Problems with 1999 Dodge Intrepid POWER TRAIN

My transmission began making my car drive erratic. as with other owners of this same vehicle, while driving normally it all of a sudden began jerking abruptly and then the check engine light came on. the car would no longer go above 50mph as the transmission could not shift into higher gears. if i was on the freeway this could have been very dangerous. i've had the transmission solenoid pack replaced, the speed sensor replaced previously, and now i'm being told it is the speed sensor again. this is probably the worst experience i have ever had with a newer vehicle and i will never buy another chrysler product again.*ak

I purchased my 1999 dodge intrepid w/28,840 miles. from there it had unreasonably been a lemon and into the "five star" chrysler dealer at least 8 times. the vehicle had persistant steering issues and abnormalities, wandering, play, abnormal change in sensitivity while driving, noise, tire wear. dealer could never "duplicate the problems'. the engine blew up at 33,000 miles, had to have replaced. transmission failed shortly after, had to be rebuilt. input/output speed sensors failed twice. abs allowed brakes to lock up twice. tcm and pcm needed updating due to flawed previous revisions. power window failed, front bumper, grill paint wearing. obviously this vehicle was a lemon. the vehicle was finally wrecked after sudden poor steering control after trying to get the dealer to do something many times. daimlerchrysler denies any manufacturing responsibility. i do not see how they can get away with this. there are many others experiencing similar premature problems that should not be occuring as such. i have started a website against daimlerchrysler - [xxx] - email address is [xxx] - address: [xxx] san leandro, ca [xxx] parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

The seat belt buckle issue we mentioned to the dealership when we had the car in to repair the output speed sensor. even though we discovered there is a recall on seat belts for the very problem we have had with the seat buckles coming loose that hold our child seats in, the dealership told us that they would not repair ours. the output speed sensor issue almost caused an accident as it instantly downshifted the car to 2nd gear. it caused a terrible jolt to us and we were almost rear ended...taillights didn't flash to warn other cars. air conditioner issue, well, that just never worked properly. the temperature selector often doesn't change the temperature. cold comes out luke warm.*ak

Started vehicle in park with right foot on brake pedal. soon as put in reverse encountered a "sudden unintended acceleration" (sua). through normal reflex also had portion of my left foot on brake pedal as the motor raced being pushed in a backwards circular motion by an unknown component malfunction. a 180 degree circle was made until stopped by the rear bumper of an unoccupied windstar van. then i was able to turn off the iginition to stop the still racing motor. that windstar driver had just descended from her vehicle. the police had my vehicle towed because of a vehicular defect. my vehicle missed an occupied station wagon by approximately two inches judging by skidmarks. the driver confirmed that soon as back up lights came on my vehicle just "shot out" of the post office parking space. mr

Transmission sensor light illuminated. speedometer stays at zero. cause is unknown. please provide any further information.*ak

Both speed control modules and tcm have failed in the last 2 months; locking me into gear and causing engine to stall in intersections both times. *ak

While driving at highway speed of 60 mph vehicle loss acceleration, could not exceed 30 mph. vehicle taken to a repairs shop, and informed consumer that transmissiom had lost all gears except 1st gear. manufacturer was notified. feel free to provide any further information.*ak

