This week my German friend Peter Wendt steps up as guest author. I met Peter around 1996 or ’97, early in my learning about the differences between American and European vehicle regulations, standards, and equipment. He had put up a homepage about the Chrysler Saratoga, which I guess I found via Lycos or Altavista or some other pre-Google search engine. I never saw in person the cars described in this instalment, let alone rode in one—the closest we came to that was when Peter rang the wrecking yard from across the ocean, then I (out of five people who could have) answered the phone, he said “Wanna buy a red Saratoga?”, and we had a good laff. But Peter and his car were a central inspiration for me, so here they are. More, stories of German-car ownership in America are common, but the vice-versa not so much. So with Peter’s kind permission, then, I present here his stories as he wrote them—his English beats the Schweinwerfer out my all-but-nonexistent German—and as he illustrated them (his own photos, images from the brochures, plus more images added). Mind, in German usage the decimal point is a comma and the thousands-separator is a period. Take it away, Peter!
April 1990: I’m working for nearly two years now at CompuNet in Hamburg. Every Monday morning I’ve been driving 250 km from my hometown Lemgo to Hamburg, every Friday driving back 250 km from Hamburg to Lemgo. Along the week I have a small apartment 20 km outside of Hamburg. During work it may appear that I have to visit our customers outside and used to take my own car, because it is much more comfortable than the company’s cars, have my cassettes with me and may smoke as much as I like in the car.
Those days our customers were spread in a much larger area than today, CompuNet Hannover and Kiel weren’t existing yet and some customers reside in locations maybe 300 kilometers off from Hamburg. During the years I have reached an average of about 50.000 km a year. My old Opel Senator had reached the 300.000 km mark and the next TÜV-exam for road-worthiness should be held in August. The waterpump and the radiator were leaking, the undersides of the front doors were rusted through and there were some larger and expensive repairs to come at all. A new car had to be purchased.
So I made some visits to the car dealers. It should have been another Opel as well, cause I knew them very well. In that year the Opel Omega with the 2.6 liter straight-six engine and 150 hp came out—a fine car and a potential powerful and reliable motor. This one it should be: either a sedan or a caravan, either coloured in black or dark red. But my Opel-Dealer wanted to make me wait until August/September—they have a delivery forecast of some month. Alright—I’ll have to wait. I didn’t order one in advance, cause maybe I find something else.
Half a year ago the girl-friend of my old fellow Roland had bought a Chrysler ES with that 2.5 liter / 145 hp turbo-engine. A real great thing, elegant, fast and remarkable inexpensive. I’ve been driving some rounds with that car and found him really impressive. But from the layout it was a complete different type of car I originally wanted: four cylinder, manual gearbox, two door Sports-Coupé.
Well—at least there should have been a Sedan of that type available. So I went to the local Chrysler dealer. Accidently I knew this guy from some years ago. Roland and I had helped him with some of his computer related problems and he listens to what I wanted.
The limousine to the ES was the GTS. It was available with the 2.5 liter / 98 hp-engine with manual and automatic gearbox, with the 2.5 liter / 145 hp turbo-engine only with manual gearbox and with the 2.2 liter / 177 hp Turbo-engine and manual shifting. A Turbo-Automatic version was not available. I’ve been testing the 98 hp-automatic version. Result: you may forget about it. The automatic of those time was an old-fashion 3-speed type and the engine was too powerless.
Six cylinders? No chance. Not in the GTS, not even the LeBaron of those days had one. That was available only in the Voyager (Mini-Van) or in the Saratoga.
“Saratoga? What is that anyway?”
A four-door Sedan with numerous extras, a 141 hp / 3.0 liter V-6 engine, an electronic controlled 4-speed automatic gearbox and a—for Europeans—very unusual look. I hadn’t heard about that before. A first walk around the car. Well—it has about the size of the Senator but looks a little different in shape: wider, taller. Alu wheels, hmm, 205 tires, aha, dark-red metallic.
“And how does it drive ?” I asked the dealer. I shall find out by myself. This is his presentation car and he hands me the key. “You should come back before we close.”
First way leads me back to my house. When I enter the parking lot behind the house I nearly come off the way. This thing has got 13 meters turning diameter. The Senator has got 10 meters. That may cause problems. Minor—probably. So I drive on the federal road leading eastwards out of town. The automatic shifts soft and nearly unnoticeable, a lot power is available. Roadholding, Acceleration and driving through bends is excellent. The major equiment is electrified: power windows rear and front, both outer mirrors, adjustment of drivers’ seat. Tinted windows, Cassetteradio with four speakers, tilted steering wheel with integrated speed-control buttons, cupholders. Sorry, but no Air Condition. And no Anti-Lock Brakes and no Airbag, but I haven’t missed that until today. I could have an A/C installed after selling, the installation-kit including cables is already built in the
car, but I didnt’t miss it that much that I had spent much money on it. It was okay without one until now. Sometime I drove back to the dealer from test-driving.
The presentation car was half a year old (November 13th, 1989 first allowance for traffic) and had about 6.000 km on the counter. The warranty lasted until 110.000 km or three years—under my conditons 110.000 might be the point. The official selling-price was 39.990 DM plus delivery, first inspection and additional extras. The metallic paint would have been an extra, which might have cost another 500 DM. A/C and an optional sunroof would have cost extra money, but the car came without that.
After some dealing and calculating we made an agreement over 32.000 DM. Therefore the dealer hadn’t to take my old Senator. That was promised to another one of my fellows. On July the 3rd 1990 I have got the Saratoga with the VIN 1C3BA7634LF736669 into traffic with my name in its papers. The sign on the number-plate—taken over from the dealer as first owner—is DT-AX 917 and the counter was on 6.551 kilometers.
