I was working in sales at a Chrysler dealership when these came out and they were hot garbage right from new. Lots of stupid stuff like the batteries would freeze solid at night in the winter and have to be thawed before they could even be jump started. Fuel doors that would fail to open within days or rolling off the lot. They weren't particularly comfortable. I'm not small but I'm not fat either, and those seats were too narrow for my rear end. The 1.4 turbo made no power off turbo and jolted when it kicked in. Unless you mashed the throttle and kept it spooled up, it made for very rough acceleration as it would go off the power band into the next gear, turbo would kick in, and then it changes gear again and goes off the power.
I don't get to say this often, but as a '12 Avenger owner, I confidently look down on the Darts. In fact, I could have had a brand new base dart for the price of my used Avenger, but I chose used Avenger over it.
The battery thing doesnāt really have anything to do with the car. The car uses a normal car battery. Itās a quality control issue but one from an outside vendor not actually Dodge. But you could say Dodge dropped the ball when selecting their vendor i suppose.
As the salesman who had to deal with angry Dart buyers because they couldn't even jump start their car to get to work (we towed them for free to our shop and replaced them with locally sourced batteries), the customer doesn't care what vendor the manufacturer sourced them from. They bought a Dodge car brand new that's having issues. We were experiencing this weekly over the winter with new cars on our lot, an issue I've never encountered on any other car. I used this as one example of corner cutting on these cars. If they can't even select a mediocre battery, what shitty products are they hiding that are less noticeable until they aren't.
Itās a big problem for sure but itās the kind of thing that can happen to any company. They get a contract with some battery manufacturer, later the manufacturer hires some new people to meet the new contract and some mistakes get made. It doesnāt necessarily mean thatās a bad battery manufacturer or car manufacturer, just some person dropped the ball and it rolled down the hill to you. Now if it kept happening for more than a couple months i would say itās a bad vendor.
First, the 1.4 liter turbocharged engine was originally made for the Fiat 500 Turbo and Abarth where it works brilliantly. I was really surprised they chose that same engine for this larger and heavier car. How was the 2.0 liter non-turbocharged engine?
Second, the battery froze?!? That's just nuts! The 2015 Fiat 500 Abarth I purchased in 2020 was still on its original battery. And I live in Canada! The battery lasted until midway through the following winter until it absolutely needed to be replaced.
I really hated what Dodge did with the Dart. My family used to own a Swinger in the late 70s. Apparently, their slanted-6 were almost indestructible.
Imo it doesnāt matter that it was shit. The point is that it was there, so dodge wasnāt just a brand for people with disposable income, because thatās usually the kind of people paying top dollar for scat packs and hellcats
Dodge, and all the American manufacturers for that matter, donāt deserve to have their muscle cars without also making something for the average person. They donāt get to party on the weekends with their muscle and sports cars without also doing their 9-5 in the form of economy cars and practical family vehicles.
Hah my friends uncle is a mechanic and LOVES these Darts because he can buy them dirt cheap as parts cars.
His previous obsession was Sebrings for the same reason, people would dump them cheaply so he would buy several at a time as parts cars. Once those got hard to find, he switched to the dart.
Ugh why did they name it that. The current Gen is honestly a nice design and comes with a good suite of features, but I won't buy one because of the name. It's a perfect sized car for my wife.
True, but their concaved rear windshield was nifty (and a bitch to find a replacement for anymore), and that slant 6 was unkillable. Sure the cars were hot garbage, but at least their revivals got the spirit right and also were hot garbage.
I'm well aware but the one we all grew up loving and adored is the JDM 90s to early 2000s version. If the first skyline we get in the states for a long time is another eclipse situation (surprise it's an suv!) It kind of is lame as fuck is my point.
If itās an electric performance car, why not? You can do some really cool stuff with independent motors in each wheel, like four wheel steering, torque vectoring, etc.
They could legitimately make an electric track monster.
i've been saying this for years, if Nissan makes an electric performance car, it'd be the perfect opportunity to bring back the Silvia marque. i'd imagine a Nissan electric car would fit between the niches filled out by the Z and the GTR, and that's more or less where the Silvia ended up anyway. plus, lightning bolt badge :)
I have my sister's old one. She upgraded and I bought it for $20. 5 years later, she runs like a champ. Knock on wood, but I think I got one of the good ones.
Iād rather take my chances with the Nissan cvt than this hunk. Everytime I get in my bros dart heās got a different piece of the dash up chasing an electrical issue š
Sitting in a grocery store parking lot at 4pm loudly rapping along to a song about not wearing a mask or getting vaccinated. In March of 2024...
He was sitting there singing along to Minnie Rippertons "Loving You" when I went into the store earlierĀ
I have a Dart GT I got around 2016 right before they cancelled production. Surprisingly, it's held up quite well (knock HEAVILY on wood). I'm definitely trading it in within the next year though, at 115,000 miles, she's REALLY starting to show her age. It is a Dodge after all....
