Faults:

There is a short in the wiring under the dash for the interior lights and instruments. This short interferes with the courtesy lights, the dome light, door ajar alarm, tachometer, stereo memory and clock memory. Took a few hours to find the short. It was the wiring for the drivers side door jamb switch.

Motor was replaced at 150,000 miles.

General Comments:

This car is so much more economical than the 1993 Mercury Sable I owned previously.

The 1990 Dodge Spirit LE has required less mechanical work then the 1993 Mercury ever did.

This car handles very well and has quite a lot of power for a 2.5 liter engine. It gets up and goes.

The seats are very comfortable and the interior is roomy.

Car has over 300,000 miles and engine replaced once at 150,000 miles and transmission is the original and has no problems and never been replaced.

Faults:

Not a d*mn thing. Bought some new tires.

No - check that. Had to replace a rear bulb (.67 at AutoZone) to pass inspection.

General Comments:

Like a lot of posters to this Guide, financial considerations and philosophical reasons make me a player in the $1000-1500 car field.

And for that money the Dodge Spirit/Plymouth Acclaims are among the very best bargains out there. Not exciting, not flashy, a little boring, in fact - but with the five-speed transmission (very smooth shifter) they move down the road pretty well, get 30 mpg, and actually seat five adults. Back seat is especially generous.

PLUS, their original owners tend to be schoolteacher-types who take care of their cars and don't abuse them. And nobody steals them, so they're cheap to insure as well. I know that the front-drive linkage can be problematic in these vehicles, but I've had none with the two I've owned. If you need cheap wheels, look no further.

Faults:

The timing belt had to be replaced at 80000 miles. The transmission had to be rebuilt at around 100000 miles.

General Comments:

This car runs very fast and the 3.0 V6 has a lot of power from around 3500 rpm all the way to the red-line. I recently tested the car on some streets in my neighborhood and was very impressed with the acceleration, I timed the car from 0-60 mph in about 6 seconds and did a quarter mile run in about 13-14 seconds at about 90+ mph. The car handles pretty good around turns even when I'm taking them at about 20-30 mph faster then what you should actually do around them. For a 14 year old car it's a little car that can leave anybody eating your dust with the right settings under the hood.

Faults:

Previous owner replaced the AC early on.

Previous owner replaced the Engine.

Previous owner replaced the Transmission.

Half the dash doesn't work right. Tachomitor sticks sometimes. The spedomiter is off by 5 mph at 55 and 10 at 70 mph. Trip odometor never worked, odomitor died at 193,xxx.

Upper radiator hose replaced.

One of the brake pads fell off. (according to one mechanic)

The crankshaft pulley broke off at the bolt. Took 3 weeks to fix it with salvage parts. It broke off again 4 weeks later. It was $700 to fix at a dealer.

Fixed a few other parts from sliding into a ditch.

General Comments:

The look of the car is fairly unique. It's a bit on the "manly" purple side. The interior is purple too. It has a boxy look and a luggage rack on the back. But I definitely have the only purple car at school.

I love the zip of the V6. I used to have a problem pealing out all the time, but a set of new tires fixed that. Its gotten me out of trouble a few times, and it makes long drives much easier.

I don't like the fact that my current AC/Heat is not lit for night driving.

Its very roomy, but still packs the power.