I’m not sure if a K-car is on anyone’s must-have list, but there were some interesting models. A two-door body style helps bring this one out of the “Two too many doors!!” category, if nothing else. This 1988 Plymouth Reliant is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in East Setauket, NY, and the seller is asking $2,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Zen for the tip!
Even for a $2,500 car, it’s unfortunate that the photos aren’t better, but it isn’t surprising given the history of craigslist ads. I don’t know what the seller was asking for this car, but their description says that they originally had it listed for sale earlier this summer and got 150 responses, “because I didn’t realize what I had!” Since that listing, they put in a new battery and adjusted the asking price. I’m assuming they raised the price, but $2,500 doesn’t buy much anymore. I wonder what they were asking originally? This one is wearing optional (standard on the wagon) 14″ sport wheel covers. Is this a real listing? $2,500?
You can see many areas of worn Radiant Silver paint, nicks, scratches, and other cosmetic issues, and they say the paint is faded and there is minimal rust. I don’t see any visible body rust, or very much. There may be some on the rocker panels, but I’m not sure. We don’t get to see inside the trunk or underneath. And… drumroll: there are no engine photos. Sigh, thanks, 2026. Just when I had hopes for good things happening with listings. Here is a 1988 Plymouth Reliant brochure.
Chrysler offered the K-car in a Dodge Aries version and the Plymouth Reliant. This interior looks incredibly nice, doesn’t it? I don’t see a flaw inside really at all. These cars were made from the fall of 1980 for the 1981 model year until the end of 1989. After that, the Plymouth Acclaim and Dodge Spirit took over. 8,543 two-door coupe versions were made in the 1988 model year, so they’re fairly rare to see today.
Here is the engine… er… dang. Well, the engine isn’t listed by the seller, so I’m guessing it’s the 2.2-liter SOHC inline-four version. A 2.5-liter four was also offered. The 2.2-liter had 93 horsepower and 122 lb-ft of torque, and this one has a three-speed Torqueflite automatic sending power to the front wheels. The seller says it has new tires, the AC is cold, and it runs and drives perfectly. For $2,500, you could do much worse than this good-looking two-door Reliant with cold AC. That seems like a no-brainer to me; what do you think?
Like you said, $2,500 doesn’t buy you much. The problem is the seller spent more time talking about raising the price the describing the car. These aren’t very desirable and it has issue, he might have been better letting it go with the prior ad, even if it was at a lower price.
Steve R
I agree with the author, its a decent deal, imo.
It looks like a good solid K Car. Runs, drives, I don’t see any rust issues from the photos. The interior looks pretty good too. I may be the only one on the planet who does this, but when I’m on the road and I actually see a K Car, I’m like, Look at that!!! A K-Car!!! Never thought I’d ever say that sentence in such an excited tone when I was in High School. But nowadays its great, at least to me, to see a daily driver that would have normally been beaten into the ground, still in decent condition and road worthy. Thanks Scotty!!! And of course to Zen too for finding this potential bargain.
My buddy had a beauty, well equipped 88 5.0 LX hatchback, he said to another friend one time, who had an 88 5.0 sedan… ” hey thought I saw ya on the road other day, but it was a K car ” 😲 lol
I think Iaccoca and company did an awesome job of facelifting this vehicle in 1985. I like that Mercedes look in the front
If you find a better K-car, buy it!
What’s up with the Reagan Bush 84 sticker on the trunk lid?
That’s funny.
Steve R
I thought so too. This car wasn’t even built yet, someone really likes Reagan and Bush to put a few years old sticker on his car.
While I don’t have very many Lambo stories, everyday cars like this hit a nerve. I “acquired” a Dodge Aries of similar vintage, another of the “insurance pool” relics from my dad, had a bad motor, and gotten CHEAP. I found another parts car, stuffed hard in the side, but good motor/trans. Again, gotten both cheap. Maybe $200 for both cars. Early 90s. I swapped the entire front end, it was held on by just a couple big bolts, dropped the whole magila, tires and all, installed the other drivetrain, IN AN AFTERNOON by myself! So simple.
Now, can anyone explain why this isn’t sold? Another, clear indicator of where we are today. And, as usual, these things are never in your backyard, except that white Omni I was too late on, and may as well be on the moon. I’d love to have it. And NO, I’m NOT flying out and driving it back. I can’t begin to say what is wrong there. Another great find, that will be overlooked. Shame.
Cool to see ANY K-cars for sale and a coupe is even a bit cooler! An ex-girlfriend had an earlier Aries coupe and my first car was an ’82 Reliant wagon so I have some good memories of them. It’s always neat to see them in the metal. Thanks for posting this one!
It’s nice to see some love for the K-car. I was working for Serramonte Chrysler Plymouth in the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid 1980s. That was an import market and the K-car was a tough sell at the time in that area.
Not bad, I didn’t hate them despite the obvious scaled back,lowered expectations they represented. The assembly quality was inconsistent and it was worth your time to examine each one before showing it to a potential customer. As many as were sold they seemed to have rapidly disappeared from the roads around here. I do notice them when they occasionally appear and it’s nice to see this clean example. It’s certainly worth $2500.
Sure looks neat and tidy. Drive all day and get 30 mpg in reasonable comfort. Of course, now we have the right number of doors on the wrong car.
I had an 85 Plymouth Reliant 4 dr. It was a great car! I put on a timing belt every 60k miles, other than that all I did was routine maintenance. Oil Changes, belts hoses and tires. The A/C worked great. I put over 300k miles on the car and the only bad thing was the head liner dropped. I gave it to a family that needed a car when their 84 Corolla blew up. I moved 3 years later and they were still driving it. That 2.2 four cylinder was bullet proof.
I personally love these cars, and the fact that you never see them anymore makes it even more interesting for me. As mentioned, very poor ad. Lousy description and serious lack of photos. Being in NY I’d definitely want to see the underside, but considering how it looks in the few photos, it could have been a very rarely driven, well taken care of car. Plus, $2500 gets you almost nothing today. Being in a bordering state I’m certainly tempted.
150 messages and not one of them offered to buy it?
Including yours.
I never messaged the dude to buy his car, so where do you come up with that scathing retort? Did you read the original listing? Clearly not .