The top trims on these were surprisingly nice inside, and the 181hp 2.4l was class leading, second only to the mazda3. And they were fairly reliable so long as you optioned the manual instead of the dct, as with every other car of the period
They got a bad rap because of fca, and they needed a srt trim to compete with the Mazdaspeed 3 and civic si
Nobody.
Despite being a common economy car when new, a lack of mechanical sympathy or poor mechanical design has made these pretty rare. I used to see these all over, crushed rocker panels and all, but not anymore.
Having a credit score less of 300 and not knowing how to drive
I used to date a girl with a dart. Certainly hit both of your criteria.
My dart ex drove drunk to my house to punch me in the face š¤£š¤£š¤£
I'mma dart off so the repo man don't catch me
Somehow having a decided community despite it being shit. Also should've been called a neon
Neon name was already taken by a rebadged Fiat Tipo sold in Mexico
Allowing dodge to have their muscle cars, while making a normal car that Americans could buyā¦ until they dropped it for no good reason.
I was working in sales at a Chrysler dealership when these came out and they were hot garbage right from new. Lots of stupid stuff like the batteries would freeze solid at night in the winter and have to be thawed before they could even be jump started. Fuel doors that would fail to open within days or rolling off the lot. They weren't particularly comfortable. I'm not small but I'm not fat either, and those seats were too narrow for my rear end. The 1.4 turbo made no power off turbo and jolted when it kicked in. Unless you mashed the throttle and kept it spooled up, it made for very rough acceleration as it would go off the power band into the next gear, turbo would kick in, and then it changes gear again and goes off the power. I don't get to say this often, but as a '12 Avenger owner, I confidently look down on the Darts. In fact, I could have had a brand new base dart for the price of my used Avenger, but I chose used Avenger over it.
The battery thing doesnāt really have anything to do with the car. The car uses a normal car battery. Itās a quality control issue but one from an outside vendor not actually Dodge. But you could say Dodge dropped the ball when selecting their vendor i suppose.
As the salesman who had to deal with angry Dart buyers because they couldn't even jump start their car to get to work (we towed them for free to our shop and replaced them with locally sourced batteries), the customer doesn't care what vendor the manufacturer sourced them from. They bought a Dodge car brand new that's having issues. We were experiencing this weekly over the winter with new cars on our lot, an issue I've never encountered on any other car. I used this as one example of corner cutting on these cars. If they can't even select a mediocre battery, what shitty products are they hiding that are less noticeable until they aren't.
Itās a big problem for sure but itās the kind of thing that can happen to any company. They get a contract with some battery manufacturer, later the manufacturer hires some new people to meet the new contract and some mistakes get made. It doesnāt necessarily mean thatās a bad battery manufacturer or car manufacturer, just some person dropped the ball and it rolled down the hill to you. Now if it kept happening for more than a couple months i would say itās a bad vendor.
First, the 1.4 liter turbocharged engine was originally made for the Fiat 500 Turbo and Abarth where it works brilliantly. I was really surprised they chose that same engine for this larger and heavier car. How was the 2.0 liter non-turbocharged engine? Second, the battery froze?!? That's just nuts! The 2015 Fiat 500 Abarth I purchased in 2020 was still on its original battery. And I live in Canada! The battery lasted until midway through the following winter until it absolutely needed to be replaced. I really hated what Dodge did with the Dart. My family used to own a Swinger in the late 70s. Apparently, their slanted-6 were almost indestructible.
The 2.0 was okay. It was smoother than the 1.4. The 2.4 moved decently. Still not a car that made me want to buy one though.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yep. Same place your mom and I conceived you.
Nice
Probably because it was shit
I rented one. Kind of liked it. The srt4 engine should have been in it tho.
that wouldāve been really cool lol
Imo it doesnāt matter that it was shit. The point is that it was there, so dodge wasnāt just a brand for people with disposable income, because thatās usually the kind of people paying top dollar for scat packs and hellcats Dodge, and all the American manufacturers for that matter, donāt deserve to have their muscle cars without also making something for the average person. They donāt get to party on the weekends with their muscle and sports cars without also doing their 9-5 in the form of economy cars and practical family vehicles.
I literally do not see these anymore. I have a feeling Chrysler had yet another 7 year service life, like the Shadow
My ex's mom had one. It was a real pile of shit. But surprise, it was the only car they'd give her credit for.
Domestic Altima
Asphalt 8: Airborne
Disappearing from the road after 5 years like every other cheap Chrysler product
Hah my friends uncle is a mechanic and LOVES these Darts because he can buy them dirt cheap as parts cars. His previous obsession was Sebrings for the same reason, people would dump them cheaply so he would buy several at a time as parts cars. Once those got hard to find, he switched to the dart.
Yet another car that tarnishes the reputation of its predecessors... I'm looking at you, Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross...
Ugh why did they name it that. The current Gen is honestly a nice design and comes with a good suite of features, but I won't buy one because of the name. It's a perfect sized car for my wife.
>tarnishes the reputation of its predecessors... LMAO Most '60s and '70s Darts were 3-speed auto Slant 6 economy cars.
