On this very special episode, we’re going to be talking about a very special car. It’s the star of the New York International Auto Show, a car now old enough to be considered a classic in some states, the pride of Normal, Illinois: the Dodge Stratus Coupe. Beloved by some, dismissed by others, the Stratus Coupe is the sort of car we don’t see anymore, and we’re unlikely to see again. And it’s not an easy car to find for sale these days, let me tell you.
On Friday, I closed out our fourth year together by giving you an opportunity to turn the tables on me, if you so chose. And it appears that you like me! You really like me! Or at least, forty-three percent of you do; you chose the nice, comfy Volvo 940 as the car you’d like to see me drive for a week.
Of course, the number two vote was that sketchy Smart. Most of the votes for that one seem to have been intended as punishment, and that’s cool. I’ve driven worse. Hell, I’ve owned worse.
I’ve owned a lot of cars, in fact. Not nearly as many as some here, but around forty in my name, plus ten or fifteen owned by significant others or family members that I drove regularly. I also, by some rough math, did around 40,000 oil changes in the 1990s on other people’s cars, and in some cases, picked those cars up and delivered them back to their owners.
I’ve serviced and driven a Dodge Dynasty with 300,000 miles on its odometer. The first car I ever made payments on was a Ford Tempo that I drove back and forth between Chicago and Milwaukee every week to visit my girlfriend. I’ve spun out a Cadillac Cimarron on a freeway on-ramp at 60 miles an hour. I’ve had sex in a Chevy Cavalier Z24. I don’t mean for this to sound like a Beetlejuice-style list of qualifications; I’m just pointing out that I come by my appreciation for mundane domestic cars naturally.
Not everybody gets it, I understand. But for those of you who do, like me, I present to you two examples of the car of the hour. The two best examples I could find for sale, actually. Special thanks to the Bishop for spotting one of them for me.
2004 Dodge Stratus SXT – $5,499
Engine/drivetrain: 2.4-liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Omaha, NE
Odometer reading: 128,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Diamond-Star Motors, the joint venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi in central Illinois, is best known for the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, and Plymouth Laser, especially in their fire-breathing turbocharged AWD variants. But the facility that now produces Rivian electric vehicles built a whole lot of other cars. The Dodge Avenger, which in its second generation became the Stratus Coupe, may not have had the performance credentials of its siblings, but it’s more comfortable, thanks to a longer wheelbase and less frantic suspension tuning.
Chrysler’s name game with these cars wrought all sorts of havoc on mechanics and parts-counter clerks, more than once. The original Chrysler Sebring convertible was a derivative of the JA-platform Cirrus sedan, but the Sebring coupe was a completely different car, based on the Mitsubishi Eclipse platform. They used different engines with the same displacement. No parts were interchangeable. As if that wasn’t confusing enough, when the second generation came along, Dodge did the same thing with the Stratus. Basically, if it has two doors and a hard top, it’s a Mitsubishi design; otherwise it’s a Chrysler.
This Stratus coupe is a little scruffy; the dashboard seems to be coming apart, and there’s a tear in the driver’s seat side bolster. I can’t give you any information about its condition other than that, because it’s for sale from a dealership via Autotrader, and they’re more concerned with making a deal than providing transportation. My advice, as always, is to check it out carefully, and if you don’t know what you’re looking at, take someone with you who does.
It has seen some action on the outside, it looks like. The driver’s side front fender has a serious wrinkle, and there’s a dent in the rear quarter panel on that side as well. Red paint is notorious for fading, and this one is no exception. And worst of all, I think I see rust bubbling under the side skirt in front of the rear wheel. There aren’t very many Stratus coupes for sale, so its steep price could be seen as a case of “Oh yeah? Find another one.” Except that I did. Or rather, the Bishop did.
2005 Dodge Stratus SXT – $2,999
Engine/drivetrain: 2.4-liter DOHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Wichita, KS
Odometer reading: 180,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Head south across the border into Kansas, just past the Point of Know Return, and you’ll find this similarly-equipped but much less expensive Stratus coupe. It’s less flashy looking in white paint, but it looks like it’s in considerably better shape. And judging by the price on the windshield, it has already been reduced once. The seller could be in a mood to listen to even lower offers. That’s the other thing about “undesirable” cars: you can sometimes find a good deal by looking beyond the obvious choices.
