While Japanese cars still commanded a premium in 1989, though not as much as in 1984, there were a few Asian cars that were not really on anyone’s radar. They were not bad cars, and since many were sold through the dealer channels of the Big Three, one could negotiate a really good deal.
With the Sentra now down for the count due to a required and costly transmission repair, I was tasked with finding a replacement – a task that I took on eagerly. Since Mom and Dad had just purchased a new Civic LX a few months prior, I knew where we stood on price.
The back of the Tercel looks like someone’s lower lip after it was stung by a bee.
I considered neither American cars nor the novel Volkswagen Fox wagon. The usual suspects meant a base model with a 4-speed manual and no power steering, and the Tercel was just too homely. My options were limited.
Not sure what image Ford was going for here…
First up was the Ford Festiva LX, a re-badged Kia Pride built in South Korea using the tooling of the old Mazda 121. My expectations were low, but I was pleasantly surprised. It had a 5-speed manual, alloy wheels, tachometer, upgraded interior, AM/FM stereo and a few other niceties. Acceleration was better than the Sentra, with very little noise to boot. But that styling – it looked like a phone booth on wheels. I just couldn’t do it.
Daihatsu Charade photo cribbed from a CC on TTAC
Next up was the Daihatsu Charade. A long-time Japanese manufacturer of small vehicles, Daihatsu commenced U.S. sales the year before. I went in looking to try out a mid-level CLS, but the salesman steered me over to one of the leftover ’88 top-line CSXs. During the test drive, he continuously talked about how much more tight these were compared to the ’89s, but everything seemed loose, with squeaks and rattles accompanying the wheezing from the three-cylinder engine. I declined the offer to test one of the ’89s. I was done, and so was Daihatsu in the U.S. by 1993. Charade has to go down in history as one of the more interesting choices of names for an automobile. I had a friend in college with the base model, and one day she drove a (small) group of us to lunch. As we approached a stop sign, I yelled, “Stop this Charade NOW!” No one laughed, sadly.
Notice how I’m taking a more measured approach than the last time I looked for a car?
This is the Colt I really wanted…
The new Colt’s vaguely egg-shaped predecessor.
I then looked at the Mitsubishi Mirage Plymouth Colt E, which was redesigned for 1989, with Honda Civic-aping kammback styling and the wrap-around rear-window look that was then in vogue. It was a significant improvement over its vaguely egg-shaped predecessor. The “E” was the first step up from the base model, and it checked all the necessary boxes with 5-speed manual, power steering, stereo, and a cargo cover – a nice hard plastic one that raises and lowers with the hatch, not one of those cheap vinyl covers that’s fixed in place or retracts like a cheap window shade. Outside, the E added side moldings, wheel trim rings, and a reflector that bridged the expanse of space between the tail lamps.
The rear looked much nicer with the reflector connecting the tail lamps. In other countries, that’s where the license plate was mounted.
The short test drive was positively enlightening. The fuel-injected engine was silky smooth, the shifter light and precise, and the low-effort clutch grabbed at just the right point. I expressed my interest to the salesman, but told him that it was actually my father purchasing the car, so I would have to come back on Saturday. He then handed me his card and wrote down the selling price, which was significantly below the sticker.
I really wanted to like the Hyundai Excel
After sharing my adventures with Dad, he asked me why I hadn’t tested the Hyundai Excel? I told him that it was because I had read nothing good about the car, from quality to drive-ability. “You can’t just go by what you read,” he said. “You have to go down there and see for yourself.” So down there I went. Honestly, I wanted to like this mid-level GL. I was always a fan of Giugiaro’s design, especially in 3-door form. Compared to the sparse Colt, this car had all of the creature comforts plus a power moonroof. The test drive, unfortunately, confirmed everything I’d read: Slow and noisy, with a vague shifter. No amount of features was going to sell me on this car.
When my father and I went back to the dealer where I tested the Colt, we were informed that they…uh…sold that car, but had an identical car that they’d sell us for about $2,000 more. Buh bye.
Todd Flanders: “Go faster, Dad. He’s going to catch us!” (As Homer, on foot, closes in)
Ned Flanders: “I can’t! It’s a Geo!”