I drove my car to work without incident. car was parked at work overnight. left work the next morning, while accelerating up to speed i noticed that the car was jerking hard as it shifted through the gears (automatic). before i got home (3 miles from work) the engine check light came on. when i arrived at home i cycled the shifter from park to drive (while car was parked in garage). while doing this the transmission would hesitate and then shift very hard into drive which made the car lurch forward (park and foot brake were applied). i had the car towed to the local dealership where they replaced the input speed sensor, this was covered under the original manufacturer's warranty, no cost to me. the next incident occurred in a similar fashion, the car was parked at work. when i left the next morning i noticed that the speedometer was not working (indicated "0" even though the car was moving). the shift selector on the dash was in [2] even though i had the shifter in the auto-stick mode which should start out in [1]. i took the shifter out of autostick and placed it in auto-shift, the acceleration was very sluggish, it was obvious that the transmission was stuck in [2]. as i was driving home the check engine light came on. while parked in the garage i cycled the shifter from park to drive, once again the transmission hesitated, then shifted very hard into drive, causing the car to lurch forward. i had the car towed to the local dealership where they replaced the output speed sensor. the original manufactures warranty had expired, i bought an extended warranty which covered the repair minus my $100.00 deductible. i have read numerous complaints through your website from other owners with the same problem, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that their is a real "safety" issue here. when is your department going to inform the manufacturer that this is not acceptable? maybe after someone is "killed!!"*ak

Intermittently gear shift would have to be shifted back and fourth to get vehicle to start. dealer and manufacturer were both notified. feel free to provide any further information.*ak

Transmission had to be replaced at 15000 miles. tranmission was slipping. contacted dealer. *ak

While driving approx. 30-35mph vehicle stopped in middle of traffic. had vehicle towed to dealership. mechanic informed owner camshaft and transmission sensors had failed. indicated that slug (oil) caused failure of vehicle. vehicle was repaired. problem had reoccurred after arriving home.*ak

I purchased this vehicle in march of 2001. i have had nothing but trouble with it ever since. i have had electrical, air conditioning, and transmission problems which has resulted in approximately $2,600 in repairs in the year that i have owned it. i have contacted the crysler corp. and they did not help me in anyway. the car orignally had a 36,000 mile 3 year warranty on it. now the crysler corp. offers a 7 year 100,000 mile warranty on all their vehicles. this the first crysler product and the last one i will ever buy. i have previously owned gm products and currently own a 1997 ford f-150 pickup and i am very satisfied with it. is there any help you can give me? i have all receipts for all repairs since i have owned the vehicle. *ak

Transmission failure- the transmission will not go into 3rd gear. we have called dodge with no help a very rude rep. sd that since we did not buy it from a dodge dealer they would not cover it also the miles. although the week befor when i put the complaint in the lady form dodge sd we would need to bring the car to a certified dodge dealer for a diagnostic. i told her we already had a diagonstic done by a certified transmission place and had to pay 89.00 for this. she told me that was not good enough that if we want dodge to help we need to bring it to dodge. know we are stuck with another diagonstic bill for 85.00 from dodge and no further help. really upset that i pay 11,000 for a car and then 2,000 on a transmission. if this is not resolved i will not buy another dodge. the customer service is bad they even us bad language at it seems like they just wanted more money out of me when they made me go do a diagonstic at ther location. know i am out the money with a car that will only go 30mph and is pretty much worthless.*ak

Several days after having the 3.2l engine replaced because it blew up due to unexplained oil dissappearance i experienced continued problems with the vehicle. my input and output speed sensor was replaced when my vehicle was in for engine replacement due to rough shifting and surging in low gears and intermittent transmission bump. vehicle's transmission seemed to work somewhat smoother. transmission kickdown issue worsened however. vehicle would need to be driving at 30-35mph or slower for transmission to kick down hard for merging, passing or to enter the freeway or acceleration was poor. transmission bump still sometimes occured. during acceleration across intersection vehicle began to violently surge back and fourth as vehicle was switching back and fourth between gears. this happened for several seconds, i was ready to kill the ignition but it stopped. i stepped down hard on the accelerator trying to investigate the problem and engine reved but vehicle acelerated very slowly indicating transmission slippage. the slippage only occured once shortly after and could not be duplicated. dealer was able to duplicate or pull fault code. dealer is going to perform major transmission overhaul/rebuild at only 33350 miles. additional lossed time from work because of these continual problems.*ak

