SRT-4's = Junk?

[jckrieger]

A friend of mine at work has a stock 04 SRT-4 and has recently been plagued with problems. His first problem was a cam sensor failure which left him stuck on the side of the road. The week after, he noticed a growling noise while turning... took it into the dealer and both front wheel bearings were shot, and both lower control arms/ball joints needed replacement. None of the above parts were covered under warranty because they're not "powertrain". His car has 50K miles on it and it has already cost him well over a thousand dollars in repairs out of pocket. My Spirit R/T has a similar amount of miles, and if it required all that suspension work up front, I'd go crazy! Has Dodge quality taken a dive since the 80's? Our 99 Caravan had its transmission explode and our 95 Neon has had, well, all the problems the first gen neons had.

[turboaddict]

to be honest what i have seen working on them is spotty quality. almost like we're back to the monday friday car thing. some dodge products are beautiful others are crappy. i would assume the srts are the same way.

[Mario]

A friend of mine at work has a stock 04 SRT-4 and has recently been plagued with problems. His first problem was a cam sensor failure which left him stuck on the side of the road. The week after, he noticed a growling noise while turning... took it into the dealer and both front wheel bearings were shot, and both lower control arms/ball joints needed replacement. None of the above parts were covered under warranty because they're not "powertrain". His car has 50K miles on it and it has already cost him well over a thousand dollars in repairs out of pocket. My Spirit R/T has a similar amount of miles, and if it required all that suspension work up front, I'd go crazy! Has Dodge quality taken a dive since the 80's? Our 99 Caravan had its transmission explode and our 95 Neon has had, well, all the problems the first gen neons had.


Did he purchase the car new? How hard does he drive it? It really all depends on the cars history, how well its taken care of, what roads it's driven on etc. There's always going to be a few cars that roll out that have their share of problems, and what you've stated really doesn't seem all that bad.

Another thing to take into consideration is if that dealer is feeding him a line of ----.

[turbovanman²]

What is the warranty, 3 years, 60K??????? coming from GM, that would have been covered.

Maybe he got a bad one, it does happen. Did he buy it brand new or used?

My 98 Jimmy has been one of the best vehicles I have ever owned, I've done the basics to it, IE brakes, tuneups, tires, fuel pump and waterpump, ball joints and idler arm but nothing major, its got 180K kilometers on it and hard ones at that. I have heard and have them come in my shop spending tons of money on them again and again??????? :o

[GLHNSLHT2]

my g/f's 04 jeep liberty just turned 55k and the only thing that's been done with it is a ball joint recall. Other than that it's been trouble free requiring only oil changes which we've done with mobil 1 5w30 since the 1st 3k mile oil change. :)

[contraption22]

My 40k mile SRT-4 has had some minor minor problems. But noting serious. The problems your friend is having with his SRT-4 are not typical to be honest with you.

[20w/ashelby]

I've got an 05 neon with 47K on it. I've had it since new. Mobil 1 since new. I beat on it day in and day out. I had the IAC get funny but once I cleaned it I didn't have any more problems. The rear struts are bad but thats due to driver. I'm honestly quite shocked at how well it takes the abuse. I agree with what others have said about it being hit or miss. I've seen some poor examples and figured it was due to driver/care. But once I got mine and abused it and didn't have any problems I believe it's all luck of the draw.

[DodgeZ]

A friend of mine at work has a stock 04 SRT-4 and has recently been plagued with problems. His first problem was a cam sensor failure which left him stuck on the side of the road. The week after, he noticed a growling noise while turning... took it into the dealer and both front wheel bearings were shot, and both lower control arms/ball joints needed replacement. None of the above parts were covered under warranty because they're not "powertrain". His car has 50K miles on it and it has already cost him well over a thousand dollars in repairs out of pocket. My Spirit R/T has a similar amount of miles, and if it required all that suspension work up front, I'd go crazy! Has Dodge quality taken a dive since the 80's? Our 99 Caravan had its transmission explode and our 95 Neon has had, well, all the problems the first gen neons had.

How is your mom's SRT4 holding up? How about any of your daytonas?

