anyone own a dodge dart?

reek · Feb 2, 2017

Not sure what section this should go under so mods, please move as needed.

anyway, anyone own a dodge dart? if so, how reliable has it been? Looking for a new car for my 16 yr old girl. choices down to a Kia Soul $18000 and Dodge Dart SXT $14500. Both brand new. I have experience with a few kias and they actually do alright mechanically. But I've heard a few scary stories about the darts that make me wonder, like the power steering temporarily giving out.

any actual experience and opinions on general reliability would be appreciated.

shibby927 · Feb 2, 2017

reek said:
Not sure what section this should go under so mods, please move as needed.

anyway, anyone own a dodge dart? if so, how reliable has it been? Looking for a new car for my 16 yr old girl. choices down to a Kia Soul $18000 and Dodge Dart SXT $14500. Both brand new. I have experience with a few kias and they actually do alright mechanically. But I've heard a few scary stories about the darts that make me wonder, like the power steering temporarily giving out.

any actual experience and opinions on general reliability would be appreciated.

I'm the Club President and Founder of Modern Mopars of Iowa. We have quite a few Dart owners in our club. If you'd like I could pose this question to them and get their opinions on their Darts.

As far as the Kia Soul my Aunt currently owns like a 2015 or 2016 Kia Soul and she absolutely loves it. I don't think she's had a problem with it yet, and she's been much happier with her soul than she ever was with her 2013 Dodge Avenger that she had previously.

clifford15 · Feb 2, 2017

I have a '13 Dart GT with the 2.4. It runs great and gets great mileage. The leather seats are more comfortable than my Challenger. Only 2 warranty repairs. The drivers seat bottom cracked on the edge and the 8.4 screen locked up. Both fixed without issue. I did get a MaxCare warranty before the 3 year ran out though as I plan to keep it for a while.
I think the Dart is a great looking car and I do not understand how FCA could screw up so bad in marketing it.

clh1220 · Feb 2, 2017

My kids all got started out on older cars, i figured it's cheaper for them to bang up a older one. I would pick the dart over the kia.

adrianp89 · Feb 2, 2017

x2 for Dart over Kia. I would also look at 200s, they are about the same price as a Dart but better design and seem a little safer IMO.

Scgirardi · Feb 2, 2017

The dart is a great economy car.

ExpressRules · Feb 2, 2017

clh1220 said:
My kids all got started out on older cars, i figured it's cheaper for them to bang up a older one. I would pick the dart over the kia.

I'm with clh1220's thoughts. Teenager sometimes do stupid things with cars because of limited experience. When my youngest got her license late last year I gave her the Durango originally given to my older daughter when she was in college and I held on to after she moved to another vehicle.

My youngest was coming home from a friends house one night and in trying to avoid a deer sheared off a utility pole and flipped at least two times and ended up upside down. She crawled out a window unhurt except for a bruise from the seat belt.

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Two people that came to the scene, an ambulance attendant and a poice officer at separate times said if she wasn't ion that Durango she would have been badly hurt or dead.

I tried to find another Durango for her, but couldn't find one in nice enough shape. But did find a nice GMC Envoy and that is what she drive today.

clh1220 · Feb 2, 2017

You're a lucky guy buddy,thank God she wasn't hurt or taken from you. Take it from someone that's not so lucky.

OnSale · Feb 2, 2017

reek said:
Not sure what section this should go under so mods, please move as needed.

anyway, anyone own a dodge dart? if so, how reliable has it been? Looking for a new car for my 16 yr old girl. choices down to a Kia Soul $18000 and Dodge Dart SXT $14500. Both brand new. I have experience with a few kias and they actually do alright mechanically. But I've heard a few scary stories about the darts that make me wonder, like the power steering temporarily giving out.

any actual experience and opinions on general reliability would be appreciated.

My aunt bought a 2010 Kia Soul brand new. She drove it for 280k miles in 5 years. She delivered newspapers 365 days a year. Drove 100 miles a night and during the day i used the car as a daily driver alot so it got another 100 miles during the day time from me. It got used and abused hard. Real hard. My aunt neglected repairs but did use mobile 1 every oil change, every 3-5k. When she traded it in in 2015 the motor and trans ran just as it did day 1. The only issue was all the body damage from her hitting random **** over the years lol.

