Faults:

I purchased my 1999 Chrysler Intrepid in 2001, with about 32,000 miles on it. My father and I were told at the dealership that this model was very reliable and very safe. This was a great concern to me and my father, as my two young children would be riding in this car often. This particular dealer offered free lifetime oil changes every 3,000 miles, which I always followed through on. I maintained my vehicle very well. I also purchased an extended warranty as well.

Unfortunately at approximately 71,000 miles, the engine blew while I was driving on the road. Just shut down. I had come to find out that my engine had failed due to an oil sludge build up in the tensioner ports. The ports were manufactured poorly and were too small to filter the oil properly to the engine. I was informed by the mechanic that this was a very common problem with this model engine (2.7 litre). He also told me there was nothing I could have done to prevent what happened, and that he was certain Daimler Chrysler was aware the engines were faulty. Hence they started making them with 3.5 litre engines, which incidentally someone I knew owned a 2000 Dodge Intrepid with a 3.5 litre engine and she did not experience any engine problems.

It has been a very long time since all of this happened, however I still have so much resentment and disappointment towards Daimler Chrysler because they absolutely refused to take any responsibility for the failure of my engine. I paid $19,000 for a vehicle that I was only able to drive about 2 1/2 years before the engine prematurely failed. I tried getting help from Chrysler to offset the cost of a new engine, as I still had 4 years of car payments to make on a vehicle that was inoperable due to their negligent manufacturing defect. I pursued all avenues to try and get some type of renumeration to fix my vehicle, but they were completely uncooperative, claiming they had no liability. My anger was so much more intensified as I started to learn that practically every Chrysler Intrepid with that model engine had pretty much failed at low mileage due to this engine sludge build up.

I believe that Daimler Chrysler has perpetrated a fraud on the American and Canadian public. I have been told by mechanics who have worked for Dodge/Chrysler dealerships that their engineers knew that this engine was faulty, but continued to put them in these vehicles and refused to issue recalls on them.

I have come to find out through the years that there are hundreds, probably thousands now of websites devoted to the Chrysler Intrepid 2.7 liter engine failure. If that isn't enough veracity for Chrysler to make amends to the people they knowingly and recklessly screwed over, then they should be ashamed of themselves. It is a shame they cannot or will not do the right thing by compensating people who were affected by this poorly designed engine. I know that I did the right thing when, even though I could not afford to fix my vehicle and get it operable as I was a struggling single mother, going to school full-time as well as working full-time, I made every single car payment on time. That's right, I followed through on my commitment to pay them for nearly 4 more years for a vehicle that I couldn't even drive. So basically that's my story. I'm sure there are many hundreds of thousands that have a very similar one, if they purchased a Chrysler or Dodge Intrepid with a 2.7 litre engine model. I'm am hoping some day I will run across a class action lawsuit initiated in New York State, so that all the people that were unfairly affected by Daimler Chrysler can be properly compensated for their monetary losses, due to willful neglect of one of the biggest corporations in the United States.

Thank you very much for allowing me use your forum to tell my story.

Faults:

There is a problem with the electricals, a problem with the motor, and I suspect a problem with the transmission.

The driver's window has broken twice, and the door electrical has failed a couple times, during winter of course.

The locks operate occasionally.

If you can afford the constant repairs of this car, it rides nice and handles well... when it's running.