1985 Plymouth Reliant Wagon

[bms231]

Yea, so, I am thinking of getting this for a winter beater car. 105K miles, 900 bux out the door (including doc fee etc). Has almost new tires on it. Inside is perfect. No air bags obviously. Front wheel drive. Garage kept. Exterior only has minor rust. Engine.... rusty as expected but doesn't look horrible. The valve cover is rusting, but no biggy. Most of the accessories have rust on them. I hear these cars are bullet proof. It is an auto as well. What do you think? Buy or pass? This thing probably would be good to haul stuff around in as my tibby is my only car at the moment. Does anyone know anything about these cars?

[smoger]

my friend had a reliant back in high school. one day he drove to meet someone, parked it for the day, and while he was away from it, it apparantly randomly bursted into flames.. i think thatwas a freak thing.. this guy seriously has the worst luck with cars. aside from that he had a taurus that the brakes literally caught on fire(i was in the car when it happened), has had EVERY car he's owned get destroyed in a wild fashion. one time he even had a rental car get totaled while it was parked on his block. the reason he had the rental car was his car was totaled about a week previously on the way to work

anyway,.. i think the reliant should be fine.. anything that goes wrong should be a pretty easy fix

[Raven18940]

My friend used to have a Chrysler Le Baron (NA reliant). Not the ultimate driving machine, but as a mode of transportation it's only beaten by a civic cause the gas mileage isn't amazing. Good little car, my friend even drove around for a week with no coolant (shop had drained it and forgot to fill it again). The problem was there was no heat (it was January). Filled it with coolant and it kept on going. I miss the baron, wasn't great, but reliable and it had presence.

[bms231]

hmm...... for 900 bux i think i am gonna do it. i think. it is so old that no one really knows too much about it. hell, even the dodge dealership said that none of their mechanics would know anything about it. some old salesman was the only one who knew about it.

[240sxDann]

i think you should get it. any car with that little milage and such for 900 bucks sounds like a great beater car.

[Dave]

85 is a hit and miss year, specifically if its carb stay away from it. however tbi efi was an option starting in 85 on the SE model. tbi chryslers are highly reliable however please keep in mind that this car is over 20 years old and thus far outside its designed service life. expect things to go wrong and you should be ok. if this one doesnt work out theres plenty more around. lot cheaper too

[bms231]

wow, so yea, i went and checked it out in the light today. the car idled a little rough. sounded, and smelled, like it had an exhaust leak. the body was really nice, but, looking under it everything was rusted straight through. i have no clue how this lady drove it. i found two fluids dripping down the underbody. the first was fuel at about the rate if i let it go of maybe 1/4 cup every 15 mins. yea, pretty bad. and then it was literally dripping oil too while running. it was in bad shape.


the crappy thing.... i got a speeding ticket on my way to check out the potential beater. boooooo. 57 in a 35.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by bms231

wow, so yea, i went and checked it out in the light today. the car idled a little rough. sounded, and smelled, like it had an exhaust leak. the body was really nice, but, looking under it everything was rusted straight through. i have no clue how this lady drove it. i found two fluids dripping down the underbody. the first was fuel at about the rate if i let it go of maybe 1/4 cup every 15 mins. yea, pretty bad. and then it was literally dripping oil too while running. it was in bad shape.


the crappy thing.... i got a speeding ticket on my way to check out the potential beater. boooooo. 57 in a 35.

buy my Omni as a beater...it's carbed. but dave knows nothing about "classic" dodges