for sale on ebay

My buddy has a 70' charger with the 440-6pack and bought it for a measly 5 grand from his uncle, since then he's blown it up twice, needs a tranny rebuild and some SERIOUS underbody work, makes my maverick look show ready... but still.. guess that's why you let the young kids play with the mopars... after all, isn't dodge a synonym for "avoid?" and mopar is just short for "more parts" (what they all end up needing in the end?)

 

there are always some good examples from any car maker, I'd be curious based on my experience how many alternaors and starters and transmissions went into a mopar Van from that era. ever notice that Mopars from the late seventies and early eighties crank and crank forever before they start? but I am just telling my experience and I think the resale that most Chrysler Corp products bring is indicative of their poor quality
case in point except for the ,83 Turismo I bought new (and please note the problems I had with it) every one of these cars were bought for less than $1200 and they had less than 100k miles on them, in most cases around 75k

I've had mopars varying from '72, 74, 77, 79, 80, 83, '85.
the first car I drove in highschool 72 Newport with less than 80k on it a starter and 2 Alternators in the 1 year I drove it. My brother had the same car similar mileage power steering went out on it along with alternator
74 Ramcharger, 4x4 I have to admit that was a rock with high miles but rusty as heck, and yes had to put in a starter alternator and water pump.

'75 Cordoba, 72 k miles When my Maverick was totalled I bought this pile of crap (plush as heck but again bad starter, alternator, the day I traded it off on my first new car ('82 Subaru ) it shot a flame out of the carb about a foot as i tried to get it to start.

77 Diplomat (dodge dart derivative) less than 83k on it, reverse went out, also alternator and starter had to be replaced
Oh and 2 words "Lien burn"
77 Newport, too many issues to even list rusty, starter, alternator, computer
79 TC3 this car was actually not too bad, except it had electrical issues too.
83 Plymouth Turismo ( same thing as a tc3) show room new, worst experience ever.
Had to wait to pick it up until a monday want to the back lot where they had it sitting to show a buddy of mine, looked in ( it was raining) and there was a steady drip drip drip from the sunroof. still took delivery as they said they would ( of course) cover the repair and replace the ruined headliner. Got home 20 minutes later , you know new car looking everything over. Opened the hood burnt oil smell, what the heck, thought oh they spilled oil when they put oil in the motor, no it was a cracked head! took it back, they wanted to braze the crack! no way this is a new car.
Car was a stick at 3000 miles in needed a new clutch, no I babied that car I didn't drive it hard at all.. this was a POS. Sold that car with only 7200 miles on it ,

the '85 was a K car I bought for $550 enough said there..

Guys no offence to anyone I know there are some mopar lovers here, my best friend is a mopar guy, has a '70 'cuda, and 66 Belvedere we did a lot of parking lot donuts in that car, that may be one reason I tried so many. In fact the 69 charger was my favorite car in highschool. But fact is in my experience I have spent way too much time installing starters, alternators, having that burnt smell of oil coming off those mopar big blocks 'cause they had valve cover gasket issues too! Anyway, looking at a consumer reports magazine on late model Mopars generally shows a lot of red dots! I 've known guys that have had Dodge Rams that have issue after issue with transmissions, A guy from my church bought a brand new ram in 2004 was ready to trade it off after only 4 months, I asked him why Transmission isues.

You may ask why did I buy so many Mopars if I had trouble with them, many of these cars were purchased when my ex wife and I where frist married, we were dirt poor these were disposable cars, you could buy Mopar stuff very cheap with relatively low miles.

I had other cars that I bought very cheap with higher miles such as a '75 Marquis never put a wrench on that car, paid $550 back in 86 for that car, it was a rock sold it because of gas mileage. but it ran like a dream when I got rid of it.

True Blue oval guy all the way!

 

Also my ex-wifes uncle ( deceased now) has a 68 super bee, has had 3 motors and 4 trannys in that thing, this is a show car not a racer he did drive it to all the shows ( which I respect) but comon if you are gonna make a mustle car shouldn't it hold up to that type of driving?

 

I had a '78 Dodge Aspen(in1992), bought it for $150.00, around 100k on the 225 'leaning tower of power', and it took a good pounding, but the underside was pretty rotten. I also had a '72 Dart, 318 a/c auto etc, always ran good, had to put a rear end in it though. Also a '66 Coronet 440 (318 poly) very solid car, only had to put a motor mount in it, that car was to be my 'toy' until..I had to sell it to buy a crib and a stroller, and pay for the other things that usually go along with those items.


