Looking for feed back from owners of 2013 and up darts

[1st_charger]

I'm looking to replace my 2002 neon r/t  work car and have been looking at darts lately. I am looking for people that have them and how the like / dislike them. Also I've been looking at the manual transmission cars only and the 2.0 or 2.4 versions don't think I want the turbo. Thanks for any feedback.

[JR]

Absolute garbage.

The underpinnings of the dart were developed in Italy for the Alfa Romeo Guilietta, then repurposed over here in North America for the Dart. It's a Fiat/Alfa wearing a Dodge badge.

The problem with it is it is an Italian car build by Dodge, so reliability is crap. I'm a member on a few other forums, and one member there bought a new dart in 13, had it break down numerous times and be towed back to the dealer, to eventually become a lemon law buy back.

The patient person he is, he actually bought another dart to replace that one, which also, turned into an unreliable piece of junk before 30k miles. Let me see if I can find that thread.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5782025-bought-a-dart

Not to mention Edmunds long term test Dart.

Random breakdowns, parts falling off in hand, underperforming on fuel mileage, etc.

https://www.edmunds.com/dodge/dart/2013/long-term-road-test/

(Although admittedly, Edmunds was alot more forgiving in their long term wrap up than I expected given the issues.)

Why bother with one of these things just because it's got the same nameplate as our classics?

Just buy a Civic/Corolla/Mazda 3/literally anything else and spend less time fixing your daily driver.

[daveco]

That's too bad, they are nice looking cars.

[Aero426]

To JR's reply, you can look on any forum and find someone who has something bad to say about whatever product you might be considering.  

I have not heard bad things about Darts.   It's a nice looking car.   The European Alfa underpinnings I would say are more of a positive from a handling perspective.  I agree to pass on the turbo for a less complicated model.    

The biggest concern I have is whether the used car prices have come down on them to justify the purchase.   Darts were generally priced a little higher than their competition when new, which hurt sales.   With FCA abandoning the model, the Darts and Chrysler 200 will be orphans sooner than later.    That should drag used car prices down on them.  

[JR]

To JR's reply, you can look on any forum and find someone who has something bad to say about whatever product you might be considering.  

True, but let me ask you this, if the Dart were exactly the same car, developed by the same engineers in the same location, but the car wore a Hyundai or Volkswagen badge, would anyone here even care about it?

I highly doubt it.

Part of the reason for the crap resale value is Darts were flooded into rental agencies, which destroys the resale value of any vehicle.

The other part of the reason is percieved reliability and Chryslers reputation of building poor quality small cars.

To its credit, the dart actually does handle decently and is fun to drive in its segment, thanks in no small part to the Italians.

But if you're buying one for work transportation, fun to drive comes in second to reliability, I would imagine.

If you want fun to drive AND reliable, I'd highly suggest a Civic or Mazda 3 instead. Or hell, even the Kia Forte hatch.

The flip side is, thanks to Dodge/Fiat depreciation, you can pick up a two year old Dart for DIRT cheap. (Like around 10k.)  So if you're hell-bent on flying the Mopar or No Car flag, atleast youll have money left over for future repairs.

[66FBCharger]

We bought our 2013 Dart SXT with the 1.4 turbo and 6 speed new. I like the car. It is a good size. It at the time fit two teenagers and a toddler in a car seat pretty well. For the price (new) it was loaded with quite a bit for $23K.
We did have problems with the car. We had the right rear caliper sticking. It would not fully release if you used the emergency brake. It turned out it was the caliper, it was replaced under warranty. Next I had a noise in the right rear wheel. It turns out the wheel bearing was shot. Both of these incidents happened under warranty with around 30,000 miles on it.
Because of the problems I decided to buy a Chrysler extended warranty. I have never purchased an extended warranty but with the complexity and cost of parts and repair to this car I decided to buy the warranty. Now, the back up camera operates intermittently. Sometimes it works and the image is up side down.
The turbo cars require special engine oil. The oil changes are expensive. The oil was only available through Dodge or online because the oil was a European spec. that was not available here in the U.S. I'm not sure if that is still the case. The oil was approx. $8 a quart at Dodge.
We have 60K on the car now and haven't had any mechanical issues since the wheel bearing 30,000 mile ago.
That's my 2 cents for what it is worth.

[Aero426]

If you want fun to drive AND reliable, I'd highly suggest a Civic or Mazda 3 instead. Or hell, even the Kia Forte hatch.

If I were looking for a reliable car from a domestic manufacturer, I'd look at a Focus or Cruze before any of the Asian imports.   

[JR]

The focus has pretty good reliability if you get one with a manual trans and the base model electronic package. Most of the focus reliability issues come from the new DCT automatic transmission, and Ford SYNC issues. Buying one without those would help alot.

I also really like it's smaller brother, the Ford Fiesta/Mazda 2 twins. Buy either with a manual trans, and it's a solid car that is a blast to drive.

I'm not aware of any serious reliability issues with the Cruz, aside from normal GM assembly line quality issues every now and then. They had a recall a couple of years back from where the assembly line workers attached the steering wheel with the wrong pitch nuts.

Aside from that, I like the Cruze.

I didn't see where the OP listed it HAD to be from an American manufacturer, although that's a silly requirement. Most of the American small cars were developed overseas and/or with a partner company anyways.

[Aero426]

I didn't see where the OP listed it HAD to be from an American manufacturer, although that's a silly requirement. Most of the American small cars were developed overseas and/or with a partner company anyways.

He didn't say that it had to be a domestic.  But it's not silly.   Some people don't want to own an asian import, regardless of where they are assembled.    

[odcics2]

I didn't see where the OP listed it HAD to be from an American manufacturer, although that's a silly requirement. Most of the American small cars were developed overseas and/or with a partner company anyways.

He didn't say that it had to be a domestic.  But it's not silly.   Some people don't want to own an asian import, regardless of where they are assembled.    

Agreed.  I don't want my money supporting the folks that brought us into World War 2.
Buying a Japanese car is unpatriotic. 

[JR]

The car which originated this discussion was designed in Turin, Italy.
Mussolini sided with Hitler for the first year or so of WW2. We fought against the italians too until they switched sides.

The computer you typed your responses on was probably made in Japan or China.

Very few to none of the engineers/people working at those factories today were alive or had anything to do with WW2, (myself included.)

The oil and gas we put in our cars (that we import from the Saudis) has more direct/tracable links to modern day terrorism than any Japanese or Korean made products.

Your late model Challengers/Chargers/300s were assembled in Canada, the Ram in Mexico.

Honda Civics are built in indiana, and Nissan Titans are built in mississippi. (Which combined, provide jobs to around 8,000 Americans)

My point is, blind "Buy America!" patriotism is hilarious.  And impossible.

Ill choose to buy the best product I can get for my money. Let the consumer reward the company that works the hardest and treats their customer the best. After all, thats capitalism, right?

[Aero426]

JR, I just thought it was interesting that in your original post, your only suggestions on what to buy were Japanese brands.     They do build some good appliances that will move you from A to B.     But I just thought it should be mentioned that there are other domestic alternatives. 

Fortunately we live in a country where you (still) have the freedom to drive the crap wagon of your choice.     

[odcics2]

Nice pivot, JR.  

I know guys with Darts that have no issues at all.   

[1st_charger]

Thanks for the input anymore first had experience is welcome

[crj1968]

True, but let me ask you this, if the Dart were exactly the same car, developed by the same engineers in the same location, but the car wore a Hyundai or Volkswagen badge, would anyone here even care about it?

I highly doubt it.

exactly.  Maybe if they would have called it a super bee.