looking at newer mopars

[ShadowFromHell]

My Gf car (pos honda, haha) just rolled over 100k and needs a fair amount of work, she still owes 10k on it and we are looking at trading it in on newer used mopar :).

Im looking really at everything thats fwd and in out under 12k used price limit. Ive always been very wary when it came to anything mopar with a 4 speed auto because of all the horror stories I have heard. Have the 4 speed autos got any better? Id really like to get her into a stratus or a PT and she really doesnt want a stick. So should I just stick to neons, or have the newer 4spds became more reliable?

She is really liking pt's, and Id like to look into cloud cars or even cars like the fwd 300's. But, I dont know anything about them. So could someone shed sone light on this issue? If the 4spd trannys have gotten better Id really like to get something with one.

please let me know what you guys think

thanks.

Dustin

[fleckster]

Yes, the 41TE 4 speed auto in the newer cars is fine. Also the 42LE in the LH cars is a good trans as well. The original problems have been corrected and it is actually one of the more reliable units produced today.

[GLHS592]

My Gf car (pos honda, haha) just rolled over 100k and needs a fair amount of work...

You liar! Everybody knows Hondas never need work. :D

My wife has a 2004 2.4 powered Stratus. It has been great despite it's status as an ex-rental car. She bought it with 19k miles. It now has over 46k. It's a good driving and running car.

It now has a couple problems that were caused by the wrecks the car has been in. It has been wrecked 3 times now. A girl rear-ended my wife, a guy pulled out in front of me, and a girl hit my wife in the left rear wheel. I'm still amazed that the body wasn't hit in that wreck. There is a rattle that has developed up front and the left rear brake squeeks.

I drive a 2005 2.7 powered Stratus to work. It is a state owned and maintained vehicle. We have a bunch of them here at work. I've heard of NO problems with them. Mine has been great. Of course, I was driving a 2001 Taurus, so anything will seem great after that car.

[SebringLX]

You liar! Everybody knows Hondas never need work. :D

My wife has a 2004 2.4 powered Stratus. It has been great despite it's status as an ex-rental car. She bought it with 19k miles. It now has over 46k. It's a good driving and running car.

It now has a couple problems that were caused by the wrecks the car has been in. It has been wrecked 3 times now. A girl rear-ended my wife, a guy pulled out in front of me, and a girl hit my wife in the left rear wheel. I'm still amazed that the body wasn't hit in that wreck. There is a rattle that has developed up front and the left rear brake squeeks.

I drive a 2005 2.7 powered Stratus to work. It is a state owned and maintained vehicle. We have a bunch of them here at work. I've heard of NO problems with them. Mine has been great. Of course, I was driving a 2001 Taurus, so anything will seem great after that car.

The 2.7L only has no problems if you are absolutely religious with the regular maintenance. If not, sludge problems are very common, and the timing chains like to break and ruin the whole engine some times too.

I would definately recommend a 2.4L Stratus or Sebring Sedan. Should be within your budget. Plenty of stuff you can do with the 2.4L, next to nothing you can do with the 2.7L. The 41TE is great as long as you don't abuse it. I've really only seen them breaking from kids doing stupid things like nuetral bombing them.

If you do get one, check out www.2gss.org

[Vigo]

here comes my .02..

your $12k range is perfect to find a very nice turbo/auto PT cruiser with low miles. there are quite a few pt people putting decent power through the auto and the fun factor will probably be better than just about anything else you can get as far as fwd dodge.

other sporty/interesting options would be 2.7 stratus r/t, 300m special (my fave of 'the rest', intrepid r/t, ANY 3.5 lh car after that, 3.0 stratus/sebring coupe, etc.

if you're lucky you can find a first year v6 magnum for 12k, ive seen a handful go for that.