12th Oct 2001, 23:38
I have no clue what this guy is talking about in the 3rd comment. Every person I know that owns a Chrysler loves it. I honestly don't believe that he checked it as much as he said. If he test drove he'd know how it handled and how it sounded when it drove. He speaks as if this stuff is all a surprise. He mentions the thing about the rust because he lives in Wisconsin. I'm the one that wrote the first commment and guess what... I live in Canada and I don't have one inch of rust on my Shadow. Just admit the fact YOU bought a bad car and stop trying to blame all of Chrysler for YOUR mistake!!!
22nd Nov 2001, 16:42
Everything that you have listed above that have went wrong with the car is basic car matinence. Your air filter should have never been a "problem", your supposed to change it periodically. As for Chrysler products being low quality, that is the biggest load of crock I have ever heard. I own two Chrysler products, both with the INDESTRUCTIBLE 2.2 liter. If you have a problem with Chrysler products, don't buy them and get rid of yours, and stop complaining about it.
30th Jan 2002, 11:04
I read all of these comments, and I both agree and disagree with them. I agree that every car company ships out both lemons and beauties, and Chrysler is no different. My dad owned 10 Chryslers, and 9 out of 10 were actually decent automobiles. Very few things other than basic maintenance. I don't think the Shadow is a very good car, though. I had one for 1 1/2 years, and the day I got rid of it was one of the happiest days of my life.
21st Sep 2002, 17:38
Just look at the little faces next to each comment on the 93 shadows. The only blue sad face is this person's car. The rest are happy faces. That just shows that you were unfortunate enough to get stuck with a lemon. Good luck with your Honda or Toyota next time, you'll be back here in a bit complaining about how expensive they are to repair!!
8th Oct 2002, 22:00
Shadow Owner of 9yrs:
240,000+ miles and going, rusted out, 2nd motor, 2nd transmission, original alternator, it's been t-boned, side swiped, you name it. It made it through 4yrs of college,... my suggestion is to buy what you have good luck with and learn from your mistakes.
23rd Oct 2002, 09:42
I own a 1993 Dodge Shadow es. I have the car for six months now with little problems. However I do have a problem with the wiring in the lights. My driver side brake light is very dim, and the turn signal works half the time. I think there is a short some where in the wiring.
10th Jan 2003, 09:55
I own a '92 Dodge Shadow with 2.5 liter engine. Bought it new. Very peppy little car. It is fun and easy to drive. It has had only one intermittent problem. Something in the primary electrical circuit. Sometimes the car would not start when I turned the key. No clicks, no nothing, just silence. I learned that if I opened the hood and jiggled the wiring harness, I could get the car to start. The car could go for a couple of months with no problem, then one day - Silence! According to service departments I've spoken with it is probably a loose connection. There are no recalls on my vehicle - and no one knows of a similar problem (they say). One day I'll find that loose connection (I hope).
17th May 2004, 21:18
I have a '93 Shadow with a 3.0 liter engine. I am the third owner. The only thing wrong with my car was an oil leak, and that was a matter of changing a gasket. I think Chrysler makes good running cars.
16th May 2006, 21:21
To the owner: who charged you $100 to put on a valve cover gasket? Anyways, IMO these are great little cars. I've owned an 88 Sundance, an 89 Shadow, and currently an 87 Shelby Lancer, which is the only car that needed work, mostly because it was severely abused before I got my hands on it. However they are sensitive to being properly mantained. A well mantained shadow can last forever, and a poorly cared for one won't last lnog at all, which is the case with any car.
29th Sep 2001, 14:18
I am the owner of the Dodge Shadow and I would like to reply to the above two comments. Do you really think I was going to invest money into a car before inspecting it? Of course it was inspected. You guys make it sound as if I never even test drove the car. We did all the standard checks, and it handled beautifully. The tires were new. We took off the hub caps, and noticed the brake pads were fine. We parked it in clean snow for over a half an hour and nothing dripped. The interior was spotless without any deformation.
The previous owner was over 60 years old, and the idea of her hammering around in a Dodge Shadow did not immediately jog into conscience.
As for what needed to be replaced, how can one predict what is going to happen unless you structurally analyze every part into great detail using specialized equipment. For instance lets talk about the rear engine mount. When we put the car up on ramps, the mount was intact. You might ask, "Well was their rust, because as you know rust can indicate a part that is going to fail? Of course there was rust. I live in Wisconsin. We have things called winters here and with all the snow/salt that gets poured on roads every car has rust.
How about the coolant pump. Well when we checked under the hood it was working. The engine wasn't overheating and as I said before, we made sure that there were no leaks either. So what more should be done? Sure we could have taken off the coolant pump, placed it into a flow tank, put a pitot tube in it and measure the static pressure it was generating, but who can do that? Or we could have pressurized it and watched for a drip, but once again, are you carrying around equipment for that?
Also the alternator needs replacement, should we have hooked up an ammeter to it and compared the current coming off idle to what is factory rated? I don't think owners would appreciate people taking apart a car just to analyze every part. I understand that you think my buying of it as being foolish, but at the time of purchase there was nothing foreseeable as being wrong. It was test drove, the hood was opened, there were no leaks, it was placed on ramps to check the underside, and we even did a carfax check. The end result was all systems go, so I bought it.
Yes it does appear the car was beaten around. Perhaps Chrysler doesn't deserve all the blame, but I do know well over 10 mechanics and not one is crazy for Chrysler cars mainly because they do not believe in the engineering and reliability of Mopar auto parts. They are very good mechanics who spend most every weekend fixing people's cars for extra money. Plus, I know many other people who own Chrysler automobiles and they too have more problems than people who do not. I also do not think it is coincidence that Daimler-Chrysler profits are falling. I think it is reflective of their automobiles, and I will never again invest in them.