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  #16  
Old 02-26-2018, 09:06 PM
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Username1 Username1 is offline
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I always look for a K-Car, I like to see the survivors show up on CL. And here in
Rustville, NY CL has about 10 a year that show up. Most are garaged, owned by
some "Little old lady" who recently passed away. They sell from anywhere from $600.
to about $2k. And they look Great! I wanna replace my old '86 Prelude this year, and
I might just get a K! I just had to re-weld my muffler as they don't make them anymore.
Rust is beginning to catch up with what I'm willing to do, and the wife wants a bigger
spare car, which is what we use it for mostly.


I agree with Mad Man, a lot of really great older cars are owned by people who buy
them in reasonable shape and then "run them into the ground" My wife's '91 Accord
has over 450K and runs great, I plan on keeping it forever, It was a very well designed
car, easy to keep up. But most around town look like wrecks because they are bought
now, by poor people who don't intend to do anything to them, but run them till
they explode.

I think a lot of people who bought the cheaper cars don't maintain them properly.
They don't have the money, or pay much attention to it. Add oil when the light
comes on, but don't think it's important to check it often if the light already
came on once.....

I got an 88 Dakota, and it has a computer, and digital radio, and like he said, you can
park it all winter and it'll start up in the summer without a jump. I always look up
my Dakota online to see what shows up on CL, or G to see what's new in the index.
Some stuff written about my D as being designed by an outside company, and with
the most use of galvanized steel because of the Chrysler 7/70 no rust through warranty.
Remember that? Well a lot of the old '88 D's I see for sale are really NOT as rusty as
some 10 year old C's D's and F's that were $50K New. There are a number of K cars
running around here and they are also not rusty, and I talk to the owners, they
love them.

I say more power to ya- Get a K-car ! I want one too......

.
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  #17  
Old 02-26-2018, 09:55 PM
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I see decent looking examples for sale all the time in the $800-1200 range; there is a later model Aries that I drive by all the time with a sign in the window. If I were in the market for a cheap commuter car it would be tempting.

I have some friends, in their 80's, who've used a Reliant wagon as their daily driver for about 25 years. Most I've known were owned by older folks & garage/carport kept. They were designed from the start to be a small car for people who were used to bigger cars: an engine that concentrated more on torque than hp, conservative styling, nothing flashy.

The other day I spotted a decent Daytona on the road. Now, there was a car that usually got beat to death! Like any used car, take the time to buy the nicest example your budget will allow. I'd try hard to find one that was fuel injected if at all possible. A manual, outside of Daytona's or maybe some of the convertibles, would be a tough find.

My last K-car story for right now: had this customer, a little blue-haired old lady, with a very early Reliant ('81 I think). I remember the radio looked just like the factory Mopar units but was labeled not "Chrysler" but "Motorola". (Maybe Moto built the factory units & offered a version for dealer installation?) Anyway, she brought it in because her back-up lights stopped working. I found a bad switch which, as far as I could tell, also served as the neutral safety switch. I explained how it was a good thing that one half of the unit had failed & not the other, because it could have left her stranded. Instead of making her feel blessed I guess it scared her because the next week I saw her driving in a newer car!
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  #18  
Old 02-26-2018, 10:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maxhifi View Post
Wasn't there a front wheel drive new yorker based on the K car chassis too? Those were a bit nicer than the usual K's.
The New Yorker, Imperial, and Dodge Dynasty (my buddy has one that was beat to hell but it still works). His has the 3.3L, like from the vans. Decent motor, very simple. Those cars look miniscule on the outside, but are actually fairly comfortable inside. And the upper end New Yorkers and all the Imperials are nicely appointed.

Also, yes, sadly, clearcoat delamination was a problem for those years. Fortunately, the actual paint under it rarely comes off, so it just makes the cars ugly, not rusty.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregb View Post
We had a 1990 Dynasty which was an upscale K-car and it had a Mitsubishi V6 motor and it was an awesome car that got fantastic gas mileage.
I have the same V6 in my 'baron. Mitsubishi used it for a long time, then continued using variations of it for even longer. They licensed it to Chrysler in... I think 89, as Chrysler had no V6 in its arsenal at the time, and the Caravan really needed one. Chrysler used it all the way up till 96 or 98. It's a pretty sound motor, maybe not that powerful, but if you compare it to other cars at the time, 150 hp was not too shabby. And it has the very desirable attribute that its torque curve is as flat as a table. And the intake is as flat as a table too! So you can put your tools there while you work on it! They do have a tendency to burn oil, but replacing valve stem seals on it is actually pretty easy, and it's done.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CoogarXR View Post
That car offered NO protection. Sure, they get phenomenal mileage, because they are a 3-cylinder-powered soda can.
lol soda can. Hopefully all 4 of you turned out ok. But yeah, it's a tradeoff. You want safety you pay more for gas. Me? I wouldn't drive a 90s Toyota Corolla on the highway if you paid me. I know inside and out how those cars are built, like you say, a soda can.

