An inexpensive sedan with some good characteristics

I bought my 1995 Dodge Stratus about 3 years ago with 90,000 miles on it. I was getting married and needed a family car I could afford. The Stratus fit the bill nicely.

INTERIOR:

The interior of this car is somewhat cheaply made. There are a lot of plastic parts that snap together. This is typical of Chrysler products of these years. However, the design itself is pleasing to the eye. There are a lot of nice curves in the dash that give it a sporty flair. The gauge pod gives you a speedometer, tachometer, gas gauge, and temp gauge, with warning lights for things like low oil pressure and ABS (if equipped). 1995 Stratus' usually came with black gaugues, however later cars had white face gauges available to add to the sporty look. It comes standard with dual air bags. The rear is roomy enough for average sized adults to sit comfortably, and the front also has plenty of room. I find the front seats are ok on comfort, but they get somewhat uncomfortable after driving for an hour. The driver seat has standard adjustments, with an additional manual adjustment that allows you to raise the seat straight up (good for shorter people that might have difficulty seeing over the dash). The controls are easy to understand and are positioned within reach.

CARGO:

The rear cargo space was one of the most pleasant surprises with this car. The rear of the car is raised up a bit more than the rest of the car, which gives more cargo area. The trunk lid opens to provide a nice, wide opening, allowing you to slide long objects (like baby strollers) easily to the back. If you need to transport long objects, the rear seat folds down to provide even more cargo area.

EXTERIOR:

The exterior styling has grown on me since this car was first introduced. The styling is rakish with a tall back and low nose. The wheels are pushed all the way to the edge of the fenders to give the car a stable & sporty look. The way you can tell a 1995 Stratus apart from later cars is by the rear trunklid: 1995 models have a thin red reflector strip running across the bottom lip of the trunklid with "Dodge Stratus" in black letters. Later models eliminated this strip and put "STRATUS" on the rear trunk in chrome letters.

PERFORMANCE:

I have owned a handful of high-performance cars, so the Stratus doesn't impress me as a racecar. However, it does have a sporty feel to it. The base model engine is the 2.0 Liter 4 cylinder motor, commonly found on the Dodge Neon of the same year. My car is equipped with the DOHC 2.4 Liter 4 cylinder motor with an automatic. This engine/transmission combo provides a good balance of power and efficiency (approx. 25-30 mpg). If you opt to buy an EX model Stratus, you will likely get the V-6 motor, which provides even more power and torque, but with slightly less efficiency. The handling of the Stratus is relatively good, thanks to coil-overs in front and independent suspension in back. The braking is adequate, with front disks and rear drums.

MAINTENANCE:

Overall maintenance is no different from any other car. However, unlike Hondas and Toyotas, you can't abuse this car or avoid doing scheduled maintenance without paying the price in reliability. Most problems that I have had with my car are the result of scheduled maintenance that I have failed to do. The 90K maintenance is pretty expensive too, so be prepared to spend $400-600 if your car is getting close to 100k miles.

PROBLEMS:

Some common problems I have experienced and heard about with these cars are:
- Gauges stop working or malfunction
- Front rotors warp
- Poor front headlights (improved on later models)
- Battery/Charging problems
- Transmission failures (See update below)

OVERALL:

The Stratus is good value for the money. It's not a stellar car, nor will it make your neighbors green with envy. But it will do a good job at most everything a normal car is required to do.

UPDATE 3/11/04:

The automatic transmission got stuck in 1st gear the other day. I did my best to find out what was wrong, but can't seem to figure it out. Unfortunately, it would cost me more than the car is worth to have a transmission shop dismantle the transmission and tell me what is wrong.

Keep in mind my car now has close to 200,000 miles. The transmissions on most Chrystler producs I know of generally don't last much longer than that. This hasn't really changed my opinion of the car since the car basically wore out from so many miles. Again, this is no Honda or Toyota, and it won't cost you as much as one of those will either. Just don't expect it to last more than 200,000 miles.