Dodge Stratus

Dodge Stratus

 3.7/5 (782 reviews)

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Overall Rating3.7 out of 5
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About Dodge Stratus

The Dodge Stratus is a mid-size car that was first introduced in 1995. It was replaced by The Dodge Avenger in 2007. Read more Dodge reviews to learn about other models.


Dodge Stratus Reviews

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Page 1 Reviews 0 - 10
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Dec. 7, 2019

OK, the headlight went out in the car low beam after 3 months of having this car today the dome light went out???? I will fix both and see what happens??? Good grief, I like this car, it had 78,000 miles on it. I am up to 81,000 in 3 months. The woman who I bought it from at a gas station was 83 yrs old, but 4,000 miles a year on it. I have put 1,000 a month on it. I drive it a lot and I feel like I actually live in this car. People keep wanting to hit the car with car doors at malls. It is a big car. I get upset about this. I have only had this car 3 months and 2 people have slightly hit this car with their bumpers.... The car seems like it needs gas every 3 days. It says 22 miles per gallon and 30 miles on miles on highway, maybe because it is cold out the gas is not very good.

Also 2004 Dodge Stratus the trunk there is something WRONG with it. It is really heavy. When I first got it it would hit me in the head. I am surprised I have a head left? I went to Home Depot and got a board that I use to keep from falling. It could be suspension rods are not working, but I don't know? Otherwise I like this car....

2 people found this review helpful
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: July 8, 2018

Hardly any problems with my 2006 Dodge Stratus SXT - I have been reading all these reviews on the Stratus and see all these problems everyone else has. I want to set the record straight. My car has had very few problems. I find that if you keep up regular maintenance on your car it will be fine. I have 69000 miles on it and just now I had my first check engine light. It was for my brake switch light which cost 150.00 to fix. Now it works great. I love my Stratus and will look for another Dodge when I buy my next car.

16 people found this review helpful

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    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: Nov. 8, 2017

    So I've had a Dodge Stratus 2000 for 2 years now. So far in the first year the wiring to my brake light has failed, the wiring for my passenger door window and backseat windows have failed, then this year it is sputtering, I have no heat, it keeps overheating as well. I've replaced parts and have had it looked at and nothing has helped. It has died on me a couple times. This is literally a throwaway car. You can drive it for a year then it is literally dying. I will probably never buy a Dodge anything ever again.

    23 people found this review helpful
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    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: March 26, 2017

    I'm not for sure why the hell the belt are always breaking but nonetheless I hate this car!! It sucks! Can't even drive to work when it's raining. Even the slightest rain it always hydroplanes. I have to go 35 mph just to not side.

    20 people found this review helpful
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    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: Dec. 10, 2016

    I bought my 04 stratus in 06. Within 2 months of having it the water pump went out. The transmission started going out at 40000 miles. It did ok for the next 40000 then after that everything started going wrong with it. 80000 miles are on the car now. It sits in my driveway. A hunk of worthless metal. I will never buy another one.

    22 people found this review helpful
    Verified Reviewer
    Original review: Oct. 10, 2016

    I bought my 1999 Stratus at a govt auction. It's a 4 cyl base and had about 67,000 miles on it. A massive maintenance/repair record was turned over showing many repairs already. Not long after having it I had to replace the blower, the driver rear window quit working, the pass front window works part-time. I've had replaced the bearings all around except driver front (told it would be next), the brakes have been gone through 3x and I'm getting a grinding noise like metal to metal contact and a squeal as though the brakes are going again! The air has quit blowing cold from last summer when it was great. Now I have to get the sys leak checked, evacuated and if good recharged. I wouldn't recommend this line of car to anybody!

    17 people found this review helpful
    Original review: June 28, 2016

    This car has sucked from the moment I bought it. I am talking about a 2003 Dodge Stratus. I am convinced this car was constructed in Hell. First off who the hell puts a battery behind the wheel of the driver side. You have the put the car on a lift just to change the ** battery. Second, I have already replaced the water pump, ignition switch, and now a belt on the alternator. Third, Dodge blows ** and I will never buy from you again you communist.

    36 people found this review helpful
    Original review: Jan. 18, 2016

    I got my 2003 Dodge Stratus for a graduation gift in 2008. Within 4 days the engine blew because of engine sludge, and it sat in the shop for one month while they rebuilt the engine. One day while dropping a friend off I hit a pothole and it cracked my exhaust manifold and as a result, sometime that Summer, the heat from that melted my radiator fan. A few years later my back shocks started rattling (no big deal just very annoying). On my way home one day my brakes stopped working due to a faulty master cylinder. About 4 months later I changed my drivers side brake rotor because it was ground to a pulp.