But all she ever had to replace was the usual tires, brake pads, rotors and maybe a tie rod or strut here or there. No major mechanical fixes or bills.

Now shr owns a 2014 kia soul she bought used with 40k on it. It now has 115k and again, runs perfect. No issues. She uses mobile 1 and changes the oil every 3-5k. No major issues at all.

The only downside to BOTH kia souls is the drivers side window, the weather stripping seems to move off track and both of the drivers windows got messed up in both of her cars. The 2010 she had fixed after it happened and it ended up happening again about a year later. So keep this in mind if you buy a kia. It was the ONLYA complaint me or she has with kia souls and she has now had one for over 395k between the 2 of them.

Great amazing cars and the motor and trans just keep going and have no issues.

Good luck with your choice.

Sent from my SM-J320P using Tapatalk

CDNUSER · Feb 2, 2017

OnSale said:
My aunt bought a 2010 Kia Soul brand new. She drove it for 280k miles in 5 years. She delivered newspapers 365 days a year. Drove 100 miles a night and during the day i used the car as a daily driver alot so it got another 100 miles during the day time from me. It got used and abused hard. Real hard. My aunt neglected repairs but did use mobile 1 every oil change, every 3-5k. When she traded it in in 2015 the motor and trans ran just as it did day 1. The only issue was all the body damage from her hitting random **** over the years lol.

But all she ever had to replace was the usual tires, brake pads, rotors and maybe a tie rod or strut here or there. No major mechanical fixes or bills.

Now shr owns a 2014 kia soul she bought used with 40k on it. It now has 115k and again, runs perfect. No issues. She uses mobile 1 and changes the oil every 3-5k. No major issues at all.

The only downside to BOTH kia souls is the drivers side window, the weather stripping seems to move off track and both of the drivers windows got messed up in both of her cars. The 2010 she had fixed after it happened and it ended up happening again about a year later. So keep this in mind if you buy a kia. It was the ONLYA complaint me or she has with kia souls and she has now had one for over 395k between the 2 of them.

Great amazing cars and the motor and trans just keep going and have no issues.

Good luck with your choice.

Sent from my SM-J320P using Tapatalk

I agree. The Kia Soul is a great choice. Kia has the same motor as Hyundai.
Kia is partially owned by Hyundai.

I own a 2009 Tucson 2.0 and a 2016 Tucson 1.6 turbo and 2009 Accent with 1.6.
Never had any issues. Regular maintenance only.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

reek · Feb 2, 2017

thanks guys. I've only had good experience with more modern Kias (post-Hyundai buying them out) and they seem to run forever with maintenance. We had a 2013 Optima and loved it. My office assistant has beaten her Kia Sorrento to death and it still runs great. I expect minor things like weather stripping, plastic parts breaking, etc with the Kias. But having said that, my ram has weather stripping issues at 18,000 miles, so did my Tundra at about 60,000 and my wife's current Taco at 30,000.

Having said that, being able to get a Dart with better equipment for $3000 less, new, I'm tempted. There are a few 200's with the 9 speed trans for the same price but would like to keep things simple with the Dart. the ever-dependable internet seems to have the most common complaint being of the 9 speed trans for the 200.

look forward to more input. will likely go check out the Darts this weekend.

reek · Feb 2, 2017

shibby927 said:
I'm the Club President and Founder of Modern Mopars of Iowa. We have quite a few Dart owners in our club. If you'd like I could pose this question to them and get their opinions on their Darts.

As far as the Kia Soul my Aunt currently owns like a 2015 or 2016 Kia Soul and she absolutely loves it. I don't think she's had a problem with it yet, and she's been much happier with her soul than she ever was with her 2013 Dodge Avenger that she had previously.

thanks for the offer with the club Dart owners offer. if you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate their input. I realize there may be a bias but that may work in my favor. I assume if someone who's a Mopar fan has a complaint, it's probably warranted.

Thanks again, in advance.

shibby927 · Feb 3, 2017

I posted it up to my club members, these are the responses I got:

Person #1: "I never had any problems... Then again I only had it for a year lol"

Person #2: "My wife and I ordered her car brand new... Her's is a 2013 and never had an issue... I'm also disabled so the car has hand controls for me to drive, no issues there either"

Person #3: "Never had any crazy issues other then when my battery was on the verge of dying. If he can get one new the odds will be better or one that a kid did not own from 13. The 13's are built much better than the others. Issues with are few and far between. Also a lot of the issues come from people driving the car like an idiot."

