5th Jul 2002, 11:59

I have owned a 1993 Dodge Intrepid since 1994. It first came to me as a company car with 12,000 miles, having previously been owned by a car rental company. I am quite lazy about servicing so my poor car has only have a very minimal amount.

Water Pump changed

New coil and leads

Fuel rail leaked, but this was done under the recall (only found out that the dealer had to do this by chance they did not offer this information, they did the other recall work at the same time.)

Transmission has always had a bad clunk when changing into reverse, dealer never found a problem!!

Car now has 122,000.00 miles and the transmission has finally given up.

All in all this car has been great. Has cost hardly now money to own. I guess I just got a good one.

2nd Oct 2002, 22:59

In many cases (actually a very high percentage) of the transmission failures and problems with this transmission is a direct result of using GM Dexron (or other non-approved) fluid instead of the required Mopar 7176 fluid. This has been documented by Daimler Chrysler as well as extensive examples on the internet by independant sources. This transmission actually has a higher than normal (as compared to Ford and GM) reliability rating. There are several reasons for this. The primary reason being that the 42LE does not operate like a conventional hydraulically controlled automatic. Statistics do not agree with your assumptions of the reliability of this vehicle. You can flame me of course, but you cannot change those statistics.

1st Jan 2003, 20:22

I've owned my 1993 Intrepid since November 2000. It's been a great car, I've had to replace the starter wires, and front struts and rotors. Otherwise, just general maintenance. I can't say if it's had any other problems, since I am not the original owner.

1st Feb 2003, 13:15

I still see this car driving around and up until now wondered if its just mine that has become a lemon. At under 100,000 miles: 2 timing belts, 2 water pumps, tie rods, A/C compressor, an unable to pinpoint sensor defect, possibly the power control unit? And now the fear of transmission trouble due to reading this survey.

13th Apr 2003, 18:10

I have owned our 1994 Dodge Intrepid since 1998. I have had a few problems along the way, but now I have a huge problem. The intrument cluster does not work at all most of the time. Some times it will pop on when driving, or after numerous minutes. I have had the Body Control Module replaced, as well as having the intrument panel removed and serviced. Any one else having these problems?

6th Aug 2003, 09:48

Without doing much homework on the Internet, I bought a used 94 Intrepid 3 years back (<90 k miles). AC never worked which could be evaporator problem. But I did not realize this could be a recall item until recently. But now the mileage is over 100 k and recall will not cover it. The automatic transmission was rough when I got it. It lurked at 5-10 mph and there was an impact at gear shifting. I took it to "5-star" Dodge dealer. The transmission was tested and found no problem. They thought it was engine problem and charged me over $400 for servicing throttle body, changing oil and speed sensor (for about 2 hours shop time). The problem was not solved. A few months later I had a transmission service. The problem was mysteriously gone. Some other people had exactly the same experience, which was post at another site on the Internet. About 2 months ago, the transmission would not shift out of low gear. I took it to the transmission shop. It took them more than one day to figure out it was the problem with the computer controlling the transmission. I was charge more than $500 for replacing the $75 computer chip, including a transmission service which is 20% more than if I had a transmission service alone. Later I found on the Internet that this is also a common problem with 93-95 Intrepid with electronically controlled transmission.

Recently I experience a problem with steering system, and I realized that the recall item of Lower Control Arm Bracket has not been done on my car. I have just scheduled an appointment to have it fixed. I hope nothing would happen before I drive it to the dealer next week.

14th Jul 2004, 16:03

I've owned a 1994 Intrepid since it was new and I now have 144,000 miles on it. Right now it's not a bad car to own. I say that because even though I have had most of the problems listed by others, I do my own repairs and my local junk yard has more Intrepids than anything else. In addition, the parts are cheap (when still available and working). I am still on my first transmission - I've found that as soon as it starts to slip or lock in "limp mode", changing the fluid will help. I've been changing the fluid and filter every so often for years and it still slips, but it keeps on going.

The thump you hear when shifting into reverse is the rear transaxle mount. It's a very poor 1-piece design that turns into a 2-piece design. About $40 at an auto parts store and an hour or so of your time will fix it.

The condenser leaks because of a bad weld design at the supports. A sudden jolt, collision, etc. will crack the metal on the condenser at the weld. I got a replacement at the junk yard for $15. Just make sure you check the car to see if it still has refrigerant in the system. If it does, you know the condenser is OK. Make sure you handle it like the fine china it is until you install it. Also, I had a bad sensor on the line that prevented the compressor from operating. Dodge wanted $100 for the sensor. It came free with the condenser at the junk yard. A/C is working again.

The problem with the steering is not the rack and pinion, it is Dodge's idea of having a steel bolt go through an aluminum sleeve inside a rubber bushing. After a few years the molecules turn into alumi-steel and the only thing that will turn is the rubber bushing after it rips apart. You will notice that it is bad when it's cold out. The rubber is hard and makes a ripping/grinding/crunching sound. It's a little tough to reach, but there are only two bolts to take out. Advance Auto carries a replacement 2-piece bushing for well under $20. I didn't even need to remove the tie-rods on the 2 occasions that I replaced the bushings.

Speaking of tie-rods. Just got a replacement at the junk yard for $5. You just have to look for a good one.

I could continue, but you get the idea. That's the great thing about my car now that it is 10 years old. If you own a well made car, whenever something fails you have to buy new. With the Intrepid, the last one to get junked is the winner. Used parts are cheap and plentiful. Speaking of which, I once owned a Chevy Vega (please, no jokes about my IQ).