    So a few years went by and it stayed out of the shop. Then the engine started leaking oil, so much oil that I had to stop at Walmart one day and put a whole jug of oil in it while leaving a steady stream of smoke behind me on an hour long drive home. About two days later driving home from work my engine got really hot and almost burst into flames. Took it to the shop and they told me that I didn't have a drop of oil in the engine because the gaskets had all rotted. $1200. Two months after that my A/C compressor seized up and snapped my serpentine belt. Another $1200.

    So far, so good (or so I thought). Replaced my battery 3 times and alternator twice since then. Now, I had just replaced both my tie rods because one snapped as I was straightening out while parking at home. Now just this past weekend I drive out to the junk yard to get a replacement window motor for my passenger window. I turn my wheel to go home and I hear a grinding noise. So I jack my car up a few inches and see that my passenger front strut has fallen into my wheel well and is grinding on it. At that point, I decide to just sell it at the junk yard I was at instead of putting more money into it.

    No harm, no foul. I'm ready to drive the car onto the scale at the junk yard and as I'm backing out my ball joint snaps and brake fluid starts leaking all over the ground. I'm glad the junkyard had an understanding manager because he said he'd buy it. I'm so relieved that I can just unload it onto them and be done with it once and for all. I'm kind of sad since I've had that car for 7 years, but I'm also glad that I don't have to deal with it being in and out of the shop every year. Now I'm actively looking for the cheapest (in good condition) car I can find on pay here - buy here lot because my credit is shot and I don't have any money saved up for a new car.

    24 people found this review helpful
    Verified Reviewer Verified Buyer
    Original review: Oct. 23, 2015

    We are buying this vehicle from my sister who bought it at a government auction, she was impressed at the amount of mileage that is on the 2004 vehicle and thought it would make for an excellent car. We can't get it to pass emissions though that is not our complaint. The trunk of this car is so heavy and almost too heavy for me to lift, the worst thing is it comes down so hard when you try to close it. I am 100 percent sure that if I'm putting groceries in the car it can slam down on my head and do serious damage. If someone’s hands are there the trunk door will literally break it, if our kids just happen to be standing with us while putting groceries in the car it will literally snap their hands or heads off. And this is no exaggeration. We cannot park on a hill and access the trunk, not for any reason because it is so, so heavy and doesn't hold up at all. It falls down hard slamming the trunk really hard.

    20 people found this review helpful
    Original review: July 6, 2015

    We have an 01 Dodge Stratus ES 2.4L DOHC that we got used. Its manufacturing date reads Jan. 1, 2001, so it is a refit 2000 model, still having some parts from the 2000 model such as the. The engine is still very solid as indicated by compression tests, but I believe the previous owners did a very poor job maintaining the car so I am omitting problems that were purely caused by neglect. The biggest problem we had was a sudden breakage of the timing belt, which with this car usually means you have to replace the water pump. It's a tricky job, because you have to remove the passenger side engine mount and raise and lower the engine as needed. You also have to be very careful with the AC lines that are directly in your way because it is easy to break the seals on the expansion valve.

    The other major issue I had was with the suspension. Perhaps the greatest flaw with this particular model is the crude design on the front suspension which relies on a stationary strut assembly and an upper control arm with a built-in ball joint to allow up and down movement as well as steering. Since the ball joint is not that well built and there is plenty of salt on the roads here in the winter, they inevitably go bad eventually. The only problem is it is built into the upper control arm, so the price is a bit higher than you would expect for the part and the replacement is a pain since you have to remove the upper strut mount from the strut assembly.

    Installation is also a little tricky as you have to line everything up just right and of course, have your front-end alignment checked. Once I got past the problems caused by the previous owners and realizing I need to keep a close watch over the front suspension, the car performs well. We are up to 235K miles and it is still running very well. We are going to keep driving it for awhile. In summary, I would say avoid the Dodge Stratus models with the ball joints and make sure you keep up on the general maintenance as this car is not very forgiving if for instance you don't keep the coolant system clean.

    21 people found this review helpful
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    Dodge Stratus Company Information

    Company Name:
    Dodge Stratus
    Website:
    www.dodge.com