looking for a car for my son for high school. Found a couple that are some what clean. 100k to 185 K on the clock. 3.3 motors. weren't their issues with the transmissions on those? I had a Plymouth acclaim with a 3.0 or 3.3 cant remember but after 2 transmissions I was done.any thoughts? he loves the old 50's cars but I cant put him in one of those. need to have a air bag at least. guy has this 97 cavalier for sell. got hit on front and he's fixing, but not done yet. so im looking for options.

I had bought a '90 about 6 years ago as a daily driver/extra car. It only had around 72,000 on it. Stopped using it for awhile and then gave it to my daughter as her first car. Had no mechanical issues except the front brake hose collapsing. Engine and tranny had no issues. Some of the electricals in the dash were giving up the ghost and it was not worth my time to track them down. Heater controls and radio quit working. Wound up selling the car for $300 more than what I paid for it and another 20,000 miles!!

While I do have a soft spot for the 80s mopar k-car based stuff, that is still a 25 year old car. When stuff starts to go wrong, how's much will you want o dump into it? Also not much of that stuff left at the junkyard anymore either. There are plenty of cheap 2000 model year cars out there.

I had a '91 New Yorker that my parents had bought new. The odometer died about 110k miles. I bought the car and it probably had 120k on it. A month later the transmission went out. I don't remember what exact issue was though. I replaced it and sold the car back to the folks. They kept it a couple more years with no other issues. It probably had 150k on it when it left the family. It was a good car, just wasn't my style.

Not sure of the situation up there, but a quick look here on C/L came up with 3 or 4 2000 s vintage neons, in the 1800-2000 range, most with just over 100k, and look good.

Just a thought.

My recollection of the early 90s mopars it that the 4cyl stuff had no trans problems, but most of the v6 stuff did. My friend the car dealer from Vt when at the auction here would call the vin into a buddy at the Dodge dealer, check to see if it had already had a tranny under warranty, if it had he would bid.

Probably the ones that needed a trans have had one by now.

The 3.3 and 3.8 engines seem to be good tho.

3.3 and 3.8's are good timingchain/p.rod engines. Good items.

By now, like someone said, the trans, if going bad, have by now and have been rebuilt/replaced.

Watch for frame rot. We had a 90 Dynasty, a very reliable car. 3.3, had way over 200,000 miles on it, just was getting tired but mechanically sound. No rust, and it was an Ohio car to boot.

If I found one w/low miles, I'd consider it. Driving a 95 Concorde now, 3.5, nearly 170,000 miles, Goes every day.

I had a 94 Intrepid with the 3.3 When the trans was slow to go from 1-2, I found it was just a simple screw on electronic solenoid.
My wife totaled the car.

I currently have a 91 or 92 New Yorker sitting, wasting away in my driveway just because I had to keep my eye on a power steering leak. I think it was the front rack and pionion seal.
It was just add half a cup of fluid evey 2 weeks, but I just let it go. I should have put in some stop leak power steering fluid.

That new yorker was the best riding car I ever had. Makes a town car ride seem bad. The cloth seats are like sitting on a big sponge.

The 3.3 in those cars are fast. I had road rage and went chasing after a mustang and could have caught up except for traffic.
They should be good for 115 mph easy.
I LOVE those New Yorkers. Just don't care for front wheel drive cars, but would take one for a daily driver over a town car any day.

I did have a 88 New Yorker with the 3.0 Mitsubishi motor. Smoked like crazy at 80,000 miles.

A lot of those "trans" issues were incorrect fluid, or people rebuilding a trans that only needed an electrical part. That said, watch for how any potential car shifts. They all make a weird whir/click when rolling to a stop (soleinoid pack).

3.0L Mitsu smokes, but run. 3.3/3.8L much better engine. In my family, we had 3 of these engine/trans combos go 200K+. Two were stolen, I sold my NY'er at 216K just because I got tired of looking over the same hood.

Window regulator issues with the later-style cable regulators. Fix by installing the older-style steel arm. Frame rust issues above rear suspension + normal rust issues with any car that old.

Guy I work with just lost a beautiful '91 Imperial after his wife hit an SUV. Car ruined (all damage above frame rails) but she whas fine. Not everybody wants a poverty-box like a Neon/Crapalier/HonYoda lol, so I get it. I'd much rather roll an old man car than some kiddie-mobile.

occasional water pumps.
Most will have a gear whine in the trans mostly on a decel( its the transfer gears on the drivers side ,,nothing to worry about )

I would avoid a car with air ride suspension and/or digital inst cluster.

I would put my kid in one of these before I got a neon or somthing small like that.



I got my daughter a 2004 Dodge Stratus 2.7 auto. Its just a little bit bigger than a neon. And it has dual air bags, 4 wheel disc brakes, with abs. Paid 1300 for it , and drove it home. I put 4 tires on it and she has driven the snot out of it. She has had it just over a year.And loves it.

For peace of mind for me I put a water pump and timing chain set in it this past summer to avoid any potential issues later on.

The early Neons are good cars and there's still tons of them in yards for cheap parts, plus they had 2 door coupes and also had special versions setup to basically road race and rally. They have their issues like any other car but most of them are cheap and easy to fix.
I got my lil sisters 95 high line coupe in 05 when she upgraded to a Charger rt. Had about 140k on it then, has 175k now, doesn't smoke, gets good mpg, and is surprisingly fun to drive even with the auto.
So far I put a 02 sensor in it, replaced the radiator, the water pump and timing belt, the crank sensor, and the cam sensor, plus the rear main seal at about 160k
The rest of this stuff happened over time and I did as they came up. The most expensive thing was the rear main as I didn't want to do it in my driveway in January many years ago so I found a shop that did it for 300 all in.
I finally need to do the front brakes as the inside of the passenger rotor is chewed up and will need replaced, a new rotor is 25 and probably way cheaper from u pull it.
Been happy with it so far and if it gets totaled tomorrow I've gotten my money out a it and won't feel bad like I would with the Dart. There is still a loyal following for all generations and a really good web forum very similar to here that is very helpful and has all kinds of info and mods for them.

The smoking issues with the 3.0 mitsubishi engines, were the center exhaust valve guide slipping out of the head and letting the seal slide off the top of the guide.. Pull the heads, pound the guide back into place, cut a small groove in the outside of the guide and slide a snap ring on it. Problem fixed.
The 3.3/3.8 engines are/were pretty much bullet proof. The transmissions in those those cars worked great after about a dozen factory fixes plus a special fluid designed just for those transmissions. It is called ATF+4 and is still the required fluid for most Chrysler stuff to this day.

A lot of oil use on the 3.0 Mits were the PCVs also.People didnt change them because they dont look like a pcv.The Imps with the air ride were a pain also.Had a Dynasty.Great car and got like 30mpg highway.
Rocky