1988 Plymouth Reliant K Wagon: Regular Car Reviews

[@Aspire198]

Holy Christ that car is SO MINT. Gotta appreciate someone taking such good care of a car like that.

[@death13820]

Thanks

[@alechall7082]

@@death13820 youre doing gods work

[@death13820]

It's going to stay that way

[@dposcuro]

@@death13820 this makes me wonder, how did you get this thing? What prompted you to get a mint condition K-CAR? Regardless, thank you for your contribution to the memory of North Amerca.

[@death13820]

@@dposcuro long story short I was looking for a first car for my kid on Facebook Marketplace and found my show car hiding in a garage not far from me. It lived a very easy life.

[@ndestr0yr]

“There is *one* fuel injector. And it’s just goin’ *pffffffffffff* “ I literally died at that moment

[@nevetsfilms]

haha yeah me too

[@Dynam1cDr3w]

absolutely killed me too haha

[@dmfraser1444]

I had to replace that injector twice in the 15 years I drove mine. The pulse rate did vary with RPM though. It was actually metering the fuel into what was a glorified carburetor.

[@vincentvilay1407]

Yeah, that just about slayed me. I drive a '93 S-10 with a 4.3 V6. Everyone who takes a look at the engine automatically thinks it's carbureted because of the air cleaner. But nope, it's fuel injected. There's just only 2 of them and they're basically just dumping fuel into the throttle body in varying amounts depending on the RPM.

[@Rrbgameratpx4869]

fr

[@stevemanart]

>Reliant K >Roman not doing a cover of a Reliant K song smh

[@christophermorin9036]

I know, right? They even had a song called "Kit Car" That he could have changed to "K car."

[@LimitedTimeRoman]

Thought about it, but it would have been like doing "Barracuda" for the Barracuda review.

[@danhale4926]

Please appreciate the amount of willpower it took for Roman not to.

[@blahber222]

dang, i wanted to drop this Relient K bands comment too:/

[@SMGbird]

@@danhale4926 That's the only reason I can think of why they didn't lol

[@fleetwoodvo8673]

Your stories about childhood make me feel an aching sadness deep inside.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Both this and the 1990 Chevrolet Lumina one really hit home.

[@hoofglormuss657]

You needed to get more childhood but someone took it away from you.

[@mysterywrecked]

Yeah, this one had me kinda melancholy... for someone else's memories. I guess I didn't have a Pennsylvania childhood, sounds like it woulda been nice.

[@owllymannstein7113]

That's because aching sadness is a natural side effect of life in rust belt Pennsylvania.

[@Slacksfifth]

@@owllymannstein7113 That is true my friend.

[@WeinerSchlotzkie]

That quote at the end "Do you have a watch?" "Yeah, it's water proof" "Good, then you're the leader see you at 8" That really kicked up some buried memories

[@LazerLord10]

I remember back to those times, even as someone younger than the caricature in the story. Damnit, the waterproof depth rating of my watch *that I picked out myself at Khols* was important!

[@dalehadley3283]

I'm amazed that this is a Pennsylvania car and it's THIS clean

[@gmjunky87]

i know right? how on earth did it survive?

[@75aces97]

I'm a little surprised he could find one this clean ANYWHERE. I had a 1984 4 door as a hand me down. It lasted me long enough that I was able to give it back to my folks, and it stayed roadworthy for 15 years, which was all any of us could ask. But people who bought K cars typically didn't baby them to make them last this long.

[@gmjunky87]

@@75aces97 yup!! that's exactly how my old cavalier was. It was handed down through the family to me finally at 180k miles. We had to park it because the unibody had irreparable rust! That car led hard life!

[@dalehadley3283]

@@gmjunky87 Must've been garaged every winter

[@gmjunky87]

@@dalehadley3283 yup!!

[@LazerLord10]

it's B R O W N

[@jeffbarnes54]

I believe it’s “Electric Taupe”

[@SimonTrent8000]

My dads first new car was a 1984 dodge ares wagon 5 speed manual in grey with grey interior. My first 13 years of life was in this car. Family trips to the grand parents, trips to the grocery store where my dad sat up front with me and my two other brothers sat at in the back waiting what felt like an eternity for mom to come out of the store. Playing with the map light was the highlight of sitting up front. When dad down shifted to overtake a transport on the highway the wagon was a racecar to us as kids. Thank you for the review so i can see all the details i remember even that tailgate gap that tappers.

[@charlesfollette2655]

My parents first car was a 1983 Chevy chevette two door. Many good memories, just no ac

[@SimonTrent8000]

@@charlesfollette2655 my father's first car was a 75 nova and when i was born he had a chevette aswell.

[@brianheinz8938]

My first car was a hand-me-down 1982 Reliant wagon with a, get this, 4-speed *manual* paired to the 2.2. I beat the shit out of that car, and yet it never let me down. I miss that car.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

What ever happened to it?