[moparzrule]

It's a Lemon, every car company has them. Friend of my brothers had a dodge ram lemon, was at the dealer more than he was driving it...he traded it in.

[Ondonti]

sounds like the car drove through a bunch of sand or something that would cause all those parts that almost never go bad.........to go bad. I dont see how all that could happen "by chance"

[1FastCSX289]

Ask slasky. Hes had similiar problems with his POS SRT-4. Im sure he'll chime in.

[jckrieger]

My friend bought his car brand new in 04 and has owned it since new. He lives in the neighboring town, so he puts about 20 miles on the car each way to and from work. I do know he drives his car somewhat aggressively, but not nearly as hard as I drive my cars. I want to say he gets around 25K miles on a set of tires. The car has been auto-xed a few times, but never with sticky tires. If an SRT vehicle can't take a couple track days, then that's pretty sad if you ask me.

Kevin,

As far as our Dodge cars, yeah... quality = not good. My high mileage turbo Dodges had their share of problems, but they were never the end of the world. The fact that I'm seeing cars with 30-70K miles just falling apart is what bothers me. My dad's 95 Neon would have been junked at 35K miles if he hadn't decided to fix all the problems himself. His 03 SRT-4 is still working, but then again he has the original tires on the car with around 50K on them.

Now, my girlfriend has owned Toyotas and has had somewhat similar experiences. Her 02 Corolla's engine died a horrible death at 20K miles under warranty and the dealership gave her a bunch of shi7 about getting it fixed. She ended up trading the car in since the engine appeared fine until you tried to go 3K miles without adding oil. That car had a perfect 3K mile maitenance schedule. Now, her Rav4 has over 100K on it and I think the only thing that has been replaced on it are the brakes and 1 set of tires. I wish I had more examples of modern Dodge cars lasting 100K without considerable work.

[RJ138]

We are at 80,000 miles on our SRT with only having to replace some TPS wiring (did myself). The car probably has 50-70 drag passes, even has the stock clutch still.

[Keito]

I'm curious to know how many miles Steve Menegon has
on his now, and what problems he's had.
http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13257&page=2
I've heard there have been a few bought back over on
SRTForums.

I haven't had one problem with my 04, but it does only
have 8000 miles on it. Went 12.90 @ 105 a few months ago.

[BadAssPerformance]

... I wish I had more examples of modern Dodge cars lasting 100K without considerable work.

+1 everyone makes lemons.

With that said tho, my '92 Dak with almost 200k miles on it... I am not sure a '02 dak would get tha far with as few of issues as this '92 has had.

It is not just a Chrysler thing. Ever auto maker out there has shaved off pennies to become more copetitive in the marketplace. 20 years ago, everything Domestic was designed with a huge saftey factor, Japanese imports were not. Since then, Domestic cars have been leaned out for cost, while Japanese cars have been beefed up for reliability. Sometime cars are leaned out too much. Toyota makes so much more money on a car sale than their competition, it is absurd that they do not re-invest teh money into their vehicles to improve their quality even further.

Also, everyone remembers what the car company sold 10 years ago and not what they are selling now. Chysler minivans have decent transmissions now, but did not in the early/mid 90's, everyoen rememebrs this. Camry's were known for great reliability, Toyota could produce absolute junk now and everyone would still buy it because of what they used to make...

GM and Ford both stopped making minivans cuz they could not compete with the top 3 minivan makers. GM was still the 4th largest minivan manufacturer (150k vans/ year maybe?) and did so without even trying. Why? Cuz if you have a Duramax diesel dually, your kids get hauled to soccar practice in a GM van bought at teh saem dealer.

crazy but how it works...

[jckrieger]

I agree JT, I think the quality reduction has happened across the board on all brands in most situations. That's why Hyundai is #1 in quality these days. I have no doubt that my 95 Ram will out-last most 05+ Rams as the years go by. A friend of mine has a VW Jetta that is also falling apart. I mean, I know it's a VW, but still... the wiring harness shouldn't be falling apart... again! I really don't have many examples of good quality newer vehicles.

[slasky]

Ask slasky. Hes had similiar problems with his POS SRT-4. Im sure he'll chime in.
I guess i got a lemon too.

