1990 Chrysler New Yorker Landau from North America - Comments

I have had a ignition switch go bad. Can't complain though as it was relatively cheap (about $70) and easy to replace.

I also had to replace the blower motor. Would have been about $120.00 to buy the part from Mo-par, but I was trying to save cash so went with aftermarket. When all was said and done, I sure wish I had gone with the Mo-par as the aftermarket had to be modified to fit, which also probably more than doubled the installation time. The reason the motor went bad was because a mouse got into the "squirrel cage" fan, and was just enough weight to ruin the bearings in the motor from being out of balance.

Also, I am trying to figure out why I can't get good heat out of it. I just had the whole system flushed and installed a new thermostat. When I have it on DEFROST, fairly warm air comes out the defrost vents, but I also get cool air coming out of the floor vents at the same time. Kind of overtakes what is coming out of the top so it just gets comfortable in the car, not warm by any means, and the heat is nice to have in frigid Minnesota.

I bought this car as a back-up for my sportier 1990 Dodge Spirit ES with the 3.0 V6 which had a transmission go out on it. I bought this New Yorker at an insurance salvage auction and it had a slightly smacked up front end. I mess around with cars and have connections and so was able to get the parts to fix the car quite easily and cheap, yet not buying cheesy or questionable parts. OEM parts in good condition and also in the right color so no painting was needed. The car is about impossible to tell it was repaired (I replaced the header/grill assembly, straightened the core support a little and put a new radiator and used AC condenser in and also replaced the hood).

The car is not really my style (I'm a single 29 year old male), but I previously have driven sportier cars with turbos, etc. and my driving record was pretty bad. Not from accidents, but from speeding tickets and exhibition driving. This New Yorker while not being a chick magnet, also helps with not drawing the attention of personnel with lights on the top of their cars. Still, I would not call the car a slouch by any means. It has no problems keeping up with traffic, and the get-up-and-go of the car is by no means fast, but it does surprise a lot of people who look at the car and think it would be gutless. When driving on the open road, if I'm not using the cruise, I have to watch my speed because it's very easy to be cruising 90-100 MPH and the car just rides so smooth and quiet it's hard to tell.

Fuel consumption is also very pleasing as it will get anywhere from 18 MPG with a lot of heavy footed city driving to up near 28 MPG on the highway.

Everyone who gets in my car, even if they have newer luxury cars, are amazed at the comfort of the big pillowy plush velvety type seats. This car can be driven all day long and you don't notice it at the end of a long trip.

The sound system is also incredible for a car of this vintage. I have actually replaced the front speakers with a top name brand set of 5 1/4" speakers that cost $160.00 and that was without installations. I still have the original 6x9's in the back and I have installed a factory Chrysler Infinity CD player and I get many people who ride in my car asking me what kind of system I have and they can't believe it when I tell them it's the factory set-up except the front speakers and honestly, the factory rear speakers produce so much bass I even have had people make me open my trunk to prove that I didn't have a subwoofer, amplifier or speaker box of any kind.

The car has very minor rust in the rear quarters. Otherwise the car is very sharp looking for a 13 year old nearly 200,000 mile car. I have put a total between purchase price, repairing the front end damage, and all repairs and parts since purchase, of about $1200.00 and can't say I could be any more happy with my purchase.

I also have a 1989 New Yorker - it handles well my dad put 2000.00 into it and I replaced the transmission at 90,000. It seems to be doing well. I can't get heat out of the blower either. They tell me its the brain box -needs a new one--seems like a cheap part, but lots of labor. Did you find out what was causing your heat loss? Also Minnesota bound.

I bought a beautiful midnight blue/chrome, half landau top, one-owner, fully loaded New Yorker,3.3L for $2,000,the digital air conditioner chills, but not inside the tan leather interior, turns out it"s stuck in the heater mode (when activated) because the Diverter Motor is burned out and will not let the flap-door swing to cold mode... (repair roughly $200.00).Also while driving it like a police car, I broke the rocker shaft, and the support which connected to the rear head, (I"m now told this is common...) I replaced the head, did a valve job, rebuilt the whole top end to showroom perfect for $985.00 and a $20.00 tip. The air ride system started leaking, I will replace the rear, with a Strut Master.com kit for $279.00,delivered (real decent folks) I absolutely enjoy driving my fully loaded (alarm and lo-jack included) NEW Yorker throughout L. A. and up and down the Pacific Ocean coastline, and mountain resorts, with or without an available little honey... what a awesome ride!