The first reactions of friends, neighbours and relations: “Well—will that go fine all the way?” Funny people. They have no problems buying a Japanese, a French or even a Korean car—but if you mention, that you own an American car they still use to think in terms of street-cruisers, gasoline guzzlers, poor quality and lousy economic stats. They ignore the fact, that American car-manufacturers have taken giant efforts to make their cars more efficient and competitive. Those US-guys haven’t sleeped all the time—especially not at Chrysler, which was close to bankruptcy some years ago and came back onto the US market in a triumph with a brand new variety of small, economic cars worth the money they cost. At those days I owned the only American car far around. Not included the several Mini-Vans that often were not recognized as alien, American cars anyway.
No standard in German cars of that
time: Speed Control with Buttons in the steering wheel
Most recent question: “It takes a lot gas, right?” No. It doesn’t. My statistics from the previous years up to now reads a nearly constant 11 liter/100 km [21.4 mpg(US) -DS]. You must obey, that 90% of my average ways lead over german Autobahn or rush-hour type Hamburg city traffic. The economically good country or federal roads are less travelled. Absolute minimum was an average of 8.3 liter / 100 km [28.3 -DS] when I visited the not-yet-reunited DDR (former East Germany) in early 1991. There was still the old speed-limit of 100 km/h on Autobahn and 80 km/h on all other roads.
Next recent question: “And what about workshops?” No problem. If something is broken there is always a workshop somewhere. At least I haven’t had problems with that. But almost.
Away from the usual service and maintenance there were just two things that needed replacement outside normal routine. The first were the disks of the front brakes, the second were the headlights. The brake-disks came from a US-only series of disks that tend to wear out very fast—and so they did on my car. The headlights were untight from the very beginning. While the replacement of the brake disks fixes the problems 100 percent, the replacing of the headlights was only good for a couple of month. After that the lamps were wet from the inside again—and still are, after several (vain) attemps to repair or tighten them.
Then came kilometer 66.609.
I had notified the counter-reading. I drove on a Monday morning on the Autobahn A 352, along the Hannover airport into the Hamburg direction. A girl from Hamburg was sitting in the car also, she used to travel with me, cause her friend lived in Lemgo. We had just leaned back in comfort and reached our normal travelling speed of 160 km/h when we heard a strange noise from the front, a hard shock, then the engine turned up to the maximum revs (6000 rpm), all warning lamps in the instrument cluster light up, then the engine stalled and switched himself off. We rolled on to the side emergency lane of the Autobahn and stopped. Deadly quietness, a deep breath thru. “What to hell was that?” I don’t know. Starting the engine: runs perfectly and makes no unusual noises. Shifter on “OD”. The car is rolling, first gear, second gear, idle, second gear. When we stopped, the car won’t roll on automatically, the change between first and second gear is well noticeable. Gearbox malfunction.
The A604 Gearbox—no other shifts
so smooth. No other is known as so horrendous because of its total damages!
The dealer’s workshop in Hannover could help or didn’t want to. It is Monday, no mechanic is there, I didn’t even have made an appointment(!), emergency or not—the people there are completely overstressed. So we do the travel-back with the damaged car, which only drives in first two gears—and can reach up to 120 km/h. But is far away from being silent or comfortable. The way back for over 100 kilometer takes about one and a half hour and my workshop comes to the same result that I’ve made on the way there: the automatic is wrecked. A new one should be ordered and I got the occasion to drive three long weeks with a 45hp Fiat Uno, because there were certain problems to get a correct gearbox with an appropriate torque-converter and send both to the correct address. Finally everything was in place and I was able to get my car back.
ATF+
But the enthusiastic mood lasted just a couple of hours: on an intersection I suddenly had no power. I had to stop the engine and restart it again, then the gearbox managed to act as normal. Back to the workshop. Another week with a rented car, this time with a 90 hp Opel Vectra.
The solution of that clue is simple and surprising: the sensor with measures the rotation of the gearbox’ output shaft has a broken cabling. Probably it was that, which primarily caused the first gearbox’s destruction, when he told the shifting-computer that the car were standing, while driving at 160 km/h and the computer consequently shifts back into second gear. All expenses—including those for the rented cars—were covered entirely by Chrysler’s Full Warranty.
The remaining time of the warranty and the following 100.000 Kilometers we are able to pass without unusual actions. Away from usual stuff like tires, shock absorbers and brake pads there were no repairs outside the
normal routine maintenance. I am satisfied and do some larger tours with the Saratoga, sometimes 1.300 kilometers in one day.
Then—at 178.000 kilometers—the gearbox had its black day again. It won’t stay in fourth gear. It had some drop-outs recently but now that becomes a general condition: you speed up to 120 km/h from third gear. It shiftes into fourth gear and now you are able to speed up the engine up to the red line at 6000 rpm without any result on the car’s speed. If you release the pedal the automatic shifts back into third gear and stays there no matter what you try
until you stop the engine and restart it again. Then the shifting computer gets a reset signal and the bad game starts again.
The workshop—a different from the original, which had been sold—couldn’t fix the problem. Neither the so called ‘expert’ from Chrysler Germany could fix it. After three days of trying and testing he had replaced nearly everthing he could replace: Computer, wiring, sensors, filters, trans-fluid…so the error must be in the mechanic itself. So a new gearbox must be ordered. And that will cost an incredible 4.500 DM. I’m thinking about selling the car on that point, but with a defective gearbox I wouldn’t get much for it. On the other hand the gearbox is the only thing which is not okay and a new car costs a lot money anyway. So I let them install a new gearbox. That works fine up to now.