Don't hate me for this but I always kinda liked Mopars, eventhough they were cheap, simple cars that not too many people liked, late 60's B or E bodies and a few cars from the early '60's.

 

I have owned tons of Mopars, all from the 60's and 70's. Damn good cars, but I collected the rare ones and parts were expensive. Sold everything I owned Mopar wise in 1987 and never looked back. Had Valiants and Darts with slant 6's for winter cars. Drive um thru the winter, sell it in spring, buy another one next fall and do the same thing. They were trustworthy cars and easy to maintain, just had to keep the valves adjusted. But for the ones I collected, all were big motor cars. I love a healthy 440.
Dan

 

It just shows you how opinions and experiences differ, from one person to another, my uncle was a die hard mopar guy too, ( he has switched to Ford and GM) It seems the sixties and early seventies were the best years, doubt about it the slant 6 is one of the best engines ever, but in my experience , taken as a whole, lots of breakdowns. I'd wager you'd hear the same thing about Fords over on a Mopar sight though. GM too, each company has had it's share of bad cars, by the way and this is information from the mid eighties, I haven't kept up on this, but anyway as of the mid eighties The Aspen/ Volare line were the most highly recalled cars in automotive history. On it's introduction the Chevy Citation and it's cousins were the most recalled new car brought top market. I don't know what car hold those dubius honors today.

 

My grandpa said the most recurring problem he had with his Mopars were the front wheel bearings going out at really bad times. And rust. Rust is the main reason he would get rid of the vans at 350k, he lived in Indianapolis in those days, and by 350k, they were practically falling apart. Burned a little oil, but still ran fine.

He still has his '81 Dodge Ram 150 sitting out in his field. He parked the truck in 2003 with 468,000 on it. It started life with a slant 6, at 200k it was replaced with a 318. The truck still runs fine, and will drive around the field, but he parked it due to the bed literally rusting off the truck, and the brakes for some reason got to the point that when you drive forward, they would lock up, so you could only drive the truck in reverse. We tried to bleed them and the bleeder valves were rusty and broke off, so he just said heck with it and parked it. In the last 268,000 it ran with the 318, the truck had 2 alternators, one water pump and one starter. He was replacing ignition modules about every 50,000 miles, until I put a Ford Duraspark II module on it, then he never had to touch it again.

 

I drove a 1961 Savoy 4 dr out of a lot where it had sit unstarted for 7 years.
I lubed the block with Marvels for a week, changed the oil, tranny fluid and coolant, added a shotglass full of gas and she turned right over. I ran a hose to the pump from a gas can on the floorboard and idled that car out of four pits where the wheels had sat. The brakes were very weak but good enough to get it out of the yard and up onto a carrier. That car needed a starter rebuilt and a carb. It was a 318 Poly and in-dash button shift. I drove the crap outta that car and ended up selling it for a handshake and $400 because my ex girlfriend(Satans concubine) hated the way it looked and refused to ride in it. Granted it wasn't as sexy as, say, a 1968 Charger...but it was unique and different and I was literally the only person driving one in a 100 mile radius easy.
The guy I sold it to gutted it for his Fury.


I have had good Mopars like that one and bad ones like the Swinger that refused to start...EVER. Most were decent and trusty. I blew $10K on a 68 Hemi Charger back in 1990 and it ran like a scalded dog despite it's rusted body and Joe Dirterrific paintjob. All original 4 speed Dana 4:11 buckets and a console. Original red with white inside. Ruined with wear but running. The owner was a Navajo guy and I spotted the taillights behind the trailer and stopped to ask about it only to find the guy under the hood tweaking the back carb. He told me he would have to have $10,000 in cash in a half hour and I could have it. I withdrew a chunk of inheritance and bought it on the spot. I drove it for a while daily until some business suit asked me about selling. He checked the VIN and you would have thought he had seen a dead body his face got so white. He was offended that I wasn't restoring it and was actually *gasp!* DRIVING it. I sold it for $15K in cash. I cleaned it out right in the parkinglot at the mall and handed him the keys. He said leave them on the seat and called a tow truck. He wouldn't even drive it around the lot! Never saw it again.
Took a bus home. A very nervous ride.

 

My Savoy. She wasn't THAT ugly!

 

Hmm, ehh, sometimes there is a reason they don't make 'em like they used to anymore. Sorry, she ain't that pretty either. I'd drive it just for the fun of it, though.