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Too many miles - 300C

13K views 27 replies 10 participants last post by  Ol Blue 
#1 ·
Hello.

I'm very seriously considering a 2006 300C AWD as a commuter car that already has 77,000 miles on it.

I drive about 35,000 miles a year, so in just 5 years it will have over 250,000 miles.

The Topic about "How Many Miles" there are a couple of cars in the 200k mile area, but only a couple.

I take care of my vehicles. Though both had it's share of required repairs, the last two went over 260,000 miles (Mercury Marquis and Crown Vic), but I'm tired of walking the last 1/2 mile home in the winter because the car won't get there.

Given a fanatical owner about maintenance, repairs, appearance and general care, is 250,000 to 300,000 miles doable with a '06 300C?

If so, it looks like front suspension, is a problem area, excluding usual items like brakes, shocks, filters, oil and lube, etc. are there any others that will likely require regular replacement?

I expect to install a CAI, Catch Can, and probably a Predator, but that would likely be the end of the mods.

Even though it would be really nice, I'm not sure, but hoping that it will pan out. Losing 4+mpg down to 23MPG is going to cost almost $800 more per year. Insurance, oil, filters, etc. are about a wash as for the current AWD Milan Premier. If the cost of parts for regular repairs are going to be very much (I "almost" always do my own work), then I will have to stay with the Milan.

Thank you very much.
 
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#2 ·
Chrysler 300's are generally regarded as 'good high mileage' cars - and have become very popular as fleet cars for taxis.

You have an AWD in mind. The suspension and transmission on the AWD is from mercedes but is completely different from the RWD cars. Perhaps some of the AWD owners here will comment, or you can have a browse through ouur AWD area: AWD Discussion - Chrysler 300C Forum: 300C & SRT8 Forums
 
#3 ·
Hi Northern Rider,

Dang it! I thought I was posting this in the correct area....oops.

I have read quite a bit about the AWD Chrysler 300 Touring, Limited, and C along with the various Chargers. A lot is thanks to this board! It would be great to get an 09 or 10, but that just isn't in the cards.

It seems as though the police trade-off the Chargers a lot sooner than they did the Crown Vics. I had not yet realized that the 300 is used for Taxi services though.

Thank you!
 
#4 ·
This thread is just fine here in General Discussion. :)

I'll tell you what I know about police and their cars. The patrol officers love the Chargers - the power; the handling and the comfort.

The bean counters, though, like the Crown Vic's as they are body on frame, which means they can have body damage repaired faster and for less cost than the unibody LX platform.

As to running gear wear and tear, there probably isn't much to choose cost-wise. The Ford CV (which is now discontinued) is probably a bit lower on the replacement parts side as the model hasn't changed much for several years.
 
#5 ·
Both the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis were very low maintenance. The biggest issue was only the threads in the head on one spark plug. It happened about three days after I bought the Marquis. I thought for sure I'd been :eek:wned:

Too bad they don't do so well in the winter unless chained up. They've given me some really good stories.........with happy endings, but just barely. :yikes:

Anyway, I'm looking forward to what everyone has to say.

Thanks again!
 
#6 ·
I wish I could say it was on the rock solid end of things, but I've seen people either have few complaints, or tons of complaints. Speaking for myself, I haven't had any serious problems (knock on wood!), but many little things. Some people complain endlessly about the little things.

You could liken the 300Cs to the classic idea of a McMansion; when they hit the market, they offered the looks, power, and features that were usually only found on much more expensive cars. It's funny, because a lot of people criticize how the 300 looked like a Bentley. While I tend to disagree that this was the intention of the design teams involved, that's a lot cooler than buying a car that "wanted" to be a BMW 5 series - like virtually every other car on the market.

Like a McMansion, there are little details that were skimped out on - for example, the door handles have nice chrome handles, but are held together with plastic that tends to break. The trunk lid latch also has that same cheap plastic in its spring, and I had to replace mine because of that lol.

There are a few other small WTF things, you'll encounter those if you buy a 300 - and then there are larger things that get interesting. Some people run into trouble with their transmissions, others have ruined engines over things like spun bearings and broken valve seats. SO FAR, those problems seem rare, but mounting in popularity.

So I wouldn't call them bulletproof, but they do seem to be better than average. On the plus side, the chassis is really rigid and the cars look way cooler than anything else you could get with the money they cost.
 
#7 ·
Well, that fell flat. When they found out I'd be trading down, they quit returning phone calls. I called twice more and even suggested a straight trade for a 4 year newer AWD Milan Premier with only 30k miles, new tires, glass treatment, under factory warranty, and correctly detailed, but no deal. The Milan is just a little too small I feel uneasy driving. Yes, made a mistake, but I'll keep looking.
 