Person #4: "I have had my dart sense July 2013. Zero problems. I wouldn't get one that has the dual dry clutch though those are known for having transmission problems"

Person #5: "My only issue was that starting issue from the bad pin in the electrical harness. Other than that my valve cover seal already went out and I've had a hub replaced."

Person #6: "Got a 2015 gt. Absolutely love it. No problems. Got 40000miles now. Bought brand new."

Person #7: "I have a 2014 Dart GT, automatic transmission. I've had it for just over a year now, I have put on 20k of the 40k miles it has. So far I have loved the car and have had 0 issues!"

Person #8: "Ordered ours in 13 just over 100k miles only been in the shop once. I have worked on a few with some transmission issues but the recall took care of them"

reek · Feb 3, 2017

shibby927 said:
I posted it up to my club members, these are the responses I got:

Person #1: "I never had any problems... Then again I only had it for a year lol"

Person #2: "My wife and I ordered her car brand new... Her's is a 2013 and never had an issue... I'm also disabled so the car has hand controls for me to drive, no issues there either"

Person #3: "Never had any crazy issues other then when my battery was on the verge of dying. If he can get one new the odds will be better or one that a kid did not own from 13. The 13's are built much better than the others. Issues with are few and far between. Also a lot of the issues come from people driving the car like an idiot."

Person #4: "I have had my dart sense July 2013. Zero problems. I wouldn't get one that has the dual dry clutch though those are known for having transmission problems"

Person #5: "My only issue was that starting issue from the bad pin in the electrical harness. Other than that my valve cover seal already went out and I've had a hub replaced."

Person #6: "Got a 2015 gt. Absolutely love it. No problems. Got 40000miles now. Bought brand new."

Person #7: "I have a 2014 Dart GT, automatic transmission. I've had it for just over a year now, I have put on 20k of the 40k miles it has. So far I have loved the car and have had 0 issues!"

Person #8: "Ordered ours in 13 just over 100k miles only been in the shop once. I have worked on a few with some transmission issues but the recall took care of them"

THANK YOU very much for the help! My personal feeling has been that most cars these days are pretty reliable, unlike the 80's when it was more of a crap shoot. We're planning on going to look at the Darts tomorrow actually. Although, for some reason, the dealer has bumped the "internet price" up to $17000 for all of their Darts since I last checked. puts it pretty much even with the cheapest Soul. Wife likes the soul a lot so the Darts are going to have to impress tomorrow when we go look.

THETANK · Feb 3, 2017

Can I suggest (more $$$$$) a brand spanking new Mustang GT, she will be the hit of the neighbourhood.

reek · Feb 3, 2017

THETANK said:
Can I suggest (more $$$$$) a brand spanking new Mustang GT, she will be the hit of the neighbourhood.

Funny you should say that. My first attempt to go look at a car for her last month ended up with me and this:

shibby927 · Feb 4, 2017

reek said:
THANK YOU very much for the help! My personal feeling has been that most cars these days are pretty reliable, unlike the 80's when it was more of a crap shoot. We're planning on going to look at the Darts tomorrow actually. Although, for some reason, the dealer has bumped the "internet price" up to $17000 for all of their Darts since I last checked. puts it pretty much even with the cheapest Soul. Wife likes the soul a lot so the Darts are going to have to impress tomorrow when we go look.

Always happy to help. Let me know if you have any more questions. :happy107:

HemiLonestar · Feb 6, 2017

Buddy of mine had one, it was constantly in the shop for the trans, so much so, that he finally went lemon law with it and opted for an Avenger they sitting on the lot.

15BLACKRAM · Feb 13, 2017

DO NOT BUY A DART!!!!!! my wife has a 2015 dart and it has been NOTHING but problems... we bought it new.. had 4 miles on it.. so far it has been in the shop 76 times in 2 years. the latest visit was a 2 week stay to have the engine replaced under warranty.. the machine installing the pistons in the block was .001 off and gouged every cyl wall causing extreme oil consumption. when it idles, this thing shakes the entire car.. and the dealer says "its how the car is" yea.. no. so we are currently fighting Chrysler corp about a lemon law for this piece of crap car. its not even worth half what we paid for it. i feel bad for ANYONE i see driving these piles of junk.

anyone own a dodge dart?

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