Faults:

2 camshaft replacements - $600 each time.

3 alternators - $120 to $200 each time.

AC died after 6 years. Too expensive to fix.

General Comments:

This was my first car, bought brand new in 1979. I bought it because I needed something economical and cheap, and that would be fairly reliable. Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

Actually, considering I drove this car for 10 years, it was pretty reliable. The camshaft replacements were my fault, as a result of not changing the oil very often and letting it run low on oil frequently. For a while, I was only changing the oil ever 15k miles and checking it maybe once every 6 months. I'd add oil when the engine light came on, and by then it was down 2 quarts.

It was a gutless car. Perfect for a teenage boy. My friends that had cool cars all wrecked theirs in a year or two, while I drove this thing for 10 years.

For a Pinto, mine was well equipped. It had power steering, power brakes, AC and automatic transmission.

Faults:

The battery ground wire broke off the side of the engine block in 1983. I would guess the mileage at well under 50,000 miles.

The fuel tank apparently had something floating in it late in my ownership experience, because at a quarter tank of fuel or lower, going uphill the car would starve for gas.

Replaced the clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing sometime after 100,000 miles.

General Comments:

A great, "old school" simple car! Rear wheel drive, upper and lower A arms, front disc brakes, shocks on all four wheels.

I feel like many of the cars made by FoMoCo, the Pinto's worst enemy was the very decision makers who created it.

It was a fun car to drive, easy to work on, very reliable and I didn't cut mine much slack! I'm looking now, twenty-one years later, to buy another one as an inexpensive hobby car.

Faults:

During the 3 years I drove the car I replaced a valve cover gasket. That set me back a whopping $10.

General Comments:

I bought this old Pinto as a "beater" to drive to and from the university when I went back to get my counselling degree. There was a lot of theft and break-ins at the campus parking lots, so I wanted an older car that didn't scream "STEAL ME" or "I HAVE VALUABLES INSIDE". The Pinto filled the bill very nicely. I bought it from a little oriental lady who used it to haul her 5 kids around in. That's what you call "togetherness" in such a small car.

The old 2.3 performed flawlessly the entire time I owned the car, as did the automatic transmission. I did blow out both rear shocks getting airborne over a really bumpy railroad crossing at 55mph, but I never bothered to fix them. It actually made the car ride SMOOTHER!!

In the 3 years I owned the car I spent NOTHING on it except the above-mentioned valve cover gasket, which was leaking out enough oil to make it financially sensible to spend 10 bucks on a new one.

I never once gave a second thought to getting blown up. That was fixed in 1975 and was a VERY MINOR risk anyway. It got blown out of all proportion due to the media coverage of a couple of high-profile lawsuits.

It was a blast passing BMW's at 100mph on the freeway in this old Pinto, and it got a lot of attention from our upper middle class friends. When I ceased going to the university I sold it for exactly TWICE what I paid for it.

Faults:

Valve gaskets, under $20.

General Comments:

It is a very nice car, cheap to run and good performance, more then enough to blow away the kids in their acura's. (stock engine)

Very versatile, I've carried a drier and a couch home in it on seperate occasions.

There are two kinds of people those that have had a pinto in the past and like them and those that have never had one and laugh as you drive by.

It won't blow up!