Dodge Intrepid - First car, what do you think?

BarryinMN · Mar 19, 2012

The LH are notorious for holes in the AC and or radiator bottom because they hang down low & act as a bulldozer in snow or gravel berms...

Anyways pages of comments & NOBODY has asked the most important question...

How does the radio sound???

TBDonnelly · Mar 19, 2012

The air dam hangs low on the intrepids. Parking curbs are notorious for pulling them loose. I'd reattach it with some new pins and stock some spare pins. Watch what you drive over..........it's not a 4 x 4.

:thumbsup: A mechanic once told me not to remove the air dam. It has a purpose but I don't remember exactly what it is now........

Don

LD1 · Mar 20, 2012

TBDonnelly said:
The air dam hangs low on the intrepids. Parking curbs are notorious for pulling them loose. I'd reattach it with some new pins and stock some spare pins. Watch what you drive over..........it's not a 4 x 4. :thumbsup: A mechanic once told me not to remove the air dam. It has a purpose but I don't remember exactly what it is now........

Don

Typically the purpose is to funnel more air up to the radiator, since the design of alot of newer cars dont really have a grill to let air flow straight through.

But I have removed the air dam when it came loose on more than one car and never had an overheating issue as a result

Agent Blue · Mar 22, 2012

On the other hand you will gain alot of mechanical experience with this ownership. It would sure help your confidence level if it remained trouble / leak free for at least a week. Good Luck.

CompactTractorFan · Mar 22, 2012

Diamondpilot said:
I just meant you got a good buy.

Chris

Yeah, I understand. You were making you post as I was making mine about the problems...

BarryinMN said:
Anyways pages of comments & NOBODY has asked the most important question...

How does the radio sound???

I wouldn't know...I get distracted by the radio, so I don't usually listen...Heck, sometimes I get distracted when the window is down...

CompactTractorFan · Mar 22, 2012

Thanks for all the input so far.

I checked the trans fluid and it was low and brown, so it might need to be changed. The car is at the mechanic's right now to fix the problems previously mentioned. We are also getting the A/C repaired and the drivers window looked at. The previous owner had made us aware of these problems prior to the sale...

We will see...

uphere · Mar 22, 2012

Make sure you use the required tranny fluid (I think it is outlined on the dipstick) - I had a 1997 with the 3.5 which was a great car (290K when sold) - but I do remember the tranny guy saying it takes "special" fluid - not your std stuff?

not2old · Mar 22, 2012

Kyle:
Free advice can be useful, so here's some more. I hope it's worth more than what you are paying for it. When my son got his first car, I helped him find a good little pickup as he would be able to carry around his dirt bike and trucks are a little easier for us to fix. It didn't hurt that he couldn't carry too many passengers. The unexpected bonus is that he was able to use it to make some money. LOTS of people need small amounts of junk hauled away, yards cleaned up and grass cut. In six months he saved enough to buy a five year old Z28 Camaro and then complained That I wouldn't let him borrow my truck. Just food for thought.

CompactTractorFan · Mar 29, 2012

UPDATE:

Took the car into the shop...Cost $500...

They attached the air dam, serviced the A/C system (including refrigerant & dye), repaired the drivers power window (the big $$$), added fluid to the tranny, and diagnosed the leak. It turns out the leak is in a tranny cooler line, but it would be a $800+ job. So for now we will just keep an eye on it and add fluid as needed...