Dad then asked if I had looked at the Geo Metro. “Ummmm, no. I must have…ummmm…overlooked that one.” While the Festiva and Charade were relative unknowns, the Suzuki Cultus Chevrolet Sprint Geo Metro was the butt of a lot of jokes and the “Get To Know Geo” advertising campaign was grating. Since I was not the one buying the car, we took a drive in a red LSi 3-door, and I was determined to explore its limits. The only things I remember were the air conditioner constantly cutting out at full throttle, where you spend most of your time, and Dad being convinced we were up on two wheels at one point. A tall body, poor handling and small wheels can give one that impression.
At another Plymouth dealer, Dad took a test drive and understood why I chose the Colt. “Oh, yeah. This is nice.” Back at the desk, the sales staff wanted to play the game, and actually came within $100 of Dad’s price after about an hour. Dad never liked the game and didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of giving in, especially since there were plenty of Dodge and Plymouth dealers* around. After we walked out, the salesman came out to our car. “Are you really going to leave over $100?” “Yes.”
I should have switched out the white wheel covers for these babies!
At Dodge, there was a white Colt E with some cheap aftermarket wheel covers. After presenting our price to the salesman, he countered with $50 more. Dad turned to me and said, “So, do you want a car?” It doesn’t get much easier than that, and a short time later we were driving home in our his new car. I just couldn’t bring myself to ditch those wheel covers, though.
Interior pictures of this model are very hard to find.
I liked the Colt, but gone were the tachometer, remote trunk/fuel fill door release, rear wiper, remote for the driver’s side mirror, and passenger side mirror. The “variable intermittent wipers” now consisted of me turning the wipers on and off at my own preferred interval. The Sentra’s nifty collapsible A-pillar antenna was replaced by a fixed mast on the passenger side front fender. Finally, the tires were puny P155/80 R13s.
Internet photo of the excellent Mitsubishi stereo
There were some niceties, however. Back then, Mitsubishi made their own high-end stereo receivers. So, the sound from the four-speaker AM/FM stereo was fantastic. In addition, there was a deep console between the front seats that, when you flipped up a trick divider, turned into 2 very sizable cup holders.
Internet photo of the MPFI 1.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine
From a quality standpoint, I would place the Colt between the domestics and Honda/Toyota. Since the car was fuel injected, I called the salesman to ask about the rough idle. He said that the Colt wasn’t fuel injected. Why did I bother? I had it checked out by the service department, and they, of course, found nothing wrong. I could also feel a distinct grinding under hard braking. After taking it back to the service department and waiting five hours, the service manager took it for a drive, handed me the keys, and said, “All brakes squeal sometimes.” Arrrrghhh! I couldn’t argue because I had to get to work.
This, I learned, was the biggest problem with purchasing a captive import. When I did need to bring it to the service department, I was competing with dozens and dozens of broken-down Dodges. I’m sure the introduction of Ultradrive around this time didn’t help matters much. When the alternator failed, and I was told that they would not be able to work on the car until the next day, I requested a loaner. “We don’t give loaners.” Also, the technicians didn’t have a lot of experience with Colts, and parts were rarely in inventory.
Contrast the above with Mitsubishi. According to the manual, the antenna needed to be removed before taking the car into the car wash. I couldn’t turn it with my hand. I grabbed a pair of pliers and turned and turned but it wouldn’t come off. Yeah, I was turning the base, not the mast, and was now getting no reception on the stereo. Just for fun, I called the service department at our nearest Mitsubishi dealer. “Sure, bring it down, and we’ll fix it under warranty.” Once I admitted it was a Colt and not a Mirage, he said he was sorry but the warranty was through Dodge, and they would have to charge for the work. The service adviser at Dodge just handed me the $150 estimate and waited for my OK. Oh, how I hated that dour, little service adviser.
Other issues with the car were trim pieces falling off, a shift book that prematurely wore out, and brake lights that stayed on and melted the tail lights. That last one got me pulled over one night while coming home from a club. Noting my age, dress, and it being the middle of the night, he asked me where I was coming from and if I’d had anything to drink. I mentioned that I’d only had one drink, but failed to include that it was about the size of a Big Gulp. I’m not so sure how I would have fared in a breathalyzer test, but he just let me off with a warning to get the lights fixed. Since the car was out of warranty by this time, Dad fixed the tail lamps with a soldering iron. I wish I could do stuff like that.