At time of transmission failure problem became serious and became obvious on 10/18/01. after transmission started failing i stopped at the traffic signal ahead. after stopping and letting go of the steering wheel the steering wheel completely limped to the left with very limited control when i attempted to turn it. i have had problems with flimsly/loose steering that moves to freely but the vehicle was even move difficult to control and the steering felt really strange. i limped it back to the dealership. they stated that they could not duplicate the steering problem and a tech said that it drove normal but they found a bolt or washer missing from the left lower suspension control arm and will replace. they are currently ordering the part and i am without my vehicle at this time.*ak

While consumer was traveling at 55 mph transmission blewout. please provide more information.*ak

Car was stuck in second gear. while driving vehicle shuttered, then it was stuck in first. consumer proceeded to dealer ,and they said transmission was gone. *ak the transmission failed for the third time and burnt out the torque convertor. the dealer had replaced sensor twice. *yh

I purchased a new 99 dodge intrepid in june 1999. within 2 weeks of the purchase, the front passenger window motor burned out and it was replaced by the dealer. when i took the car home, i discovered the front passenger door would not open from the inside. i went back to the dealer, who said a rod was not reattached to the door when the window motor was replaced. they fixed it and the door worked fine. in april of 2000, the left rear window motor burned out and i went back to the dealer to have it replaced. in february of 2001, i went back to the dealer because the transmission would not shift into 2nd gear. i was told the solenoid pack burned out and needed to be replaced. herb gordon was not very helpful, so i called chrysler in michigan and told them the problem. the said to pay for the work and send them the original receipt and they would reimburse me for most of the work. i had the work done and sent the receipt. in july of 2001, the transmission had the same problem. herb gordon said it was the speed sensor and since they would not do the work nor did they offer to cover any part of the work, i called chrysler again. they said to have the work done and send the receipt for reimbursement. i did have the work done. approximately december 2001, the right rear window stopped working and in january of 2002 the driver's window started to work intermittantly. herb gordon said the rear motor burned out and the driver's motor was going to burn out, so i called chrysler again. they again said since i was past the original warranty, they would not cover the work. after talking with them, they said they would cover all but $100, but not a rental car even though the work would take a few hours. i learned later the driver's door latch subassembly was going to burn out and i would not be able to use the remote to open the door, only the key. i will not buy another chrysler product because of the problems i have had with the car, dealer and chrysler.*ak

While driving on freeway near tracy, ca vehicle drove over smoothly part in freeway that slightly went upward then slightly downward causing vehicle springs or struts to lift up or hop far too much creating very poor vehicle traction, traffic then abruptly halted, had to brake hard to stop vehicle, vehicle had poor traction and just slid making a loud tire screeching noise, had to very quickly release the brake since vehicle was skidding, shifted into autostick and downshifted quickly in conjunction with quickly using brake get vehicle to stop properly. i am using stock goodyear tires with good tread, service center told me tires are ok, i am supposed to have abs (anti-lock brakes) so this does not happen. i beleive that the abs failed due to the springs or struts bouncing allowing the vehicle to lift up too much thus loosing traction causing abs to fail. i have not had any other problems with abs however brakes are starting to sometimes feel funny, almost a little rough when applied lately. i talked to independent mechanic that told me that my vehicle should not have skidded as it did and my springs could be responsible for the excessive uplift that occured. vehicle does seem to hop or bounce a little much also at times causing the front wheels to loose traction or slide on slight turns. new springs or whatever with only 32,000? i have never had that happen in my old 1995 dodge intrepid although it had it's problems. this should not happen and is dangerous, i almost smashed into the traffic in front of me. please advise. thank you.*ak

A/cevaporator has gone out in my car. additionally, the sensor on transmission went out 4 months ago. my mechanic says the exhaust system has rust spots. all people who have looked at the car say these problems shound not be happening on a car with only 48,000 miles. *ak

Transmission had to be replaced in vehicle three times within 70,000 miles of each other. also, when traveling 30-35mph vehicle shook violently. please provide further details. *ak

