24th Aug 2004, 06:22

I have read a lot of unhappy people with the Dodge Stratus. There was one person that said go with a Chevy or Ford. My mother had to get some major work done to her car totaling $700. She owns a 96 Chevy Cavalier (spelling). They are for the most part, a reliable vehicle. She has taken care of the car and had to get the head gasket replaced.

With that being said, I just recently got a 2000 Dodge Stratus SE with the 2.4 Liter engine. I have to say that I am pleased with the car. It runs great, and just recently took it on the highway with no problems.

I do know that I need to get the transmission fluid exchanged. The fluid is getting a little dark, and it doesn't like to shift down sometimes after going into passing gear. The car has 77K miles on it so this is to be expected. The exchange will replace 90% of the old fluid.

My point is, you do not know how the car was treated before you got it. All you know is how you are treating it. In most cases if you take care of the car, it will take care of you. There are the few exceptions where you may get one that has problems. It is like that though with anything you buy, be it a computer, sterio, etc.

2001 is when they started changing the body and some other things. The SE Coupe was built to replace the Avenger with a few modifications to make it better. I drove a 2001 Stratus SE with the 3.0 Liter V6 and was very impressed. It drove like a charm. It did get a little less gass mileage than my 2000 with the 2.4 liter, but that is to be expected with a bigger engine.

Those of you that want to flame Dodge and tell people not to buy it, I say this....

To each his own. Every manufacturer will have their problems. Not every car is perfect. Just like not every electronic device is perfect. Not every toy is perfect. It isn't only cars that have problems and recalls. Please do a little thinking and take time to calm down so you are rational when you make a comment. You have a right to your free speech, just make sure you aren't posting something you will regret later.

If anyone has any comments to me, e-mail me.

javve@javve.net

How many people will put their e-mail addresses on this site? Maybe I missed something that said not to. If I did, oops. We are human and mistakes happen.

21st Jul 2005, 14:55

I bought a 1998 Chrysler Cirrus, same thing as Stratus, with 24K on it in 1999. I drove the car all through college and only did general maintenance besides a wheel bearing and an leaking oil sending unit. I drove the car for 5 years and had 148,000 on the odometer when a woman ran a red light and totaled my car. I loved the car and only wish the replacement vehicle I bought ran as well. It had the 2.5 liter V6 and ran great. I do know someone who owned a 97' Stratus and had problems, but mine was fine. I think it entirely depends on the individual vehicle, but I have to strongly recommend changing the fluids when recommended. I wish all the Stratus and Cirrus owners out there good luck and may you have many trouble-free miles.

24th Aug 2005, 20:53

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I bought my 2000 Stratus in February of 2001, with 9,000 miles on it, and I've had almost zero problems with it. I had to replace the front axle (covered under warranty) and had a little trouble with the doors closing properly. Also, a bit of premature rust on the hood. But here's the kicker-- I just turned 180,000 miles, with the original engine and transmission. I've been pretty anal about the maintenance-- oil change every 3,000; changed transmission fluid twice; timing belt once; etc. And here's the real kicker-- my last car, a 1995 Dodge Spirit was on the road for 235,000 miles. I only got rid of it due to it blowing excessive amounts of oil. The tranny and the engine were still going strong. I'm a mopar man for life!

28th May 2007, 21:05

2000 Dodge Stratus SE. I bought my car used in November 2005. The car runs great! I've changed my oil, but decided to upgrade this. I use K&N oil filters and now my car wants to roll with the big boys (muscle cars). If you take care of your ride... the ride will take care of you. I recommend not using cheap or standard replacement components (fluilds, filters, spark plugs, etc.) when that time comes. Recalls are in effect and are free. Learn about your ride like a child telling you about thier day in school. If you are going to put your car in 'time-out', please make sure you tell yourself and your car why and be honest. Like a child, a car won't always tell you then truth if it knows it will get into trouble so you have to be smarter...

22nd Dec 2007, 17:29

Hello to all of you. I have been researching the 2000 Dodge Stratus ES model. So far I have heard many things about the transmission issues and head gasket issues for the SE models. This car is a cheap resale value as most I have seen are advertised at under $5000. I know that there are problems with any car that you may buy, however I want to make sure that when I buy a car there will be little to no problems when I buy it. After that it would be up to me to properly maintain it.

So, my question would be how do you properly research a car that you are planning to buy? Can you get a report about the car and is it reliable? Like a carfax report or something like that? Does anyone know much about the ES 2.5L 2000 Stratus model or how I would go about getting information?

Thank you for any help that you could give me.