3.8

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
32,000 miles

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problem #1

Mar 162005

Stratus 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 32,000 miles
At around 32,000 miles the brake shoe bolts broke, and the shoe got caught in the rim causing 1: the rim (inside) to grind aginst the shoe and forever changing the shape of the rim. 2: bending the calliper. And 3: having the breaks grind the rotor in an unusual manner in which they needed to be grinded down. I was slowing down for the stop light (speed limit was 25, I was going maybe 20), and started to break, the brakes locked up, and was pulling to the left. It was a very violent stop. For a second, I thought that I might have gotten a flat tire, but I got out side of the car after putting it in park, and turning on my hazzards. Looking at the front left tire, I saw that it was fine, looked at all of the other tires, and they are all fine as well. Got back into the car, and put it in drive. Car didnt move. Put it in reverse...car didnt move either. Wondering what was happening, I put the car again, in park, and looked at the tires again. I noticed at this time that something looked different with the rim. I got in for a closer look, and noticed it was pretty badly damaged. I proceeded to lift the car, take the tire off, and as soon as I took the tire off, the shoe was hanging and wasnt bolted in where it should have been. Holy crap, was I mad. Then went into advance auto, to get replacement bolts, and found some, about 3 hours later because they didnt have any in stock, and they had to call around. After putting the bolts on, I drove home at about 20 mph, using about half and half (brakes and E-brake). I did not want that to ever happen again. A day after that happend I took it into the dealer to have them fix the problem. I asked them to fix it anyways. Total bill was around $130. $112 being labor, and $18 for the bolts and other parts. What really burns me up, is that this shouldnt have happend for one, and I'm sol for my rim and calliper. It still makes a scraping sound when I make turns as well.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA