Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
I'd leave the "nearly" out, since the new GM is essentially a new company.
Anyone else here like to comment on this comment?
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
I liked the styling though, and I can see why people would make rods out of them---what they are doing essentially is getting rid of the two worst parts---the powertrain and the interior.
Given what Detroit produced in the 60s, the car was junk, really.
RELIABILITY---well, at least you can say that GM has "matched the biggest imports in reliability"---if you compare it to VW! :P
I too like the preserved original cars, especially with original paint and interior.
My memory may be fading, but my wife agrees. Nice, burgandy-colored cloth upholstered front bucket seats. The back seat was a bit cramped, but I had it folded down 99% of the time. She really enjoyed driving that car so much that, when our girls grew up, she got her 2005 Mini convertible (manual) because she had always wanted another car that was as much fun for her to drive.
I was one of the lucky ones... I got around 75K miles and had no problems with the car. Traded it for a 1978 Chrysler LeBarron.
Didn't I read that 11 y/o is the average for cars on the road nowadays?
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I have wondered if some of the touted '76 improvements actually started getting phased in in the '75 model year.
It was a real dilemma for me when I traded the car. Up to the day I sold it, I had zero problems, but I was just out of college at the time and I simply couldn't afford to be stuck with a car that had major expensive problems and no resale value. I think the salesman at the Chrysler dealership where I traded it must have had some plans for the car, because I couldn't believe the trade he offered.
Literally, he made me a deal I couldn't refuse. And the car we traded for gave us 7 years and 120K miles of service, only requiring front brake calipers and pads to be replaced. Overall, not bad.
Still, I would have to say my personal experience is a great example why anecdotal evidence is so unreliable. It still had the self-destructing engine, and for each experience like mine, there were probably thousands that weren't so fortunate.
Your biases have been quite evident for some time, so no need to rehash them.
It was nowhere near as bad a car as you make it out to be, as others have demonstrated with their experiences. While the early ones had long-term durability problems, they made an excellent initial impression.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Now that I think about it, the '75's already had a coolant recovery tank and a "Low Coolant" light that the first ones didn't, and I think (accent on 'think') the radiator was already larger than the first ones too.
That said, I always liked the looks of those LeBaron and Diplomat coupes. They did a very good job of disguising a Volare/Aspen and moving it upscale. Great interiors IMHO.
I owned a '78 Lemans with the Chevy 305 and touring suspension. It was still going strong at 114,000 miles, when it was totalled by being rammed on the right side by a panel truck. It was a good car, and more modern for its day than the Mopar twins.
We never had a any transmission issues, and for cars at the time, it got very good mpg on the highway.
Both my daughters rode home from the hospital (after their birth), and my wife really had to "work" on her emotional release of the car when she traded it.
It was a 4-door light grey with grey cloth interior, very nicely done for a car in that price range for the day. The rear seat was also elevated a couple of inches, so one riding in the back didn't feel like he was sitting in a hole.
Dollar for dollar, that car was probably the most "bang for the buck" I've ever gotten from a car...
This has gotten me thinking more about those cars. I'd love to see a black or maroon or metallic light green LeBaron coupe at a cruise-in or car show. I haven't seen one in a long time.
One has to remember that cars of that level back then weren't highly "optioned out" like today's cars, so there wasn't a lot to break in the first place.
In fact, the one we owned had hand-crank windows... Ancient transportation by today's standards.
Chrysler interiors in those days could really be a mixed bag. My grandmother's cousin had a 1979 Volare wagon, that looked pretty sharp in 2-tone black over silver, with a red interior. Inside, the viny seats seemed pretty nice, and I liked the fact that the door panels were full vinyl. No carpet on the bottom as I recall, but no hard plastic either, and no exposed metal, or hard plastic piece at the top. But then, the dashboard seemed a bit cheap, and the headliner was some kind of heavy duty cardboard pegboard looking stuff!
I always thought the Diplomat and LeBaron were a really nice step up from the Aspen/Volare though. And they did a great job of disguising the fact that it was based on the Volare. You could even get leather seats in a Diplomat/LeBaron, which had to be a rarity for that class of car back then. At least, I've seen coupes with leather...dunno if you could get it on the sedan back then.
Those '77-79 Diplomat and LeBaron coupes seemed like they'd be a good alternative to personal luxury coupes like the Monte Carlo, T-bird, Grand Prix, etc. It's a shame they shrunk them for 1980, to make room for the downsized Cordoba/Mirada.
Which engine did your Diplomat have? 318-2bbl I'm guessing? I had a '79 Newport with that engine, and liked it a lot. It wasn't so fast from 0-60, but seemed to have pretty good pull above that. And, it got pretty good highway economy. Around town I was lucky to get 13 mpg, but I also delivered pizzas in it and was rough on it. Out on the highway, it had no trouble getting 22 mpg or so. And as far as weird optioning, that Newport had crank windows...but power locks!
Yeah I'd be leaning more towards the 25 year mark.
When I started driving in the mid 90s, a 10 year old car was indeed a survivor back then because anything from the early 80s was either a rusted out import (like my first car, an 82 Accord), or a malaise domestic.
Now it's still quite common to see 200k mile early 90s Accords and Camrys. Cars don't rust nearly as much so even cosmetically most of the stuff from the 90s look decent. And since stylistically vehicle looks haven't dramatically changed over the past 20 years to me the early 90s cars look somewhat modern too (maybe it's cause I grew up with them).
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Local high end lot has a blue 55 Corvette, amazing car with a six figure price.
I feel the same about age - is a 1992 car really old? I remember when they were new. I started driving about that time. Maybe I'm the one who is old :shades:
Speaking of that, today I saw a pristine early W220 S55 - no later than 2002. Those cars could be troublesome, to see one bone stock and looking as-new almost counts it as a survivor, to me - many of them are beat and wearing ugly mods. Mint W140s also count as survivors to me, not many around anymore.
I know, stll like them, they feel like tanks. I saw one at the local public auction a few months ago and was thinking of buying it but the mileage has been rolled back 3 times.
I found out because our emissions testing in BC has a website where you can punch in the VIN of a vehicle and it will tell you the car's emission testing history for free. It shows the date it was tested and mileage it had at time of testing. So you can look back and see where the mileage kept going up and then down all of sudden.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
In Van, I bet there are a number of nice low mileage W140s collecting dust in the garages of money that moved in from HK 20-25 years ago. I remember being in the area then, and W140s were everywhere compared to Seattle or anywhere else I had been.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I think that might be an early Lotus Esprit under the cover - it was really attached firmly, and I didn't want to force it up to get a better look.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
The Vega didn't become the poster child for disaster by accident. There's a reason why the car has such a bad reputation and I don't have that kind of power to do that to a car on my own. :P
I like the early Esprits more, even if they are more troublesome. The angular cues are more pure. Notice there is a huge oil spot in front of the car too, signifying that something British might be lurking :shades:
People just forget, and then complain, but it's scheduled maintenance.
And I only changed 12 plugs in that period.
I have to look up the interval on my NC Miata, could be longer now. I'm at 26k but it'll take me a while to hit 30k miles.
Modern car is still fine on its original plugs. Fintail gets them every several years, much cheaper.
GM was first to put ABS in everything too, even the lowest-end cars, but at some point in the mid '00's I guess the temptation to lower the price and meet competition that didn't have it as standard, became too great to overcome...unfortunately.