1990 Dodge Omni 4-door sedan 2.0 Litre non-turbo 4

Summary:

Best cheap car I ever owned

Faults:

While I owned the car, I had a brake job at 200,000 miles and the timing belt replaced at 210,000 miles.

I also replaced a water hose at 230,000 miles.

The previous owner was a good friend, so I know the car had only had one previous timing belt and one brake job prior to my buying it.

In 240,000 miles, the car never had the CV joints replaced, although they were getting noisy when I sold it.

General Comments:

I bought this ugly little box as a "junker" to drive to classes at a university that was notorious for car thefts and break-ins.

I was amazed at the power the non-turbo 4 had. It would smoke the tires all the way to 2nd gear and bark them very loudly hitting 2nd, 3rd and sometimes 4th. I once wound it to 90 in third just to see if it would do it. It would easily peg the speedometer at 100 in 4th.

The fuel mileage was the best I ever got from any vehicle. I got 35mpg most of the time in driving that was 90% freeway /10% city.

The engine never, even at 240,000 miles, used a drop of oil.

This ugly little econobox gave me a lot of respect for Chrysler products.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 13th May, 2006

1990 Dodge Omni America 2.2

Summary:

Great economy car at really cheap price

Faults:

The shift linkage has a problem every 70,000 miles or so.

The radiator had to be replaced, and it now needs the head gasket to be done.

General Comments:

I love my "box". It's too bad more people don't know the real history of these cars and that Chrysler was always ashamed of them. I love whipping in and out of traffic, easy parking, and the fear on the SUV drivers' faces when they see my metal bumpers when we're merging.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 26th June, 2001

25th Oct 2001, 19:30

I had an '86 Omni. It had about 300000 miles on the first engine. I got a junkyard motor for $150 and ran it for another 2000 miles before I sold it. Omnis are excellent in the snow. An interesting thing about the Omni is that Chrysler used Volkswagen and Peugeot engines in them during the first few years of production.