Aside from these issues, it was a great car that I drove all through the rest of the five-and-a-half years it took me to get my bachelor’s due to constantly switching majors. I ultimately settled on history with secondary teacher certification (this being the era of great teacher movies like Stand and Deliver and Dangerous Minds), but student teaching taught me that this career wasn’t the best fit. I spent a good part of the following year traveling, and then my mother informed me that the free ride was over, and they’d have to start charging me rent. Strangely, I was right back where I was when I was 16 – $3,000 in the bank and no car. I wasn’t going to buy another beater, so I effectively had three choices:
- Pay the damn rent and continue driving her car (and running her errands).
- Buy a new or newer car. However, with my menial job, I then wouldn’t be able to afford to move out.
- Move someplace where I wouldn’t need a car.
Well, what would you do if your mother asked you?
LOL no they are not fuel injected but they did come with some rudimentry electronics in the carburettor and ignition which are prone to failure, I had one of these but in four door it was a 1989 Mitsubishi Mirage VIE X 1500cc automatic, being a used ex JDM import it came with all the fruit climate AC power windows and locks full velour interior it was a comfortable place to ride it had the JDM suspension that freaked out it you took a corner at more than walking pace and the trouble prone sensors controlling the carburettor and ignition which as you can guess went wrong, The cure in New Zealand is go the a wrecking yard and find a locally assembled car and get the distributor and carburettor from it install it opn your ex JDM car and away you go no more problems except the car is tuned for gentle suburban or motorway driving and is an absolute piece of shit on NZ roads, maitaining our ludicrously low speed limit of 100kmh is a real white knuckle experience in such vehicles.
They were injected in Aus, Bryce, and for emissions, almost certainly the US.
Thanks Kiwi. For 1989 in the US, the engine received MPFI, upping the horsepower from 68 to 81. I originally had it in the article, but I had to take it out for length. I did include the picture of the clearly not-carbureted engine, however. The Excel continued using carbureted version until it’s re-design in 1990 when it started using the FI version.
but I had to take it out for length.
Oh jeez; now you’re making me feel guilty. 🙂
The word count numbers I gave you are just a rough target, not etched in stone. You’re a fine writer, so feel free to go longer if you’re so inclined.
Nah – I need boundaries 🙂
My 89 colt was fuel injected . I am looking for another one. With working air. After market part. Mine got totalled. California car preferred.
I owned one of those 1989 Mitsubishi Mirages in four door and VIE X trim level which gave you every extra Mitsubishi could cram in power locks and window climate AC nice upholstery all powered by a gutless 1500cc Cyclone four banger via an automatic trans carburettor not EFI, Mitsu at the time was experimenting with sensors to control various aspects of the engines performance and emissions the sensors fail and the car becomes useless, the cure is to find in wrecking yards a NZ assembly Mirage the same model and harvest the carb and distributor install them o your import and off you go again on your comfortable ex JDM suspension that is absolutely horrible at speed The helpful Japanese fit a chime which sounds at their and our maximum speed limit 100kmh keeping the chime sounding is real white knuckle territory nothing handles as badly as a ex JDM car with their comfort setting suspension even new tyres and shocks didnt fix that..
here comes the salesman for his 50 bucks…
That car brings back memories. In 1991, in the middle of a very friendly divorce from my first wife (we’re still good friends today), one thing on the to-do list was to find her a new car. We ended up with an upper line Colt, and I negotiated a good deal on it. At which point she only had to go back to the dealership, sign the final paperwork, and take delivery.
Except, in the interim she decided she didn’t like the color. And the color she did like was available only in the cheaper line. So she went back and changed cars. And the dealership was more than happy to give her the new color at about the same price as what I’d negotiated, plus all the ADM crap added (Tru-Cote, anyone?) that I’d gotten removed.
It’s your money, dear. I understand you hate cars and driving, but let’s get real . . . All this to change the color?
That was fun to read!
“Are you really going to leave over $100?” -“Yes.” I would have liked to see the salesman’s face right then.
But the pride came at a cost: “gone were the tachometer, remote releases, rear wiper etc.”
A Mazda 323 could have been on the list as well, probably just out of the price range. I drove a rental Colt around that time and really liked it as much as my own 323.
Thanks Wolfgang. I would have loved a 323, but it would have had to be a base model with manual steering, 4-speed, and no A/C, which was a no-sale in hot, humid South Florida.