In between the car has made over 290.000 km. For now one and a half year I am doing all the neccessary maintenance by myself to reduce the horrendous costs. Nontheless I had to visit the workshops as well for some times. In early spring ’95 I drove over a large piece of plywood in a pitch-black night on the Autobahn with something about 160 km/h and the left engine mount is broken by that. On a morning a week after that the radiator suddenly lost all the water, I had to stop on the Autobahn and the car had to be towed away for the first (and only) time. The wood piece had caused more damage than visible on first sight. The radiator was totally damaged, the waterpump as well and one of the hoses from the cooling system had to be replaced too. That fine joke costs another 2.500 DM.
For the two front-disks I have to blame myself. I should have changed the brake pads some time earlier, but was too lazy for that job and forgot about it until it was too late for the disks. My own fault—not one of the constructor’s.
I must confess that I keep the car just running with the minor maintenance what is possible. The shock absorbers around should belong to the crap, the noisy bearings of the front wheel should have been replaced, the outer half of the left drive shaft is making loud noises for about 70.000 km—and I got used to ignore that. Meanwhile the catalytic converter block is broken in pieces and makes rattling noises in the exhaust system while in idle or while accelerating. The engine mounts should have been replaced, adjusting them is useless anyway.
Resume: a lot things should have been done, a lot money should have been invested, but does it pay? Other way round: the body itself is nearly 100% free from rust. Only on the lower parts of the rear hood are some rusty places crumbling, where tins are layered double and badly secured against moist. The engine runs like hell, except that the hydro-lifters from cylinder 6 make loud knocking noises and then takes some minutes to be quiet, when the engine is cold and/or the oil level sinks close to the ‘refill’ mark. Simply fill up half a liter of motor-oil and everything is okay again. The oil consuption is a continous half to three-quarters liter over 1.000 kilometer—like on the first day. Unless the fact, that the complete suspension, bearings and shock-absorbers are so much worn out you are still able to take the hands off the steering wheel at 100 mph without any risk of leaving the road. It calmly runs straight ahead. How good it runs shows this picture:
Fun-fun-fun auf der Autobahn! Taken while driving free-handed on the Autobahn A7 one Monday morning. Look at tacho and speedometer and then show me another car, which behaves like that after more than 290.000 kilometers.
If I were able to make a decision, to invest some money in the car, it could be in an acceptable condition again. At least in theory. But you can’t calculate that the automatic gearbox will last longer than the previous ones or blow up again very soon. If the gearbox dies again I will have spent all the money in vain. Really: I don’t know what to do. On the one side I would have the car in good condition again, on the other side I don’t know if I will give away money for nothing. With this internal fight I drive around for about 60.000 kilometers. Another 10.000 will make a good 300.000 on the cars counter—can a car with minimal maintenance make it through for so long?
My neighbours have stopped asking silly questions for long about the reliability of my Saratoga. For over six years now they see it standing in front of my house or driving away for another working week. In those years lots of Golfs, Kadetts or Vectras have passed away…!
March 1997: The old ark really made it! We had successfully passed German Test for Roadworthiness (TÜV) in February—and only needed to clean the engine and install a new catalytic converter to fulfill all EPA-requirements.That new catalyzer costs 1.200 DM (about 750 $) but I did invested it. On Wednesday the 19th March at 8:43 AM we crossed the 300.000 km-line in Hamburg harbour area. I’d tried to picture this moment with my old
trusty Russian camera—here is the result:
Not very clear to see—but that was the moment…!
That was the good news. The bad news: On Thursday, 27th March 1997 one guy crashed into my car while driving backwards without looking. (See “Accident 6” further below) This accident caused a lot damage—maybe too much to keep the car. I try to fix it temporarily, but if the frame is really bended I will have to give up my old ark. Too bad!
Doesn’t look that bad…
…even the bulbs are already in function…
…but a total loss anyway!
Actual Situation on 03. May 1997: The Saratoga has been signed off from traffic. If it will ever come back is not quite clear. The opponent’s insurance payed 6.000 DM for it. But there is no other Saratoga available for this price.
Of course: if you own a car for a longer time you will face some situations in traffic that end up in accidents. You wish not to have one—and maybe it wasn’t your fault—but it happened. So had I. The previous years haven’t passed without a trace and here’s a list of the major incidents:
- Accident № 1:
Volkswagen Passat (1990 model)
One of my team-mates hadn’t expected, that it would take so many meters to stop a car on wet stones in the back yard of our company. The car he hit with his Passat was my Saratoga—which I bought ten days before. I heard the noise of slipping wheels from outside…and that BANG-tune which makes one a chicken-skin. Sound of falling glass. I rushed out to look.Damage Report
Saratoga: nothing.VW Passat: One headlight destroyed, other knocked, left fender bended, frontgrille broken.
- Accident № 2
Grandpa (app. 68 years) with Bicycle (Made in Russia—model unknown) I had stopped on a morning about 9:00 AM on an intersection to let some pedestrians (schoolkids) pass. While beginning to roll Grandpa with his bike came from around a building corner and hit my right fender, slipped over the hood and fell on the street. Didn’t drive further. Stopped, called Police and Medics. Later that year I was sued for “rude driving” and had to pay 1000 DM “for a social task”—didn’t help me, didn’t help the Grandpa, who was on the way to church that particular morning. Might have been his last ride, but wasn’t. Lucky guy. Payed him a new bike.
Damage Report>
Saratoga: right fender slightly deformed. Got most of it out but left a little uneven.Grandpa: was in hospital for two days, left foot overtensed, half a year of convalescence.
Bicycle: a total loss. Too many parts to repair, frame broken.
