1997 Plymouth Breeze 2.0

Summary:

The worst experience of my life!

Faults:

Had a blown head gasket @ 26000 miles, again @ 40000 miles and once again @ 63000 miles. Replaced each time by a Chrysler dealership. The third and last time, the dealer replaced, they opted not to replace the "O" rings, so within 45 days of getting the car back, I had oil running through my radiator and filled in my plugs to the top. Therefore, my piece of junk had to go back for new "O" rings at my cost of $500 plus.

How about not having a working horn since about 20000 miles or so?

Front tie-rod ends a problem?? Yes!!!

I took the car to a mechanic because my air-conditioning wasn't working, he said he had never seen a air-conditioning compressor unit "fall-apart" like mine did.

General Comments:

I will never again in my natural life, or any life here after, purchase, rent or ride casually in a Chrysler-Dodge-Plymouth built vehicle (oh, I mean death-trap).

I will never recommend to my worst enemy to purchase Chrysler-Dodge-Plymouth.

I am purchasing a new car next week, made by a real car maker!!!

Chrysler-Dodge-Plymouth can kiss my.. goodbye!!!.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 25th January, 2002

13th Dec 2003, 19:56

I had a Breeze with the exact same head gasket/engine oil-coolant mixing problem. After replacing the engine @60k miles out of my own pocket, the whole incident occurred again @ around 75k miles. I didn't bother fixing a thing, I just prayed the dealership wouldn't notice when I used it as a trade in for a new car. (they didn't notice!) A mechanic told me that this motor had design flaws which made this problem quite frequent.

1997 Plymouth Breeze

Summary:

This is a horrible car, can't wait to get rid of it

Faults:

The car has leaked oil very, very bad. That was fixed and then the thermostat went out on it. That was fixed and now the whole engine blew. The rod was blown causing it to crack the engine block throw the rod and blow the pistons.

This car has been nothing but a big headache. The car put puts every single time you put the air conditioning on. It's horrible on gas too. I think it's such a gas guzzler because there is probably something wrong with that too. I will never own another American made car again!

General Comments:

This car has had a major oil leak problem.

Thermostat problems.

This car is very slow when the air conditioner is running.

Finally the engine blew.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 14th January, 2002

12th Jun 2002, 10:54

I agree I had to replace the main seal and some other issues. The car only had around 67,000 miles on it and I had to put $3,000.00 into it. I was told that they use the same parts to replace it soon it will probably do it again soon. We are now at 119,000 miles I hope it can keep running until I can afford a new car. My oil also leaks like a civ and it goes through gas worse than my husbands truck!

3rd Feb 2004, 12:28

I agree I have owned my car not even 1 year and all the sorts of problems came up. First oil, then the gas and finally the motor blew. This car has been nothing, but a waste of money.

1997 Plymouth Breeze

Summary:

A nice car for a cheap price

Faults:

Air conditioner compressor went out.

Leaks oil.

Steering wheel paint is stripping.

Poor acceleration.

General Comments:

This car is a very beautiful car. But, more work should be needed on this car.

Seats are very comfortable.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 10th December, 2001

1997 Plymouth Breeze 2.0 liter

Summary:

Great buy for the money

Faults:

I have had no problems, whatsoever.

General Comments:

I love the looks and the ride, but it could use a little more power under the hood. It is a bit of slow accelerator to get from 0-70mph on the highway.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st November, 2001

1997 Plymouth Breeze 2.0

Summary:

Underpowered, but comfortable and spacious with horrible reliability

Faults:

Head gasket replaced at 28,000 after three trips to ask why there were permanent oil leaks. I still have oil leaks, but small ones, and I can't find where they come from.

Two more trips required to refit the exhaust manifold and downpipe properly.

Engine Management computer replaced at 30,000 after the car would start up, rev to around 5,000 RPM and the pointer would swing to 95mph while in park.

Engine management computer replaced again a week later when the same thing happened, but this time with no tach/speedo indications.

Air conditioner drive pulley froze at 35,000 miles (still under warranty!!!), making a noise like a bag of rocks being dragged under the car, and the belt caused enough smoke to trip the check engine light.

Door seals literally fell to pieces and were replaced at 28,000 miles.

General Comments:

Better wear night vision goggles, because Plymouth/Chrysler apparently decided that the Breeze was going to be driven by people who can see in the dark. The headlights are abysmal!

I love the handling, the spaciousness, the huge trunk, the comfort, and the fact that once the wheezy, anemic 2 liter engine makes it to 70mph you could cruise all week on half a tank of gas. However, getting to 70mph takes some time and the first half of that tank of gas, and stopping from 70mph takes even longer.

The air conditioner is great, but the heater is like standing in front of a blast furnace. I'm surprised it doesn't melt the dashboard.

All in all, it's a great value young family car, which is why I traded in my Probe for a 4 door. But whatever you save on the purchase price will be spent on repairs, and gas because the 2.0 is the most fuel hungry of the engines that Chrysler put in this family of vehicles. It's so underpowered that you have to drive it hard to avoid getting run over by the car behind you.

The Breeze is my wife's car, and my daily driver is a 1992 Toyota Paseo. I fill it with gas when it needs it, change the oil every 2,500 miles, and never think twice about it. The Breeze however requires a firm belief in divine intervention every time I put the key in the ignition. I'm terrified about its long term reliability, but quite frankly if I get 5 years out of this car it will have been worth what I paid for it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 4th October, 2001

22nd Sep 2002, 14:03

I totally agree with this car not having any power. I occasionally drive my dad's girlfriend's 97 Breeze. In order to drive up hills, I have to literally floor it. I'm sometimes afraid that the car is going to fall apart when I drive it. I usually can't pass people unless they're going extremely slow. If I owned this car and drove it all the time, the transmission would probably be needing a rebuilding by now. I went from driving my 1990 Nissan Maxima to driving this, so my opinion is somewhat biased.