02-09-2005, 01:10 PM
I haven't posted a whole lot here in a while, so I thought I'd break the ice and give a long winded writeup of a fantastically terrible car !
![[Image: stratus5.jpg]](http://www.allautoreviews.com/auto_reviews/dodge/photos/stratus5.jpg)
This car sucks balls.
Obtaining this rental car after my car went in the shop to replace the bumper cover, I now wish that I had just opted to walk the 30 miles to work. And I'm not even paying for it !
I knew this car would suck when the rental agent said "Well, I'll have to apologize for something in advance" when he drove it up. I said "What, that it has bird shit all over the hood?" "No" he said, "the guys only left about a 1/4 tank of gas in it. Just bring it back on E."
Right, this thing apparently guzzles gas worse than MY car does.
Let me give you a few biased opinions on this car.
Interior
I'm not a tall guy, and I feel cramped as hell sitting in the driver's seat. If I hit a large enough pothole, I have no doubt that I'd end up with a concussion from hitting the roof of the car. The car is roomy yes, I'll give it that. The layout however is totally worthless. WTF is this rubber box in the dash for ? I asked myself. What could I possibly fit in there ? Is that where the clock for this car normally goes ? Because I don't see one.
The cupholders are placed in the worst possible position; about halfway down where my shins are. If I were to consume a beverage in this car, I'd be concerned for my safety trying to reach for it. Further beyond the cup holders is yes, another rubber box. This one appears larger though, maybe to fit CDs ? I would never attempt to reach for them, however, as this would certainly require me to stick my head completely below the dashboard thus turning the car into a road missle.
At night, the gauge cluster has the "Indiglo watch" look that makes me sick to my stomach. It is so poorly designed in fact that the light from the other gauges bleeds somehow into the area where the CEL, seatbelt, and accessory lights all come on, making them appear to be half-lit and half-not..... wtf.
To its credit, this car does have a 6 disc changer and a little bump in it. I was listening to some shit real loud on the way home last night and realized though... where is the midrange ? I thought I was actually listening to a different CD other than the one I put in because the music sounded so whack.
I saw a hot chick in a baseball cap coming out of one of the sales offices this morning and even though I was late I thought I might swing by and holla at her. Then I realized that since I was driving a Dodge Stratus and listening to ATB house remixes that she would think I was some dude on crank who stole a car. Because I honestly think that's the only reason someone would acquire one of these.
Exterior
Not much to say, it's average. It's a Dodge. The bird poop all over it reminds me of the pooparu with spinn@rs to some extent, although I joked with my brother that the pooparu would probably win in a race. I really was only half joking though. Which brings us to......
Performance!
This car is about as much fun to drive as jerking off with broken glass. Being set behind by about 10 minutes this morning because I had to fill up gas, I thought I could step on it and make up some time (like I usually do). Sadly mistaken I was ! I mash the pedal, the front end bucks up, but what the fuck... I'm still going the same speed ? At the same rate ? I tried powerbraking, only to get the same piss-poor launch. Why even bother giving the option to go WOT on this car, it accelerates the same at 1/4 throttle. I seriously think there must be a leak in the gas tank, because I have no idea what could cause the fuel to be consumed so quickly. Oh right, aside from it's weight.
The stock tires on this car might be a little better than mine, but the body roll is tremendous. The suspension gives it that Russian tank feel, and I did have fun purposely nailing large potholes and sinks in the road this morning on the way to work. The breaks are adequate, but I should hope so considering how much this car weighs and the fact it only has 200 miles on it.
In conclusion, this American piece of shit has made up my mind to never purchase a Dodge in my life... even an OMFGZ TEH $Rt-4lyf. A car company that's willing to put out such a worthless piece of machinery to the masses surely does not care about the experience of driving ? Every time someone purchases a Dodge Stratus, an angel in Heaven loses its wings. Please people, think of the angels.
This car sucks balls.
Obtaining this rental car after my car went in the shop to replace the bumper cover, I now wish that I had just opted to walk the 30 miles to work. And I'm not even paying for it !
I knew this car would suck when the rental agent said "Well, I'll have to apologize for something in advance" when he drove it up. I said "What, that it has bird shit all over the hood?" "No" he said, "the guys only left about a 1/4 tank of gas in it. Just bring it back on E."
Right, this thing apparently guzzles gas worse than MY car does.
Let me give you a few biased opinions on this car.