- Accident № 3
Honda Civic (model and year unknown—elder type, awful painted black). Young hasty man—couldn’t figure out, why I stopped just in front of him when traffic lights change from yellow to red. Left not enough space to stop without—BANG—sound of falling glass. The accident happened on a sunny Sunday afternoon right in front of a fully occupied restaurant which had the tables outside. Lots of witnesses, lots of bystanders, gaffers and some cheer-ups when police arrived. My Chrysler dealer told me, that he had remarkable more interest on the Chrysler models on the days after that incident. But refused to let me participate on the future sellings for my ‘Demonstration’.
Damage Report
Saratoga: minor scratches on rear bumper
Honda Civic: both headlights broken, damage on hood and front fender. Numberplate fallen off.
- Accident № 4
Audi A4 (latest model in dark-metallic blue). Driving home on Autobahn on Friday. Slow moving traffic, all three lanes very busy. Probably accident on opposite direction, many people slow down for staring. One on my left side changed onto my lane. I had to stop hard and immediate to avoid collission. Maybe too hard for the guy with the blue Audi A4 right behind me, who had looked, too. Got his punishment. You know that bit: BANG—and sound of falling glass! Not much to say. One called the police, takes them fifteen minutes to come around. First question: “Where’s the other car of that accident?” Afterwards they said I had a camouflaged battle-tank, I denied that. Could drive home as usual.
Damage Report
Saratoga: minor scratches on rear bumper and numberplate (away after a 20 minutes polishing job on Saturday).
Audi A4: both headlights destroyed, hood bended, both fenders deformed, front bumper entirely broken from body, lower waterhose broken from radiator, car had to be towed away.
Now—these cases came over a total distance of 280.000 kilometers. Makes an average of 70.000 between two of them. I guess you can’t rely on statistics. Maybe the next idiot is waiting just around the corner…BANG! Sound of falling glass.
- Accident № 5
One of my team-mates with a black 1996 Ford Escort Caravan must have been still a little tired at 9.00 AM. I stopped behind another car which has stopped behind a truck which blocked the road. I stopped some meters earlier not to block an intersection to my right. My fellow thought I would drive closer to the car next in front—what I didn’t. He stopped too late and—BANG—hit me. No falling glass this time.
Damage Report
Saratoga: Nothing. Some dirt from formerly having sticked under the bumper is now on the road.
Escort: Numberplate and plate-holder broken off, front bumper partially broken from body. The team-mate has got a new bumper on this car just a week ago. Will need another new now again.
Blue Chrysler LeBaron Cabrio just behind us: driver nearly laughed his ass off.
- Accident № 6
Gone shopping with my girl, cruised through the streets of my hometown, looking for a parking lot to leave the car. Had to stop behind a dark-blue, short-wheelbase older Mitsubishi Pajero 4×4. Guy behind the wheel drove a little too far into intersection and now wanted to leave
another car pass by. Hit the reverse gear into the gearbox, stamped on the accelerator and let the clutch go. After about 1 Meter, BANG—sound of falling glass. Obviously he didn’t know what these ugly reflecting glass things in his car are good for.Damage Report
Saratoga: left headlight and sidelight totally destroyed. Fronthood on left side bended, left fender bended. For pictures look above. Probably the frame has taken damage too. The car will be written off because the costs for the repair exceed the actual value. Will try to fix it by myself and buy another Saratoga.
Mitsubishi: right side of rear fender broken from body, slight damages on the body, probably rear spring leaf holder on right side damaged.
Whose glass this time? Here’s the answer:
28. February 1998: No—the red one has not been signed on again. Instead I bought this silver 1991 Saratoga from a good friend (who likes american cars a lot too). Well: there are offers, which are hard to reject. If someone offers a well maintained, good running Saratoga at a very fair price and the Kadett isn’t really what a car should be—one should take the occasion. The new one is silver, built in 1991 and had ran 108.000 kilometers, which is not too much. In addition the price was very reasonable. I signed the car in the picture on for traffic here in the Lippe-county. “Accidently” I got the numberplate LIP-PE 17 from the traffic office. This Saratoga has the VIN 1C3BA7630MF622797.
1992 Saratoga front lights (from brochure)
The interior is identical up to minor details with that in the red one. The design of the door panels is slightly modified, the radio is a later model from Clarion, the ventilation openings between dashboard and front windscreen are oval holes instead of longish slots to be found on cars without A/C. The heater panel is of course different, due to the Air Condition.
1991-on Saratoga grille (from brochure)
From the outside you can identify the later model only through the different front grille. On the rear trunk the Chrysler Penta in the middle is missing and one of the former owners removed the “Chrysler Saratoga” logos and installed the “Dodge Spirit” signs again—the
original name of the model.
Everything else is almost as usual. Luckily the 1991 Saratogas kept the “snowflake” design wheels and did not get the somewhat ridiculously looking “pizzadishes”. They also did not have additional chrome gimmicks. The lean and nice base design has been kept at least until early 1991. For the 1992 Modelyear until the production ended they modified the front-grille again and some models got additional chrome rims. Most of the cars sold after 1992 were mostly original US LeBaron Sedans (VIN begins with 1C3XAB…), which have been adapted for European regulations and which might have had leather interior and wooden-style applications on the dashboard and along the door-panels.
Silly “pizzadish” wheels on later models, not as nice as…
…the good old “snowflake” wheels from the red and silver Saratogas.