Vehicle was at stand still and ready to pull off. then, vehicle pulled off in 2nd gear, feeling very sluggish. consumer pulled over/ turned it off, and put it in automatic to see what gears were activating. after a half hour all gears, but 4th gear, were operating. dealer has gotten a chance to complete inspection andto give an explanation.*ak

Check engine light illuminated and transmission locked into 2nd gear. no speed displayed on speedometer.*ak

We have a 1999 dodge intrepid, for the last 2 years the same mechanical problems occurred. you would feel and hear a clunking noise, check engine light comes on and the car locks in low gear. we had a 5 star dealer service the car 10 times over the past 2 years. each time they thought they fixed the problem. now they tell me it can't be fixed. daimler would not give us the time of day. they tell us we should go to a different dealer. we told them we were sick of getting the run-around, the response was: we can't fix your car over the phone. imagine going 55 mph and having down shift into low gear. *jb

Fails to go into overdrive. safety factor, was on a 600 mile trip, got onto the interstate, and would not shift out of 3rd into overdrive. was almost rear ended by semi truck, as was only doing 45 mph, as rpm were getting very high.*ak

I was the owner of a 1999 dodge intrepid, that was completely wrecked at 36,000 miles after experiencing sudden loss of steering control prior to the wreck, my dealer assured me over and over that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle although i was very concerned and pretended to know nothing about steering problems with these vehicles. prior to the total vehicle loss, the engine blew up with a rod knock at about 33,000 miles and had to be replaced, the transmission had to be overhauled after it failed, the input and output speed sensors both failed and much more. this is just 1 of 2 defective daimler chrysler vehicles i have owned and daimler chrysler accepts no responsibility. many of these vehicles are defective and do not hold up reasonably. i have never had any of these problems with a 15 year old vehicle with over 220,000 miles on it. i would like to inform consumers that my website against chrysler for ongoing premature dodge, chrysler engine, steering, transmission failures and more is now www.daimlerchryslervehicleproblems.com. we have referred many to the nhtsa and we hope that the nhtsa will post this to refer others to our site who have not yet seen our site. at this website you will see accident pictures and complaints from consumers after sudden loss of steering control. we also have pictures of the common chrysler engine internal oil sludge buildup and damage from timing chains that have broke through these engines after tensioner failures. we also have many premature transmission failure complaints. if you have evidence of these problems, pictures or a complaint to be posted please also visit www.daimlerchryslervehicleproblems.com and find out what daimlerchrysler does not want you to know. *jb

1999 dodge intrepid es 3.2l: vehicle frequently fails to be consistant with acceleration. sometimes delayed transmission shift response even when using autostick. transmission often seems to shift very roughly. vehicle sometimes seems to downshift properly with proper engine response and has excellent acceleration even at 50mph when in automatic then sometimes has extremely poor and delayed acceleration and does not seem to downshift even at speeds slow as 35mph even when accelerator pedal is floored or stomped, which is dangerous when trying to get onto freeway, merging or passing. it is sometimes difficult to get vehicle to accelerate smoothly with accelerator pedal, lack of throttle action and very slow acceleration sometimes when pressing accelerator pedal sometimes half way down, then when pressed further and almost floored transmission kicks down hard, vehicle jerks forward and over compensates intended acceleration. once when accelerator pedal was pressed down hard, down about half, not floored vehicle responded, accelerated and shifted much faster than ever before, vehicle had never performed this well or taken off so fast, was completely unexpected, vehicle went from 5-40mph in about 2.5 seconds. the vehicle lunged forward quicker than ever experienced and the engine made more noise than usual. no complaints and actually like this type of vehicle performance but it is dangerous when the vehicle does not usually perform like this then all of a sudden does completely unexpectedly. i had to shift into autostick and downshift in conjuction with the brake to slow the screaming vehicle down. due to some concern and trying to continually maintain the vehicle properly had five star dealership and service center where purchased replace and refill automatic transmission fluid and filter. had dealership reset the vehicle's fuel mixture sensor and adaptive learn to factory defaults. this did not help. this issue is very intermittent and i believe dealer will not help.

