Bought a 2002 dodge intrepid from a friend that is a car repair man for a used car lot. The car he bought from his boss. Told me everything was good on the car. I have a brother that knows him so I bought the car as is. Put new tires on it, changed oil and cleaned it up.

I drove it less that 800 miles and the timing chain jumped. Did not know it a first.

Codes read sensor so I changed them. More codes, took it to repair shop. There they told me it was the computer. Did not think so. Had it towed to Dealer 18 miles away. They said needs new motor because timing chain jumped. Want to sell me a used engine. I filed a complaint on the dealer because never heard of such a crazy thing your engine going bad because of timing chain.

What do I do now?

I bought my Intrepid with 16 000K on the odometer back in 03. This car has been a pleasure. I worked for Dodge at the time and knew around 80 000k the engine would clap hands. Well, at 98 000 it did. Broke a rod. Took it in to a "trusted" mechanic and he replaced it with a "rebuild". Great, it cost $2400.00 and away I went. After 6000k with this engine I heard a ticking. I thought it must be a sticky lifter so I added Gunk Valve lifter additive. It went away. After 3mts it came back, I added Gunk and it went away.

After about 16 000k with this "rebuilt" engine it started making a loud know from the top. I presumed timing chain and tensioner. I took it back to this "trusted mechanic and he was out of business. I found out the BBB shut him down. I then took my car to a Dodge mechanic and he said that it was the tensioner and chain but it could also be the water pump. I drove off knowing that this going to be expensive. Two days later I see smoke coming out from under the hood. I stop and look and notice that oil is blowing out the dip stick breather hole and onto the engine. Hmmmmm collapsed ring or what? I drove it back to him and under careful inspection he saw that this was in fact not a rebuild but a used engine as it had never been taken apart. I was pissed. Last night while driving it it made a high pitched scream as though a 1000 mice were tortured and it stopped. I checked under the hood. No water in the reservoir and mocca cream for oil. So, it has to be rebuilt.

I found a great place in Montclaire CA close to where I live who will do a rebuild for $1250.00 If the core is damaged they will charge 500 more for a new one. If you need the name for your car, it's Engine Pros and they have a good reputation. If you have an engine rebuild, they tow your car at no charge the first 50 miles.

Car ran good for 3 years and I changed the oil as the manufacturer recommended and one morning as I was warming the car to go to work a knocking started. My wife had to take me to work to Dodge assholes.I took it to a mechanic a couple of days later and they said sludge was the problem and the engine had to be replaced. It is still sitting in my driveway and I run it every now and then just to keep everything else moving. I do not drive it for long being afraid that the engine would seize. We've all got to get together and let them know that this will be taken to the media if this problem is not taken care of.

After several years of having oil sludge problems, my 02 Dodge Intrepid finally gave up the ghost. I'm not gonna pay to find out what is wrong because from all the other comments, the engine is ruined from the oil sludge problem. This car did last for 8 years, went through 2 teenagers but still should have lasted more than 150,000 miles with regular maintenance. Which, by the way, my husband did, so no receipts or anything. I'm glad I read that about keeping your receipts because with my new vehicle, I'm not taking any chances. My Intrepid is actually still running, if you count having to jump it off and only driving about 5 miles before it dies. Luckily, the wrecking yard will give me $300 for it, I think I am gonna take them up on their offer!

i bought this car about 2 months ago and it ran good, looked good inside and out but after a while it felt like my car wasn't taking off like it should + my oil light was jus flickering on and off everytime i would break and accelerate so i took it to my mechanic who then told me i needed a new oil pump, water pump, tps sensor, o2 sensors and some other part that i cant think of at the moment but either way i had to put $1300 into the car after JUST PURCHASING IT for $3000 which was fine... no complaints... THEN after i paid all this money and finally get my car back 2 DAYS later my car completely overheats and my engine starts knocking. im no genius but what a piece of sh*t car!!! I WOULDN'T WISH THIS PIECE OF SH*T ON MY WORST ENEMY. dodge completely f*cking sucks and needs to learn how to make cars... ONES THAT RUN! f*ck dodge i will never ever in my life get another dodge there should be some kind of law of selling people these lemons!!!!!!

This is it for me since i bought this car 2 years ago for $4000 I have dumped over $7000 dollars in this or that begiing the first month I owned it it stated having problems all of which were considered mechanical failure costing me a minimum of $1000 and none of these things have been my routine maintenace or regular tune ups. Know the engine has completely failed and I need a new one or a new car. I am pissed and yes I would love to join a class action lawsuit as this car is horrible and cost me more than a brand new one. Please help

