I can't remember the last time I saw an Intrepid. The last one I saw might have been the one I drove. I think it was a 2003 or something. It was unimpressive in almost every way. I have no idea how Chrysler got away with marketing that as a sporty car. I still see some Stratuses (strati?) around though. I think most were killed by terminal rust and by that transmission.
I think it was one of the first fully electronic transmissions from Chrysler (according to a buddy who was very proud of his stratus) and apparently they eat solenoid packs. He did his twice in the 5 years he had the car, and it would still sometimes flub a shift or fall out of gear at strange times. He got really good at key cycling while driving...
It does seem like the heaviest oil burners around here are old Chrysler products, followed closely by old twin cam Saturns.
In reply to gearheadE30 :
A lot of the 2.7s died when the water pump failed, causing a lot of the valves to explore new and artistic shapes. Or they were abused (no oil changes, perpetually run hot from coolant leaks) until they failed emissions from oil consumption killing the converters.
Mostly they rusted, and the kind of people who tolerated their crappy driving dynamics and even worse interiors were also very relaxed about maintenance as long is sort of moved under its own power.
seriously, look at an LX chassis' (or were they still LH?) steering wheel. It's asymmetrical, but not like it was a deliberate, conscious decision. It looks like laziness on the part of everyone involved. It WAS the one saving grace for aligning them, though. The toe adjusters were a huge pain to adjust, and things always moved, so when the steering wheel was crooked, you could just believe that you were going off of the spokes, or the horn pad, depending on which way off it was.
jb229
New Reader
4/16/21 4:37 a.m.
My neighbor has the most tragic Chevy Aveo you've ever seen street parked in front of the apartment building. Rusting steelies and huge missing rashes of clear coat, has a fan on the dash indicating no AC. Horrible car treated horribly, pretty sure it was a captive Daewoo import?
jb229 said:
Horrible car treated horribly, pretty sure it was a captive Daewoo import?
Correct.
Also related to this thread, I spotted a first generation Intrepid today sitting in someone's driveway, looking like it was probably operational.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
Has anyone successfully killed a 6.2L detroit/chevy diesel? The fleet I maintained had a bunch of those in step vans with over 500k miles, and god knows how many hours idling. I don't recall a single one of the TH400s needing a rebuild.
5.9L P-pump Cummins. Whatever it was in would rust to dirt before those things died.
3800 Buicks
My first car was an 86 c3500 with the 6.2 and an sm465 4 speed and a 14 bolt full float rear end with 4.10 gears. It was the definition of over built and under stressed. Everything was built like it was expecting 1000 hp but it made like 120. Top speed 72 mph completely wound out.
The worst thing about buying a cummins engine is that it comes with a free dodge that needs replaced periodically.
3800 Buicks, rust definitely kills the car long before the engine ever gets tired. They were pretty great. Mid sized sedans that can seat five comfortably and average about 30 mpg.
In reply to jb229 :
Is it a captive import if Daewoo is part of GM to begin with?
IIRC it's a Korean built Opel.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:
In reply to jb229 :
Is it a captive import if Daewoo is part of GM to begin with?
IIRC it's a Korean built Opel.
Weren't they also known for snapping the timing belt and destroying valves well ahead of the factory maintenance interval? I see a few of them around (and even saw a Pontiac G3 in the last year), but for the sheer volume of them that used to be in my area, they disappeared fast.
