Before you slip under the covers each evening, do you run out to the garage to hug your car?
And each Saturday morning, before the neighbors have a chance to rise and shine, are you in the driveway scrubbing your vehicle inside and out?
If so, the 1997 Plymouth Breeze is not for you.
Breeze is a practical machine that puts function ahead of fun, a vehicle for those who don’t let their car dictate their life or lifestyle.
It’s a sedan for those who consider themselves blessed with an abundance of common sense, who purchase a car simply to transport them from here to there and back, and who consider money invested in a set of wheels a necessary evil.
Rather than boast how much they paid for their new car, Breeze owners brag how little they went into debt.
Breeze is an alternative car: an alternative to shopping used when you can buy new for about the same amount of money, and a larger, roomier, more stylish compact-size alternative to that subcompact or mini when you have a cap on your vehicle spending.
Breeze is a member of the compact Chrysler Cirrus/Dodge Stratus family at Chrysler. Cirrus is the luxury car, Stratus the performance car and Breeze (what a wonderful name) the economy car.
We tested the ’97 model that’s offered as a four-door sedan only. Changes for ’97 are minimal, such as a few new exterior colors, increased-flow rear-seat heat ducts and white wheel covers on white cars.
Base price is $14,825 and for that you get dual air bags, air conditioning, four-wheel independent suspension, power brakes and steering, stainless-steel exhaust, dual outside mirrors, tinted glass, bodyside moldings, all-season 14-inch tires (sure we’d prefer 15-inch but would demand them more on Cirrus and Stratus than Breeze), tilt steering, rear-window defroster, AM/FM stereo radio with four speakers (add cassette and two more speakers for $180), remote decklid release, rear-door child safety locks, folding rear seat back and dual cupholders in the center console armrest.
You can add automatic transmission for a much-too-hefty $1,050, anti-lock brakes for $565 and power windows/door locks/mirrors for $760.
Breeze is powered by a 2-liter, 132-horsepower, single overhead cam 4-cylinder with 5-speed manual transmission. A 2.4-liter, 150-h.p. dual overhead cam engine is a $450 option–with automatic transmission only.
Fuel economy with the 2-liter and 5-speed manual is superb at 26 miles per gallon city/37 m.p.g. highway, but those 132 horses act as if destined to become glue. The 5-speed is tolerable, but it’s sad that at $1,050 Chrysler will keep some buyers from opting for automatic or chase some first-time buyers away who don’t know how to drive manual and can’t afford automatic.
Other than being underpowered, Breeze’s other shortcoming is rather stiff cloth seats. Very stylish, but tough on the back for long distances. An update is needed, we hope for ’98. Seat comfort is an issue because Breeze is built on a long 108-inch wheelbase for optimum cabin room. You can stretch your arms and legs in a Breeze whereas in many smaller, but similarly priced, subcompacts you’ll find yourself bumping door armrests, seat backs and firewalls. So with all that room, comfort should be a given.
GM Card update
Oh, how the readers reacted to the column (Business, July 21) detailing how selected holders of General Motors GM Card received a special offer entitling them to up to $730 in discounts/services on the purchase of a new GM vehicle by Dec. 31.
The column clearly stated that only some cardholders who received, filled out and returned a survey asking their buying intentions–that they wanted to buy soon or probably had to buy soon because of an aging car–were mailed GM Privileges coupons entitling them to discounts.
Bruce called to complain he hasn’t gotten a $730 offer from GM, though he doesn’t own a GM Card. Guy said the questionnaire was “so complex”that he didn’t bother filling it out but now wants a $730 discount. Kent said he didn’t bother filling out the questionnaire, and though he has $3,500 in GM Card credits, he’s not going to buy a GM vehicle because he didn’t get the $730 offer.
And many readers griped that they bought a GM vehicle within the last few days or weeks and didn’t get $730 in discounts, but expect GM to send them $730 though they don’t own a GM Card or don’t recall whether they got a survey, much less filled one out and mailed it back.
Read closely, folks: If you didn’t bother with the questionnaire, you took yourself out of the running for the discounts. When Ed and Dick write that you’ve moved a step closer to winning $11 million from the Publisher’s Clearinghouse, there’s a line that says, in effect, you give up the right to take the next step to win the $11 million if you don’t return the mailing by a certain date.
Al complained he called the toll-free number about the offer and was told by the person who answered the phone and that person’s supervisor that they never heard of the program; Harry said he called the 800 number and was told the column about it “was fabricated”; and Vic and Jim said their dealers never heard of such a program.
Valerie Weaver, marketing director for the GM Card, said the 1,200 folks at the toll-free phones were sent electronic messages explaining the program and had been updated on it in several staff meetings. And, Weaver said, they have been briefed again. So anyone dumbfounded when a customer called shouldn’t have been and should have transferred the caller to the GM Privileges Specialist.
If you have a question about the GM Card or its programs, write GM Card Customer CARE, P.O. Box 9075, Detroit, 48202-9075.
Weaver also said all GM dealers were sent brochures as well as videotapes and guides detailing the program in January. Any dealer who got the stuff and tossed it without reading can call the dealer only number, 800-944-7000, between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. Central time to order another kit.
Finally, the column didn’t say you would be sent $25 for calling the GM Card toll-free number as Tom insisted. And Phil, angry that only selected GM Card holders were eligible for discounts rather than every consumer on the globe, could solve his problem by applying for a GM Card.
And, remember, as the column said, even if you got a questionnaire, filled it out and returned it, your responses on how soon you would buy, the age of your current vehicle and the type of vehicle you wanted determined whether you got a GM Privileges offer. Even if you expressed interest in buying soon and have a 10-year-old car, there was no guarantee you got the special mailing.
Ed and Dick have been writing us for years, but so far they haven’t sent us squat.
– Strictly personal: If you find yourself on a golf course with WGN-Radio news director Tom Petersen, be advised the best place to stand when he is teeing off is directly in front of him. However, upon reaching the 19th hole, reverse positions.
Belated birthday greetings to O.B. from the planet Vulcan, who has now reached the age of reason, or at least a reasonable age, and sympathies to Gus Buenz, director of public relations for Oldsmobile, on the loss of his mother, Cassie.
Finally, we now have e-mail. We also have a directory detailing how to use e-mail. Someday we’ll read the directory. And someday we’ll read the Internet directory to learn how to surf the turf or whatever you call it and find where e-mail is hiding. Not soon, of course.
And, to those who leave word on voicemail, which we do know how to use: Please give name and phone number first t,hen a very brief message on why you called. If you need 10 minutes to explain your problem, use e-mail.
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Monday in Business: Jim Mateja says Isuzu has been branded by Consumer’s Union.
Thursday in Cars: Jim Mateja explores whether you should buy a ’97 or wait for a ’98.