In and out of morlans, inc (dodge dealer) several times because of the electrical sytem causing the check engine light to come on with many different codes such as rough idle-transmission not shifting /down shifting-transmission control module replaced-camshaft sensor replaced-ignition coil pack replaced-these were done while still under warranty at different dates. just recently 3/25/01 my transmission went into a limp mode again at 40,000 miles-this time it was a transmission input speed sensor (my cost $92.00), when i got my car back now my heater- a/c and rear defrost control / vents don't work ? diagnosed problem electrical (charged $50.00) again with the control head / board control module. i've made several calls to the chrysler corp. without avail for assistance. please give any help possible to correct these electrical defects. thank you. *ak

Shifts rough in lower gears. *ak

When starting vehicle or putting it in gear it does not require to press the brakes. contacted dealer. *ak

Transmission was leaking fluid from underneath vehicle. dealership was aware of problem. there were no injuries to report. *ak the engine was leaking oil and was repaired. the consumer says the steering wheel was making noise when making a right turn, but the dealer could not duplicate the problem. *yh

Consumer was traveling 45mph and hit colvert with front driver side & broke an axle. vehicle flipped over & airbags never deployed. dealer was contacted. consumer found out there were 3 sensors & 2 had to set off. *ak

My wife bought a 99 intrepid with 3.2l engine brand new. the car currently has 79k miles, but we have replaced the window motor (all under warranty) by the dealer 6 times (sometimes twice in the same windows). we have also been experiencing issues with the transmission such as rough changing of gears. we replaced the speed sensor once, and now the transmission is stuck in 2nd gear. we were told by the dealer the transmission will need an overhaul at $2,300.

Driving 55-60mph when large truck in front, with no tailgate, lost an axle it was carrying as part of a load. it rolled off the truck & struck the vehicle in front. air bags failed to deploy. vehicle ran over axle, and was severely damaged. driver suffered nerve damage to neck and shoulder. *ak *ml

Car was 4 months old - driving down i-70 and had a blowout. the tire split clean in to. was told that i must of hit a pot hole. on 9/13/99 i had taken the car into the dealership and told them the tire was losing air. they said they couldn't find a problem, aired up the tire and i left. little over a month later i had a blow out. i did not hit a pot hole. the tire was defective. i had to replace the tire with my own money.*ak (tiresize: p205/70r15)

Right front and left front power windows failed due to faulty motors. nlm

Transmission hesitates and is sporadic. has been in for a complete overhaul of the transmission. i still have the problem and have had it in for repair at least 3 other times. the dealer now says they cannot recreate the problem. i have had many people drive my car and they have noticed the rough shifting as well as the hesitant take off. this could be dangerous because you don't know when the transmission will engage and thrust your car forward. the other problem is the power windows. the driver window has a squeak and a grind. the dealer says they fixed it but it is doing it again. the back windows stopped functioning altogether and a part had to be ordered. the dealer did install this part in early april 2000. *ak

When putting vehicle into reverse or drive vehicle will not move unless driver wiggles gear shift. then vehicle will take off in reverse or drive all of a sudden. dealer has seen several times, and couldn't duplicate problem.*ak the consumer experiences the gear shift malfunctioning all the time and find it a safety hazard but the dealer could not duplicate the problem and could not fix it. *yh

The vehicle would not start at different times starting from 6/99 to 4/00, replacement of the relay for the fuel tank pump, power train module, sensor and the crankshaft did not rectify problems with stalling. yh

Vehicle experiencing ongoing problem with shift locking device breaking, thus allowing gear to be move without applying foot on the brake. repairs have been made on four occasions by the dealer. but, problem is reoccurring. *ak

Consumer was able to pull the shift indicator out of park even though the keys were not in the ignition. this is a rental vehicle. *ak