The base engine in both the Stratus sedan and coupe displaces 2.4 liters, but the sedan uses a Chrysler engine and Ultradrive transmission. The coupe is powered by a Mitsubishi 4G64 engine and F4A transmission. Performance is six of one and half a dozen of the other, and reliability is similar as well. This car has 180,000 miles on it, and I’m sure it runs and drives just fine. There are no warning lights on the dash, anyway, which is a good sign.
It’s an SXT model, as is the red one, which is Dodge’s mid-range trim for many different models. It includes the most popular options, like power windows and locks, air conditioning, cruise control, and a decent stereo. Despite having more miles, this one looks like it’s in better shape. The dashboard is separating along the top of the instrument panel, same as the red one. That must be a design flaw in these. But besides that, all I see is a little wear here and there.
It’s in better shape outside, too, with no visible sheetmetal damage, no apparent rust, and only some chipped paint on the rear bumper. However, that being said, there is no photo of the driver’s side in the ad. That could be an oversight, or they could be hiding something. Only one way to find out.
I don’t know; maybe if you get to gallivant all around driving this and that for a day or two, you become jaded and suddenly you’re too cool for a car like the Dodge Stratus coupe. And I suppose, compared to a Ferrari, or even a well-equipped Mustang, it’s not all that hot. But millions of people rely on millions of ordinary cars every day, going places, making memories, and enjoying life. That’s what cars are for, after all. If you can’t understand why someone would love a car like this, I feel sorry for you. Thank you for indulging me on my soapbox today, and feel free to make the obvious choice between these two, just to make it official.
My first new car was a red 98 Chrysler Sebring coupe with the 2.5L V6. It was fine but it got traded in 99 for a new edge Mustang GT Convertible 5 speed. That was a whole lot more fun!
Just for age comparison I drove a Dodge Dynasty untitled with 20 miles on the odometer
This is really getting into the would you rather… questions we used to have here. What ever happened to that it was fun and generated some fun comments. This one here is the equivalent of would you rather wear a used stained pair of underwear from the skeviest person you know or from an anonymous person by picking a pair up from Goodwill? I went with the basic white pair provided I get to check for skid marks before I choose.
The white one + five cans of Krylon.
Both of these are the kind of car that the paste eaters in first grade would have chosen…
Enough said.
Too much said.
These cars piss me off so bad seeing as how good the 1st generation Cloud sedans were. They were legitimately world-class mid-sized sedans, and just a few short years later, Mercedes had gutted Chrysler’s rainy-day fund and cheapened every American product released after just so they could take the money and using Dodge and Jeep designs develop the forthcoming Mercedes SUVs. The “merger of equals” was in 1998, so these coupes were some of the first cars that came to market that were developed under that ill-fated merger. And it shows with super cheap interiors and little real performance aspirations.
so true. I owned a late 1st gen Stratus. An acquaintance got a brand new 2nd gen Stratus and I couldn’t believe Daimler Chrysler was able to get that car even cheaper. The door cards, dash, fabric felt worse. And the looks were questionable at best. It was roomier, though
The coupes were based on the Mitsubishi Eclipse platform, so while they were better than what Dodge was making before, the sedans were the ones that got their own modern platform with a ton of attention given to making them great cars. I owned a 1st gen sedan. My mother had an Accord that was about the same year, and the Dodge was way better than the Honda in every conceivable way. Imagine saying that to someone today – two of the class leading family sedans for decades have been the Camry and the Accord, and Dodge of all companies beat them with a well engineered and well built product in that category. It is infuriating to think what could have been if Mercedes didn’t screw over the American brands.
Well, first of all I’m almost certain Chrysler wouldn’t have gone bankrupt in 2008 if it had not merged with Daimler and would not be in the downward spiral it is today.
My Stratus was very dependable. It only asked for oil, tires, filters, spark plugs a couple batteries and brake pads. My power steering started leaking at age 10, but that was pretty much it. It never needed an A/C recharge, nor an alternator. Last I saw it, the car was 17 years old and pretty beat up under it’s 3rd or 4th owner. But I can attest it outlasted a few “more reliable” cars from acquaintances and friends who would never purchase a Mopar product.