[@brianheinz8938]

@@gregorymalchuk272 sold it to my girlfriend's dad where it sat in their yard for a few years. I saw it about 5 years later on a flatbed being hauled God knows where. That was 20 years ago.

[@JL-sm6cg]

A girl I went to school with's parents had a Reliant wagon with the stick. The only one I ever saw.

[@GiordanDiodato]

my dad had something similar, though his was a sedan 4-speed with front bench seats. It lasted a little over 100,000 miles before it broke down. never rode in it cause he and my mom had gotten together and had me after he got rid of it.

[@300DBenz]

Really? No mention of how clean that K car is?! It’s the first one I’ve seen that didn’t have the Flintstone braking option.

[@Tony-112]

Body looks flawless 👌

[@death13820]

Dude when I bought I had the intentention to give it to my kid for his first car. When I saw it I was blown away. It quickly became my show car. The kid would just fuck it up. It lived a very easy life in MD. It only have 90k miles whats that?? 3000k a year??? It was grandmas and it went to church and the shopping once a week and never in the winter. I worked at a Plymouth dealer in 95 and these were fucking roached out back then.

[@hamsterama]

@@death13820 The car looks great on the outside, but are you concerned about the condition of the engine? I know those "grandma only drove it to church and the grocery store" cars are often aged beyond what their mileage seems to indicate, due to all the stop-and-go driving and lack of highway cruising. Speaking for myself, because I take public transportation to work, I also only drive about 3,000 miles per year. When I do drive, I baby my car by doing as much highway driving as possible.

[@death13820]

@@hamsterama I did a compression test and it's well within spec but I'm going to take it easy. It's not a daily driver by any stretch. It has PA antique tags so I can only drive it one day a week for that I don't have to get it inspected. If the motor takes a dump I'll entertain some kind of swap.

[@hamsterama]

@@death13820 I'm glad to hear the compression test had great results! You're lucky that the lack of highway miles didn't doom this gem of a car. If you must do a swap in the future, that would be awesome! The body of this wagon is in such amazing condition that it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

[@seanno9744]

“Do you have a watch? Then you’re the leader” This video took me back to middle school quicker than any home video or photo album could

[@burnedtoast8047]

The response "yeah, it's waterproof" perfectly encapsulates childhood me all too well.

[@SomeFreakingCactus]

No Christian rock references?

[@BDUBZ49]

Haha I think those are mostly for 90's models. Usually it's Michael W. Smith.

[@collinmanning8334]

Fr 😂

[@scottieray]

Funny...I remember going to church camp in one of these and coming home from church camp same vintage New Yorker

[@jamesmcqueary6233]

OOOHHHHHHH!!! I'M LION-OOOOOO!

[@trashrabbit69]

If we made this car and it's atmosphere any more milquetoast Christian the Hallmark Channel would make a series centered around it.

[@adamthompson4072]

Me and this car are the same age... and it's holding up better than I am

[@fishkings423]

Adam Thompson that’s a really bad thing

[@adamthompson4072]

@@fishkings423 tell me about it. I wasn't kind to my body in my younger days and arthritis doesn't help anything

[@SlidTossedPissed]

Sounds like a case of overbreeding....

[@Weird_but_neat]

Drugs

[@h8GW]

Four years older, but I can walk Bear Mountain thrice yearly without any knee problems. Gel heel inserts really help with that.

[@youfube-]

4:18 "FRONT WHEEL DRIVE" I like how this detail about the drivetrain is so super important that the driver must be notified about it. At all times till the end of time.

[@barryervin8536]

I remember when I was a kid we had a DeSoto (I think?) and it had a huge brake pedal that said POWER BRAKES on it. I asked my mom what that meant and she told me that the brake pedal was real big so you use both feet on it. That's what POWER BRAKES meant.

[@tomlewis3658]

Most of them (like mine) came with a column-mounted selector, and the PRNDL display and needle is in that "FRONT WHEEL DRIVE" location. If it was blanked out, seems they could have saved a few cents per car on these console-selector models, so we may never know why "FRONT WHEEL DRIVE" in that place seemed like a good idea.

[@girthquake1413]

It's probably because until the 80s- thanks to cars like this one- Front wheel drive was still seen as being sporty and "Safe", since it only appeared on old race cars. I remember American manufacturers still touted FWD as a safety option even into the 2000s.

[@thebitlot]

Only Mr. Regular can do such a job of making you nostalgic for experiences you've never even had.

[@regularjim3193]

Probably the decline in sales of the 1989 Plymouth Reliant was due to the release of the all new 1989 Plymouth Acclaim (K-car 2.0). You should review one of those as well.

[@davidpistek6241]

That makes sense acclaim,spirit, thanks

[@kevaninthe4135]

@@davidpistek6241 And probably a shortened model year run to.

