3.6 has lawsuits going - look it up. 2.4 might be fine but the GT 1.4 turbo is all forged and a great engine, I'd go for that. Drove one daily for 5 years and 0 issues - MAINTAIN IT. Treat it like a lil racing engine as it is, on time oil changes etc. It runs a pump after shut down to cool the turbo. Do your job and it will do its
Yeah, perfect choice for a kid to have
Bought a NEW 2016 1.4 Turbo Dart for my son when he graduated H.S. in 2018. At that time, Chrysler was blowing them out the door at $14K since it was the last year they were made and not everyone could drive a manual trans so they were being deeply discounted.
Taught him to check and change the oil frequently (and he has), and we also did did a few of the Mopar Performance mods (CAI, throttle body, pedal boost). He's since driven it across the country to his military schools and new duty station. It's now at 28K miles and he has had ZERO problems.
Basically, it's a fun driver that handles well and is not as overwhelming to drive as my old SRT-4 ACR. If your kid can handle it, the manual trans Dart with the 1.4 Turbo was just fine. If your daughter doesn't like manuals, from what others are saying, it seems the automatic is pretty good, too.
Best of all, is that my kid
likes his car. Thinking back, how many of us would be coming to this website if we hadn't had a first impression from that old 440+6, 383, or even hot-rodded 318 car that hooked us? Sure, that may not be what you want for your daughter, but maybe your Mopar legacy is worth considering in this transaction as well.