[turbovanman²]

I agree JT, I think the quality reduction has happened across the board on all brands in most situations. That's why Hyundai is #1 in quality these days. I have no doubt that my 95 Ram will out-last most 05+ Rams as the years go by. A friend of mine has a VW Jetta that is also falling apart. I mean, I know it's a VW, but still... the wiring harness shouldn't be falling apart... again! I really don't have many examples of good quality newer vehicles.

Hyundia, probably, I haven't seen any around.

Kia's are crap, I just did a head job on a Sorento that they wouldn't cover under warranty? why, the intake has butterflys for the dual stage intake and the bushings wear out, causing the shaft to break and the bit and pieces of shafts, screws and blades fall into the engine and go BOOM. They know about this but won't fix it, he was days out of his warranty. I was on a forum researching this and theres tons more issues like this.
90's Camry's are notorious for blowing head gaskets, Tercels for burning oil, Honda's for burning oil, the list goes on, :banghead:

What I am trying to say is ALL manufacterers have issues, some more so than others, ;)

[Dodge Aries K]

My 04 SRT4 and 99 Neon have been great cars needing pretty much only maintaince. The 98 I haven't owned long enough yet to make an opinion on.

[BadAssPerformance]

Hyundai? your kidding right,

Hyundai is one of the highest rated quality vehicles right now.

VW? funny thing, a couple years ago, VW was rated #1 in "owner percieved quality" and 2nd from last in "actual quality" LOL

[moparzrule]

VW? funny thing, a couple years ago, VW was rated #1 in "owner percieved quality" and 2nd from last in "actual quality" LOL


I don't find that hard to believe whatsoever.

[turbovanman²]

Hyundai is one of the highest rated quality vehicles right now.



OOps, my bad, I was thinking Kia, durrrrrrr! :o

Edited, lol!

[moparzrule]

Kia is Hyundai.....

[contraption22]

Kia is Hyundai.....


Some Kia's use engines and trannies. I wouldn't go as far as to call them the same car.

[moparzrule]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Kia_Automotive_Group

Like I said, Hyundai is Kia.

[jckrieger]

VW? funny thing, a couple years ago, VW was rated #1 in "owner percieved quality" and 2nd from last in "actual quality" LOL

I believe that statement 100%. Every VW story is a bad one, but those "special" people keep buying them for the image. Some things I will never understand...

[Turbodave]

VW? funny thing, a couple years ago, VW was rated #1 in "owner percieved quality" and 2nd from last in "actual quality" LOL

Probably #1 in repressed buyers remorse too.

I haven't owned too many newer Mopars so it's hard to say much about quality on them. The one's we've had have been pretty good.

Our 03 PT Cruiser has been good for 52k miles so far, just a set of plugs needed every year to fix a misfire code and it's good.

My 96 Ram 1500 I've owned since new, has about 160k miles on it, only done fluid changes and brakes for the most part, had to replace a worn steering box this year, but that's been about it.

My 95 neon is on it's fourth engine, but since I got it running (was broke when I got it) it's been pretty good to me. It has been the only mopar in 10 years to leave me walking, however, when the alternator field sorted and blew a fuse .

[cordes]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Kia_Automotive_Group

Like I said, Hyundai is Kia.


The Hyundai Kia Automotive Group also refers to the group of affiliated companies interconnected by complex shareholding arrangements, with Hyundai Motor Company regarded as the de facto representative of the Group.

Using your logic, and the information in that link, I would liken Kia = Hyundai to Ford = Volvo. While comparisons might be made in a very broad sense, I think comparing quality and durability due to their "complex shareholding arrangements" is a bit of a stretch.

That being said, we owned a Hyundai back when I was a kid and it ran like a top for over 150K with nothing other than normal service items being replaced before it was donated to charity.

IIRC Steve M said that he had close to 150K on his SRT4 with very few problems last weekend.

[gti_7]

Diamler bought up Bankrupt Hyundai and in turn while still bankrupt, Hyundai bought up bankrupt Kia.. The two company's now share model platforms. i.e Kia Sportage and Hynudai Tucson. But Kia really is a cheap product, friend of mine from South Korea told me that they are on the bottom of the automotive hierarchy over there. Like Saturns when they first hit market, just walk by a Kia dealer and check to see how many cars are in the shops having their heads removed or motor replaced.. its scary.

