The Dodge Intrepid has the sleekest styling of any family car on the planet. That said, it doesn't get my blood boiling. It's just too big, and because of the styling feels even larger. Also, note I said "family car." Though the R/T is intended to be a sports sedan, the primary mission of this vehicle is to serve as a prosaic family car. I personally prefer a true sport sedan, a machine that connects you more immediately to itself and to the road. But your needs are probably different than mine, especially if you're thinking about buying this car in the first place. If you like a lot of room and have a small budget, this could very well be the car for you.

Dodge Intrepid Reliability

Want better reliability information? Want to more clearly know what difference it will make if you buy a Dodge Intrepid rather than something else? My website, truedelta.com, will be providing this information in the form of "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats.

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I aim to provide the highest quality information to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, these goals conflict. If I simply give the information away, few will help provide it. So I'm doing the next best thing: those who have been active participants for at least six months will receive free access to this site's reliability information; otherwise this access will cost $24.95. The average time commitment for someone reporting on two cars will be (at most) 15 minutes a year, so you'll essentially receive $100 an hour for doing your share to help everyone make better decisions.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

Background

I've already written a bunch about Chrysler's large LH cars in my 300M review. This time around I'll just mention that the whole "cab forward" pitch is a bit of a hoax. The reason these cars are so roomy inside has very little to do with the base of the windshield being over the engine compartment. All that really does is make the styling sleeker and the view forward a bit funny. The reason these cars are roomy is that they are not really mid-sized cars. They're as big on the inside as GM's large cars because they're as big on the outside as GM's large cars. So why does Chrysler pitch them as extremely roomy mid-sized cars? Though this forces them to reduce the selling price, the mid-sized market is where the volume is.

"Cab forward" hocus-pocus aside, the first Intrepid looked more like a sports car than any American sedan ever had--definite elements of a Camaro. I remember being awestruck by it at the 1992 Chicago auto show. It was that different, that striking. Though other companies have gotten more aggressive in their styling and have somewhat closed the gap, the second generation car continues the Intrepid's tradition of being the sleekest looking sedan on the planet.

I know I've already made it pretty clear that this isn't my kind of car. Still, part of that initial awe from Chicago lingers. When I had to rent a car to drive a few hundred miles recently, I used the opportunity to check out the latest Intrepid.

Styling

"Cab forward" is really about styling. The Intrepid's sharply raked windshield and backlight, which together with the roof rails constitute a continuous unkinked arc, lend it a sleek, swoopy look that will not be mistaken for any other car, much less any other family sedan. It's very distinctive. If you are not put off by the size and untidy proportions (it's long and looks even longer), then it's also a very attractive car. I personally prefer a tidier, more compact design.

The interior is less distinctively styled. So much so that I'm having trouble recalling what it looked like--OK, now I kind of remember. Like the original Intrepid, it still looks somewhat like a copy of the 1989 Nissan Maxima interior. Mostly tasteful enough. Fake carbon fiber trim here and there. Different surfaces are used in various parts of the dash and door panels, without any clear rationale. The white gauge faces are no longer distinctive, and are not especially attractive. Time to knock off the latest Maxima gauges, which have a more sophisticated silvery color. Though others complain about the cheapness of the materials in the Intrepid's interior, to me they seemed about equal to other $22,000 family cars. Hey, it's a cheap car, what do you want?

Accommodations

The base SE I rented didn't even pretend to be a sports sedan. It had a bench seat in front. This seat had some strong points and some weak points. On the plus side, the center portion of the backrest folds forward to serve as a wide armrest and roomy storage compartment. A pair of good cupholders fold out--at least they worked quite well for me. (My Intrigue and Contour could use cupholders as good as these.) Also on the positive side, the outer front seats have a surprising amount of lateral support for a bench seat. Heck, they have a surprising amount of lateral support for a bucket in a family sedan. I felt they cupped me quite nicely.

Usually bench seats have very poor lateral support. With lateral support this good, all you lose is that sporty feel by getting that space for a sixth person. This is a wide car, might as well take advantage of it to fit more people.

