior space.

Back seat is surprisingly roomy, but three people back there (even kids) wouldn't be comfortable for very long. Consider the car a 2+2.

Stock sound system is great.

Huge trunk space.

Overall craftsmanship of the car seems above average to me. Everything is tight with quality parts and high-density plastics. If you know what I mean, it doesn't "feel" cheap and flimsy when you sit in it or drive it.

Fuel mileage is okay. Then again, I consider anything below 40 mpg as "okay" and anything below 30 mpg as "bad". The Stratus gets roughly around 34 mpg.

I would seriously recommend this car to a family with no more than two kids or to a college student who needs a reliable vehicle. As long as you're not worried about performance, it's great.