1984 Dodge Aries

Summary:

Too old and not reliable enough, only get one if you just want to

Faults:

This car was a graduation gift from college. It was slow and very basic.

It leaked oil from the seal between the engine and transmission; one particular unnerving time I was leaving a grocery store parking lot and the transmission started making a clunking noise and slipping, but stopped after a few seconds.

The passenger side door was stiff and almost made a grating noise when opened and closed, and the knobs would fall off of the radio.

In the time I had it, I had to replace the brakes, and it looked like the CV joints would have been close behind, but the neighbor's kid backed out of his driveway at full throttle and smashed into it, causing about $1G in damage. I got rid of it after that.

General Comments:

A car back in the age when American manufacturers were still trying to catch up to the Japanese; I think it even still had a carburetor rather than fuel injection. My example wasn't reliable, and I wouldn't buy one again.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 22nd August, 2015

30th Aug 2015, 03:18

Yes it had a carburetor, and the vehicle as a whole was not terribly reliable. That would come with time.

1st Sep 2015, 17:18

A carburetor was the norm in 1984, other than in some luxury cars. Most Hondas had carburetors through the very early 1990s, and many other Japanese makes had them through the late 1980s. Carburetors really weren't such a horrible thing.

1984 Dodge Aries Wagon 2.2

Faults:

Dodge K car wagon, with 2.2 4 cyl. and automatic. I watched this car being built from a painted shell to the shipping gate as I worked at Newark assay. in Newark De.

I had many extras added; Chrysler Town & Country carpets and sun visors, wire wheelcovers, upgraded radio and speakers. The dealer said it was more Chrysler than Dodge.

I owned it just under five years and traded it for a 89 Sundance. In about 70k miles, the garnet red wagon required only oil and air filters, oil changes, four tires and front brakes.

All in all, the K cars were the best Chrysler had in 1984.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st April, 2009

2nd Apr 2009, 17:48

1984 was the year the K-cars have gotten all of their model bugs worked out and I personally liked the 1981-84 design over the 1985-89 design myself.

1984 Dodge Aries LE 2.2L

Summary:

It's older, but still reliable

Faults:

When I bought it, I had to replace the radiator; I knew that before buying it.

I had to replace the plastic heater hose connector with a metal one when it broke, which wasn't a problem.

The radio and speakers were JUNK; factory original, so figure.

The C.V. joints are clicking when I turn, after being stopped.

Except for the gas gauge and the speedometer, none of the gauges work.

Windshield is cracked on the passenger side.

It is hard to maintain a speed over 40.

Gas pedal is stiff.

Cruise control doesn't work.

General Comments:

Fortunately I have a Pioneer head unit that is 4x50 watt, a pair of Rockford Fosgate 3.5" speakers in the dash, and a pair of Sony Xplod 6x9 speakers in boxes in the back seat, (too big for the holes in the rear panel) so I've got good tunes in it now.

The interior is a little faded, but no tears or wear marks.

The seats are comfortable.

The motor is quiet.

Got new tires all the way around, that came with the car when I bought it; Hankook tires, no less.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th June, 2008

1984 Dodge Aries 2.2

Summary:

Junk. Don't ever buy one; you'll regret it

Faults:

Head gasket blew at 50,000 miles. Piece of junk. The dealership wouldn't even do anything about the problem, and lied as to the source of the issue. After it was fixed, it blew a hole in the piston. Chrysler swept this under the rug.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 25th April, 2008

26th Apr 2008, 10:00

It seems that the K car actually had a decent reputation in its day. They played a large part of Chrysler's rebound back in the 80's. (Well the government bail-out didn't hurt, and a bit later the Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth Mini-Vans)

But as for now, I don't think that too many readers are rushing out to buy 23 year old K Cars, or from what I've been reading, Chrysler products in general.

Perhaps the new Dodge Challenger will increase traffic in the showrooms.

27th Apr 2008, 11:29

We had a 1984 Plymouth Reliant and it was a nice little car. It was dependable, nothing ever went wrong, and it was the first little car with a big car ride that we owned.

I was always happiest with Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler cars from the 1960's through 1980's, although they didn't offer me much in the 1990's and early 2000's. I replaced my old Dodge truck with a new Ford because Dodge just didn't offer me anything, anymore.

However, these past couple of years, Dodge/Chrysler have some interesting offerings after a long, long dry spell. The Chrysler 300 is nice, and the Dodge Charger is growing on me (if you ignore the Charger name on a 4-door). The Caliber, Avenger, and Sebring are decent looking cars, too. They still don't have a real 4x4 SUV, though, because the Durango is just a bloated land barge that doesn't even have a 2-speed transfer case.

5th May 2009, 13:59

These were the best cars ever. I still have one, almost 400,000km and it still runs perfect, never a head gasket or anything.

3rd Aug 2009, 20:17

Did you really expect Chrysler to fix your 20+ year old car for free? This car is so old I would refuse to work on it.

7th Dec 2009, 15:34

To the poster above, this is when the car was new.

In reply to 5th May 2009, 13:59

26th Mar 2011, 21:57

Be careful, the head on those cars is aluminum and will warp very easily. Trust me, I owned one, and it popped the gasket and severely warped the head.