This 1991 Chrysler Saratoga finally had the Air Condition (I hadn’t missed up to then) and Anti-Lock brake system, and height adjustment for the Headlamps:
Headlight leveller control
Headlight leveller motor, driver side
Headlight leveller motor, passenger side
(small off-white socket dangling free: no side marker lights on the Euro-spec cars)
But no height adjustment for the front seat-belts and no Airbag [this ’91 was built after headlamp-levellers adjustable from the driver’s seat became mandatory in Europe, but before height-adjustable seat belts became mandatory -DS ].
Adjustable seat-belt, slightly later Saratoga.
Hardware behind plastic cover carries VW-Audi logo! Shhh…
That ABS was a bit tricky and malfunctioning at the beginning, until I discovered a cracked tonewheel at the left front wheel, which recently slipped of the hub and outside the ABS-sensor range. While this thing was only available with the entire CVJ—and should cost around 1.000 DM—I simply “fixed” the tonewheel with 2-component glue (means: I glued it entirely on the joint). That did it.
Rear Foglight switch next to Headlights knob, so…
…the front Foglight switch has got moved down here. Some reaching needed.
When I got the car it has already 108.000 km on the counter. Meanwhile the odometer now stands at 129.800 kilometers. This car drives totally different compared to the red one. The gearbox has a different, longer gear-ration (2.3:1 instead of 2.5:1) and the speed in 4th gear is a bit higher than on the the precessor. In addition Chrysler must have changed the gearbox itself a little and did some changes on the computer, because it was impossible in the red one to force a downshift into 3rd gear after 140 km/h. In the silver one it works even at 180 km/h—the speed you can reach in 3rd gear when running the gears to the maximum at full acceleration.
Little malfuctions—apart from the ABS-Problem—only a steering wheel lock, which engages in a very strange position, a steering column panel, which makes sqeaking noise at extreme cold days, a not-working outside mirror heating (right side still doesn’t work, maybe a broken cable, which blows the fuse) and—of course—wet headlamps. But I already knew that problem and got it fixed meanwhile.
Accidents with the silver Saratoga: None. I didn’t have many problems and was pretty glad with it until one fateful Tuesday in September 1999. On my way to Hamburg something broke with a loud noise in the transmission and I managed to limp to the next parking lot just so. After transporting the car back to the workshop it turned out that I would need a new gearbox again, new right driveshaft, and— in respect to the coming roadworthiness tests—a new catalyzer (again!) and new front wheel bearings.
The costs were calculated up to about 10.000 DM— more than I payed for the car and far more than it was actually worth. So I went on strike. Disregard how much I liked the car, but too much is too much and I sold it off. Time to get something else. I did not know at that point what car I would get next. My Chrysler Dealer had nothing in my price-range at hand, so I cruised the other dealers in my area. Saw a lot cars. They were either outside my price range, total crap or Japanese or French cars, which I did not want.
One day my old friend Roland came up with a car on the lot of a Mercedes Benz dealer: 1991 BMW 525i / 24 valve with the “big” 5-Speed Automatic that no one wanted. Had one previous owner, 89.000 km on the counter and a set of wintertires in the trunk. The problem with it: no A/C, e-powered windows on the front doors only and—it is white. Said the dealer: “If it were black, grey, red, dark blue or even green—I could have sold it ten times. People come up, look, find it very nice and say they call me. And that was it…” The price was pretty interesting. After some calculation he came up with 13.000 DM. He took it for significantly more—and it could be found for a much higher value in the pricelists. He simply want to get rid of it. So I took the white BMW.
Problems: a totally mis-adjusted front axle (the previous owner must have been an ambitious “Curbs-Rambo”), a loose steering and about 1 Inch “idle” in the steering wheel. Resulting in a poor stability and it was practically impossible to drive higher speeds with that. Obviously the car hadn’t seen Autobahns very often. And if—only at lower speeds. Then the engine waterpump gave up. Commented the man in the BMW-workshop: “Well—might happen on cars that hadn’t been used for longer.” Okay—so what?
Winter came and passed without major problems, thanks to the wintertires. But the new summertires run pretty poor on the steelwheels with plastic covers. I will have to switch to Alu-wheels recently. Roadholding and straightness isn’t yet not very satisfying. Guess I’ll have to consult a workshop on that too. At higher speeds the car is pretty instable and needs permanent supervision. It is much worser than with the Chryslers (which might be suspected to have problems with that—but didn’t) and ten times worser than the Opel Senator, which was a groundbreaking example of directional stability and roadholding.
Clarion cassetteradio in the red Saratoga
The most I miss the middle arm rest, several instruments, and the marvellous Clarion radio from the Chryslers. The antique BMW Bavaria-radio isn’t worth a shit. On the other hand the BMW has a circuitry that uses the rear window defogger as antenna. That’s nice in a car-wash.
Speedwise the much more powerful BMW is par with the silver Saratoga. Funny enough: over 200 km/h the BMW developes strange, nerving noises. Some hissing and whining, which seems to come out of the dashboard ventilation. At least it stops, when I close the vents.
So that’s Peter’s tale of two Saratogas and their replacement by a domestic (German) car. Next week I’ll be back with more stories about my Spirit R/T.
Interesting. There was a time in the 90s and early 00s when these (and later) Mopar products were starting to make inroads into the car market here in Austria and I always thought M-B missed a huge opportunity in not developing the various Chrysler brands as entry level cars, just as VW did with Skoda or Renault with Dacia. The Neon for example – assuming reasonable quality control could have been ascertained – might have offered an alternative to the Koreans, particularly with a diesel engine. Unfortunately this is not what M-B had in mind.
Oh these FWD Chrysler boxes were notorious here too. Survivors usually tend to have the manual 5sp, most people would not have persisted like Peter did, when the box blew up the 2nd time the car went straight to the scrap yard…
Nice to see someone have fond things to say and wring the most possible life out of what is, in Europe at least, an unusual car.