Test drove one of these when new and the salesperson tried to explain it was similar to a Mustang. Had a friend who dated a girl with one of these and she was a nutter, rode in the back once and was presently surprised the back seat wasn’t terrible.
Voted for the white one, but I don’t see any world where I ever bought one of these.
The only reason I would even consider the red one is oil pump issues with 4g6x at about 180k. But that thing is beat the left front fender probably needs to be replaced and the back quarter could use some pdr. They are both $2500 cars at best maybe good contenders for $1500 or $1k cars. The buy here pay here lots that got them probably payed $500 at auction.
On a car that cheap and shite, why bother replacing the fender?
Just pay the money, and then drive it like it’s a hire car for however many months of motoring this thing has left.
They’re the same car and probably both shit. I voted for the cheapest one..
Don’t make me regret being nice to you with the Volvo,Mark.
That’s sound logic IMO. I’d have chosen the white one even if the red were the same price, but being cheaper, the white one was a no-brainer for what they are.
The white one, of course. My wife had a Chrysler Sebring Coupe of that vintage with the V6. Great looking front end and a pleasure to drive. I miss it.
Dodsworth gets it. Agreed!
I would get PTSD from either of these due to an association with an ex. I drove that car quite a bit. Don’t remember a thing. I guess it accelerated okay, since I don’t remember any trauma from that.
White is the lesser evil, but I feel railroaded into voting for a Stratus XST.
Yes, car prices are not sane.
As Frank Zappa once said when going for cheap thrills, the cheaper the better. The white one wins.
$5500 for a beat up old Dodge coupe that wasn’t particularly desirable even when it was new? Yeah, good luck with that. Call me when it drops to $2000… maybe.
I’ll go with the white one because whoever is selling it probably isn’t on crack.
Today is a “No” day.
Slush boxes and the 2.4? Uh, no.
With the Mitsubishi v6 and a stick these might be fun before something stupid and Chrysler-y breaks, but just… no.
Rusty red scared me away, so I voted for the white one. Still a lot of dough for that car.
No disagreement from me, but sadly reality has it so that now what used to be a $500. can fetch a couple grand if it’s intact and cleanish. I’m not any happier about this fact that you are. Last fall I finally bought an old Volvo 240 (always wanted a 240, especially a wagon) and wound up paying an average price for it ($6,500.) knowing full well that just 4-5 years ago, it would have been a $3K car all day.
I’m pausing my read of the details above and comments below to post this link to SNL’s famous “I drive a Dodge Stratus!” clip, which someone must have already posted by now, but just in case they haven’t:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy0n7IS_JmI
BTW, I never owned or drove one, but it’s not an awful looking car. The size and shape are OK, and affordable coupes of any kind are so rare now that it takes on a certain appeal. I voted for the white one, of course.
PS: “…millions of people rely on millions of ordinary cars every day, going places, making memories, and enjoying life. That’s what cars are for, after all.” Truer words are rarely spoken. Huzzah! 😀
Well said, Scott.
I had to double check when I saw 2 Stratus’s to see if Mark wrote this one or you.
I’ve been in a back and forth with Jalopnik last week arguing about how they treat cars such as this one – Mark hyperlinked the conflict in the beginning of today’s Showdown.
It was a fitting match-up today as a show of Stratus solidarity. Mark rules!
$5500 for these is wild.
Actually that is too much for both of them let alone one of them
Never knew these existed (not missing much). Were the Stratus coupes even sold north of the border?
Maybe still badged as an Avenger and with different taillights? In any case, I don’t recall seeing these on the road..
I know these are different cars than the pile-o-crap 2002 Dodge Stratus sedan I had as a company car back in 2002, but the stink doesn’t wash off that easily for me. I went with the white one, but despite SWG’s love for these, I don’t want either.
Oh come on now, Master of Squirrels!
Nothing but love for you, Stephen! I’m glad someone appreciates cars that I don’t appreciate, as it is necessary to keep all aspects of the automotive industry alive and well!