1992 Dodge Spirit LX review from North America

This thing rejects alternator belts unbelievably often.

I never actually witnessed any oil burning or leaking, but it somehow needed it constantly. (fill the oil and check the gas...)

Assorted engine parts cracked at random one evening 9 months after I bought it. (Seriously...there was NO warning...)

Awful, awful peeling paint.

The speakers crackled and popped even after being replaced.

Speedometer/mileage counter sometimes didn't work until after going over a hill.

Temperature display sometimes briefly claimed it was either 99 or -27 on nice, temperate days.

This was my first real car (I started with a free orange-brown 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and kept trading up (mostly free) until I got a license) and I was so happy to get it. I got it from some oldish people for about $1000, they bought it new and took it to Florida a few times. It was immaculate, very well-loved and maintained. They kept a record of every bit of maintenance (including filling the tires), in fact...

The ride is actually quite comfortable. The seats are nice, backseat is roomy enough for tall people, minimal road noises, easy to get over 100mph and not feel like you're in a moving thing at all. It's also really fun to be a girl in a boxy old 90s car and come up next to a souped-up Honda Civic full of boys, and then smoke them completely while they're still trying to compensate for the drag from their body kit. (btw, I didn't drive it like that all the time... just once or twice)

Stellar gas mileage.

Devours hills as though they were flat surfaces.

It's only a midsize to begin with, but maneuvers like a rollerskate. Three cars (one long, long series of bad luck) later I have a 1989 Honda Accord, which is a much smaller car, and they handle nearly the same.

I finally shelved it forever when a piece of the turbocharger locked only a week after the exhaust randomly opened up and began filling the interior with fumes that irritated my skin, plus I happened to come across a free Ford Aerostar...incidentally, I do not recommend going from a sedan to an extended-length van.