Originally Posted By: bradepb
Helping a friend get a car to last a couple years . looking at 2005 stratus 2.4L 114,000 miles. Car checks out ok seems in great shape but I was wondering if anyone knows about major issues. I know some chrysler engines had sludge issues but as far as I can tell on the interwebs it is not this engine. The 2.7 v6 seems to be the problem engine.
The drivetrain in that 05 Stratus is the same as in my wife's PT. No issues at all with it yet, but its only got 77k miles not 114. The 2.4 EDZ engine is a tough little bugger, but not very powerful in non-turbo form. You're very unlikely to have any engine issues whatsoever, it just goes and goes. Timing belt should be done soon if it hasn't already- I think the factory interval is either 100k or 120k miles. Err on the side of changing it early. In the PT its a major job, much less so in the Stratus, but its still a timing belt on a transverse-engine wrong-wheel-drive car... its going to be a pain in the rear. The downside is that the engine is saddled with a transmission that has pretty poor gear ratio steps for the power curve of the 2.4, IMO, and has a less-than-stellar record up until about 2002 or so. By 2005 the problems with the 41TE trans had dropped way, way off though. So overall its reliable enough. Not exciting, but cheap transportation. I don't think you could get much else at the price point that would be more reliable. If there's a Cobalt at the same price, I'd be a little wary- Dodge depreciation is (right or wrong) much faster so the Cobalt might be really beat-to-heck.
