My daily commuter is a 1989 Dodge Colt DL AWD wagon, bought it with 92,000 miles and now it's up to 293,000 miles on the same engine. She burns a little oil and it's on it's 3rd transmission but this thing goes like a snowmobile in the snow with 4 studded winter tires on it. It has been a very reliable car.
I bought one new and put almost 250,000 miles on it. Good mileage and very reliable since, as an auto/aircraft mechanic, I did my own maintenance on it. Never had a breakdown and only failed to start once because of the battery.
@@jeffmorse645 Umm, not quite as reliable as a Honda or Toyota. There was a scandal in I believe the 90s (should double check before I comment, my bad) anyway, it was discovered that thousands of customers had complained about their Mitsubishi cars and the complaint letters were hidden in an employee's locker at one of the plants in Japan.
@@howardkerr8174 First I've heard of it. I've owned two (Lancers) along with two Mazda Proteges and one Toyota Celica and the Mitsubishis were the most trouble free vehicles I've ever own. Neither one needed any warranty repair or anything other than regular maintenance in the ten years I owned them. Couldn't say that about the Mazdas or Toyota. Other family members owned them as well (or Chrysler rebadged ones) and they had no issues either.
My son's 2002 S10 has oil, volt, temp (with actual numbers) gauges. Haven't seen that on my cars since the 1970s. Volt meter is super nice, you know every time you drive that the alternator is still good. It's also nice to be able to see the oil pressure is good in the engine.
Many of days looking out the rear glass with my younger siblings sitting beside me my 4 older siblings got the back seat lol my mom had a 1989 just like this one! she got it brand new Winter 1990 she still has it ! All 7 of us kids took our license test on it lol many trips from Texas to South Carolina in that wagon
In 1989 you could chose between this and a Honda Civic wagon. I never drove the Colt but thought it was quite interesting. The Honda wagon seemed cavernous on the inside, by comparison. The Honda also had better dealer representation in the U.S.
If it were sold today new, I would consider one. A wagon with a 5 or 6 speed manual? Wow. So what if it's not a race contender? I work 5 blocks away from home most of the time. I might be the odd duck here, but I love my wagons, especially a thrifty one. For now I am stuck with minivans or a used suburu to get even close. Not exactly a big loss, but certainly a loss indeed. There's a market for this stuff yet, they just don't make it any more.
I kept a subaru legacy wagon going for 16 years partly because I liked it and partly because I'm cheap and partly so I wouldn't have to buy a minivan. It's got 310,000 now still going. Daily driver. LOL
Regardless of being Proton Saga, Mitsubishi Lancer, Plymouth Colt, or Dodge Colt, this is a credible car. Get rid of that STUPID manual transmission and I’d take it.
I'd love to find one of these! I don't think I've seen one of these on the road since the 90's. Performance seems similar to my Chevy Spark which is adequate.
+Trance88 Rarely see one of these. Actually cant think of the last time i saw one. Buddy owned one before. was a good car. Could of used a few extra ponies and was a little noisy. Its a somewhat rare care and finding one that is running will be hard. I think it was only out for 2 years. Funny story buddy bought off some drunk at 2am. It was smoking but all it needed was a sensor an she was good to go. That was about `12-13 years back though.
I was at the IDRC dsm/evo/gtr shootout this weekend and didn't even see one! Why no tach in the manual shift car? i had a ford ranger like that, drove me nuts
is it not basically the saloon version of this that Malcolm Bricklin tried to import from Malaysia called the Proton.. It was sold here in Scotland and was an ok car but just a rebadged Mitsubishi lancer..
He was never going to get to import it. Mitsubishi wanted nothing to do with him. And the Proton would have needed a large of parts from them to make it road legal in the US. Proton was making the third world version of this car.
+omar khan Yes--any Nissan from that era, really. Nissan bet the farm on an engineering and image overhaul and they made some excellent cars during the early '90s... and they broke the bank.
Funny how you counted the *lack of* passive belts as a fail - those were awful! Was 1989 the first year rear shoulder belts were mandatory? IIRC the "hot" minivans and SUVs still didn't have them for a few more years. as light trucks they weren't required to and the industry execs hadn't gotten the memo that "safety doesn't sell" no longer applied.
They are so much fun to drive. Feel like I'm driving a go-kart. I've had both of mine over 100mph but only once each -- just to prove that they would go that fast. They easily cruise at 80 mph on the freeway.
Love this car; tired of folks bad mouthing automatic transmissions on compacts cars, too. I’d take this car, but get rid of the STUPID manual transmission. The manual transmissions do NOT get any better fuel mileage.
I’m upset that Motorweek keeps pushing for manual transmissions; they should be testing cars with automatic transmissions, for that’s what most Americans buy. Get rid of the manual transmission and I’d have it.
I only wish that a modern version of a small wagon like this was available today. I can't stand to look at today's crop of ugly cookie cutter SUV’s and CUV's, not to mention that they're too fucking big and thirsty.