With regards to the defroster/heater situation in the initial posting... While a different make car, I had an almost identical situation going on with mine. My car was a 1989 Lincoln Towncar with the automatic climate control. Being climate control, it was somewhat like a house with a thermostat, you set the temperature you desire and the system maintains that temp. Well, the car was the same way, or should I say was supposed to be the same way. Nothing I did made a difference in getting any heat and there was barely enough to clear off the frost from the windshield and when you live in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan, within 2 hr drive of the upper peninsula, a functioning heater/defroster is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Well, I happened upon an honest, helpful mechanic who recommended I take it to a certain facility which I did. All I did was tell them the symptoms and they told me they knew the problem with 95% accuracy and if it was so, the part and labor would come to around $98.00. They were right and the part and labor actually came in around $87.00.

The car has an internal thermometer/thermostat that senses what the temperature is on the inside of the car. Being a climate control system, it needs to know with accuracy what the inside temp is to be able to maintain set temperature. Well, that unit in my Towncar was faulty. In less than 3 hours, a new unit was installed and this was in the month of December and for the first time since I had had the car, 3 years at that point, within 3 miles of leaving the shop, it was literally POURING out heat so strongly that I had to cut back on the system and turn the heater down. I owned it for 2 more winters and never had another problem with it.

I would whole heartedly recommend that you have the inside climate control thermostat/thermometer checked out for possible replacement. It certainly made the difference from night to day with my car and just possibly, it might do the same for yours too. Good Luck.

KJK in Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

I recently had a '90 Dodge Daytona that literally fell apart (including the driver seat!) every time you drove it (no thanks to the previous owner who treated the car as if it was in the Daytona races!!), but still had a good engine and tranny. I asked my mechanic (also a good friend of mine) if he had any inexpensive cars on his lot (being right after Christmas I had very little $$$$ left over) and he told me he had an '89 New Yorker Landau, but the transmission was slipping. Besides that, it was in great shape.

The only thing that turned me off about the car was the way it looked on the outside. It reminded me of my great aunt's car (which oddly enough was a Chrysler 5th avenue!) But once I actually got into this car, with it's power everything and comfy plush seats, I was amazed! My mechanic replaced the transmission from the one in my Daytona (since they were both designed for a V-6 engine) and now was the real test... how it handled. I got that baby up on the thruway... and besides a slow start up, that car cruised! It rides so smooth and quiet I actually had to slow down a few times because I didn't realize how fast I was going! Truly a luxury car!

My friends still picked on me for owning a "granny car" until their first ride. There reaction...priceless!!! The sound system alone blows them away for being the original Infinity am/fm cassette player with the pounding rear bass speakers!

Besides it being a bit of a gas guzzler, I wouldn't trade my "granny car" for anything!

Total cost of car and tranny work...$450.00!!! Won't find any other deal like that for a pure luxury car!

J.H. Buffalo,NY

We are currently looking at an '89 Chrysler New Yorker Landau to purchase as a second car. Your comments have been very helpful in making our decision. Although the winters here can reach -30 I'm hoping this heater will work well! Thanks again for your very useful comments. Alberta, Canada.

I have an 89 new yorker and I can go for almost 750 km's on a tank of premium so it is excellent on gas. There is really only one problem that I have with it, and that is this little black electrical piece that controls my air to gas ratio keeps over heating so I will have to either switch it out with a spare backup one or just unplug it. My friends dad had it happen to his all the time too I think it is something to do with their computers. but the interior is so nice and comfy and with little effort I managed to install a mini fridge in the back. It is a real easy car to work on, I have no mechanical ability at all and I still have managed to upgrade and tweak my new yorker. all in all I give it two thumbs up.