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Originally Posted by Username1 View Post
I got an 88 Dakota, and it has a computer, and digital radio, and like he said, you can park it all winter and it'll start up in the summer without a jump.
Chrysler actually has a tighter tolerance on ignition off draw, they spec max 30mA, and every other maker specs max 50 mA, so I imagine that's why.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bgadow View Post
Like any used car, take the time to buy the nicest example your budget will allow. I'd try hard to find one that was fuel injected if at all possible. A manual, outside of Daytona's or maybe some of the convertibles, would be a tough find.
Agreed. Carbuerators suck. The only argument in favor of them is 'oh but you can make the car run better just by turning a screw!' Or, you know, you could let a computer do that for you, in realtime. As for the stick shifts, they were quite common in the day, I've seen many examples in the junk yards, but that's just it, the manual ones get junked first. Very few are left.

Fortunately both automatic transmissions, the 3 and 4 speeds, are pretty hearty little things (despite what people may say). And very easy to work on. The 3 speeds have a tendency for the governor to stick, giving you only 2nd and 3rd in forward, but you can, you know, fix that. The 4 speed A604 which you find on the later EEKs, people will have you believe are awful. The exact opposite is true. They are a shining example of simplicity AND electronic automation. They have NO bands at all, the solenoids come in a convenient small pack, the computer can actually detect how much of your clutches are left (something I've yet to see even the most expensive and modern cars do), and the only reason people think they're bad is because people used to change the trans fluid out for Dexron II (which was the prevalent fluid at the time), which disagrees with the clutches. Fortunately, you can't even buy Dexron II anymore, so you'd be hard pressed to make that mistake as pretty much any trans fluid you can buy now will agree with it.

Last edited by MadMan; 02-26-2018 at 10:55 PM.
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  #19  
Old 02-27-2018, 11:09 AM
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I ordered the 83 Reliant SW my folks bought. I was leery of the 2.6 Mitsubishi motor and opted for the 2.2 Chrysler 4-banger. Did not like the mileage penalty and idea of an automatic hooked to a 4 cylinder, so the 4-speed transaxle made it seem almost peppy as it pulled real good from a stop.
The heavy duty radiator, alternator and suspension were ordered though A/C was passed on, again due to doubts the 4-cylinder could handle it. It was traded on an 88 Voyager, so there are no memories of trouble as it may have had only 75K on it.

In my opinion, MoPar punted on most of their cars in the late-1970s and the K-cars renewed demand for this reason. The electrical systems were not as water-tight and the increasing pollution controlled and carbureted 225 slant-six was unreliable as a result. The 2.2 L4 was almost as driveable at that point.
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Last edited by DavGoodlin; 02-27-2018 at 11:21 AM.
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  #20  
Old 02-27-2018, 11:24 AM
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Much as I didn't like them when they were plentiful, this one locally looks pretty nice, that wagon would be great for hauling TVs


Please view this ad:

1986 plymouth Reliant K ,
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...nt=app_android

Price: $#2,300

Download the application from the Google Play Store.
http://goo.gl/Hs9Yg
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  #21  
Old 02-27-2018, 06:17 PM
WISCOJIM WISCOJIM is offline
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Originally Posted by maxhifi View Post
Please view this ad:
I wouldn't believe their 33 mpg estimate, these were only rated at 21/22 combined mpg.

The ad has also been viewed by more than 650 people. If that many looked at a listing specifically for a Reliant, and all of them decided against buying it, that should tell you something.

.
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  #22  
Old 02-27-2018, 06:50 PM
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Originally Posted by WISCOJIM View Post
I wouldn't believe their 33 mpg estimate, these were only rated at 21/22 combined mpg.

The ad has also been viewed by more than 650 people. If that many looked at a listing specifically for a Reliant, and all of them decided against buying it, that should tell you something.

.
My '92 Dodge Dynasty with the 3.3 CID V6 got upper 20's on the HY with AT and AC using the cruise control. I was surprised that the 6 was that quick, compared to the other 6's I owned. The car weighed 3008 lbs.
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  #23  
Old 02-27-2018, 07:25 PM
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I had a tech who worked with me back in the early 90's who had a nice little Chrysler LeBaron coupe, late 80's model. It was dark blue with tinted windows, and I always thought it was a sharp looking car. It served him well until it got close to 100k miles, and then went south in a hurry. I remember he replaced a bunch of front end parts, followed by a transmission rebuild and a head gasket. He wanted rid of it when it was about 8 or 9 years old, and despite it's looking like new, he liked to never have sold it.....nobody wanted it.