[@rmay7]

Yup, as per Wikipedia, K-car production actually ended in December 1988, so the MY89 models would've just been a handful of carryovers to stretch out inventory until the Spirit/Acclaim (built in the same factory) could ramp up production.

[@kevin2m4]

gold pkg only please

[@seththomas9105]

@@rmay7 The retools are usually timed for the holiday season in the car bidness so everyone in production gets the holidays off.

[@SooperDaive]

The Frackville grade is Formula One for Schuylkill County

[@nlpnt]

And unto us a child is born in Bethlehem...well, technically Allentown but the motel's right on the line and the office has a Bethlehem street address.

[@aaronet23]

My parents '80s car lineup: green Plymouth Reliant K wagon (1982? maybe, something like that) 86 Dodge Caravan with the Mitsubishi engine 88 Plymouth Sundance with Shadow taillights after my dad backed it into the front of a Ford Ranger

[@danam0228]

lol, it's as if Chrysler cars were made with legos

[@LancasterResponding]

Aaronet My dad has a late 70s Nova sedan when they got married. Don’t remember what my mom had. Then they owned an 86(?) Camaro which was a total piece of a shit. They sold that when my sister was born for an 88’ Chevy Corsica. That Corsica became my sister’s first car when she turned 16. It lasted till she turned 18 when it stopped being able to go in reverse. They only had one car at a time because my dad could walk to a 1/4 mile to work or if they needed a second car to he could walk the half mile to borrow a car from my grandparents.

[@fransb8543]

Your willingness and ability to compare any car to some quality of handy or sloppy BJ never ceases to amaze, entertain and inspire.

[@deandupont5503]

Oh Christ.... In 1988 I worked for a rental agency. We took delivery of eight brand new Reliants, straight off the carrier truck, in a mall parking lot four miles from the lot. Five of the eight never made it there, because Chrysler FORGOT TO PUT OIL IN THE ENGINES. Bang boom, five brand new Reliants with thrown rods.... Brilliant, Lee!

[@Michael-dp4tz]

How much is the torque converter eating up? Let's just say, it's going back for seconds.😁

[@joec3090]

oh dude, i saw the video too, isn't that quirky harhorharhorhor

[@TheRguru1]

OH EM GEE. ME TOO! What a weird coincidence don't ya think?!

[@barryervin8536]

Lock-up torque converter, so it was fairly efficient when cruising. Mine sometimes didn't unlock though, so the engine stalled at every stop.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

@@barryervin8536 That was apparently also a pattern problem with the GM THM125C as well.

[@nowake]

Mr. Regular has so many good riffs in this

[@billsilcott9692]

This was my first car. I bought it for $800 from my neighbor, who would later be my creative writing professor in college. It was maroon, and the hatchback would not stay latched. It would pop open upon rapid acceleration, which really wasn't an issue because rapid acceleration in that car was rare.

[@BrianVonClick]

Oh man. That is a real specimen of a kindred time. As wholesome as a slippery Werther’s Original candy and an episode of Mac & Me On VHS rented from the Baptist Church Library video section. Thank you.

[@__J_O__]

My dad had a couple of these cars (sedan style) for his business as a service engineer. One had over 500,000 and still ran but that 19 second 60 was a thing of the past by that time. Good comfortable cars for what they were.

[@christophermorin9036]

Yeah, it made the 6 hour drives up into Berlington VT every summer standable. A car you could read in without feeling sick because the bumps and pot holes didn't exist.

[@moonbeamskies3346]

So what was the 0 to 60 time by the time it got to that high mileage? I hope it wasn't much slower or it would have been like driving a fully loaded semi truck.

[@GiordanDiodato]

my dad had one of these in the 80s. he thought it was pretty nice.

[@dietrichhoefer]

There are so many instances of "pause to appreciate" beauty in this car. So clean.... such unique lines!

[@bradburns3094]

Had an 89 Aries sedan in this exact color combo, but I had the bench seat and column shifter. Most comfortable car I’ve ever owned

[@TieFighter99]

When I was in collage back in 1994, my girlfriends parents had an 89 K car sedan. They invited me to go to Florida with them during a break in February. We drove from Upstate New York to Daytona Beach Florida in a K car sedan. Not even a wagon, a sedan. Can you imagine 4 adults in a K car sedan with luggage traveling to Florida from NY. Yikes!!!! What a time to be alive.

[@danam0228]

lol, the rear bumper on that thing must have been nonexistent by the time you got back home. Friends of mine would often comment about the back of my dads K car sedan being really low to the ground whenever my whole family was in the car, and there was just 4 of us including my skinny older sister and I in the back (not that the rest of us were at all fat) with nothing but the spare tire in the trunk

[@Gabesafish]

I had an 84 Aries wagon that my grandparents handed down to me in 1990. Metallic brown, tan vinyl interior with the bench and the column shifter. This car routinely ran on after the ignition was keyed off and eventually set itself on fire (non fatally) as a result of the plastic “smog pump” failing. I had a sound system in that thing that would knock your socks off though, lol.

[@danam0228]

lol, caught fire, lol

[@horacegentleman3296]

Metallic B R O W N

[@matthewlibanio8227]

Wow, I admire the owner for keeping it in such awesome condition. Amazing. Anyone that loves an older car like this and takes care of it deserves respect.

[@jessecuster5877]

My Grandfather was a "Mopar or no car" until death.. He bought a 1987 Lebaron brand new. It was mint, and you just couldn't help but love the little bastard.

[@duraiden]

This is a nostalgia punch right to the face. My boss at my first job had a Reliant K wagon and we used it as a delivery vehicle. It's the first car I spent any appreciable solo time driving and I loved the thing. Spent much of time time in there at WOT and the thing just kept right on going.

[@pepesquat7132]

The passion I felt from that story you told at the end only comes from someone telling it from the heart. Thank you for being such a gift to the word, we all love you, guys.

[@projectinlinesix]

My grandmother had a Dodge Aries throughout my childhood, and seeing this review brought back some great memories. I can still hear the obnoxious buzzer that would sound every time she started the car.

[@WoodstaS]

The middle-aged man who reached out to offer you the chance to drive his car appears to be growing increasingly concerned over your fawning and, indeed, giddiness over his admittedly well-kept but, nonetheless, abjectly mundane, 1980's station wagon. 4:25 Good for you, Mr. Regular. Live your best life.

[@danam0228]

The laugh at end of acceleratimg to 60 was awesome

[@bac0nman]

My best friends mom drove around a k car when I was a kid, so I can say without a shred of a doubt that this is the single best car review video on the internet. All it needed was describing what closing the front door is like and saying "it feels pretty good but could be better" without elaborating. Have a nice day.

[@BigBearMan]

The "FWD stir-fried four-cylinder karatebox" line is fantastic in its boomerness

[@rucarnuts13]

Damn, what a treasure. I’m glad someone saved one and kept it in near-mint condition.

[@dmfraser1444]

I had a 1988 Dodge Aries Station Wagon. I got it in 1993. In 1996 it blew the head gasket then regularly every 2 years after the head gasket would blow. Having an iron block but an aluminum head was a totally stupid decision on the part of Chrysler. Maybe they wanted people to get fed up the second time and scrap the car to get them off the road and sell new cars. I even replaced it once myself. I move to LA in 2001 with the car and it was just fine for long distant travel. In 2008 I gave the car to a friend whose old car had bit the dust and they replaced the head gasket twice. Around 2016 the third time it blew for them, they parked it on their farm outside Lancaster CA. But other than the head gasket issue the car was good overall and while I did a lot of different things on it, it was a very economical ride for the 15 years I drove it. As well I never had to replace any suspension parts and only the steering rack out of all the steering parts. But I loved the feeling of room it gave me with that bench seat and column shift.

[@jjbooster4764]

This needs to be in forza motersport

[@davidpistek6241]

Build to 600 points and run off m3s with it

[@jjbooster4764]

@@davidpistek6241 sounds like a great hobby but I'm more into getting it into S class and see if I can piss off some hard nuts who only ues super cars coz there boring

[@danam0228]

that would be awesome, have the regular car review guys be avatars lol

[@alechall7082]

I miss forza 4 with all the shitboxes and tight tracks

[@vonhellsing6406]

Ls swap and swap to AWD

[@frvits]

"I'll meet you at the payphones at 8pm! Do you have a watch? Yes. It's waterproof. The you're the leader!" I feel this.

[@learnmyname123]

I was born in the mid 90's so this may have been just barely before me, but I knew someone with one of these. But with the narrative that you give, it breathes a life into this drab econo box that feels simultaneously undeserved and understated. The story telling gives me the *feel* of a car I never remember being in. You made me nostalgic for another person's memories. And that's why I value this channel so much. Never stop. (I did notice the lack of fart noises in this video, I'm sure it was a mistake so I'll give this one a pass, but dont do it again.)

[@lifeinhd4053]

Your comment is just long enough that there's a "read more" button, but not so long that clicking it actually does anything.

[@JudahGoat]

"Meet me by the payphones at..." You just threw me back to a forgotten place in my childhood so fast I got whiplash.

[@jamesprice2163]

Sadly I never lived through those times but I did live in the last days of "just sit in the bed and try not to fall out" days

[@BenjoKazooie64]

Slightly disappointed Roman didn't do a Relient K song for this one

[@nslouka90]

Benjo Kazooie Barenaked Ladies

[@NateLeePhillips]

@@nslouka90 A nice reliant automobile

[@310McQueen]

Cars have sure come a long way since then. Today, my wife's '16 Jeep Patriot (modernity's nearest equivalent to that car) has a 2.4L I4 and it can cruise at freeway speed with no problem. Up here you're going to want a car that can do that, too, because it's average sixty miles between towns up here, on two-lane roads, speed limit 60, but everyone's flying at 65-70. In the (blank)ing snow.

