Excellent car for people on a tight budget.

I purchased a dark red version of this car back in July of 2003. I was looking for a cheap, but reliable vehicle that was good on gas. This was my first car and i have to say i am very pleased with it. When i bought it it had 150,000 kms on it and a brand new clutch. My car is the 2.0L 5 speed manual transmission version.

Since i bought the car I have to only replace 2 sensor's ($300) and I've performed oil changes at every 6000 kms. I love the engine/transmission combination in this particular car. It has good acceleration from 2500 rpm up to the red line of 6200. Passing power is excellent and the car has boasted an impressive 5.7L/100kms (about 50mpg) highway driving since i bought it.

The exterior styling of the car still impresses me, It still looks modern and sporty compared to newer cars. I like the low hood and the high trunk lid for they make the car look sleek and graceful. The headlights that came with the car seemed very dull so i had them replaced with super-white halogen bulbs and the improvement in night time vision is excellent. I keep the car clean and waxed so it looks like it was made yesterday.

The interior draws some divided comments, on the good side, the seats are comfortable, the controls for the HV/AC are easy to reach and the rear cup holder is good for coffee cups. The cruise control setup on the steering wheel is nice and easy to memorize, just wish they were illuminated at night. Finally the cabin is large enough for 4 adults to fit comfortably with luggage On the downside, the two front cup holders are good for small cups, but nothing to tall for the come into contact with the bottom of the HV/AC control housing. There seems to be alot of road noise in the cabin though new weather striping might solve that.

Overall a very good car with alot going for it, I would recommend to anyone looking for a car to check out a Stratus, especially a 1995 with the 5 speed manual transmission.