Hyundai = Kia more like Chevy and Pontiac = GM than Ford = Volvo, now theres a shot gun wedding if there ever was one. [Ford and Volvo]

bernie

[moparzrule]

Using your logic, and the information in that link, I would liken Kia = Hyundai to Ford = Volvo. While comparisons might be made in a very broad sense,


Broad? No. Every Hyundai has a Kia counterpart except the Tiburon from what I see.

Accent = Rio
Entourage = Sedona
Azera = Amanti
Elantra = Optima
Santa Fe = Sorento
Tucson = Sportage
Veracruz = Rondo

etc. I may have gotten a couple mixed up but you get my point. Same manufacturer making the same components and both in South Korea. Hyundai bought Kia and now makes Kia cars. It's not the same comparison as ford and volvo because volvo still makes the cars but ford own them. Very different.

[cordes]

Thanks for the clarification. I did not see that in the link you posted, and don't keep up enough anymore to realize it on my own.

[moparzrule]

I only know this because my brother owned a Hyundai accent for a brief time and when he was looking at buying he also looked at a Kia Rio and said it was practically the same thing so we checked it out.

[bill2]

The timing belt for the rio and optimas have been revised, and if the origanal is not replaced at 60K, you will have problems. Almost all kia's are interference, and timing belt neglect is nothing new. This is most likely where this quote comes from.

... just walk by a Kia dealer and check to see how many cars are in the shops having their heads removed or motor replaced.. its scary.
Simon is right about the vgis intake, but like lots of things on the net the number effected is exaggerated. The platic bushing fails, is ingested by cylinder 6 and if it "passes" without damaging the spark plug electrode the customer will continue to drive the car until the screws holding the plate vibrate out -they don't pass as well as the plastic bushing, then head removal is required.

My srt has had s3 since 6k miles, currently has 26k problem free. No one touches the car but me, still has an outstanding ecm recall ;) .

[DodgeZ]

My dad's srt4 has almost 50k on it no issues at all. I counted all the slips he has saved. The car has well over 250 passes on it. Running low 8's in the 1/8.

[jamesmonty]

My wife has a 06 Hyundai Accent with just over 35k. So far so good. Very nice for a cheap small car.

[uwilluz]

We are at 80,000 miles on our SRT with only having to replace some TPS wiring (did myself).

You should write up a FAQ on how to do this, you could call it a TPS report! Have it on Franks desk by Friday :p

[turbovanman²]

The timing belt for the rio and optimas have been revised, and if the origanal is not replaced at 60K, you will have problems. Almost all kia's are interference, and timing belt neglect is nothing new. This is most likely where this quote comes from.

Simon is right about the vgis intake, but like lots of things on the net the number effected is exaggerated. The platic bushing fails, is ingested by cylinder 6 and if it "passes" without damaging the spark plug electrode the customer will continue to drive the car until the screws holding the plate vibrate out -they don't pass as well as the plastic bushing, then head removal is required.

My srt has had s3 since 6k miles, currently has 26k problem free. No one touches the car but me, still has an outstanding ecm recall ;) .

I think they wanted $700 for a new intake, so I talked it over with the customer, and just removed what was left of the shaft and welded up the shaft holes. Customer noticed a tiny bit less jump off the line but he said it pulled harder up top.

Timing belt intervals are really long at Kia?????? I guess there finally sick of fixing bent valves.

I didn't know Kia was Hyundia, I know Kia used Hyundia and Mitsu motors. I have an older Hyundia sedan at work, mid 90's, with a Talon 2.0L, timing belt broke, so he gave it to me. One day, I'll fix it, :nod:

[ScottD]

If SRT-4s are so junky why is it every time I go to the track there are at least a couple of them there? Doesn't matter when I go, there are always some there. They can't be that bad.

Every manufacturer has problems. And even with good cars that have been in production for a while you can have problems. I'm sure there is someone out there who bought a brand new 1990 Dodge Omni thinking "this car has been in production since 1978 virtually unchanged, all the bugs must be worked out" and the car turned out to be turd, while many others got 90 Omnis that ended up being great cars.