[@seed_drill7135]

Fortunately, the only K platform car we had was a Dodge Lancer Turbo. That was actually a nice car. Granted the transmission gave out at 105,000 miles, but by then it had been passed on to my sister.

[@barryervin8536]

I had a Turbo 5-speed Dodge Lancer too, an 88. I liked that car. I junked it at about 130.000 miles after the trans gave out for the second time. I think my mods to the turbowaste-gate had something to do with that though LOL!

[@seed_drill7135]

@@barryervin8536 My sister was driving it when the front axle came out. They replaced that without checking the transmission, which was why the axle came out. She didn't make it ten miles up the road before it happened again.

[@TeamPandaCRX]

Read that as "but by then my sister has passed away" and my heart went Hnnnng! and was really sad.

[@seed_drill7135]

@@TeamPandaCRX No. I saw her yesterday, in fact. But my sister did get the car when she was in high school because our mother had died from cancer. Hard for me to believe it was 30 years ago this week.

[@TeamPandaCRX]

@@seed_drill7135 I want to thumbs up but that seems inappropriate...you're really sending me on an emotional roller coaster here.

[@2steaksandwiches665]

I saw one of these in mint condition a few years ago and I literally stopped in my tracks to check it out. My wife did not understand it whatsoever. She goes that looks like a car from grand theft auto and I’m like… Exactly.

[@cassioamaral7096]

I miss wagons a lot, too bad stupid compact SUVs killed them. edit: just to clear up, I mean I dislike SUVs with unibody construction, not the good ol' body-on-frame ones.

[@Paul58061]

I believe that it was the mini van that killed the wagon, and not the SUV. Here is how it goes (who killed who): Video killed the radio star, mini van killed the wagon, SUV killed the mini van.

[@seththomas9105]

Buick is killing their wagon next year, not that they ever tried to sell one. Fuking GM. SMH.

[@BDUBZ49]

Minivans killed wagons long before SUVs.

[@seththomas9105]

@@Paul58061 The mini van and wagon co-existed for quite a while. I would say the rise of the pickup in the 90's and the original SUV's based on truck frames(Bronco,Blazer,RamCharger and the small versions, Bronco II, S-10, Dakota) did more to kill wagons.

[@sanstheskeleton2023]

Seth Thomas Pickups have been around as long as cars, and truck based wagons since the Suburban started in the 1930s. Those truck based SUVs started in the late 60s, but I don't think SUV as a term rose till the 80s. The minivan killed the wagon, after a good 10 years of coexistence. Small SUVs killed the minivan after closer to 20 years. And minivans still sell half-decently, unlike wagons.

[@Kevin_Knox]

Wow does this car bring back memories! My family had quite a few chrysler products of that generation, any of those cars brings back so many memories! I can still remember the smell of the headrests and interior upholstery of our 89 Voyager! And yes, my Dad did in fact have trouble with the a/c going up steep hills on long trips loaded down with the fam/cargo! I'm glad to be part of the last generation that experienced life with no cell phones. I do believe i just dated myself....

[@slayerjohn447]

I have a blue sedan version of that very car. Just over a 100k original miles. Still runs too! Though just a tad bit rougher on the body from the winters. Though it is the bench front with the column shifter. Now it mostly serves as a backup car since I have gotten some other cars to drive around that are a bit designed for the needs that I have.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Do you spray the undercarriage with motor oil or Fluid Film?

[@shtupidmate]

@Herbert Norkus well every car from this time period has emissions restrictions unless it was taken off privately

[@slayerjohn447]

@@gregorymalchuk272 I have not. Though it's only the rocker and a spot behind one of the rear tires that only has rust. The frame and the rest of the body is solid on it.

[@slayerjohn447]

@Herbert Norkus The car does have a check engine light, has came on a few times since I've had it. Presently it is not on. Though for it being for sale, sorry to disappoint, but it's been in the family since it was bought brand new, so it has a lot of sentimental value to it.

[@nathanventura548]

I vividly remember my Moms 88 Plymouth Reliant Sedan with that same crushed velour interior in tan. Was probably the only family car we had in the 90s that wasn't covered in rust, instead it had a lousy transmission that died on us halfway through our drive home to Buffalo from Allegany in PA, that was an adventure.

[@crystalbepis]

The first 30 seconds of this video has so much chaotic energy even for Mr Regular standards

[@Skligmund]

My mom had a 1987 Dodge Lancer with the 2.2 TURBO. Last decade, I used to roll around in a 1985 Plymouth Turismo with the 2.2 HO engine and a 5 speed manual gearbox. That car was a blast.

