1996 Dodge Intrepid Highline 3.5L 24v SOHC V6 from North America

Summary:

Not a bad car, has its flaws, but average

Faults:

Crusty brake lines needed to be replaced. Expected for an Ohio car.

Replaced steering rack bushings and sub frame bushings at 181,000. I was told by the original owner that these were all original.

A little bit of rust on the underside, nothing major, yet again, expected on an Ohio car.

General Comments:

Car is very nice, rides smooth and handles well, a rare combination, usually cars either drive smooth and have crappy handling, or vice versa. I'd rather have a floor shift with buckets, but I hear the split bench and column shift models are much lighter.

Surprisingly quick car, but could be faster having 214hp, however the song the 24V motor sings at wide open throttle makes up for that.

The transmission is original, only because the owner properly cared for it by flushing the transmission every 20k miles with a new filter and used ONLY Mopar fluid. He had also added a larger cooler 1000 miles after he bought the car new. Transmission shifts very crisp with no problems or hiccups.

However...

Reading on here, I cannot believe the amounts of people having problems with these cars, sounds to me like most of these problems were from blatant abuse or possibly a bad batch of parts. Mine had the ORIGINAL bushings at 181k, and had finally went bad. I really don't understand how someone can buy a car with 150,000 miles, and start to have problems with it, and call it a piece of junk. You have zero knowledge of how that car was treated, what fluids were used, etc.

I know there is the occasional lemon or few, but seeing negative reviews in large numbers is unbelievable to a huge extent. My neighbor had a 1994 New Yorker that was all original and died at 234,000 miles only because it was involved in a accident. My aunt also owned a 1997 Concorde that she took great care of, and sold it with 160,000 miles, she too had no problems.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th March, 2009

1996 Dodge Intrepid Interceptor 3.5 24 valve from North America

Summary:

I will be buried in this car when I die. Nothing but power and American Spirit in a Dodge platform

Faults:

Other than the usual maintenance, I've replaced the thermostat, the left tire rod end and the headlight mounting brackets and plastic... the brackets were actually severed from the body of the car, and it was never in an accident, the headlights fogged over to the point where at night even with the high beams on, they barely illuminated more than 5 feet past that of the excellent fog lamps.

Has a slight power steering leak, but not major, and no rust, which is amazing considering it has been driven in the winter everyday on hwy 41 in Wisconsin from green bay to Appleton, where they salt the road comparable to the Atlantic Ocean.

The transmission was replaced around 58000 miles. Driving down the hwy with it ripping out from underneath your feet is never fun. Was replaced with a 6 speed auto from a Stratus, never got it out of 5th gear because by then I'm already going 160mph!

General Comments:

I LOVE THIS CAR.

After doing some research I found out that the engine is actually a 3.5 bored over to a 4.5 stock by Dodge. It is #138 of 400 canceled police interceptors from 1996. Never saw the force.

I can take a 90 degree turn at 60 and the tires barely squeal or smoke. I've topped the car out at 185mph simply because I ran out of road and the road ride was like I was flying in my Piper Super Cub; incredibly smooth and responsive.

My car was never actually painted though. It's a primer grey, almost battleship grey, powder coat body and undercarriage perfect with 3 layers of clear coat stock.

I redesigned the entire exhaust system myself where I reused all the pipe and the original resonator tailpipe. Now it rivals most Duramax diesels and sounds like a Boeing B-17 around 80.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 30th August, 2008