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I'm not sure if this is one of those cars that will make it to 200K miles, or is going to poop out on me in another 10K miles. If it has been well maintained (I know this is a leap of faith), what could I reasonably expect.
What year? The earlier ones are complete JUNK. They have transmission issues, and if it is a 4cyl engine WALK AWAY!!!! They are VERY hit and miss cars, few of them are good ones, that is why you only see the last couple years of them around.
If it has the 2.7 Litre motor, RUN AWAY as fast as you can, that is the sludge motor. Terrible motor made by Chrysler, look it up. They have serious sludging issues with it. The 2.4 4cyl. is not much better, that is the head gasket problem motor.. I would look at another car, and I am not being rude.
Thanks! I don't know if it is because tax season is causing people to spend their refunds on cars or what, but I have been looking for a week. I have spend 4-5 hours a day (not exhagerating) looking for a suitable car within 75 miles of San Antonio. I even drove 90 minutes away today to look at a car that was a bust. Everyone keeps telling me they are out there, but I can't find them.
Or, when I do find an add, I call, and they tell me they've already sold the car (has happened 4 times).
I totaled my car, and don't have the luxury of waiting until one pops up.
When we bought our 99 Stratus it was January a few years back and my wife had just totaled her Audi. So our purchase was kinda in a hurry. I liked the way the car was engineered and had very good luck with a Plymouth Acclaim, but soon realized that the build on this one wasn't very good at all. I'm not sure if the heater vent issue had been straightened out in the year you are looking at, but ours just blew all the time on the windshield - even the AC. Expensive fix that we declined. There was a massive oil leak (4 cyl.) that we decided to just add to when needed and it only got progressively worse. The front part of the exhaust below the manifold was a nightmare to replace. The seats and interior were way below average. But when it ran good, it wasn't a bad driver. I wouldn't recommend the car to anyone.
I would recommend you looking for a used Ford Focus. They're usually dirt cheap and pretty cheap to fix. Theres a Ford dealer on the web that sells brand new 2.0 DOHC Zetec motors for $750.00. We have a 2001 ZX3 approaching 200,000 miles and it still runs pretty dang good, has the original clutch in it too. We just use it for commuting and it does a great job.
I would recommend you looking for a used Ford Focus. They're usually dirt cheap and pretty cheap to fix. Theres a Ford dealer on the web that sells brand new 2.0 DOHC Zetec motors for $750.00. We have a 2001 ZX3 approaching 200,000 miles and it still runs pretty dang good, has the original clutch in it too. We just use it for commuting and it does a great job.
I have to agree, I would buy a Focus over any of those Chrysler JUNK piles... I did like my 98 Sebring, but even that car had a pretty stupid design, such as a battery in the front fender well, To replace the rear spark plugs I had to take the ENTIRE intake off, luckily I am very mechanically inclined and too auto repair at a trade school, saved me from paying $560 to get SPARK PLUGS REPLACED!!! Yeah Chrysler is the last car I will buy on a lot. Ford, good choice, Honda, some GM cars.
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