cmoore@amdimage.UUCP (chris moore) (07/19/85)
A friend of mine is planning to buy a new car, and she is
considering the Dodge Colt. I was never all that impressed
with the Colt, but I know that they are now made by Mitsubishi
and I think Mitsubishi makes good cars. How long has
Mitsubishi been making the Colts? Does anyone have one, and
if so, what do you think of it. Thanks for your help.
Chris Moore
--
Of course we have backup tapes. Do you want last year or the
year before?
Chris Moore (408) 749-4692
UUCP: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra}!amdcad!amdimage!cmoorekima@pesnta.UUCP (Kim Alan Althoff) (07/21/85)
In article <392@amdimage.UUCP> cmoore@amdimage.UUCP (chris moore) writes: >A friend of mine is planning to buy a new car, and she is >considering the Dodge Colt. I was never all that impressed >with the Colt, but I know that they are now made by Mitsubishi >and I think Mitsubishi makes good cars. How long has >Mitsubishi been making the Colts? Does anyone have one, and >if so, what do you think of it. Thanks for your help. > Chris Moore >-- I bought a Dodge Colt (by Mitsubishi) in October 1982 (1982 model 3 door 4 speed man. trans.) It now has over 46K miles. During that time I have changed the oil and filter every 5K miles, the plugs once, the air filter twice, and just last month replaced the front disc brake pads. It has never used more than 1/2 quart between changes, so I've never had to add any oil. It has not used any brake fluid, transmission fluid, or anti- freeze. I have never given it a real tune-up. The ride is very stiff. Bumbs and jolts will shake up everything in the car. The seats are uncomfortable (so says everyone who rides with me much.) There is not much headroom -- I'm 6'5" and drive with the seat tilted back a little to accomodate myself. However, this reduces the room for those sitting behind me. For a low-priced car, I'd rate it 9.+ on mechanical and 5 on ride. Kim Alan Althoff
hakanson@orstcs.UUCP (hakanson) (07/24/85)
<yum!>
Mitsubishi has always built the Colt -- the fwd Colt first came
out as a 1979 model. I bought mine in 1980, it now has 77k miles
on it. I change the oil & filter every 7500 miles, and in general
follow the maintenance schedules in the manual (I do nearly all
of the maintenance myself, including tune-ups). My car has the
"sporty" RS package, which includes a rather stiff suspension,
wider tires/wheels, quicker steering, and guages, all of which I like.
Let's see -- I've averaged about 34.5 mpg since I bought the car,
and I drive it fairly hard on occasion, but the majority of the
driving is under 60mph on highways (expect 36+mpg under those
conditions). I'd recommend getting the large (1.6l) engine,
which works less hard than the 1.4l. My car is a lot of fun to
drive, as the Twin-Stick transmission gives it the low gears to
be quite quick (Road&Track says 10.4sec to 60mph), and yet still
get the mileage when you want to. The RS model handles quite
well, but the suspension is stiff enough that you notice bumps
more than some might like -- not all models are like that, though.
The car is quite reliable, and very well built -- I have hit huge
pot-holes that I thought would tear the wheel off, yet I have never
had to align the front end, and the tires have always worn evenly
(I'm nearing the end of my second set -- and I rotate them every
oil change, as per the manual). The car has never stranded me at
any time, and the only faults worth mentioning have been a sunken
carb. float ($14), and a burned-out heater blower resistor ($5),
both of which I diagnosed and replaced myself.
Oh yes -- I'm 6'3", most of which is in my torso, and I have just
enough headroom with the seat tilted back one notch. But I had
to insist on not having a sunroof.... One of the editors of
Road&Track has a Colt with 129k+ miles on it, and all he had
done to it was replace a clutch cable. All in all, I would sum
up the car in the words of Road&Track, "...it may well be the
best of the econoboxes."