These were sold in Oz as Mitsubishi Lancers, probably because we kept getting the ancient (1981-ish) Colt till vastly past its expiry date in about 1990 (by when it had many ineffective plastic additions on its skin in an attempt to stay youthful). We didn’t get this rather cool 3-door, though the 5-door we got wasn’t a bad looker in the fashion of the time.
You describe the quality just so: not Toyota, and not domestic-standard, so essentially tough, but with bitty weaknesses.
That 1500 with efi went with real vigour, and lasted for gigantic mileages, the box was slick, the ride really decent for a small car, but I found the handling was woeful. I drove a friend’s one almost new. To my utter embarassment, I nearly understeered right off the road – twice.
Btw, the Geo Metro also went about as a Holden Barina, and in a few places incl here, as a Suzuki Swift, the last which could be had as a Gti with a screaming 1.3 twin-cam, fat wheels, and half-decent suspension, and they raced them (!), but I’ll admit the only Geo (Barina) I ever drove was the pretty nasty car you describe. As for those Excels, they were sold here by a crooked billionaire who ended up in jail, which seemed appropriate for someone who’d tried to sell a car that had all the qualities of something that might well have been resentfully assembled inside the clink. Awful bloody things.
A minor question: did you have no car at the end because Ma re-possessed, or did it expire?
My mother made it quite clear that if I had any intention of moving out, her car wasn’t going with me. You’ll find out next week what I decided.
The U.S. also received the Swift GT (VW wouldn’t let Suzuki call it the GTi here), and I would have loved to have that instead but it was out of our price range. The Metro and lesser Swifts were stuck with the 58-horespower, 1.0 liter three.
Lancers are a different trim level and do have injection but that is about the only real difference in the 1500cc engine class. Yeah Aussie did get a lot of leftovers in that period the difference in the automotive landscape when I went back to NZ was amazing.
My grandparents had a teal one of these here in the UK, an ’89 Mitsubishi Colt GLX 3-door, until the mid-2000s when I was a kid. I remember cramming into the back of it many times with my siblings, and I really loved the colour of it too. My grandparents had been quite early adopters of Japanese cars, and the Colt had replaced a beloved Honda Civic (I didn’t exist at the time, but grandma said it was her favourite car she’d ever owned) that had in turn replaced a string of 70s/80s Datsuns and Hondas. My granddad liked them because they were reliable but also easy to work on (he had been an agricultural engineer so…). The Datsuns influenced my parents, and when they replaced their first car (an ’83 Austin Metro, my dad’s side were a BMC family) in ’93 we became a Nissan family all the way (alongside a love affair with Saabs briefly provided by my dad’s company that is still with me today).
The Colt finally died when some fuel line component, either at the filler or even the tank itself, had degraded and corroded to the point a hole formed, which was discovered when filling up and the fuel immediately drained out onto the ground. The replacement (and the last car they owned) ended the Japanese string, as they chose a used ’98 Renault Clio instead of the similarly-aged Suzuki Baleno 3-door (aka Cultus Crescent) they’d been looking at, worried about parts availability.
When I was selling cars back in the early 90’s, I would see Dodge/Plymouth Colts come across our used sales lot and I got to drive a fair amount of them. The base cars were very basic as was the custom of the time for Japanese cars. But the higher trim levels were rather nice, making a marginal car much nicer. I was really enamored with Mitsubishis back in the day, as the captive import versions were very nicely equipped and to my eye, offered better value than the other Japanese brands.
Back then dealers weren’t so concerned about their reputation as they are now. I had similar issues with Ford and Dodge dealers in my small town in Pennsylvania. But the Chrysler/Plymouth dealer in my town in Georgia had far better service policies than any other dealer I used.
One note on the Kia Pride/Ford Festiva: I’ve known several people who have run those things up to astronomical mileages. Which, in Rust Country (TM), was no small feat as that was what usually took them off the road; mechanically, the little buggers ran forever!
I’m slightly surprised that you liked the Colt (6th gen) but not the Excel (5th gen Colt based), considering they were basically the same cars from a mechanical standpoint. Perhaps it was just the little details that got lost in the translation from Japanese to Korean? Or perhaps there was just that much improvement from the 5th gen to the 6th?
Besides the fuel-injected engine vs. the still-carbureted engine in the Excel, a lot got lost in the translation. You really would never know the two cars were related, even with the Excel re-design the following year.
