1986 Plymouth Voyager 2.0

Summary:

It has been cheap, reliable transportation; a real Utility Vehicle

Faults:

Apart from the normal wear items such as brakes and hoses, not much.

The plastic parts in the window winders have broken twice.

The windshield washer hubs are very soft metal so they wore smooth by around 200,000 km. Fixed them with set screws.

The engine was replaced with a rebuilt one at around 250,000 km as it cost just less than rebuilding in the place.

The rocker panels have rusted quite badly because of the galvanic corrosion caused by bolting alumunium running boards to a steel vehicle.

General Comments:

A very tough, cheap to run vehicle. There are many of its brothers still on the road around here - northern Alberta.

It has served as a farm truck out on the back 40, and as a RV with a air mattress in the back and blacked out windows, and has been my daily commuter averaging nearly 90 km per day until it was retired recently, replaced by and Grand Caravan with stow-and-go seats.

The 5-speed manual transmission is excellent for running over the Rocky Mountains to the west coast; just stay in 4th gear and cruise by those overheating automatics.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th January, 2008

1986 Plymouth Voyager LE 2.6L Mitsubishi

Summary:

The Original And Best

Faults:

Nothing yet.

General Comments:

A classic cruiser. Burgundy paint on burgundy cloth with the woody panels. Power windows, locks, mirrors, seats, and an awesome stock radio (soon to be replaced). Three speed automatic with the Mitsubishi 2.6L (gasp! horror!) engine.

First thing I want to address. These engines are NOT as bad as they are made out to be. They're reliable, torquey, and compared to six cylinder engines of the era, good on gas. They can be a real pain if you don't maintain them, as they are a carbureted design. Don't expect to set any speed records either, especially in these minivans (foot to the floor merging into highway traffic it took me 10 seconds to go from 35km/h to 95km/h). Other than that, people are just whining because fuel injection has made them lazy and reliant on computers.

Such a clean van! And comfortable! The power seats are a really nice touch. The windows and power locks still work after 19 years. Perhaps the most interesting part of the inside are these little knobs in the ceiling above the driver and passenger. They actually remotely open and close the rear vent windows! I know that modern vans to this electrically, but it's a really cool feature.

The gas struts always wear out on the tailgate. This can get frustrating, and even dangerous if you forget to hold the gate up (I got bonked in the head at the dealership). A cheap $20 fix for new gas struts via Canadian Tire.

Handles straight and true. Very nimble for a minivan. Not quick, but nimble.

Overall, this is a great van. Not quick, but reliable, dependable, and definitely worth it's weight in old-time style.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 6th January, 2005