[@rubberwoody]

"why don't they make MAP LIGHTS like this anymore?" - Mr Regular, 2019

[@vinnydaq13]

Your childhood story sent me into flash back mode, remembering the 1963 Olds Dynamic 88 wagon that my dad bought new on 1/30/63. It was the family car for exactly ten years. It took us from Wisconsin to Florida to Virginia to California to Germany back to California to Maryland before the engine died on 1/30/73 while on a simple trip into town. Great times were had in that beast, riding in the rear-facing seat all the way at the back, and making faces at the cars behind us. Simpler times!

[@OrbofShingeki]

My grandfather had one of these brand new. he put the rear defroster on and the back window just exploded...

[@Messier87_M87]

😆😆😆

[@TH3C001]

Can't get frost on a window you don't have.

[@jamesprice2163]

I'm terrified that my Buick will do that

[@GiordanDiodato]

apparently my dad had one of these after getting rid of his late 70s Rabbit (which he really hated... for good reason) It was the lowest trim level, but his year (I think it was an 83?) had standard bench seat, which is obviously VERY uncommon in most cars nowadays.

[@bobwalsh3751]

That's how you KNOW it works.

[@Thoughmuchistaken]

Worked at a Haunted Hayride as a teenager, sat in a sky blue Reliant sedan for one scene. I honestly don't remember what the scene was (it was just me doing the first two scenes by myself, this was after the hayride budget had been slashed), but I remember hanging out in that car waiting between wagons. It was peaceful, comfortable, kinda smelly.

[@tshorock]

Omiomiomigawd! Finally. Most of my youth we had two cars in the drive. 1981 Aries Wagon. And 1985... wait for it... Aries Wagon. Frickin loyalty. I have a few pictures from about 1981-2. That Aries, in a parking lot, in a sea of Gremlins and Chevelles looked like Marty McFly screaming in from the future. (This was helped by the 1981 being a cherry-ass red wagon in a sea of BROWN, although it was vomited-tomato-soup red by the time I got a permit 10 years later). The other thing the K-Car did was get a lot of 'technology' to small-town America. Where I grew up, Toyotas were really, REALLY rare until like 1992 (the XV10 Camry). It wasn't told as much of "I don't want one of them rice-burners". Rather, "Yuh can't git parts for it" was a real, or a least widely held, thing, in a place where buying non-Big-3 meant a dealer 75 miles away, so you were 75 miles out past your supply lines.

[@KWatson1984]

We had an '84 Chrysler K wagon for the first 10 years of my life... many great summer vacation memories complete with burned legs on the red vinyl seats. My parents also never used the A/C on it.

[@mitchdavid1]

This is the episode I've been waiting on my whole life. Thank you.

[@joshuabrown2521]

Front-wheel drive, stir-fried, four-cylinder karate box I’ve gotta remember that one.

[@SporkOfDestruction]

I'm just a bit older than you, Mr. Regular. I had this exact color Reliant in a couple body as my *second* car. That red interior and the gawdawful 0-60 time reminds me of parties with friends in State College, and gigs with the Mount Union Big Band Sound in Portage, the back piled full of gear and the car sitting awkwardly up at the front. Can't put the stuff in the trunk, it might break my new glass piece I hid in the spare tire well. My first car? A 1983 Reliant. Ah, memories. Thank you. Merry Christmas.

[@phlat_dog]

My buddy has an 1989 Aries. We took it to the denver dragstrip for fun. 22 seconds at 63 mph!!

[@eduardobaez1599]

If the 2.2/2.5L was sluggish going uphill, then you needed to set the base timming up a few more degrees. My old 2.5L sundance could roast the tire at a standstill with enough throttle lol.

[@gzuzsavz]

this wagon is an easy 7 seconds off the 0-60 mark..must be an issue somewhere. plus u can yank the balance shafts out of the 2.5L and pick up a quick 10-15 hp :D just a lil rougher idle as a result.

[@kimchipig]

@@gzuzsavz I drove these things when they were now. No way they did 0-60 in 12 sec.

[@gzuzsavz]

@@kimchipig ours did. same with the 2.5L 91 Shadow a bit later we owned.

[@jedidiahsteele7847]

Takes me Back!! I had a 87 Dodge Aries...It was a Great Car!

[@freefieldtraining]

Brooooooooooown

[@Waccoon]

Say what you want, but I absolutely loved this car. Metallic charcoal paint on the Plymouth wagon looked tops, the ride was great, bench seats are wonderful, and it lasted for 14 years till some silly spot weld in the timing gear let go (and I could have fixed it). It wasn't actually that slow -- it felt peppier than my second car, a Saturn SL. I own a WRX now, but I still wish I had kept the Reliant and restored it as a sleeper. Great car, at least by American standards.

[@drmayday0015]

I really like this thing's front grill.

[@barryervin8536]

This was back in the day when a grille was just an opening for air to the radiator. Before cars all looked like leftover props from old Star Wars movies. I miss those days.

