1986 Plymouth Horizon....Opinions.

[Ripinator]

My two teenage daughters are getting their licensees this year and youngest daughter loves old stuff especially anything to do with the 80's. So she said she wanted a car with "character" so I started looking for something economical in the late 70's to early 90's mopar compact. Well I found a little 86 Horizon that is being sold as a non-runner...carb issues from what the guy stated about symptoms, may need CV joints and a repair to a broken exhaust pipe, and few other minor things.

So just curious what peoples feed back on these little cars, goods/bad, things to look out for and consider if I was to pick it up for her.

Thank you for your input.

Those Horizons are too old and - by now - unreliable. I would go for something like this for your daughter:
Used Buick Century For Sale - CarGurus

 

[300rag]

Those Horizons are too old and - by now - unreliable. I would go for something like this for your daughter:
Used Buick Century For Sale - CarGurus

Umm...he was looking for something with character.

 

[Carmine]

I notice the naysayers have little actual experience. About the only useful comments pertain to carburetor issues. Head gaskets? Seriously? Weak brakes? A discredited report from Communist Reports (check their history)?

My family had one that I took over as a kid. The carburetor did suck, although they all did back then. That said, you'll have a helluva time finding one in decent shape 30+ years later.

My advice mirrors what others have said... Go for something that was more expensive when new and accordingly had a better survival rate. I think it's great that she has enough personality to "care" what she drives and isn't a mind-numb robot in an appliance. She'll likely go onto to better things than her peers.

If she wants an 80s car with personality, I like the Daytona/LeBaron/Lancer ideas. All the usual cautions about rust, etc. apply.

If this was a fuel injected model ('87+) I'd recommend...

1986 Dodge Caravan Woodie Minivan - $2499 (Livonia) hide this posting
image 1 of 23

1986 Dodge Caravan LE

condition: good
cylinders: 4 cylinders
drive: fwd
fuel: gas
odometer: 70000
paint color: red
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
type: mini-van

1986 Dodge Caravan Woodie! 70,000 miles, 2 owners, matching numbers. Runs great. New tires, radiator, brakes, hoses, tie rods, coil springs, and carburetor in last year. All work done by professional mechanics. $2,499.00 OBO. Featured at the 2018 Concours d’Lemons. Wayne Carini was impressed!

 

[Davea Lux]

I put two of my daughters in Neons an they have proved to be reliable little cars. Timing belt is a major PIA to change and needs to be done right at 100k. Motor mounts tend to pound out the rubber center section so they need to be checked starting at about 50k. The 2.0 is pretty much bullet proof other than the factory cam position sensors are usually only good for about 50k. After market units last longer and are cheaper. Both of their Neons now have 150k and are still going strong with the original engines and transmissions. The later ones '04-'05 came with that crappy propylene Glycol coolant which is the first thing I got rid of. The second generation Neon is a better car than the earlier ones.

Dave

 

[Triple Pickle]

I worked in a garage in the early 90’s. The owners granddaughter had a horizon. About a 86 I believe. Nothing but trouble.. carb issues mostly,among I don’t recall what else. I felt so sorry for her and her parents. Always breaking down on the side of the road.
The owner finally broke down and gave her a Monte Carlo.
Nostalgia is fine. It wears off when you blow money on junk that has no value and you don’t get any service out of it.
I love the old cars. However, I have no illusions as to how they compare to the cars made in the last 10-20 years.

 

[Snotty]

A friend of mine bought a Horizon new. Only complaint was the MPG: 22 on the highway. He expected much better for a small car with the Chrysler 2.2 in it. I would too. He traded it in on a full-sized Dodge Van. Didn't get any better MPG.

 

[Ripinator]

Umm...he was looking for something with character.

The character faded outa that Horizon a long time ago. . .

 

[Carmine]

The character faded outa that Horizon a long time ago. . .

Old folks don't dictate "cool". Some old fogey said C bods were crap 30 y/ago.

 

[Ripinator]

Old folks don't dictate "cool". Some old fogey said C bods were crap 30 y/ago.

Are you calling me an old fogey?!?

 

[Turboomni]

Well beside the engineering problems my main concern is my daughter in a tiny tin can car that weights between 2200 to 2400 lbs up against today's cars that are 3000 and up..then the idiots in 5 to 6000 pound suv's, pickups who's bumpers are at the middle of the driver's door glass.
The van would be interesting. I had an 89 Voyager turbo van that I rebuilt the engine and removed the balance shafts and had balanced ,bigger turbo and added an intercooler. That was a hoot!

 

[Carmine]

Are you calling me an old fogey?!?