Oh how I loved my Intrepid. It was sporty yet big enough to fit my son and the 3 kids I babysit in the back. Plus the trunk space was amazing which made moving numerous times so much easier. But boy do I hate Chrysler and the jerk that sold me that piece of junk! I bought the car in August of 2008. I bought it with a bad oil pressure sensor which was about a $50 fix. I wasn't mad because "all used cars have problems". Got that fixed and she ran good until June 2009. One day the car overheated with no warning. Being as I never had it tuned up or checked my fluids I assumed my antifreeze had run out. Which it had so I bought antifreeze thought my problem was solved. Oh was I wrong! It began leaking antifreeze and over heating. When I would get it looked at it wouldn't leak or over heat. You can't fix what you can't see as many people told me while dealing with that car. After finding a bad bottom radiator hose and replacing it the car stopped over heating and leaking antifreeze. I drove it for 2 months with no problems what so ever. In August the car over heated again. It over heated constantly for one week then just stopped leaking and stopped over heating. By this point everyone was stumped as to whether it was a thermostat problem or a water pump problem. I didn't have money to take it to a shop and no one had the proper tools to replace the thermostat. It stopped leaking and in September of 2009 it started again. This time the engine was running rough and I assumed it was the water pump and it had gone completely out even though it would still hold some antifreeze. I parked it until I could afford to put $1,900 in to fixing the water pump. In November a Chrysler certified mechanic checked the car out and said definitely the water pump and I had blown 2 links in the timing chain because of it. As a favor to the guy who referred me he agreed to fix it for $1,000. While changing the water pump he discovered I had coolant in my oil so he flushed fluids and all that. December 18th I got it back and it ran fine but still leaked antifreeze. He put sealer in it and replaced a hose clamp and replaced the overflow cap. Occasionally it would still leak but never overheated or ran hotter than normal. It drove fine until the very end of Jan 2010. It got a faint knock to it. I put oil in it because the oil was low. The knock stopped then restarted again. On Feb 5th 2010 I was driving and the knocking got extremely bad when I gave the car gas. The car died out in the middle of the road I managed to get it started and get in to a parking lot as it died back out. I tried starting it again and it wouldn't start. When it finally did start back up it had an awful clanking and the whole engine would shake horribly. I had to have it towed home which was less than 3 miles and cost me $60 only to find out 2 hours later that the engine was blown. I was told it would cost any where from $5,000 to $8,000 for an engine so the car sat on the road for a month and I decided to do a voluntary repo on it. I still owe almost $4,000 on that stupid car. It would of been paid off in November! I absolutely hate Chrysler and I hope one day they have a billion dollar class action suit filed against them for all the people they've screwed with their junk engines!

My husband bought this car for me December 2008 from a owner on the side of the street. It cost 5,500.00. We paid cash for it and thought that it was a good buy. We started having problems with it running hot in June2009. We had the thermostat replaced costing around 500.00, but we were ok with it seeing that the car was paid for. This worked for a few months then it started running hot again and the engine light came on. We were told that it needed to be put on the machine to see what the problem was costing 80.00. They told us that somehow water was mixing with oil and that we needed a radiator flush and a good tune up. We paid over 300.00 for that. Then white smoke started coming out of the tail pipes. We were told that this car was known for sludge in the oil and the best thing to do was to sale it on the street like we got it. But we needed another car and decided to drive it until we couldn't anymore. Long story short, this is a nice car. it looks great and the space is unbelievable, but the engine is not worth a *. Chrysler you really let us down this time!!! Please Beware of this car. It looks will attract you but run......!!!!!!!!!!

The first time it stopped, it was on the freeway ramp, at dark with our 18 year old daughter and her infant. We had it towed and the water pump was replaced. Two weeks later, I was driving and could hear a ticking sound and took it back to a dealership. They couldn't hear anything and after driving it for three days they told me to bring it back if it got worse. Two days later, it stopped on the freeway with our daughter and her baby again, and she got it off the road to a safe area. I went down to get her and started the car, this time it sounded like a boulder in a fan; two rods had broken. It was towed in and the engine replaced.

The car that I just renewed tags on, spent $344 on last month to replace a sensor to get inspect, and just paid car payment on Monday -- died on me today as I was headed into work. I work an hour away from where I live. I dropped my kids off, and headed on I-40W to head toward Charlotte, NC. Ten minutes into the trip, my engine light came on -- so I am thinking, let me stop at the Exxon Station and check oil/put oil in it. The Dodge Intrepid had other ideas and cut off. I called my mechanic whose shop was about 10 minutes away from where I was stranded, and he came and towed the car back to his shop to have a look. I was in the waiting area as if I was waiting to see if my loved one was going to make it or not. He walked back into the room, and just held his head low, and shook his head to imply that she was a gonna. I cried, I mourned -- and then I was angry. How could this have happened? What did I do wrong. According to my mechanic, I did nothing wrong. I did my oil changes regularly, good brakes, tires -- and what appeared to be a decent "engine", so I thought. Now what am I going to do? If I want to revive her from the dead, I have to look at getting a new engine, which will cost about $3000, which is more than the car is worth. In addition, the car is nearly paid off with a balance left of $825. What a shame. I owe less than what the car will cost to repair. I was planning on giving this car to my son who just got his license. And now we are both up S**T creek without a paddle.

What should I do? Should I pay the car of, then junk it? I mean, I paid a lot of money into that car so far to just call it a loss. I just don't know what to do now?

I'm in mourning. Not only for the car, but for all the money that has been lost in this.