[@scottieray]

It's a miniature Mercedes rip-off

[@drmayday0015]

@@barryervin8536lol. They probably put less effort into the grille, than they do now, but it looks classier than the focus group cars of today.

[@barryervin8536]

I'm not a German car fan, but I have to admit that lately the German cars seem to be the only ones that still look clean and classy. Everything else seems to be hideously over done with enormous grilles and big pieces of chrome all over and illogical lines and creases, and now the new "floating roofline" nonsense. Lexus is the worst.

[@EmyrDerfel]

@@barryervin8536 And yet now BMW is the worst for it. KID NEY GRI LLE HEI GHT REC ORD

[@nighthiker8872]

K-cars you could see common on the road, I thought they be around a little longer. A car that could get you from, A to B, safely and affordable. I was living in Texas. I drove a Duster, in Michigan, it was great.

[@zimman56]

"I wish you had a VIRTUAL AAASSSS" I busted out laughing so hard...damn it Mr Regular you still get me after all these years.

[@pauldudakadanielthomson8890]

My mother bought her first new car in 1985 ,, an Aries K-car and kept it until 2007 when she passed away. They were great little cars and designed to be repaired easily and for a low price. The last 2 or 3 years , Chrysler put much better interiors into them , better seats and sound proofing. They all had simple hand crank roll down windows and great AC in the summer. I think, the last two years ,, all k-cars came with AC. 1984 was the last year they used the carburator , thus increased the cars by 10 horsepower. They were never hot rodded , no after market company was that stupid as to try and make grandma's car into a hot-rod. We used to call the k-cars the Valients and Darts of the 1980's after all Prez. Reagan made us re-live our past during that decade ! Back in the 1980's I was into Japanese cars., thus giving up on American cars for over 12 years. Today , I am in my late 60's and drive the last big American car, a 1997 Lincoln Towncar.. Also,,to mention, our first family car was a used 1933 Plymouth !

[@Kyntteri]

K's got torn apart verbally and physically in Handyman Corner many times. Good laughs.

[@Tony-112]

Loved that show 😂😂

[@gregorymalchuk272]

My favorite episode is the K car Zamboni.

[@tychovandonk2616]

I've been watching this channel for a while and I always look forward to a new review. I'm from the Netherlands and I don't think we even got this car but, to quote The Roman: "I WANT IT!"

[@andrewmattera6205]

I had a 1984 New Yorker with the 2.6l Mitsubishi engine, you know the slower straight four that they plastered the car with “2.6HEMI” all over the outside because “It HAS HEMISPHERICAL HEADS AND THE HEMI SOLD BIG NUMBERS TWENTY YEARS AGO WE NEED TO BRAND THIS AS A HEMI OR IT WONT SELL” 0-60 is yes, it can reach 60, I’ve even reached 95, did I feel safe at 95? Absolutely not, but god it was fun. One time I managed to get it from NJ to VA for thanksgiving, only filling up twice inbetween the states. ‘‘Twas a glorious sight, although when driving city I was probably averaging 12mpg, not a very efficient car

[@CorgiConnect]

Wow, that thing is close to showroom condition. I don't know about the wagons, but the Reliant K and Aries K four and two door models were available with a 4 speed manual transmission. My dad had an '81 Reliant K 4 speed. Looked weird having a huge L shaped chrome shifter with a big black ball on the end coming out of the floor, with a bench front seat too. A guy I worked with at about the same time had the Aries K version. And before you ask, the shifter was total crap, I don't know how many times I started out in 3rd thinking I was in 1st until I got used to the thing. Also, to get to reverse, you had to push DOWN on the shifter and then to the left and toward the dash board, and even then you did not know what you had until you carefully let the clutch out.

[@cipherthedemonlord8057]

I'm surprised at how clean that is. Loved the story at the end.

[@asgrimurhartmannsson]

I had one of these. 2 door, floor-shift. A real POS, but such a nice car to drive. Oil didn't leak, it flowed. Things came off the engine. Parts were readily available in nay attic. Mileage (european) about 12/100. Top speed: supersonic. Which it got to eventually. No brakes to speak of though.

[@JungSooLeee]

First car I ever drove in a parking lot when I was 14 was a 1984 Dodge Aries. I learned how to drive with it a year later when I got my learner's permit. As a car guy and avid Gran Turismo 2 player, I was disgusted at how slow it accelerated. Passing power was abysmal.

[@robbycoker84]

You could get more power out of those Chrysler 2.5L TBI engines if you improved the breathing. Years ago, I had a 1991 Plymouth Sundance RS with one of those engines, and I did a cold air intake modification. I took the stock hose off and then simply ran a dryer air hose from the airbox to under the front frame of the car. Additionally, I gutted out the air box and sealed off the bottom part. Then I got a higher flow catalytic converter plus added a throttle body spacer.