The Excel ran that late 80s Mitsu 3 door body well into the 90s in some markets the two cars were indistinguishable.
In the U.S., Mitsubishi also sold a re-badged Excel as the Precis, which was slotted under the Mirage. However, the Mitsubishi cars never looked like the Hyundai cars, especially since the original Excel was designed by ItalDesign while the Mitsubishi cars were all designed in-house.
I drove an 89 Precis right before buying an 89 Colt. Night and day difference in the way they drove. The fuel injection on the Colt made an enormous difference in throttle response and driveability. The Precis was PAINFULLY slow. The Colt was just ummm slow (but about on par for the era).
Also, as Adam stated, there was almost nothing similar about the driving experience. Pretty amazing, given the shared lineage.
The GT pictured above you say you’d rather have is a very desirable and rare vehicle; between the three brands, only approximately 1,500 were brought over, main difference between them being the Mirage Turbo lacked the Colt GT’s power windows. Excellent ride and handling balance mated to the new 4G61T engine conservatively rated at 135 hp, in a featherweight package for less than $12,000 put these on Car and Driver’s 10 Best list for 1989. Why a one year wonder? The new for 1990 DSM coupes. This little hot hatch was still cheaper than even the most basic 1.8 92 hp DSM and would absolutely mop the floor with one. Can’t have that, you see…
Enjoyable read, Adam. You certainly did your due diligence checking all the various models, picking from a similar crop as we had to choose from when we bought our ’91 Tercel. I think there was also an Eagle version of the Colt/Mirage sold as the Summit. I knew someone who had one and really liked it. When we were car shopping, a co-worker recommended the Festiva, but I, like you, was left cold by the styling. I also had a friend who had an ’89 Excel, and it was a decent little car for the most part, but man did it rattle and vibrate on most road surfaces that weren’t glass-smooth.
Back in 1990 I was considering the Colt and the Honda Civic. The Colt scored highly in a Car and Driver comparison test, Of course the Honda was the most expensive but 1990s Hondas were terrific cars. Lucky for me my Wife surprised me with a Brand new white Civic SI coupe. Such a beautifully built, great running car. I consider it the best car I’ve ever had.
Eeeyeah. I used to have a pretty good collection of Plymouth-Dodge TSBs spanning 1960–’94 or so. No reprints, these; they had done time in various dealers’ service departments, so mixed in was the occasional odd and end that wasn’t a TSB: a paint chip chart, a signup form for Chrysler’s Master Technician training program, a Miller Tools leaflet, that kind of thing. One such odd (or was it an end?) was billed as the minutes from a New Jersey dealer’s service department meeting, dated 1974. It didn’t read like much of a “meeting”, more like a collective bawling-out. I don’t recall the whole list of line items, but here are a few of the ones I remember; the relevant one is verbatim, including the all-caps:
• Do not badger the front office about when you’ll get your check, or everyone’s check will be held until the 15th and end of the month.
• Complete EACH and EVERY item on EACH and EVERY work order you draw. Do not rob the gravy from a job and leave the rest for someone else.
• COLTS WILL BE WORKED ON BY *ALL* TECHS WITHOUT ANY BACKTALK.
Adam, special thanks for the quotation, assuming it was intentional, from La Regle Du Jeu .
Completely unintentional, as I never saw the film. Was it the “charade” comment? The only intentional quote was from The Cat and the Hat at the end of the piece. I was wondering if anyone would catch that. And, of course, the one under the picture of the Metro.
Your mother is doing you a favor. . If I were you, I would go to a place where a car was not needed. Do well enough at your job until you move up. In time you will be able to buy a nice car. I’m looking forward to seeing how life unfolds.
Was this in your price range?
You’re funny. Very funny.
The fuel injected 2.2 was pretty stout. With a stick, I imagine you could coax some significant MPGs along with high miles of service. As I recall, these and Escorts were sold with fairly decent options (A/C, stereo) at a low price for CAFE compliance. I had a ’90 Escort wagon, picked it up for $25 at an auction (the auction fee was $50!) around 1999/2000. It had 115,000 on it when I got it. Put a clutch, inner and outer tie rods, spark plugs and brakes in it. It was nothing but oil changes and tires up until 330,000 when the rear strut towers rotted through. 40 MPG highway all the time, at the time I had a 100 mile round trip commute.