Faults:

Tons of odd small things, from the pull ring on the stick shift, to internal parts on the roll up windows.

The steering rack, catalytic converter, oxygen sensor and regular maintenance items.

The A/C compressor numerous times (is not working now, and have to just decided to do without).

General Comments:

Despite all the repairs, the car has proven to be extremely reliable, never stranding me anywhere.

Drove it from Texas to NJ with no problems recently.

This is a true Shelby product, and has great performance. It is not as fast as today's pocket rockets, but will surprise a lot of them at a stop light.

Faults:

The car has been good overall. I've never been stranded.

The A/C has not worked since I bought it. The A/C hose is blown. I've never fixed it.

The car leeks oil from the engine ican't find where its leeking from.

The car is a pleasure to work on very easy to fix most parts with little knowledge.

General Comments:

Over all I can't cry about I got my money out of it and it is a good car I am trying not to trade it in, but I need some thing newer.

I have taken it off road in it has gone places a truck can't go.

The Car is a little slow on speed/power it is like 0-60 in 2 miles no joke.

Well worth the investment.

Parts are all around and cheap.

Faults:

The head gasket went out after only 5,000 miles. It was rebuild from the block up, and this was pretty costly.

The RPM gauge and back up lights do not function properly, and went out after 2,000 miles. I am going to get these replaced as soon as I can.

A serious leak in the transmission and oil lines was found after about 3,000 miles, and I had to pay for new transmission and oil lines.

The air conditioning compressor unit went out after about 15,000 miles, and the vacuum hose went bad after 10,000 miles. These were fixed about 3 months ago.

The factory paint job has pealed off on the roof and passenger side door. I am going to leave it like this because functionality is a greater priority than looks.

The electrical wiring was never top notch, so I replaced these along with the timing belts and other accessories.

The radio never worked, but it was replaced when I got the car.

General Comments:

The car has great handling, and is fun to drive.

If the car is found in good shape, it will probably be more than worth the initial costs of the vehicle.

Can keep up on the highway with most cars that are newer models. In fact, it is faster than most cars that I have driven.

If the Shadow has an ES package, it feels as if the car was customized just for you.

The turbo gauge, and the pin-stripped adjustable lumbar seats are a nice touch.

The wind resistance and engine noise can be a nuisance at high speeds.

In all, a great car for a finishing medical school student who has to pay all his loans back for the right to perform surgery on people.

The 1989 Dodge Shadow ES is one patient I have worked extensively on, and I am not going to lose it anytime soon.

Faults:

The previous owner claimed to have put in a new head gasket, but after driving it hard for about 3 months it blew again-- causing a chain reaction of events (cracked head, etc.) that led to us rebuilding the entire engine.

Also, the fuel pump went out at around 137,000 miles.

The paint is chipping, nothing too bad though.

There's a very mysterious rattle that will not go away!

There's not a whole lot of aftermarket products to put on this car.

General Comments:

I love this car, especially since we rebuilt the engine. The turbo runs correctly now and it's FAST. I go street racing in it against brand new crazy modified imports, and even if I don't always win, this car holds it own :)

I have a friend with new Hyundai Accent making payments every month who hates me, because I paid a whopping $1495 and got a better running, better handling, more luxurious, faster car.

The little details make all the difference, like the power seat, power windows, power mirrors, etc.,etc.

Any junkyard seems to have a ton of these cars so parts are readily available.

I'll always love my previous car (a '79 Trans Am), nothing can replace it.

But, I do enjoy how much better the Shadow handles.

Also, the mileage- the Trans Am was getting about 12 mpg (understandable for a 6.6 litre), while the Shadow gets about 22 driving normally, about 18 when racing.