Unfortunately, not all is good with the front seat. I drove this car for four hours at a stretch, and before long my lower back was killing me. There is no lumbar support adjustment (unlike the Taurus), and the fixed level of support is grossly inadequate. It really is puzzling that Dodge provided such great lateral support and then blew it on something as basic as lumbar support.

The good news returns in the rear seat. In many of my reviews I complain that the rear cushion is not high enough to provide decent thigh support, even though at 5-9 I'm not a tall person. I won't complain about that here. The rear seat in the Intrepid has always been one of my favorites. Not only is it roomy, but it's nice and high off the floor. As a bonus, I easily fit two fairly large child seats back there in the right and center positions, with room left over for an adult in the left position.

More good news in the trunk. The reason why I rented such a large car in the first place is I was bringing a double stroller (a tandem, with one child behind the other) with me, and didn't want to risk getting a car that the stroller would not fit into. I knew that the trunk of the Intrepid is huge. Turns out it's so huge that I put my double stroller in it lengthways. If you need even more space, the rear seat folds down.

All is not rosy here, though. The trunk opening is surprisingly small, partly because of the sloping rear window. That's why I had to put the stroller in lengthways. It wouldn't fit in the opening the usual way, though it fits in the opening of my much smaller Ford Contour just fine.

On the Road

I didn't expect a sports sedan, at least not with the base car, and I didn't get one. What I did get was a car that performs quite well for a family sedan. The 200 HP 2.7 liter engine has just enough pep to not feel sluggish. Passing power was decent if not stupendous. Though you can definitely hear this engine, I did not find this noise objectionable. It did not sound harsh or strained. Fuel economy in highway driving (speed between 55 and 75 nearly all of the time, no A/C) was 26 MPG.

Though this was the base car, it leaned very little in turns, and the steering had a fair if not great amount of feel. It certainly handled more smoothly and more confidently than the Ford Taurus I rented the last time I took this trip. Aside from leaning more, the Taurus also understeered (plowed in hard turns) much more, and the steering kicked a little over rough surfaces.

The weakest part of the handling experience is probably the driving position. Those swoopy pillars cut into your vision a bit and, more of a problem for me, make you feel like you are sitting deep inside a large vehicle, distant from what is going on where the rubber hits the road. Which you are, but you don't feel this way in some even larger cars, like a big Benz. Also, this sensation is considerably worse with the current car than with the original Intrepid. When the original car was designed Chrysler was trying to out-Honda Honda with low cowls and beltlines. The cowl (base of the windshield) and beltline (base of the side windows) are noticeably higher in the current car, further adding to the "buried in the car" feeling.

The flip side of the fairly good handling is mediocre ride quality. On very smooth road surfaces the Intrepid is serene and nearly silent. In these conditions, I could not tell the difference between 60 and 80. Smooooth. Just about like being in a much more expensive luxury sedan. Clearly superior to the mid-sized competition from Ford and GM in this respect. Unfortunately, on rougher pavement road noise picked up markedly. Actually, I was amazed how much road noise varied from surface to surface, going from very little to lots. Throw in some bumps, pock marks, and potholes and the car would sometimes jitter and jar a bit. Like road noise, ride quality varied quite a bit, though it never became poor.

One huge improvement has been made over the original Intrepid. Early '90s Chryslers all had small, strangely shaped headlights that did a poor job of lighting the road. Well, people squawked, and it seems Chrysler listened. The headlights on the second generation Intrepid, though still sleekly styled, are quite large and powerful. In my night driving they lit the road very well. I very much wish my own cars had headlights this good.

Last Words

I didn't go into the Intrepid with high expectations, and wasn't surprised in either direction. It is a very roomy car, but I knew this already. In some areas the performance was a bit better than I expected, in others it was a bit worse. Ultimately, this is a lot of car for not much money. If you need the space, like the styling, and can live with those sweeping pillars and varying ride quality, this is a fine choice. Just be ready to buy one of those nifty lumbar pillows.

To learn more about my reliability research and sign up to participate in it, or to perform thorough, up-to-date new car price comparisons, visit www.truedelta.com. A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.
Amount Paid (US$): 20000
Model Year: 2001
Model and Options: SE with bench seat