Since 1980, Chrysler is really the only company that managed to sell American-designed vehicles in any considerable quantity in Europe. The minivans and Jeeps are of course not rare, and neither are PT Cruisers or even Neons, but any one of these Euro-market K variants would be a rare find indeed. Only ever saw a Saratoga once in France, and I’m not holding my breath to spot a GTS or ES.
Ford of Europe did have some success with Explorer and Probe/Cougar in the 1990s. Both were offered with right-hand-drive, which improved the sales in the UK and other left-hand-rule-of-road countries in Europe. Ford had less success with its Windstar due to its size and fewer engine options.
Oddly, Mustang wasn’t even officially exported to Europe since 1967 and until the current generation made its debut in 2015.
It was very interesting to read the perspective of a German in Germany, where this car was very much an oddity. The 300,000 kilometer milestone is impressive!
These cars were maddening in so many ways – the basic vehicles were quite nicely done but were mostly let down by weak powertrains. The infamous Chrysler transmissions, of course, along with the Mitsubish V6 that had some of its own issues. How the world could have been different had the Chrysler Ultradrive been as good as all of us expected it would be when it was introduced.
Hi !
As someone more clever than me once stated: Life is lived forward but understood backwards. We could make good use of rear view mirrors on our heads ..
In the case of the Saratogas I have to blame myself for a few out-of-order repairs that had come neccessary. Over all neither the Mitsu 3.0 V6 nor the A604 was bad in its entirety. The engine *needs* some attention, regular oil-changes, looking after the PCV valve and avoiding “El Cheapo” filters and sparks. The one on the red one started to blow blue clouds when cold and after gaining rpms after a longer idle roll phase.
I *had* a full set of new valve stem seals, PCV valve and valve cover gaskets already in the trunk when this guy with his Pajero crashed into the front. I’d invested money in a new catalyser already and if it hadn’t come to this silly accident I had been working on the engine that weekend to get the oil leakage fixed. The car – by the way – went to the Netherlands later the year. With all the spares and they took the engine and them to keep a Voyager Minivan on the streets for a few years longer.
The gearbox … I would not say that it was “doomed by design”, but it was … well … picky. One of mine had been destroyed with friendly help of the workshop. They added it up with regular Dexron, which is a no-go on the A604. They later confirmed they made a mistake and I got some discount on the new gearbox, which lasted another 140.000 km if my mind serves me right. At the time of the fatal crash (for the red Sara) it worked fine under either condition.
When the gearbox broke down on the silver one I was a bit fed up with this thing and neglected the repair offer. A little too steep pricing for my taste. The car *had* been repaired by one of the crew and sold later. *That* owner contacted me a year later … the car has landed on the island of Borkum in the North Sea. One of maybe 15 cars on the entire island … don’t know what happened later to it.
And I payed significantly lesser money for the 525i BMW than I would have had to spend on a new gearbox with control module … Call it an economical decision.
Peter from Germany
Fascinating. I’m waiting for those commenters that repeatedly state that the Mitsubishi V6s ALL fail in predictable ways, resulting in blue plumes of smoke, or worse. Especially one that’s been driven at 120 mph on the autobahn.
Having owned a ’92 Grand Caravan, I’m all too familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of these. Our van made it to just about 300,000km (170k miles), and then I saw it for several more years on the streets. But by then it was on its fourth automatic, and third ABS pump, which fortunately had a lifetime warranty.
Due to Mitsubishi’s oddball positioning in Australia as inheritors of Chryco’s Big Three position (ie: GM, Ford, Mitsu), there’s an inordinate number of those V6’s that have been sold, out of all expected proportion for an invisible world player in a wee 1 million-car market. And those engines just don’t give trouble, with only the small caveat that SOME had faulty valve guides that were done by about 80K miles, but that itself is not even a heads-off fix (and I vaguely recall the company came to the party to some extent in paying for these long-out-of warranty issues). There must, for just one example, still be a minimum of 20,000 15+ y.o. Pajeros out there that have had a hard life 4-wheeling and towing vans, and all will have 300-400,000kms on them, and they’re still plugging away.
Thanks for another great read, Daniel! I’m really enjoying your COAL series. Another thanks for introducing Peter to us! His German take on American cars is fascinating. The tale of the accident in front of the outdoor cafe giving the local Chrysler dealer a boost was a riot. I, for one, would enjoy a seeing more COAL articles or other contributions from him.
Hi !
I’m afraid I cannot contribute a very lot to COAL at all. I had the two Saratogas – and a fair lot of other european cars … and a pretty basic and ruined AMC Gremlin for a while. But most likely not enough for extended stories.
Germans point of view onto cars is surely different to most other people in the world. In the land of Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen still with no general speed limit on Autobahns (even though: the *local* Limits grew and grew) we mostly put an emphasis on the performance at higher speeds.
Most of our rural roads allow speeds that would bring you in jail in the US. Even though 100 km/h (about 65 miles) is the limit for federal roads it is not uncommon to cruise along at 120 – 130 … and we won’t judge that as “speeding”. Not really. 70 in the city is a bit strong, but 130 outside ?
Well … what we got all these performance cars for ? Chugging along ?
Even 3.5 ton delivery vans go 160 – 180, some Ivecos even 200 at the Autobahn. If you drive at 100 in a 70 zone there is a good chance that a FedEx or UPS van is impatiently tailgating you. “Moooove !!”
It’s Germany. In earlier years the Belgians were up strong with us but they changed the rules after europeanization a bit.
BTW: Dan mentioned the “Schweinwerfer” at some point. Once we were discussing german expressions for several technical parts and I came along with “Flippenflappen Muckenspreader” for windshield wipers … He immediately liked it.
