Anybody drive an old Chrysler

[marktwainsonic]

The price of gas has finally motivated me to purchase a cheap mileage maker to be my daily driver rather than driving my tow vehicle everywhere.

One of the cars we're looking at is a 1990 Dodge Omni. It has a number of issues, most of which I understand.

However one thing that worries me that I can't quite pin down is the extreme degradation of the underhood foam rubber and paint.

My tow vehicle is a 1992 Suburban, so it's not like I don't understand that appearance deteriorates over time, but I would say my engine looks pretty good. The foam rubber padding (I'm not talking about the hood pad, but rather the insulation material that covers some of the routing on what I assume to be the AC tubing) and the black paint (again, this would be the paint on the accessories, not the valve covers or engine block itself) is in terrible shape.

The car, overall, is highly weathered, but my concern is that the deterioration was caused by some type of extreme overheating.

But as I thought about it this week, I wondered if perhaps Chrysler just used substandard materials compared to GM.

So...thought I'd go to my most populated forum and see if anyone else had seen the soft parts and accessory paint on their old Chrysler go bad prematurely (if you can call 20 years prematurely!)

Thanks for any attention or replies.

 

[dlngr]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Sounds to me more like a climate problem. I have some experience as a used car dealer,especially back during the mid eightys to 2006.
If I were you,I'd be looking for a Ford Escort,or maybe a Chev Cavalier. The Omni is just too much of a 'throw-away car' in my opinion.

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

It really depends on the climate the car was normally used it, I know around here, road salts and dirt take their tole on just about any car you see and different compositions of rubber and insulation will deteriorate at different times because of it, I would not say substandard but it just might not hold up was well as what another manufacture uses..

My Jeep Cherokee is holding up fine, but my Ford Aerostar Van degraded badly..

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Sounds to me more like a climate problem. I have some experience as a used car dealer,especially back during the mid eightys to 2006.
If I were you,I'd be looking for a Ford Escort,or maybe a Chev Cavalier. The Omni is just too much of a 'throw-away car' in my opinion.

I'm also a used car dealer (since '85). Don't walk, RUN away from that Omni.
+1 on the Escort or Cavalier. Also Mercury Tracer.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

I thought you said "Old Chrysler." My 90 B van (conversion) is my "new" one.

Put a gazillion miles on 318's and 360's. They were all good, but the 318 is almost undestroyable.

Best high mileage cars I've had were either Dodge Colts, or Hondas. Chrysler's Mitsubishi wannabees never seemed to hold up well.

 

[jkust]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Holly cow, I'm amazed there's still an Omni on the road. We had one growing up and it was a holly piece of crap way back then. I'd challenge anyone here in Minnesota to find a 1990 any car without extreme degredation. I've gotta think SD is similar. It's at the point where if I see a car from even 1995, I'm suprised these days. They rust to heck and become piles of junk. At a certain point no matter how much preventative care, detailing you do, the elements are going to win. If for no other reason, even if the Omni was found in a barn with zero miles in pristine shape, I wouldn't want to die or get seriously injured getting hit by one of today's advanced vehicles even if it was a tiny Mazda or Chevy Cruze. I feel like I am pushing it in my 2000 minivan with only four airbags. The chryslers of the era weren't totally awful. I recall the Lebaron wasn't a total pos with the updated body style (not the early 80's to mid 80's body). The mid 90's Chryslers/Dodges like the Intrepid/Eagle Vision were actually very nice cars. I had a 1995 Eagle Vision TSI and it still holds to be the best handling car I've ever owned. I also had a couple Chrysler Lasers back years ago, both 1984's with the 2.2 liter that degredated quicker than they should have. The Omni/Horizon however, I considered to be a low quality, basic mode of transportation apart from their other cars.

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Well my 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited(Dodge Product) is holding up quite well and we have extreme conditions here in NW Montana with all the salt, snow and what ever else you can think of, no rust at all, paint holding up quite well, of course it is the 318 version, so the engine is going to keep going strong as long as I take care of it, currently it has 190K on it...

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

We had a ton of Iacocca's toys on the road as gov't cars. The steering racks went south at 60K, the cams wore out at 80K and the electrical systems died shortly after that mileage. We had lugs shear off the wheels and interior plastic parts just crumbled in your hands (the shift knob).

Fun cars and quick as heck but far too many problems. For a more reliable beater I would look for an old cavalier, focus or corolla

 

[Laddies]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Bob your full of it!

