Have you ever checked under the hood of a newer Stratus coupe (Avenger replacements)? The Stratus coupes, including the R/T's, are made by Mitsubishi, and so are the Sebring coupes. The next Neon coming in 2006 will use a Mitsubishi Lancer frame as well as a Hyundai motor. Unfortunately, Mitsubishi is alive and well in DCX.[:@]

 

There's a lot of false rumors here. The reason the Stealth ended in 1996 wasn't because the car was 'difficult to work on.' The truth was financial reasons. When dealing with the increasing value of the Japanese Yen, Dodge simply did not feel they were profiting enough from these cars and had to end it there. In reality, the Stealth was priced extremely low for a sports car with as many features as it did and it was in Dodge's best interest to terminate the Stealth line if they were going to focus on making higher profiting vehicles.

Almost - Mitsu made them up until '99.

Expensive to maintain the engines... well, not really. In comparison to a Honda, perhaps. However this can be expected with any sports car, which a Honda is not.
Paint wise I have to point out that this is definitely not the case. In fact, our factory paint has held up better then just about any other vehicle from the same year. My Stealth is a 91, with a factory Pearl White paint job. I've been asked everything from 'did you recently paint your car?' all the way to 'is this the 2004 model?' It seems as though a TON of people know nothing about these cars, and when a person sees it for the first time they can't believe that the car is pretty much 13 years old. Unlike the few other sports cars from 1991, the Stealth styling remains timeless and still looks modern even today.
I will give you this, however: Red painted Stealths are prone to fading. Not peeling, but fading - yes. Believe it or not, but the factory red paint jobs actually did NOT have a clear coat to protect them. Hence the reason your sponge will turn red if you ever try to wash one (seriously, try it). It isn't uncommon for a 91-93 red Stealth spoiler to oxidize or fade with time, but besides that the paint is actually one of the Stealth's best exterior qualities (besides the beautiful curves, of course).

thestealth is correct. 60k maintenance is very important with these cars. Our timing belts, unfortunately, are our Achilles Heal. If they break on our cars, we can generally consider our engine nothing more than a paperweight. If maintained properly, this is one thing you shouldn't have to worry about.

71roadrunner's response is an accurate one. Dodge doesn't hate Mitsubishi and they've worked together on many projects. Since Mitsubishi is actually in a lot of financial trouble right now (the only non-profiting car manufacturer in Japan), Dodge/Chrysler may be the only company that could save them.

One way or another the Stealth/3000GT are unbelievable cars. I've had mine for quite some time now and there's no other car I rather have right now.

 

My stock green paint has held up great for being 12 years old. It still shines up great when I wax and wash it.

Agreed, there are few cars made that are as cool as the Stealth/3kgt.

 

Their is a simple truth to what happend to the Stealth, it can be summed up in one word.

VIPER.

The stealth has almost the same performance(year per year), was priced lower, lower profit margin. And the topper the viper sells basically on word of mouth the Stealth needed advertising to support it.

Having to pull the plenum to change the plugs is not a huge deal. The use platinum plugs and they only have to be changed every 60k miles(on a stock car )

Not suprising its a varriant of the same engine from the 3S's

 

Here is a little tid bit..... I asked a general manager about 6 months ago why all the turbo charged cars were so small and economical looking and why they were not making any more of the big boys? The answer is that in the mid 1990's the US apparrently banned Japanese manufacturers from bringing in any more turbo cars that were larger than a 4cyl starting in the late 90's. In addition every car that had a turbo had to have 4doors and a back seat! Hence the demise of the rx7tt, stealth tt, 3000gt vr4, Supra tt, and nissan 300zx TT. That is why the rx8, the 350z, and the new eclipses to name a few are not turbo and why the evoVIII and the WRX STI are what they are!! Interesting huh????

 

Interesting. Wrong. But, Interesting.

Proof that its wrong.

The 3000 GT VR-4 was sold until the 1999 model year. We won't mentions the v12 6.0L TT Bently or the Porshe 911 TURBO.

The turbo v6 cars died becasue everyone wanted SUV's. New sports cars are coming with 4 doors because with they sell better. It makes them "more pratical".

 

No I am not wrong..it just seems you just didn't have the time or energy to read everything in my post....

1st I said late 90's which I believe encompasses 1999?????

2nd I guess you didn't realize that Bentley and Porsche are not Japanese imports...glad I could help.

3rd NOBODY makes strictly a 4 door 4cyl turbo car for practicality......and could you explain why they are making the RX8, Eclipse, 350z, the new Supra coming out in a V8, and all the others in non turbo only as of lets say... the LATE 90's???

 

And of course this "ban" caused all of the Jap automakes to completly stop making their tt V6's and selling them to the rest of the world. I mean if you can't sell a car in the US why make it.


Its common knowledge that the Jap import super cars were not selling in the late 90's and that is why they stopped making the cars. in 98 they only imported 50 3000GT vr4 to the US. In 1999 they made a totally new body for the car in an attempt to boost the sales. Why would they redesign the body of the car if they could not sell the car any longer.

Go do some research on the sales and real reasons, don't take the word of a dealership sales person that probably made it up in the 1st place.

 

ok, so they were not selling well in the late 90's and thats the reason they stopped importing them (but kept making them in Japan for the next few years) and the skylines aren't imported because they just look too nice I guess, and with the turbo craze the way it is here in the states and knowing that everyone wants the lightest car possible (not being a four door which = more weight) .............dude whatever makes you feel better. I guess the guys in Japan just have not been smart enough to figure out that a two door TURBO V6 right now would sell like hot cakes. Oh, and yes, the fact that we are one if not the biggest importer of Japanese vehicles in the world would be enough to stop making them as a whole. It is called cost management and assembly lines. [:'(]

 

Like the average import tuner kiddie could buy a bran new car in this class?

the 99vr4 was $44k the supra and the rest of the jap super cars were in that same price class.

And just to poke a few more holes in your theroy:

1) If Stealth sales were stopped for any reason other that slow sales, why did kill it in 96 and not 99 like the vr4?
2) Why put turbos on the 350z when its making almost 300 hp with out turbos. The 96 300z was making 300hp with turbos. They did not add turbos becasue the car did not need them.

If I feel the need to make you look even dumber I'll post mroe after I get back from lunch.

Oh, and was this GM your quoting the GM of an american auto dealer?