Let’s see. Maybe I find something worth writing down.
Needs to be entertaining I guess …
Peter from Germany
The number of other-brand cars humbled by an encounter with the rear bumper of that Chrysler Saratoga is amazing!
Yah, eh! It’s almost enough to make one think “H’mmm…maybe those US bumper regulations aren’t so stupid after all…”.
Peter, thank you the amazing article. Writing such a long piece in a second language is really an accomplishment of which you should be proud!
I was working as a Chrysler service advisor when the A604 was in its “heyday.” The fact I didn’t have a massive heart attack was truly amazing. I’d personally do at least one a day, usually more. It was used in every single FWD model so we saw huge numbers of them fail. The parts department got replacements shipped by the 5 ton truckload. Please forgive me if I am ranting but it was a traumatic experience. I’d dread the phone ringing because I’d have some irate customer chewing me out for a car I didn’t make or buy. Hell, we all joked there’d be no way we’d drive a Chrysler and in fact, none of us did!
The Mitsubishi 6G72 V-6 gets way too much bad karma. The very early ones in the 1987 cars had problems mostly with valve seals and the rear main leaking but by 1989 those problems were gone. I always liked it because it was smooth and had decent torque.
What the 6G72 could not tolerate was bad maintenance. Many owners were coming from iron block V-8s which could tolerate bi-decade oil changes. It was such a problem, especially when the 2.7 came along, that we’d call customers in for oil changes. I’d even tell the customer they could take their car for an oil change anywhere they wanted if they just keep the receipt.
The 6G72 was replaced by the iron-blocked 3.3 V-6 which could take all kinds of abuse. The only one I ever saw blown up went 72,000 km without an oil change.
Very enjoyable writing, Peter. Lots of falling glass. Gut gemacht!
I truly enjoy reading the article from the German about his experience with the American vehicles that were engineered specifically for the European market.
The German perspectives of American vehicles as Peter wrote were (and still to this day, are) the same. One problem with the Domestic Three was trying too hard to make their vehicles as European as possible when they could have focused on the “niche market”, catering to the Europeans who like “Americana”.
When my paternal grandmother passed away in 2000, my family hired a 1999 Chrysler Voyager for a very comfortable drive from Nuremberg to Waldshut-Tiengen. It was only time we ever had driven an American vehicle in Germany. We loved its spacious interior and plenty of legroom in the rear (for me and my brother who are quite tall). However, Voyager was fitted with a small petrol four-cylinder engine and automatic gearbox that didn’t seem to enjoy 160–180 km/h sprints on the Autobahn and insisted on visiting as many petrol stations as possible.
Aye. Thanks Peter and Daniel for another entertaining and informative read. I have always enjoyed reading about how US/Canadian vehicles were perceived in other countries, as well as how they performed in day to day service. The changes in equipment to meet regulations and customer preferences, the advertisements and market placement… and so on. I’m probably an outlier, but these cars are another one that I much prefer with the sealed beam (or lamps in a sealed beam form factor) front fascia.
The A604 horse has long since been beaten into glue, so nothing more to add there… but do hafta admit that the first thought that comes to mind when someone says “Mitsubishi 6G72” is blue smoke. I still remember pulling up behind 1st gen Caravans/Voyagers at traffic lights while looking for the characteristically greasy tailpipe, then automatically rolling up the windows before the light went green and they engulfed me in a thick haze. IIRC, it was mostly a problem with valve guides and seals, and there were a few other niggling issues… none of which contributed to catastrophic engine failures. Certainly not a horrible engine, but the Chrysler 3.3 and 3.8 that went on to replace the Mitsu 3 liter were all that much better!
Err…but these AA-body cars never had sealed beams.
Whoops! I was looking at the ad for the P body, then just the nose of the Chrysler Laser, and totally brain-farted. I should refrain from typing when very tired.
Oh, the P-body! After I posted my response to you, I wondered if you might have meant the H-body (Chrysler GTS/Euro-spec Dodge Lancer). Me, I’ve long thought an AA-body might look interesting with the nose of a pre-’93 J-body (LeBaron coupé/convertible), including the hidden quad rectangular headlamps. That would require some skilled weldwork, as the forward edge of the door isn’t the same between the two cars.
Peter, I echo Canucknuckehead’s thoughts – your English is very good, and yet your German roots show through, quite charmingly!
Imagine my disappointment when Daniel’s regular COAL was preempted for a post by a guest writer. And yet, what a great story! Disappointment banished. Stimmt so!
In some sort of variation on CC effect, in 2005 we hosted a young man, David, from Lemgo, as part of a student exchange. He was a delightful guest, and a few months later our son stayed with David’s family in Lemgo to complete the exchange.
In 2018, my wife and I visited David and his family in Lemgo. Of course we visited Herman, and clambered about on the rock formations.
We (I) spotted many interesting (to me) vehicles in Germany, but no K-car derivatives. Saw a few late-model RAM trucks which looked very out-of-place.
In any case, we loved Germany and the German people, and we pleased to find that the negative stereotypes were untrue – the good stuff was in evidence (neatness, order, and hard work), but the negatives (that Germans are harsh, rigid, and humorless) were completely false.
As well, as an avid cyclist, I found Germany to be ideal.
Looking forward to more stories from you! Vielen Dank.