I remember my father trying to talk mom into buying a Dodge Dynasty when he bought a new Dodge Dakota pickup in 1990. She wouldn't hear of it, and readily admitted that while she knew very little about cars, she knew better than to buy a Chrysler product. The little Dakota pickup dad bought went on to serve him well, racking up well over 100k trouble-free miles by the time he passed away in 2001. Mom hung onto her old Monte Carlo for several more years before buying a Lincoln.
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  #24  
Old 02-27-2018, 09:10 PM
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MadMan MadMan is offline
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Originally Posted by WISCOJIM View Post
The ad has also been viewed by more than 650 people. If that many looked at a listing specifically for a Reliant, and all of them decided against buying it, that should tell you something.
It tells me that nobody wants to buy an old ass Reliant. Big surprise.
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  #25  
Old 02-27-2018, 09:18 PM
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Alberta country, yo.
Why spend your hard earned rig drilling bucks on some junky 80's K-wagon when the Edmonton dealership can sell you a 2018 Dodge Ram pickup that can seat 12 and is equipped to drive across arctic tundra?

I've had a better offer come up it seems. Why kiss goodbye to the sleek body and tin can interior of a Geo Tracker when you can get another one for only $1000? It will seat four, get 22MPG and fit two laserdisc autochangers with room (for the driver) to spare.
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  #26  
Old 02-28-2018, 09:37 AM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by davet753 View Post
I had a tech who worked with me back in the early 90's who had a nice little Chrysler LeBaron coupe, late 80's model. It was dark blue with tinted windows, and I always thought it was a sharp looking car. It served him well until it got close to 100k miles, and then went south in a hurry. I remember he replaced a bunch of front end parts, followed by a transmission rebuild and a head gasket. He wanted rid of it when it was about 8 or 9 years old, and despite it's looking like new, he liked to never have sold it.....nobody wanted it.

I remember my father trying to talk mom into buying a Dodge Dynasty when he bought a new Dodge Dakota pickup in 1990. She wouldn't hear of it, and readily admitted that while she knew very little about cars, she knew better than to buy a Chrysler product. The little Dakota pickup dad bought went on to serve him well, racking up well over 100k trouble-free miles by the time he passed away in 2001. Mom hung onto her old Monte Carlo for several more years before buying a Lincoln.
She probably heard some of her so-called friends bad-mouthing Mopars.
The Chev M/C was a larger rear wheel drive car which could've had a V-8. The earlier models were super-fugly. I gave them a different name after many of the people that bought them. There seemed to be five on each block in a particular neighborhood.
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  #27  
Old 02-28-2018, 09:44 AM
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maxhifi maxhifi is offline
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Originally Posted by MadMan View Post
It tells me that nobody wants to buy an old ass Reliant. Big surprise.
I think that the seller is confusing rarity with value, if it was half that price I'm sure it would sell. It is kind of neat to see one still on the road.

Last edited by maxhifi; 02-28-2018 at 11:11 AM.
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  #28  
Old 02-28-2018, 03:52 PM
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Originally Posted by dieseljeep View Post
She probably heard some of her so-called friends bad-mouthing Mopars.
The Chev M/C was a larger rear wheel drive car which could've had a V-8. The earlier models were super-fugly. I gave them a different name after many of the people that bought them. There seemed to be five on each block in a particular neighborhood.
Yup, one will find fanboys/fangirls of a particular make anywhere who will disparage just about everything else. If I'm looking for pictures of a particular car and stumble on a junkyard find from "The Truth About Cars" I'll usually skip it. I don't know if I've ever seen the writer say anything good about the cars he finds.

I have no idea what a Chev "M/C" is but it sounds like they were almost as popular as Hondas are today.
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  #29  
Old 02-28-2018, 04:51 PM
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maxhifi maxhifi is offline
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Originally Posted by Jon A. View Post
Yup, one will find fanboys/fangirls of a particular make anywhere who will disparage just about everything else. If I'm looking for pictures of a particular car and stumble on a junkyard find from "The Truth About Cars" I'll usually skip it. I don't know if I've ever seen the writer say anything good about the cars he finds.

I have no idea what a Chev "M/C" is but it sounds like they were almost as popular as Hondas are today.
Monte Carlo....
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  #30  
Old 02-28-2018, 06:48 PM
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Originally Posted by dieseljeep View Post
She probably heard some of her so-called friends bad-mouthing Mopars.
The Chev M/C was a larger rear wheel drive car which could've had a V-8. The earlier models were super-fugly. I gave them a different name after many of the people that bought them. There seemed to be five on each block in a particular neighborhood.
Her Monte Carlo was a '77 with a V8. It was a big, ugly, and (despite the V8) slow car that got terrible gas mileage. I never liked it, but she drove it until 1991, ran up over 100k miles, and never had any problems other than regular maintenance.
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