[jckrieger]

If SRT-4s are so junky why is it every time I go to the track there are at least a couple of them there? Doesn't matter when I go, there are always some there. They can't be that bad.


I'll agree with you there, but if you go on the SRT forums there are a LOT of people there with broken cars and only say, 30-70K miles on them. I haven't spent much time over there, but I remember reading a thread where over 10 people had their flywheels come apart and total the car... not under warranty. 2 of the cars had less than 4K miles when the destruction happened. I agree that a portion of those cars had excessive clutch slippage due to driver error, but that type of failure is unacceptable, period.

Personally, at this point in time, I'd hope I can buy a car and drive it at least70K miles without having to worry about suspension or drivetrain issues. It seems like the SRT4 is a very poor example of a car capable of this, unless the car only sees highway miles.

On the other hand, my friend's 00 Stratus R/T has gone about 112K miles without anything major needing replacement except brakes and tie rod ends. She's not the most aggressive driver, but she isn't exactly laid back either. I'd expect an SRT vehicle to have wheel bearings and suspension joints that are designed to take a little abuse. It's also not like only 1 part of the suspension was worn out. The whole damn front end was in bad shape from driving on pavement with street tires. I understand replacing a wheel bearing at 100K miles, but replacing both sides, along with the ball joints and tie rod ends seems excessive at 50K miles.

[ScottD]

There may be a lot of broken SRT4s on the SRT forums, but there are also a lot of idiots on the SRT forums .... ALOT :-)

I believe there are several SRT4 owners on here. Steve Menegon has had shift fork problems, and Scott Lasky's car appears to be (unfortunately for him) a problem child, he got the lemon that was finished being built at 4:59pm on Friday. Other than those examples I haven't heard an outcry on here that they are junk. I tend to put a lot more faith in what is said here, the sample size may be smaller, but the credibility is much greater here than on SRT forums, at least in my mind.

[jckrieger]

I agree that the drivers on SRTforums are idiots 99% of the time, but that still doesn't explain how they're able to kill wheel bearings and other "non powertrain" components. I feel that the wheel bearings should be able to support a stock weight vehicle with the stock sized wheels for at least 100K miles without replacement. Even if the bearing begins to fail, the bearing shouldn't go from a light growl to a complete lockup in as little as 100 miles. I remember driving my 89 Daytona Shelby for almost 5K miles on a bad wheel bearing and there was still almost no "play" in the bearing at the time of replacement. This was when the car had 190K miles on it as well!

[Dodge Aries K]

The wheel bearings probably fail from morons doing huge burnouts with some massive wheelhop.

Still no problems whatsoever except the TPS wiring that was fixed for free (there's a TSB on it) and the original battery died since the car was/is parked over the winters.

[ScottD]

I agree that wheel bearings should be lasting longer than 50k but who knows what the driver's are doing to their cars. The way some of these guys drive their cars is tame compared to factory torture tests. One thing about cars that's been proven time and time again, you drive it hard enough, the weakest links break first.

[Keito]

Wheel bearing failure comes from mounting wheels that
are too big/wide.
My dad retired from a GM wheel bearing plant.

[jckrieger]

Wheel bearing failure comes from mounting wheels that
are too big/wide.
My dad retired from a GM wheel bearing plant.

The factory wheels on the SRT are too big for the bearings :)

[BadAssPerformance]

True story... considering the bearings are smaller than the old school TM bearings and the wheels are half again bigger!

[CSX321]

What's involved in replacing them? I'm starting to get a little whining noise at 54K that is probably the bearings, I think.

[jckrieger]

What's involved in replacing them? I'm starting to get a little whining noise at 54K that is probably the bearings, I think.

According to the service manual, you need a couple special tools and a press. If you're getting any noise at all, jack up the front end and shake the wheels down. My friend's SRT only growled a little on occaison, and usually only when you first started driving. 3 days later one of the bearings locked up as he pulled out of a parking spot.

[DodgeZ]

just had mine on a 120mph blast. 70k on the clock. Brakes don't seem to like the new stand alone.