What's Wrong with the 2nd Generation Intrepid?

Front 3/4 view of a Dodge Intrepid

The 2nd generation Intrepid spans the 1998 to 2004 model years.

It has accumulated 1871 owner complaints over those year and ranks dead last in reliability out of 54 eligible Dodge generations.

Our reliability rank is based on our PainRank™ system. A higher number means you can expect more significant problems. The average Dodge score is 12.28 while this generation comes in at 59.62.

Compare With Other Intrepid Generations

The Worst 1998-2004 Intrepid Problems

  1. Stuck in Park

    Can't shift the car into reverse or drive! Now what? This is most commonly reported from Dodge Avenger owners, but there have also been similar complaints about other Dodge makes as well as other Chrysler and Jeep vehicles having a similar …

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  2. Cracked Dashboards

    Is your Dodge dashboard falling apart and breaking into pieces? Have you been watching the cracks grow bigger and bigger with each passing month? Do you feel helpless as your dashboard caves in on itself? Trust me, you're not alone.

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  3. Oil Sludge in the 2.7L Engine

    Oil sludge buildup and sludge-related engine failure is a design DEFECT in Chrysler's 2.7L engine…

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What Owners Complain About

Sometimes it helps just to tally up the complaints and see where the biggest stacks are. Use this information to learn about troublespots or to run for the hills.

Worst Issues

What Breaks

Years to Avoid

2nd Generation Intrepid Key Numbers

  1. 7 model years

    Grouping all models by their year can reveal some baddies.

  2. 1,871 complaints

    Running tally of owner grievances filed to CarComplaints.com.

  3. 54th in reliability

    Overall reliability rank out of 54 eligible generations.

What Intrepid Owners Say About This Generation

Oil Sludge in the 2.7L Engine

Add me to the pile of Dodge owners who had a car that literally became worthless in just seconds ... it lasted me 2 years and about 30,000 miles before the engine simply locked up while I was driving 45mph on the highway (it's never in a nicely lit, easily accessible area, is it...?)

Oil Sludge in the 2.7L Engine

Intrepid is 10 years old but I did all the required oil changes in the timely manner. I bring the car into Firestone for a leak and suddenly they are looking at $4000 in engine repairs. Said they saw something similar in an Intrepid a few weeks ago … 2 days later I am driving in the Jewel parking lot and the car quits. I could not restart and I had it towed back to the dealer.

Oil Sludge in the 2.7L Engine

I have had engine replaced 3 times, oil is changed every 2500 miles and still oil sludge builds up in the engine what am I to do now ... replace the engine again?