6th Sep 2007, 16:18
Well, I have the same car & have never had any trouble with it. The engine still runs great & can park on hills fine!! I've had the car for 10 yrs!!!
5th Oct 2007, 00:35
I had a 1996 Town and Country wagon, which was basically a Lebaron, and had a couple of the problems that were mentioned.
I found out the hard way to not park it on a hill. Wow, that was blast getting that out of park.
No transmission problems here, though.
Master computer went, at the same time the water pump did. $400 later, it was fixed.
Eventually, I sold it to some kid who drove it for quite awhile I'm told.
Even with those problems, I'd buy another one.
1st Jan 2008, 21:07
I've owned an 86 GTS for 20 years now. Honestly! This car has been to hell and back, yet it starts right up every day for my commute. It has grown to be a trusted friend, and after the winter is over, I'm having new floorboards welded in. (New England winters have been harsh on her). I drove her today in a snowstorm, and passed another fwd car who couldn't make it up a small hill! Only routine maintenance... and the GTS lives on! 148,490 Thanks Chrysler! =)
21st Dec 2009, 14:12
I had one of these things. Turbo blew up twice, and it had all sorts of electrical problems. My favorite was that every time I hit a bump, the door dinger started going off until I hit another bump. I feel for ya, guy, because these cars were crap.
10th Jun 2010, 15:58
Have owned car since NEW, no major problems - still has the original convertible top! Ordered the car in 1986 for my Mom -I was the salesman --- still NO feelings of guilt!! God Bless!!
30th Aug 2010, 13:33
I just bought a 1986 2.2 LeBaron Convertible, with original 85K miles, and love it. Now I have only driven it 500 miles, but it runs great, and is super smooth, no rust underneath etc. I been buying classic cars for the last 20 years. This is not a classic, but I really love driving it.
Sorry, but I am not believing the junk pile story at all. No dealer will put more money into a car than it worth to sell it. That makes no sense at all. His goal is to make a profit. If it won't run etc., he'll just junk it and get whatever money he can. He won't spend $300 plus and the time on that to lose money. His attention will be on a better deal.
Sorry you had trouble, but don't make it out to be worse than it is.
By the way, some people just drove these cars into the ground without properly maintaining them. Yes, they had their faults as many do, but, honestly, the parts are very cheap on this car to fix it up.
11th Jul 2011, 09:09
Yep, this one did that too. After awhile, the "Check Gauges" light would come on along with the door dinger. Shortly after that started, the tachometer started bouncing up and down randomly. In retrospect, those were probably the signs of the computer's march toward death.
And, for people that filled in stuff on their own, I sold the car for $500 to a private party. They drove the car for a few months before it died. They apparently sold the car for scrap to the junkyard/mechanic/used car dealer near my parents' house that would fix up cars that were cheap to fix up. In this case, I know they had a few different '80s Chryslers in the back lot, because I had pulled parts from them on occasion. So, it wouldn't have taken them any time to pick out a computer and put it into the LeBaron. All told, if they sold it for $300, they probably made $200 on the deal, between what they paid for the scrap value and the bit of time it took to swap the part.
Like I said, maybe my car was just a lemon and the rest were great, but mine was a genuine POS, and even this far on, I still can't think of a worse car.
17th Feb 2013, 17:21
I understand your frustration, but after the first engine rebuild, is it really Chrysler's fault for the second and third engine rebuild. Why did the first engine fail after such low mileage? Who rebuilt the engine? And why did the second rebuilt engine fail? Maybe the mechanic who worked on the engine should be held somewhat responsible for the second and third engine failure, or maybe general maintenance was responsible.
17th Dec 2014, 12:16
I had an 89 GTS LeBaron turbo back in 2010. It was my granddad's with low miles. The car was OK, but the electrical system sucks. I put in an expensive sound system and my amps burnt up because of the crap Chrysler wires, and the trunk leaked and ruined 2x15 subs, and there was a fire.
Won't be doing Chrysler cars no more. Ford is better.
30th May 2006, 22:45
As the original writer of this review, I am taking some time to respond to the comments above.
With no knowledge of the situation, I might be inclined to agree with some of the above comments. However, as this was my first car (my parents gave it to me when I was 16), I know that the car was maintained quite well by both my parents and myself. By way of comparison, my father's Chevy truck that he had at the time is still on the road today, and the Pontiac Bonneville that I had after the POS LeBaron had 200,000 miles on it when I sold it, and it had been totalled twice. Indeed, it is totally unbelievable that even if we had never changed the oil that THE SUB-FRAME to the car would break when a CV joint failed, also something that should not have happened. Sub-frames should never ever under any stress or circumstance break, and master computers should also not fail, and I know that the one in this car did. After this car, I managed to get not one, but two GM cars past 200,000 miles, yet with the LeBaron, my parents actually shot video of the odometer turning 100,000 miles because we never thought the car would make it that far. If you've managed to keep yours running, great and good for you. The guys on the line must have been sleeping when they built my car.