[@dawnpoint]

The childhood story made me realize how much I miss an era I wasn’t even old enough to remember.

[@j.markkrzystofiak9907]

My family had an ‘83 or ‘84 model of this car when I hit 16. It had a 2.2 with a carb. Hard to believe but that 2.5 with the efi was a huge improvement!

[@amerigo88]

No K-car. No Mopar. The K platform, Dodge Diplomat (RWD fleet vehicle for taxis and cops), plus the pickups were Mopar for over ten years.

[@Bmovie5000]

Yes. Finally, a K car! The Reliant automobile. Mr Regular, you nailed this review in explaining the significance of this car and the reason for its mass appeal. Many, many people have experienced this vehicle, myself included. My girl friend and I received recently a multi generation hand me down Aries sedan which had been bought new from my Grandmother in ‘89. It only had 75,000KM. Sadly it had to go, as we discovered having a 3rd vehicle was not practical. The lucky young guy we sold it to was thrilled to have it, despite grandma dents and a sagging headliner. Our assessment of the car over a years ownership was that it is very reliable and charmingly simple. The Aries never failed to start even in the depths of winter and was quite comfortable on the highway. It handled and drove without surprises, apart from feeling a lot bigger than it was. After a full tuneup (air filter, spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor, cleaning the “fuel injector” and a transmission fluid change), performance improved markedly. I’d recommend cleaning the “injector” with carb cleaner at least once a year, as this seemed to give the most improvement.

[@325xitgrocgetter]

The 1989 model year was abbreviated. The Plymouth Acclaim was introduced later in the '89 model year...and I think they wound down K -car production to make room for it.

[@kevinwong6588]

January 1989. Much like the Aspen/Volare debuted midyear (January) 1976 alongside the Dart and Valiant.

[@dalepatten5612]

While it's not the same, my parents had an Oldsmobile station wagon that we went on a lot of road trips in. The back hatch area had a seat hidden under that folded up. Used to love riding back there and watching the house shrink as we drove off. It replaced an Aeries that we got into a bunch of accidents in. This was in the mid 90s I think.

[@batesy1970]

The writing for this show is as good as it gets.

[@christopherlaflam6383]

My first car was a 86 Dodge 600. My grandfather traded in an Aspen RT for it. I loved that K car. So so smooth. Wicked nice interior. With it had the turbo option. Real tidy size. The 77 Aspen had the same window cranks.

[@mattscullin5844]

Ahhh yes...I took my road test in an Aries in 1997. My parents Also had ab 82 lebaron with the 2.6 whose oil pump took a dump in my early memories.

[@Tsuter1978]

Matt Scullin I did the same, but in ‘94 or ‘95. A baby blue Aries with the column shifter. That car was a great winter car.

[@bmacAK47]

I literally grew up in this exact car, except a Dodge Aries. Same color and interior. We got 20 years out of that car, my dad said he would buy another if he could. Damn the memories...

[@morkelork4730]

Rcr k-car review: the video you didn’t know you needed.

[@unclebs4732]

I had a 1988 Reliant for a little over a year and it never failed me, this was about 2005. I wish I could find another one.

[@farhankamil9358]

A BROWN WAGON? OMG I'M LITERALLY SHAKING

[@christophermorin9036]

Stop, I can only drool so much.

[@mbryson2899]

I had an '88 Aries. Hands-down the best car for a reverse bootlegger I have ever owned. Also tough as nails. My wife at the time took down a lightpole then on two occasions punched out concrete walls, but each time the car was still drivable. Her second husband and I would tease her that she had caused damages far in excess of the purchase price. The 2.5 was a little anemic, but it was easy to work on and comparable in power to its competitors.

[@mbryson2899]

*its (Damned autocorrect!)

[@MoultrieGeek]

"...and I don't care if I get sent to the bad table." Describes my middle school years.

[@louisskulnik7390]

My old POS K Car that I drove in the very early 2000’s had three engines replaced in the time I owned it. The second one copped me a warning for going 88 mph on the interstate!

[@mushroomsamba82]

My first car was a Reliant sedan, the timing belt broke and left me stranded in a mcdonalds drive through.

[@jacobfleming565]

My crank pulley fell off my volvo 240 in the a&w drive thru. It was extremely embarrassing but i got to smoke with some cute aw workers

[@ohnoohyeah3205]

Now THAT passenger light is a 5 star dope scope.

[@lifeisgood12341]

I never believe owners fuel economy estimates. Do a year long fuel calculation keep track at every fill up and then see.

[@LearnAboutFlow]

I doubt anyone would believe this today, but my friend's dad got one of the first K cars in New England. He got constant stares and everywhere he went people kept asking him questions about it. Yup, it was a revolutionary design for the time. Only thing that I've personally seen close to that is when my ex got one of the first Scion xBs available.

[@jc-rp5bb]

We have reached peak regular car.

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

The map light is unironically excellent