This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
There are severe problems with the steering and front components such as tie rods, bushing failure- multiple replacements, etc. Steering hasn't been right for years. Low mileage, strange noises, handling. Car doesn't stay in alignment, wheel doesn't return to center, car jumps out of driving lane.
My son was traveling to work on August 10 2005. He was driving a 1996 Dodge Intrepid. He was turning a corner when his steering control was suddendly and completely lost. His car went over a curb at an elementary school before he was able to stop. No one was hurt. Inspection of the car showed that 2 bolts that connect the tie rods to the rack and pinion steering were completely severed. A picture here is worth 1000 words. If you go to this site : www.allpar.com/fix/Intrepid-steering.html you will see a clear picture of 2 center bolts that connect the inner tie rods to the rack and pinion steeing. These were the 2 bolts that suddenly broke leaving the car with no steering control. If that had happened a week earlier when I was traveling with my son on a super highway I am quite sure that several people would be going to the hospital or worse. After the incident, I fould on the internet that this is a common problem with this car. I feel that a recall should be done to replace these bolts. His car had 112,000 miles on when the incident occured. You're recall of these cars I feel would save other people's lives. Thank you!
Car started shaking violently at around 55-65, took it to the mechanic and tie rods had to be replaced. Has much other damage (maybe partly due to the bad tie rods or maybe due to the deficient design) that I can file other reports on if needed.
Two weeks after buying my 1996 Dodge Intrepid ES I felt a strange jolt from my front passenger side wheel when turning corners. This jolt was accompanied by a popping noise. Upon investigation by a professional, I was told that my tie rod was about to come loose from the wheel and that I was lucky I noticed the problem in time. Had the tie rod actually come loose I would have lost control of that wheel, leaving me control of just the drivers side wheel.
While traveling on highway heard a noise coming from the front of vehicle. Dealership is aware of problem.*akboth of the inner tie rods and eight bushings needed replacement. The dealer informed consumer that this failure was premature.
- Locust Valley, NY, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
I am submitting a complaint about deficiencies in the durability of the inner tie rod bushings and rack and pinion steering bushings on a 1996 Dodge Intrepid, VIN [xxx]. premature wear out of these items are a safety concern. On multiple occasions, it felt like I was losing control of the steering on the car. Some of those occasions occurred while driving across an uneven, washboard type asphalt road surface. Other occasions were on a smooth concrete or asphalt road. On all occasions, I had to slow down considerably to regain control of the car. I have had to replace the inner tie rod bushings twice, once in March of 1999 at 49,818 miles and again in August of 2002 at 89,404 miles. The rack and pinion steering bushings were also replaced during the August, 2002 repair. None of these parts should be considered normal maintenance items. Total repairs have cost me $1,071. I have read numerous other postings of a similar nature on Intrepids and other related Chrysler vehicles and am concerned about the safety of these cars. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
When are you guys going to take some action against this very serious design/part failure. I have searched the database and there are a lot of complaints about steering failure. This will cost someone their life if it hasn't already. Here is the problem. The bushings on the inner tie rod deteriorate. On my car it happened to the passenger side bushing at 30,000 miles. I was able to replace the tie rod(they didn't just sell the bushing). At about 33,000 the other one went out so I replace it. Had I not known what to look for (the wavering to the left and right on a straight road allerted me) I could have eventually sheered the bolts on the gear housing. At 71,000 the stearing started acting up again. Well this time the bushings that hold the gear housing to the frame have deteriorated. Fortunately it was caught in time. What happened here was as you steered left or right the gear housing would move about three inches. As you would oversteer, the steering gear box would go as far one way as it could then it would actually turn the wheels. It is obvious to me that there is a major defect in the design of the steering. Please do something before someone dies and before we have to waste more money paying Dodge for something that should break this easy. They sell us a piece of crap and we have to pay them big to repair it. Do something already!
The right side tie rod separated from the rack and pinion, the bolt connecting the tire rod to the rack snapped, four months later the exact same failure occurred again.
While turning vehicle to right it kept going straight. Driver took vehicle to a mechanic, and they stated that rack and pinion steering had disintegrated. Mechanic replaced rack and pinion and tie rods.
Tie end rod has been repaired one time before, repair the steering, it was uncontrollable, when car hits rocks, the care would jerk to one side of the highway.
Was backing out of parking spot when I felt a small thump. Lost all steering capability. Dealer salvaged rack and pinion (said bolts holding it to firewall completely sheered off...I left instructions to save the part but of course, the parts disapeared.) dealer also refused to let vehicle leave without new tie rods and control linkages which they said were damaged (could be true.) my brother is a mechanic with over 25 years in the business and has never seen anything like this before. I've lost confidence in my ability to keep this vehicle running safely, regadless of how much money gets sinked into it. Can you imagine driving at 55mph on a slow right hand curve and this item failing, sending you into on-coming traffic" kids in the car"
The two inner tie rod bolts sheered at the steering gear side of the tie rods, causing total steering control loss of the vehicle, the bolts were removed and replaced, the original rack assembly was also replaced.
Consumer backing out of driveway & turned the wheel to head down the road, heard a loud noise, steering wheel spinning freely and lost control of the vehicle, due to both inner tie rods had sheared off.
Manufacturer reimbursed consumer for defective tie rod, recently the other side went out but manufacturer refuses to reimburse consumer for the other tie rod. Nlm
Manufacturer reimbursed consumer for defective tie rod, recently the other side went out but manufacturer refuses to reimburse consumer for the other tie rod. Nlm
The front tie rods and the bushings in the rack and pinion failed. The steering at first became very sluggish and then the steering wheel got to where it would not return to center. It got so bad that it would not trigger the turn signal switch. We first had the tie rods replaced and the car aligned but that did not take care of the problem. We contacted several repair shops and then were told that the entire rack assembly would have to be replaced. We contacted champion Chrysler in independence, mo and were told that there was an "upgrade kit" available to replace the bushings in the rack. We purchased the kit but no one would take on the repair other than the dealer, so we were forced to have it repaired by the dealer.
While pulling out of a parking space, the steering failed. Subsequent examination showed that the inner tie rod attachment bolts both shearred off and the tie rods separated from the steering rack. The vehicle had these tie rods replaced in Sept 98 and the steering rack replaced in Jan 1999. Unknown if this is related to tsb 190899 but attachment bolts do appear to have failed from improper torque values.
Reported to dealership that theree ws excessive play in steering wheel. They replaced the inner tie rod bushings in November of 1999 at a cost of $300. Sixteen thousand miles and 7 months later the same problem has occured. They say their service warranty is only 12 months or 12 thousand miles. I am now faced with another repair bill. Also my cruise control has quit working. It would cut off or pick up speed then one day just quit working totally. I dont know about the cruise control but I think there is something wrong with the front end of these Intrepids that they didnt correct when they replaced the bushings.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Milwaukee, WI, USA