Germany has 1000s and 1000s of excellent cycle routes. They are well marked and almost entirely on non- or low-traffic roads. I´ve cycled along the Danube, the Elbe, the Rhein, the Oder-Niesse (on the Polish-German border), the Main, the Havel and the Werra rivers. It has been wonderful. A typical day starts with a huge breakfast in a reasonably priced hotel then 60 km to lunch and 45-60 km to the evening stop. The Germans have quite excellent planning laws so that the town-country demarcation is observed. In between towns you just see farmland and nature and the river you might be following. The routes are popular but very far from busy. You might meet no cyclists in the inter-town stretches at all. And along the way are nice stopping points for coffee and cake.
Richard, one of the highlights was spending some time in the Friedrichshafen area. We rented bikes (Radfahren) for the week. One glorious day we took the ferry (with our bikes) across the Bodensee to Romanshorn in Switzerland. Figured on doing an out-and-back, and taking the ferry home.
We were surprised to not have anyone check our passports on the Swiss side. Oh well, off we went. Cycled east along the trail, stopped for lunch at Rorschach, and carried on into Austria (and another passport-free border). Thought “OK, we have 20 minutes to decide whether to turn back to get to the ferry in time, or we can carry on”.
We carried on. That particular part of Switzerland had been underwhelming, but Austria was beautiful. Around the lake through Hard, Bregenz, and Lochau, and back into Germany. Stopped for ice cream in the late afternoon, perhaps in Wasserburg or Langenargen, and returned to our B&B in Immenstadt. It was a glorious day.
Another day we cycled out to Unteruhldingen and took the ferry to Mainau. Another glorious day!
Great memories – would love to go back and cycle right around the lake.
Peter, if you don’t care for French cars, that’s your business. But in your place I would have been looking for a Peugeot 405 or Citroen BX.
Hi !
Dan surprised me a bit with this. I *did* publish most of that on my old (more or less long gone) pages, but he made it a quite nice read. Plus some useful additions. Thanks Dan !
When he visited me in – I think mid-2005 (?) – it was the time with the BMW already gone (after – of course – an automatic gearbox mayhem) and the company car was not yet delivered. I had a blue rental VW Golf Turbodiesel 5-speed manual to pick him up at Hannover train station and bring him back there. So from the automotive perspective it was lesser entertaining to him I think. Apart from driving on the Autobahn maybe … 🙂
Sometimes I sit and wonder about the “what ifs”.
What if I had taken the dealers option to get a presentation car from him. Right from the exhibit with a few 100 km on the counter ? In this case it would have been a 2.5-litre-V6 silverblue metallic Chrysler Stratus with automatic.
What if I had taken the option to buy the 3.5-litre V6 Vision (LH) they had there ? A few thousand km collected. A 30.000-DM-car at that time with “a good discount”. But the dark green body / light grey leather didn’t appeal that much to me. Sidenote: the car was around in Lemgo until late 2019 ! But driven by an elder couple with two dogs. I don’t think they put the weekly mileage on it like I’d had …
The BMW was really cheap. Really. There was almost no marked for a white 525i / 24V back then, even with low mileage – it got sold over the price, honestly. It had its pitfalls for sure which finally lead to its demise. It took it five years and 200.000 km to get there however. After 2005 I had no own car. Just company cars: VW Golf Variant Turbodiesel manuals. Gen. IV, V, VI and VII came and went. Actually I have a (drum roll !) Opel Astra Sportsvan with a GM 1.5-litre-3-cylinder Turbodiesel and 122 hp. And 6-speed manual.
Soundwise a tad agricultural even to the standards of VW 4-cylinder Diesels.
I really miss the 3.0 V6 of the Saratogas and the dreaded A604.
Thanks to all of you for the nice and friendly comments.
If anyone is in the area … give me a call … 🙂
Peter from Germany
(I wish I could find the image of Dan sitting on my desk in “The Lab” back then to attach it here …)
For whoever might be curious, I ran that magazine ad for the red Chrysler ES through Google Translate, which dutifully served up what appears (to my less-than-fully-informed self) to be a reasonably good translation:
Anyone who wants to experience the 2.2-liter turbo driving experience, with an impressive body above it, will have a lot of fun with the Chrysler ES Turbo.
“I want turbo fun and that in super stereo!”
With front-wheel drive, 109 kW / 148 PS, a top speed of 184 km / h, this robust four-cylinder with electronic injection has plenty of reserves.
But now to the equipment. For standard luxury equipment: take a seat in high-quality, body-friendly sports seats. Turn on the cassette radio, super stereo sound with separate bass and treble controls will be heard from four integrated loudspeakers to the delight of all music fans. Electric windows, electric door locks, electric adjustable exterior mirrors, tinted windows, a leather-covered sports steering wheel, the Chrysler ES offers comfort.
It continues with extras that do not cost extra: power steering, power brakes, light alloy wheels, controlled 3-way catalytic converter, stainless steel exhaust. The secret to increasing the capacity of the trunk lies in the backrests of the rear seats. They are divisible and foldable. There is already space for skis or additional suitcases. The practical tailgate makes loading and unloading child’s play. So much for the visible joy. You will not appreciate the reliability and durability of the new Chrysler ES for years. But it is already reassuring to know that Chrysler gives an unusual guarantee: 3 years or 110,000 km. 7 years on the body against rusting. Plus the Chrysler Privilege Service, which will help you around the clock.
The Chrysler ES, whether with a 2.2-liter or 2.5-liter engine, is a powerful, complete offering. Take a test drive. To find out where your nearest Chrysler dealer is, call 0721-816025.
Chrysler is breaking new ground. Are you coming along.
(This appears to be Google’s equivalent of mom and dad trying and failing to talk like the hep young teen-agers; the tagline actually translates Chrysler are headed in new ways. Come along with [us].)
Now, for a good time, translate it back into German and translate THAT back into English. Or insert a third language of your choice. You will read things that you just could not have imagined before.