Marion Hakanson CSnet: hakanson%oregon-state@csnet-relay
UUCP : {hp-pcd,tektronix}!orstcs!hakansonmgv@duke.UUCP (Marco G. Valtorta) (08/01/85)
In article <392@amdimage.UUCP> cmoore@amdimage.UUCP (chris moore) writes: >A friend of mine is planning to buy a new car, and she is >considering the Dodge Colt. I was never all that impressed >with the Colt, but I know that they are now made by Mitsubishi >and I think Mitsubishi makes good cars. How long has >Mitsubishi been making the Colts? Does anyone have one, and >if so, what do you think of it. Thanks for your help. > Chris Moore >-- >I bought a Dodge Colt (by Mitsubishi) in October 1982 (1982 model 3 door >4 speed man. trans.) It now has over 46K miles. During that time I have >changed the oil and filter every 5K miles, the plugs once, the air filter >twice, and just last month replaced the front disc brake pads. It has >never used more than 1/2 quart between changes, so I've never had to add >any oil. It has not used any brake fluid, transmission fluid, or anti- >freeze. I have never given it a real tune-up. >The ride is very stiff. Bumbs and jolts will shake up everything in the >car. The seats are uncomfortable (so says everyone who rides with me much.) >There is not much headroom -- I'm 6'5" and drive with the seat tilted back >a little to accomodate myself. However, this reduces the room for those >sitting behind me. >For a low-priced car, I'd rate it 9.+ on mechanical and 5 on ride. >Kim Alan Althoff My Colt was bought in November 1983. It now has over 31,000 miles. I had the same experience as Kim, with the difference that I change the oil every 7,500 miles, as the operator's manual suggests. Colts are known to live routinely to 150,000 miles without major expenses. I don't know about the new Colt model, which is a little bigger than the old one. Also, the 1.4 liter engine is not very powerful. I think that the new model comes with the 1.6 liter as the standard engine, but I would check. A used Colt would be a perfect car for a single person or a new family on a tight budget. Marco Valtorta
dca@edison.UUCP (David C. Albrecht) (08/01/85)
In article <392@amdimage.UUCP> cmoore@amdimage.UUCP (chris moore) writes: >A friend of mine is planning to buy a new car, and she is >considering the Dodge Colt. I was never all that impressed >with the Colt, but I know that they are now made by Mitsubishi >and I think Mitsubishi makes good cars. How long has >Mitsubishi been making the Colts? Does anyone have one, and >if so, what do you think of it. Thanks for your help. > Chris Moore I owned a Colt hatchback from 79 to 84 (79 was the first year for the hatchback). The mechanicals can hardly be faulted; the only major work I had on the car was new brake pads. The interior, however, was quite plasticy and faded considerably in the 5 years I owned it. The driver's seat was falling apart by the time I sold it. According to government crash test results from consumer reports if you have a serious head on crash your chances of survival are none too hot (black dot). With the 1.6 liter twin-stick it is a fairly peppy performer and turns in good fuel economy (mine was 25-30 city 38-40 highway). For basic dependable transportation at low cost the car is a good deal (as long as you don't worry about accidents). David Albrecht General Electric
lip@masscomp.UUCP (John Lipinski) (08/02/85)
>My Colt was bought in November 1983. It now has over 31,000 miles. >I had the same experience as Kim, with the difference that I change the >oil every 7,500 miles, as the operator's manual suggests. Colts >are known to live routinely to 150,000 miles without major expenses. >I don't know about the new Colt model, which is a little bigger than >the old one. Also, the 1.4 liter engine is not very powerful. I think >that the new model comes with the 1.6 liter as the standard engine, >but I would check. A used Colt would be a perfect car for a single >person or a new family on a tight budget. > > Marco Valtorta I bought my 1985 Mitsubishi Mirage several months ago. If it was imported by Dodge, it would have been called a Dodge Colt and would have a different name plate. It has about 5400 miles on it now so it is a little too soon to determine how reliable it will be in the long run. I am thoroughly pleased with it so far. It is very comfortable, handles quite well for a small car and have had absolutely no problems with it. About the only gripe I do have is that the engine is small (standard 1.5 liter, the turbo version comes with a 1.6l with about 20% more hp) and not very powerful. John Lipinski {ihnp4,decvax}!masscomp!lip
andrew@grkermi.UUCP (Andrew W. Rogers) (08/03/85)
In article <527@edison.UUCP> dca@edison.UUCP (David C. Albrecht) writes: >In article <392@amdimage.UUCP> cmoore@amdimage.UUCP (chris moore) writes: >>A friend of mine is planning to buy a new car, and she is >>considering the Dodge Colt... > >...According to government crash test results from consumer reports >if you have a serious head on crash your chances of survival are >none too hot (black dot)... The earlier series ('79-'84) did indeed do poorly in the crash tests (as did most Japanese cars whose design dated to the late 70's). The '85 has been redesigned considerably, and did much better in the most recent tests. We're thinking about buying a Clot as an everyday car, and semi-retiring our '70 Firebird and '79 RX-7. The base model goes for $5500 delivered around here, and you can bargain *that* down - quite a nice car for the money. A bit noisy and stiff riding, but can an RX-7 owner complain? Andrew W. Rogers