#8 ·
You can get an 08 limited for a decent price. I picked up my baby with 31K for $2k less then NADA. Here in Ohio AWD is almost a must have during the winter.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using AutoGuide.Com Free App
 
#9 ·
Oops. Sorry OoTLink! That is GREAT information and insight. I apologize for not acknowledging your help.

Ohio? That's a little ways away, but for the right car, I'd be willing. I'll expand the CarGurus and AutoTrader search radius.

Oh. I see. I must not have filled in where I'm at (Idaho). I'll try to fix that now.
 
#10 ·
Expanding the search shows some that are VERY tempting. Ford dealer in Dubuque has an '06 300C with 45k miles. Then I looked at the distance.......I'm not quite desperate enough for 3 days driving one-way.....yet.
 
#16 ·
The commute is about 50% paved country road and 49% highway with a couple of miles gravel road and through small town driving. Fuel mileage in the last 3 cars has been a couple of MPG more than what the car was rated. The Milan Premier AWD is rated at 25MPG and has been averaging 26.8MPG so far. The Mercury Grand Marquis is rated at 25MPG (I think), would typically get in the upper 26MPG range also. The Crown Vic before these would consistently get 27.2 with good O2 sensors.

I keep track of every fill up, cost, and miles traveled in a spreadsheet. The fuel mileage reported by the cars has been, well.......faulty. :crazy:

So I was really expecting a minimum of 23MPG. At 20MPG, I'll keep what I've got......darn!
 
#14 ·
Ya I'm getting about that in the city too. This is not a car for those counting their pennies for gas, that's for sure...

Sent from my HTC One S using AutoGuide.Com Free App
 
#18 ·
26 mpg is what I get on long highway runs of 8 hours at about 75 mph. I just checked my last two weeks of commuting and got 19.5 mpg. That includes a 1/4 mile leadfoot blast onto the highway every day to '"clear the pipes". By the way, these are cool weather numbers running a stock 87 tune. A Diablo 93 tune gets better numbers at the expense of premium fuel.
 
#19 · (Edited)
lol, I get around 26mpg on a long, flat stretch by myself in the car. With the whole family on a trip with a few hills/mountains along the way? More like 23mpg. maybe? Yea....

Honestly I try not to worry about gas mileage. It usually works out to a full tank a week for me :)

If you want to look at it another way, you could look at how high the gas mileage is for such a big, powerful car. Shoot, G35s used to be even worse (sometimes, although rarely) if you gunned them a lot.
 
#20 ·
Ol Blue,===========================================================================================================================

I was going to post a picture here on this topic. However the site gave me a message That I could not post a picture until I made 4 posts. What a lot of 'bother'

I think I will look for a better forum and erase my post.
 
#22 ·
Hey Savage99
Post a few more times and let's see that pic!
 
#23 ·
Thanks and I Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

We had a 300 mile trip to see family. After that, I'm going to increase the efforts to find an AWD 300C! :arms:
 
#26 ·
drove over 1250 miles to pick up my srt8,had looked every day for 15 months. [wanted all options except nav @ dvd] If you have a carmax used dealer near you they will ship it there 4 a price. prices are lower in some parts of the country a/c of economy. u may want to buy w/o trade @sell your car local. doitnow!!
 
#27 ·
Thank you. It appears that neither carmax or sell your car local is much of an option here.

I have tried twice at dealerships, but we haven't gotten the numbers to work. I tried really hard on a very well loaded 06 300C AWD with everything except DVD player with 77,000 miles. They are asking $15,500. Their best was my car (retail $18,700, trade-in $14,000) plus $4,000 cash for the 300C. That one really "spoke" to me also.

I am apprehensive of getting a mid-east (instead of mid west from here), or east vehicle. There seems to be quite the opinion that road de-icer's used cause a lot of rust on a car in a very short time.

I'll just keep looking every day and calling when it might work out. Maybe some day.


Everyone have a Merry Christmas!
 
#28 ·
I've tried to be patient in my search and now am seriously looking at an 2006 300C AWD loaded except rear DVD with 24,000 miles and a front accident without air bad deployment and brand new tires. In comparison, there's a 2010 300C AWD with 54000 miles that is equally equipped but with the nicer looking (IMHO) chrome wheels and no accident reported by Carfax.

Are items on the newer (but higher mileage) car such as the cruise control handle located on the right side of the steering wheel, front drive line disconnect and pink thingy already being fixed worth $4000 more in real life?

NADA says to deduct $220 in value for the 2006 for the accident.

Which ever one will get driven about 30,000 miles a year, and stay close to OEM specs with the exception of a Catch Can and Predator.

Thanks again for all your help!
 
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