 

[scipper77]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Fun cars and quick as heck but far too many problems. For a more reliable beater I would look for an old cavalier, focus or corolla

Focus had some issues through 2004. Nothing too bad but the '05's and later are pretty bullet proof by comparison. Of course all of the emmisions controlls just choke the life out of my '07. 2.0 liter engine that pots out a whopping 130 hp. Honda and Toyota put out more than that with a 1.8 liter.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Bob your full of it!

Well, how would you like me to qualify that. Uncle Sam bailed out the Iacocca company and in turn we were all given Omni's, Horizon's and K Cars from 1982-1986..... just about every vehicle we had in the Recruiting Command was one of those gems. ........ at the time he was the lowest bidder and we were a test market. We beat them up bad and they would not take the abuse.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

The Omni/Horizon twins were econoboxes in the worst sense of the word. The Shadow/Sundance line, while not barn-burners, were much better, and offer good fuel economy. Later Neons were even better.

Disclaimer: I'm a Mopar fan, driving a Chrysler Pacifica and a Dodge Dakota. For Mopar loonies, the best place to go for help and advice is www.allpar.com .

 

[scipper77]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Later Neons were even better.

LOL, I love how you skipped over the "earlier" Neons!! Even a mopar fan can't deny those were junk.

I guess if the head gasket didn't fail on pretty much all of them they wouldn't have been that bad.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

LOL, I love how you skipped over the "earlier" Neons!! Even a mopar fan can't deny those were junk.

I guess if the head gasket didn't fail on pretty much all of them they wouldn't have been that bad.

Exactly!

 

[marktwainsonic]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Thanks for all the replies. We have looked at two Cavaliers.

One is a '91. I read the consumer reviews at several sites and they are all good (although I must say the Omni reviews were also positive).

The other is a '95, and holy s&^t, I can't find anyone who has anything good to say about that car. Even with the same 2.2 engine as the '91, like 60% of the respondents claim they blew at least one head gasket and some claim multiple gasket failures!

As for econobox vs. a more "real" car: If I had a better climate I'd ride my motorcycle year round to save gas money. Even the most rickety POS has at least that much protection, eh?

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[MTboatguy]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

I actually drove an Omni while in the service after I returned from the gulf, it was given to me by the army, of course it was one of the sport jobs, had a turbo and 4 wheel disc brakes, that thing was a blast to drive, but was not a real durable car..

 

[JB]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Had a small fleet of Omni/Horizons for a company school. They lasted about 6 mo. I sold them all and got Corollas. The Corollas were still going strong when I left the company after several years.

I think Yugos outlasted the O/H junks.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

my last car before the current one was a 1993 or so Dodge Dynasty. I got the car for free from my dad because htey only wanted to give him a couple of hundred bucks or so for a trade in. While he owned it the tranny failed and at one point and the valves were so bad that smoke poured out at idle and I mean bad. If the wind was from behind smoke would come over the top of the car at a stop light.

The car had a rebuilt tranny and head/valve job when I got it. I had a love hate relationship with that that thing. It was the ugliest most beat up car I ever saw. The clear coat was peeling off bad especially on the hood. The door seals were bad so wind noise was out of control. The trunk seal was bad and there was usually a couple inches of water in there. Oh and there was no heat. just luke warm air at best so in the winter when the inside of the windows were fogged with moisture the defroster had no effect. You had to scrape the inside of the windows on a cold day. I left the rear windows open a little when it rained so moisture wouldn't form on the inside glass.

On the flip side that car was fast and ran like a champ. I couldn't part with that POS just because it ran so well (after my dad replaced 1/2 the drive train). And there is a certain charm to having a car where you could care less if it gets dented.

My opinion on old Chrysler products is that they are junk, but if you find one in good shape for the right price drive it like you stole it.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

I think its all how you want to look at it. The 4 cylinder dodge products all were simple to repair. I have seen many Escorts/Cavaliers that were just crap and the design was something to be desired when you had to fix it. As of reliability I would not say better but more popular. If you were to get one I would recommend a fuel injected one as the carbed ones are hard to set up and can be finicky.I can go on and on about and how to repair these cars but as a bad car "not" but an cheep transportation yes.

If its a Shelby production model you have a find and will be a collectors idem.

 

[marktwainsonic]

Re: Anybody drive an old Chrysler

Overall for domestics, the Escort seems to be the champ.

Naturally, a Corolla would rock, but I could only find one and it was sold the same day it was listed.

Selection is small around here because of sparse population.

Thanks for the help -- keep it comin' if you've got more!