Interior
I'm not a tall guy, and I feel cramped as hell sitting in the driver's seat. If I hit a large enough pothole, I have no doubt that I'd end up with a concussion from hitting the roof of the car. The car is roomy yes, I'll give it that. The layout however is totally worthless. WTF is this rubber box in the dash for ? I asked myself. What could I possibly fit in there ? Is that where the clock for this car normally goes ? Because I don't see one.
The cupholders are placed in the worst possible position; about halfway down where my shins are. If I were to consume a beverage in this car, I'd be concerned for my safety trying to reach for it. Further beyond the cup holders is yes, another rubber box. This one appears larger though, maybe to fit CDs ? I would never attempt to reach for them, however, as this would certainly require me to stick my head completely below the dashboard thus turning the car into a road missle.
At night, the gauge cluster has the "Indiglo watch" look that makes me sick to my stomach. It is so poorly designed in fact that the light from the other gauges bleeds somehow into the area where the CEL, seatbelt, and accessory lights all come on, making them appear to be half-lit and half-not..... wtf.
To its credit, this car does have a 6 disc changer and a little bump in it. I was listening to some shit real loud on the way home last night and realized though... where is the midrange ? I thought I was actually listening to a different CD other than the one I put in because the music sounded so whack.
I saw a hot chick in a baseball cap coming out of one of the sales offices this morning and even though I was late I thought I might swing by and holla at her. Then I realized that since I was driving a Dodge Stratus and listening to ATB house remixes that she would think I was some dude on crank who stole a car. Because I honestly think that's the only reason someone would acquire one of these.
Exterior
Not much to say, it's average. It's a Dodge. The bird poop all over it reminds me of the pooparu with spinn@rs to some extent, although I joked with my brother that the pooparu would probably win in a race. I really was only half joking though. Which brings us to......
Performance!
This car is about as much fun to drive as jerking off with broken glass. Being set behind by about 10 minutes this morning because I had to fill up gas, I thought I could step on it and make up some time (like I usually do). Sadly mistaken I was ! I mash the pedal, the front end bucks up, but what the fuck... I'm still going the same speed ? At the same rate ? I tried powerbraking, only to get the same piss-poor launch. Why even bother giving the option to go WOT on this car, it accelerates the same at 1/4 throttle. I seriously think there must be a leak in the gas tank, because I have no idea what could cause the fuel to be consumed so quickly. Oh right, aside from it's weight.
The stock tires on this car might be a little better than mine, but the body roll is tremendous. The suspension gives it that Russian tank feel, and I did have fun purposely nailing large potholes and sinks in the road this morning on the way to work. The breaks are adequate, but I should hope so considering how much this car weighs and the fact it only has 200 miles on it.
In conclusion, this American piece of shit has made up my mind to never purchase a Dodge in my life... even an OMFGZ TEH $Rt-4lyf. A car company that's willing to put out such a worthless piece of machinery to the masses surely does not care about the experience of driving ? Every time someone purchases a Dodge Stratus, an angel in Heaven loses its wings. Please people, think of the angels.
Posting in the banalist of threads since 2004
2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD Premium
Past: 2016 GMC Canyon All Terrain Crew Cab / 2010 Jaguar XFR / 2012 Acura RDX AWD Tech / 2008 Cadillac CTS / 2007 Acura TL-S / 1966 5.0 HO Mustang Coupe
2001 Lexus IS300 / 2004 2.8L big turbo WRX STI / 2004 Subaru WRX / A couple of old trucks
2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD Premium
Past: 2016 GMC Canyon All Terrain Crew Cab / 2010 Jaguar XFR / 2012 Acura RDX AWD Tech / 2008 Cadillac CTS / 2007 Acura TL-S / 1966 5.0 HO Mustang Coupe
2001 Lexus IS300 / 2004 2.8L big turbo WRX STI / 2004 Subaru WRX / A couple of old trucks
) to Neons. The SXT Stratus is not a race car, and they arenÔÇÖt the nicest cars in the world. Its Ironic though that so many posts on here point out that it is an American made car, because it is not. Only by name is this car American. But whatever. The point here is that you are evaluating this car on criteria it was not designed to meet, at least the performance part. If you find the car's layout poor then that is a personal problem. Your opinion is yours and you are free to have it, and express it. The last part of your post something about Dodge putting out crap is what gets me. Once again, your opinion is yours. That would be like me taking out a basic Subaru Forester and running the shit out of it, then saying "any company that would put out crap like this certainly isn't thinking about performance." I would be wrong, for sure, but thatÔÇÖs my point.