Four problems related to service brakes have been reported for the 2003 Dodge Intrepid. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Dodge Intrepid based on all problems reported for the 2003 Intrepid.
While traveling at freeway speed a scraping noise was heard followed by the rear passenger wheel locking up. Tire and rim were ground down, while I brought the vehicle to a stop. Mechanics notes: "ebrake came apart passenger rear and locked brake up, causing backing plate to rip apart from ebrake mounting. Ebrake adjuster bracket damaged as well. The bracket adjusts the brake shoes and holds the brake cable in place. The part is not available from any vendor and has been discontinued by the dealer. Consequently new ebrake shoes and hardware can not be installed. " of course a part can fail on a now 17 year old vehicle, but it seems that the routine failure mode and effect analysis overlooked this part. A less able driver might have lost control of the vehicle and crashed. As far as I know, the emergency brake has never been used in the 17 year life of this car.
The contact owns a 2003 Dodge Intrepid. The contact stated that after shifting into reverse the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and crashed into a brick wall. The contact indicated that during the failure the vehicle would not stop when the brakes were applied. The contact and the front passenger both suffered headaches and the contact also suffered an upper back injuries. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 153,874.
2003 Dodge Intrepids' brakes caught fire during hard braking maneuvers. The metropolitan government put four Intrepids through the metropolitan police department's standard driving course which included many stops and turns requiring repeated braking. Two cars were tested on March 11, 2003. The test was repeated with two different Intrepids on April 3, 2003. The front brakes on all four cars caught on fire. At least one vehicle was found to have no brakes after completing the course. In addition, on April 11, 2003, the front brakes on an Intrepid burst into flames while the car was being driven in normal afternoon traffic by an employee of the metropolitan government working for the parks department. None of these incidents resulted in any fatalities, personal injuries or property damage beyond the damage to the cars.
Nar 05/21/2003. Test drives performed on two Dodge Intrepids concerning brake problems.