1992 Dodge Spirit Base from Russia - Comments

Transmission needs to be rebuilt.

A few belts were replaced (power steering pump belt, alternator belt etc.) at 182000 miles.

Blown engine replaced at 180000 miles ("oil starvation").

Rear brake pads are in need of replacement.

Compared to my previous car, a white Volga-3110 2.3, this car is splendid. That car was a headache, and made a lot of noise. Wasn't reliable, either (what else should one expect from a Russian car?).

This car is a rare bird here. In Moscow, there are about 200 Spirit's, Saratoga's and Acclaims on the road. That's why it is looked upon as a solid, prestigious car here.

It isn't the right car for Russia, however. Our roads are far from smooth, and this car needs much more attention than it would in, say, the United States.

It is quick, handles decently and is generally a more polished car than the ones that I used to drive.

Parts and repairs are expensive in Moscow. For example, the transmission costs about $1000 to fix (total rebuild). And that's a three speed automatic!

In the Russian Federation, this isn't a pragmatic choice, and many people tell me to sell it and by something Russian. Which, of course, I am not planning to do. Why? Everything that breaks can be fixed, and there is no such thing as a "dying car", as my colleague once told me. Even if this car has been driving for almost ten years on roads that a tank shouldn't even roam.

Updating my review. At 183000 I finally found the cash to rebuild the transmission, and the car really goes now! 80-90 mph cruising is normal, and it will go 100-110 if necessary. Other repairs:

- Had to replace the front brake pads (too late, one disc got screwed up).

- A few hoses, engine coolant.

- Switched off the oxygen sensor (the old one is rusted, and the mechanics were afraid that they would screw it out with a piece of the exhaust manifold).

- A few oil changes, spark plugs (I drive a lot).

- Fuel pump, fuel filter.

- Headlight lamps.

- Tires.

- CV joint.

- Starter motor.

- Alternator rebuilt.

The engine temperature guage stopped working, but it turned out that a wire was loose. All that the car needs now is a new CV joint, and that's pretty much it. I hope that this one will hold and not fall apart until payday. Plus a few scratches and dents here and there. I'm hoping to fix that until the winter.

Following up on my review. Everything is looking very good. No problems whatsoever (this is a good time to knock on wood, which I am doing at this moment).

While changing the spark-plugs, the isolator cracked, and a few pieces nearly fell into the combustion chamber! That gave me a scare, luckily, I noticed in time.

The car stalls under hard braking at very low speeds for some reason. I suppose that's the vacuum booster, it has been sucking air for a while.

Otherwise, the car needs nothing except for a cracked windshield, plus the front wiper keeps stopping. The wiper is a quick fix, just don't have the time, really.

Actually, for a year nothing really interesting has happened to the car. It's running fine, the body is in good shape, not long ago I had to replace a headlight (you just can't see anything in the dark with the old ones.

Oh yeah, and recently, considering that our government decided to forbid the use of American cars here (because of red rear turn signals), I had to re-wire the tail-lamps and put a yellow bulb in there...

http://www.nakley-ka.ru/picts/188/2006-01-28_18-02-43_4.jpg.

That's me and my car on the photo, behind me - a cop-car Lada-2110. Taken at Sadovoe koltso, Moscow.

http://chrysler-dodge.ru/pic/competition_3297.jpg.

That's what the turn signals look like now.