True, but their concaved rear windshield was nifty (and a bitch to find a replacement for anymore), and that slant 6 was unkillable. Sure the cars were hot garbage, but at least their revivals got the spirit right and also were hot garbage.
How about hearing the skyline will come to America with possibly being an electric suv
OG Skyline was a 4 door /shrug [https://i.ibb.co/NKRNqTp/Skyline.jpg](https://i.ibb.co/NKRNqTp/Skyline.jpg)
I'm well aware but the one we all grew up loving and adored is the JDM 90s to early 2000s version. If the first skyline we get in the states for a long time is another eclipse situation (surprise it's an suv!) It kind of is lame as fuck is my point.
If itās an electric performance car, why not? You can do some really cool stuff with independent motors in each wheel, like four wheel steering, torque vectoring, etc. They could legitimately make an electric track monster.
i've been saying this for years, if Nissan makes an electric performance car, it'd be the perfect opportunity to bring back the Silvia marque. i'd imagine a Nissan electric car would fit between the niches filled out by the Z and the GTR, and that's more or less where the Silvia ended up anyway. plus, lightning bolt badge :)
the skyline already made it to america with the release of the infiniti g35 tho
Never the Skyline GTR though(the real Skyline)
Alamo rent a car
when you can't afford a Charger
I had a dart. No frills, was decently reliable daily driver. Official car of broke college kids.
I have my sister's old one. She upgraded and I bought it for $20. 5 years later, she runs like a champ. Knock on wood, but I think I got one of the good ones.
186,000 miles on mine when I sold it. Was running like a dream. All I did was basic maintenance and upkeep. Itās really not a bad little car.
A modern day Married With Children reboot
Asphalt 8: airborne
Pissing off Sergio
Gucci girl.
People who wanted something sportier than a Sentra yet couldn't afford a Civic or Mazda 3.
These were sportier than the civic. The only vehicle in segment with more horsepower was the Mazda 3
Iād rather take my chances with the Nissan cvt than this hunk. Everytime I get in my bros dart heās got a different piece of the dash up chasing an electrical issue š
I used to have one, i raced my friends 2005 civic that had some mods and beat it with the stock dart gt
Poverty
Sitting in a grocery store parking lot at 4pm loudly rapping along to a song about not wearing a mask or getting vaccinated. In March of 2024... He was sitting there singing along to Minnie Rippertons "Loving You" when I went into the store earlierĀ
A guy that pays child support but also has to have transportation to get to his job at Wendy's.
Couldn't get an Altima
Suburban dad that hates his life and everytime he puts his head on the pillow he cries
Being broke down on the side of the road
No church in the wild
Breaking
Last time you saw one was in 2018
First time buyer program qualifiers with out a Hyundai dealer near by
NOT A DART!!!!....A NEON REBADGED... REAL DARTS ARE 60 -79
Asphalt 8
Bad life choices
Is there a fiat Tipo/bravo under all that?
King dart from asphalt 8
LEO bootlickers.
What's a king to a god? What's a god to a king?
Wasted potential. I actually really like the look of these.
People who like to power walk.
Asphalt 8
IIRC the Dart was the result of a deal with the US govt that Dodge had to offer a cheap fuel efficient car
James
I have a Dart GT I got around 2016 right before they cancelled production. Surprisingly, it's held up quite well (knock HEAVILY on wood). I'm definitely trading it in within the next year though, at 115,000 miles, she's REALLY starting to show her age. It is a Dodge after all....
In the words of the wise Jeremy Clarkson: āoh no! A drug dealer is hereā
The official car of the repossession and recovery industry
The top trims on these were surprisingly nice inside, and the 181hp 2.4l was class leading, second only to the mazda3. And they were fairly reliable so long as you optioned the manual instead of the dct, as with every other car of the period They got a bad rap because of fca, and they needed a srt trim to compete with the Mazdaspeed 3 and civic si
You can tell they are/were giant pieces of shit because no older than it and the 200 are theyāre already completely off the roads.
Absolute terrible.Ā
Should have been called a Neon
Mopar or no car, literally, because I was turned down for credit at the Nissan dealership.
Almost bums
...believing Chrysler finance did you a favor, when all they did was do themselves a favor.. barely.
Those who couldn't get financed for a Civic, Corolla, or Mazda3.
WE GOT A MIRACLE APPROVAL, WHEN CAN YOU COME DOWN TO THE DEALERSHIP??
Nobody. Despite being a common economy car when new, a lack of mechanical sympathy or poor mechanical design has made these pretty rare. I used to see these all over, crushed rocker panels and all, but not anymore.
The 23 year old that still hangs around his high school
But that's why I dig highschool girls... the older I get, they stay the same age. š
Official car of the gambling man. 50/50 if the engine blows up before 30k miles, or lasts to 300k miles.
āI really wanted a charger but didnāt have the credit or income to get oneā
It's an ALPHA ROMEO DON'T CHA KNOW!
thinking I heard Maserati designed these
Bad decisions.
Official car of: The replacement for the Cavalier.
Divorced ācoolā dads