Comments: 1-15, 16-17
When I got it I never even had it checked out mechanically, I just looked under the hood and at the body, realized it needed a paint job, and said yes.
Since then, it has needed:
New:
Main rear oil seal (leaking)
Freeze plugs (weeping)
Water pump (leaking, toast)
Timing chain (two inches of slack)
Front brake rotors
Front brake calipers
Pinion seal (leaking)
Emergency brake cable replaced.
Headliner (sagging)
R&R motor and:
Clean motor (layers of oil and grime)
Valve job
Cylinder heads resurfaced (leaking)
Carb adjust (thermostatic spring)
Rear brake drums resurfaced
Paint job
Current problems:
Rear view mirror fungus
Driver's side door hinge that must be lubed with motor every few months
Some slightly sloppy trim fitting
Light rattles
A great and underrated automobile. Dependable motor, tough, durable, reliable, comfortable, powerful, utilitarian, classic. Great seats. Great lines. Smooth, firm and comfortable ride.
I have made the unfortunate and costly mistake of buying two 1988 Dodge Diplomats. None of them was worth the gas I put in them or the air the things sucked in. I do not mean to insult anyone's opinion of this "masterpiece" or "fine road car" as it has been put. But PLEASE, spare me the nostalgia. Does Dodge somehow brain-wash its customers into thinking this is a quality automobile.
My Diplomats cost me triple what I paid for them just to make them inspection worthy. I learned my lesson the hard way. I'm just trying to protect my fellow car buyer.
I just don't get it. The guy writes a paragraph or two about how wonderful the car is. Then goes on with pride about how work $$$ was needed to get it up to par. (Sounds like he had to dump thousands into the car). Next thing you know, he's singing its praises again.
I'm confused.
Thanks for the above comment, I feel better now about missing out on a '87 Gran Fury that was recently for sale, let it suck the money out of someone else's pocket, haha.
I don't think Dodge is trying to "brainwash" anyone about the Diplomat. They only kept it around for the fleet market after about '82-'83 and never really promoted it to the general public after that. DaimlerChrysler would probably be just as happy if all the remaining examples ended up in the junkyard.
Surprisingly, though, there seem to be at least a few people interested in the M-bodies besides our waxing-poetic friend here, judging by the number of sites devoted to them.
To the first individual that responded: You bought two 1988 Diplomats and then spent triple what you paid for them to make them road worthy? If so, your judgment of used automobiles is most certainly questionable. And even if you did so, you still had far less money in both cars than what it takes to buy one new Crown Victoria today.
To the second respondent, if you were influenced enough by the first and did not take other opinions on this site into consideration, then your researching skills are also in question. Perhaps the two respondents should stick to buying new.
Any used car needs maintenance. However, I can't think of any other model that is cheaper to maintain and deliver back to you better overall economy than a F, M or J body Chrysler Motor product. The caveat here is you by a decent one to begin with.
Finally, educated consumers of decommissioned police vehicles would expect to immediately perform the most severe servicing as indicated in the owner's manual. These vehicles are bought to be put to work and as such have a higher level of wear than their civilian counterparts.
"...by (sic) a decent one to begin with."?
Well, you could say that about ANY car. Does it really matter anyway, in 2004, how good (or not) the Diplomat and all its related models were? They stopped making them more than 15 years ago, and they did not make a whole lot the last few years they were built. Even the taxi cab operators have retired many of theirs.
Most people who are just looking for a cheap used car now are not likely to find many, or maybe not any, for sale, if they do, it is likely to be one of the few Chrysler Fifth Avenues you still see occasionally chugging along in the right lane, usually followed by a plume of smoke!
And I hardly think that the writer of the previous comment is entitled to advise others to "stick to buying new" if the best advice he can come up with is to find a decent example to buy and that police cars get used harder than their civilian counterparts. Like nobody knows that already!
Great comment just above this one. I'll add this. I'm not knocking a guy who has an interest or liking for a specific product, in this case the Dodge Diplomat. However, a guy (above) posted that he bought two of these cars a had bad luck. There's no harm in that. As he put it, he's just trying to protect car buyers. Then this Dodge Diplomat lover (I guess) gets on here and jumps all over him.
I to have owned six of these "gems". Four 1988 Diplomats, one 1987 Grand Fury Salon, and one Fifth Avenue. I purchased them in a bulk deal as I used to run a small taxi service in Boonville, MO. I was on cloud-nine when I was starting the business up. I purchased all six cars for just under 15,000 from a regional wholesale lot. My luck and patience quickly ran out with these cars. The only good thing about having them was the interchangeable parts. Well, that only worked for so long. You can only rob Peter to pay Paul for so long. After, about three weeks, I was down to two operational taxis. You can't run a business like that. The last straw was when one of the Diplomats engine seized with a customer inside. That was especially unexpected because as a precaution and to go a little longer between oil changes I ran fully synthetic motor oil and transmission fluid in all my taxis.
With that said, my business folded. I should have taken my friends advice and filled my fleet with Fords or Chevys.
These cars let me down in no time flat. That's sad. I guess if you have a burning desire to own a money pit, go by one. The purchase price is only the beginning of the cash you'll lay out trying to keep the thing on the road. Lastly, the aforementioned cars I owned were not police packages. They were civilian models. Doesn't mean they were not abused though.
I think God drives a Dodge Diplomat doesn't he???
Well if he don't drive a diplomat it must be a gran fury or a fifth avenue because he built em himself.
Why would you start a taxi business with old cars. You can't expect to have a good business with cars that someone else didn't maintain. perhaps you should have bought new parts instead of swapping old parts.
My 318 has never quit on me, but I'm rebuilding the engine anyway. Some people enjoy working on cars.
After 150,000 mile my 318's cylinders showed no bore wear. Not even a cylinder ridge. I'd like to see.
As for the plume of smoke, perhaps that was your rice burner, the only thing my diplomat smokes are the tires.
And yes god does drive a diplomat.
I have never seen, or even heard of anyone being able to seize up a 318. Even rednecks in the depths of a drunken rage, holding the throttle to the floorboard for hours, have failed to kill a 318. Obviously the poor sap who started his taxi business had some beat up lemons pawned off on him by a crooked dealer who saw a sucker coming a mile away. The statements about seizing engines and chugging along under a cloud of smoke bear zero relation to the V-8, rear-wheel-drive Mopars that I've known all my life.
This is the Devil. I drive a dodge diplomat in hell,
Then either Diplomats are as bad-ass as everybody here says, or somebody quit taking their medication...
Guy down the road from meed passed away. 3 years later his nephew asked if I'd like his 1985 Dodge Diplomat... for a buck. I put a little gas in the carb and it fired right up. Drove it to Advanced Auto and put in a new battery. Filled it with new gas. Everything works on it - it's just amazing. Runs like a top and I haven't even taken it to have a tune up done. New paint goes on next week. I love it.
I agree, God does drive a diplomat... and so would I if I could find one for sale, preferably one of them older police cars, or even a taxi. Anyone can help?
Adidas_guy71@hotmail.com.
The M-body cars (Fifth Ave.,Gran Fury, Diplomat) was one of Chrysler's biggest accomplishments. Just because a few people are buying poorly maintained/abused ones and complaining, don't let it stop you from buying one of these excellent cars.
My name is Brandon Hiltner I live in Canada and I own a 1982 Dodge Diplomat and everything is purring like a kitten. I can’t see why every one is making such big deals about old cars dieing on them. What normally happens to old cars? Well if you don’t maintain it then yes I guess it will die on you.