We purchased the 2005 Stratus from a used car lot called Wholesale Motors in Hardy Arkansas. They picked it up at an auto auction in Conway AR. We bought it with 123,000 miles for my son paying $3,200 for the vehicle. Grandma and grandpa kicked in a grand so we were out $2,200 for the kiddo. Son drove it for 30,000 miles before I started smelling antifreeze.

Kept it topped off and noticed it started going through coolant faster and faster until I eventually got a call from my daughter saying they were stuck on the side of the road on the way to school. She called back saying my son got it started so I told her to tell him to take it to our mechanic who happened to be on the way to their school. I got in our reliable vehicle and met them at the mechanic. My mechanic doesn't want to tear into the 2.7 L V6 because in his opinion the engine is junk. I also spoke with 2 other car salesman shopping for another car for my son and they concurred that the 2.7 L V6 is a difficult engine to keep running. Shopping online for a refurbished 2.6L, they run around 2 grand, used "low mileage" engines run $500 - $750 and with the possibility of a tranny problem down the road coupled with the fact that the paint on the trunk is fading and the car isn't that great in the first place. I'm looking to unload her honestly somewhere. My mechanic says he knows someone who may be interested in it so I'm waiting to hear back from him on that.

My advice to folks is to stay away from the 2.7 L V6 engine that's also in the Sebrings as well. Hopefully, heeding my advice will save you some time and money. If you'd like to read a little more, Wikipedia has some info as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_LH_engine