No worse than I.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

The character faded outa that Horizon a long time ago. . .

Go drive one, there is plenty of character left..

Well beside the engineering problems my main concern is my daughter in a tiny tin can car that weights between 2200 to 2400 lbs up against today's cars that are 3000 and up..then the idiots in 5 to 6000 pound suv's, pickups who's bumpers are at the middle of the driver's door glass.
The van would be interesting. I had an 89 Voyager turbo van that I rebuilt the engine and removed the balance shafts and had balanced ,bigger turbo and added an intercooler. That was a hoot!

I see your concern but he lives in the middle of nowhere. Unlike the over populated high A-hole percentage area you are, I'm sorry to say stuck in. She would probably have to be more watchful of a 6-8 thousand pound tree or snowbank than a Tahoe or Escalade.
I personally like the little cars, 2 doors especially.

 

[Analog Kid]

The first car my parents ever bought new was a 1982 Plymouth Horizon. I remember sitting in the dealership until late at night bored to death while they did all the paperwork. They traded in a '77 Monaco that they inherited when my great Aunt died...what a shame right?

 

[Carmine]

The first car my parents ever bought new was a 1982 Plymouth Horizon. I remember sitting in the dealership until late at night bored to death while they did all the paperwork. They traded in a '77 Monaco that they inherited when my great Aunt died...what a shame right?

Oddly enough, my parent's replaced a '77 Monaco with an '83 Omni. Huh.

 

[thrashingcows]

......Thank you everyone for the comments and opinions, this is what I was looking for....the good, the bad and the ugly. As much as she may like the car I have the final say on what she gets, and I won't put her into a vehicle that is going to cost her a constant drain on her finances, and potentially be unsafe, especially up here with our heavy winters. And yes she would have more chance of hitting a Moose, Deer or Bear then some clown in a 6000lb SUV.

The car is a 4dr and it does appear that the front and rear bumpers are sagging....so the rust issues on mounts seem like it might be an issue, so therefore the fuel tank and lines might be on the way out as well. Here is the response I got to some of my questions....

For somebody mechanically inclined, it shouldn’t be too much work. I think the holly carb was running rich because it would always be hard to start and would diesel/backfire often. It backfired and sheared the exhaust pipe right of at one of the muffler mounts. I think its an electronic feedback carb so I think maybe the fuel mixture solenoid was faulty or something. It was my daily driver for about 18 months before I got my truck. I noticed a clicking sound while turning (maybe CV joints?) so that should be looked at as well. There are small things like the door handles are busted, the horn started going off when it snowed so I think a relay tripped or something. It is not something that can be driven away, but if you are into mopar, I am sure you could diagnose the problems quite easily.

 

[thrashingcows]

I also showed her a 73 Valiant 4dr for sale, rot in the lower quarters from the pics, but slant 6/auto...she really liked that one too. Might be a better choice. ;)

 

[Triple Pickle]

Go drive one, there is plenty of character left..

I see your concern but he lives in the middle of nowhere. Unlike the over populated high A-hole percentage area you are, I'm sorry to say stuck in. She would probably have to be more watchful of a 6-8 thousand pound tree or snowbank than a Tahoe or Escalade.
I personally like the little cars, 2 doors especially.

I gotta know, what part of my post do you disagree with? The part about the guys granddaughter? It’s true.
Throwing money at a worthless car that you can’t trust gets old? It does.
I love old cars? I do.
New ones and old ones don’t compare?
They don’t.

 

[LeBaron1973]

I also showed her a 73 Valiant 4dr for sale, rot in the lower quarters from the pics, but slant 6/auto...she really liked that one too. Might be a better choice. ;)

The valiant could be a better choice once checked over and rust sorted. More solid than the Ommi but with the benefits of of a 6 instead of V8 and stronger in a crash, whether an animal or vehicle.

Happy searching.

 

[commando1]

I bought new a turbo Horizon. Fun car to slap around but it was what it was... A super cheap econobox. Even though it had a handling package, it scared the crap out of me above 65-70 mph.
For local driving, I highly recommend these things.
For highway commuting... Forget about it.

 

[rkrochen]

I also showed her a 73 Valiant 4dr for sale, rot in the lower quarters from the pics, but slant 6/auto...she really liked that one too. Might be a better choice. ;)

What I really appreciate is the fact that you are trying to help her get into something classic. When our son was younger he wanted to buy a new mustang because he wanted people to notice him. I got him to realize that to be noticed you need to drive something with class and not something everyone can buy. He bought a 67 Malibu and loved it and never regretted it. He was always proud to drive it.