300c 1 month review

[Domenic]

Boys you've had your machines for a few weeks now, what's the overall opinion of the aussie release car? Are you overwhelmingly happy and content? Is there anything about it that has disappointed you? Any problems to speak of? I'm wondering about the overall contentment rating from you, everything included.

[Hemi57]

Domenic, in a word "OUTSTANDING". HEMI 57 has exceeded my high set expectations.

The 300C is great value for money, better quality materials and assembly than the local product, packed with features , quiet, powerful, good handling & ride, incredible styling and it was voted most easy car to clean last year by the US Automobile Cleaning Association. What more can I say? You reckon I am happy or not?

I have had a variety of Fords but a leaning more to Holdens in the past, including HSV. My wife has a history of Hondas but now has Audi TT. Given my "exposure" to top end local cars, higher end Jap cars and Euro, I am reasonably qualified to say, the Chrysler 300C is the "way to go mate" .

[PHAT_HEMI]

Totally agree with Hemi57, they are an awesome car, I have no probs at all. Get plenty of looks on the road. I have had Jaguars, High Performance Nissans and Holdens in the past, and apart from the Jaguar the rest are noisy P.O.S compared to the Chrysler.

I've only managed to put 770km's on the car and can start to feel it loosening up a bit, got a heap of power and very quiet. I'm sure that most of my mates will be selling there HSV's soon and putting there name down for one.

Rating: 15/10

[Domenic]

See this is what i wanted to hear about guys, you can look at stats and reviews and kw's and whatever else, but a lot of what makes some cars great is how they make you feel when you ride in them. Some cars have intangibles you can't see in stats, and that's what i wanted to know about. Looks like this beast does a good job of making everyone who owns one feel pretty damn fantastic.

[snoopdolks]

Hi Domenic. I've had mine for 1 week today, managed a pathetic 100kms, washed her once and applied the first coat of polish! In my youth (not THAT long ago) I was a bit of a petrol head out of both necessity (i was broke) and interest. Eventually, I ended up owning nice BMWs (318is, 325Ci) but the passion for cars was pretty much gone. The 300C has brought it all back!

I said a couple posts ago that owning one of these beasts is like stepping back to a time when the world was a nicer place but with a heap of refinement thrown in and I still reckon that's true.

I saw HEMI 57 in the carpark near my work on my way out to test drive the 300C and it pretty much sold me on the spot. The look is aggressive without the tacky plastic stuff and its not apologetic because its a large(ish) car. The stuff inside all works...and I mean ALL works. There are no niggling little things that are annoying me or stuff I have to go fix myself - now that I've worked out how to disengage the handbrake properly the first time!

I've had a Cortina, EA Falcon (yuk), ED XR8 Sprint, 318is, 325Ci, WRX and now the 300C and it's by far the best car I've had. It was this or an M5 I reckon but I'd like to own a house too!

By the way, I'm so inspired by this car, I've joined an internet forum to talk about it??!

[1st300]

Hi all.The boss and I both agree that this is an awesome vehicle that we just want to keep driving. Ride,comfort and ergonomics when behind the wheel are faultless. After only the first five or six klms I felt comfortable with all of the controls (not something you could say about some of the oppositions offerings).A suprise to me was the lack of any sort of throttle lag compared to modern cars that I have had the opportunity to drive - squeeze the throttle and things start to happen here. This might be the difference in our outlook to others making this report.You see other than a ten year old Honda all the cars we own are 1970s Chryslers that we have built.We do hire new cars 3 or 4 times a year when travelling interstate, but in general we drive big cars that feel big and I think that the 300 is a bit that way to.
If I was to find fault with anything it is the paint finish. Years ago we would have said that the back of the car was painted by a different painter to the front,but in these days of robots not sure who we should blame. Interesting that I see in the USA they are also critical of the finish on the boot (trunk) lid. Must be the same robot in both countries.When viewed from behind the car the orange peel paint is pretty bad. When we get over the silly season I intend to take it down to our painter to either cut it back or repaint it. This might seem a bit picky to those with lighter coloured cars but ours is midnight blue and I would assume it is the same effect on the black ones.
We have had several people ride in the car that drive more up market (?) cars, such as Mercs, Jags etc. and they all came away with the highest compliments and at least two of them will be purchasing 300,s when the new shipment arrives.
I love the lack of spoilers,wings or others pseudo go fast add ons that would upset the lines of the body. And it sure does'nt need them to make a statement on the road.
Cheers

[Domenic]

Arnold re your boot comments
Whilst i freely admit i am far from an expert on things automotive, and no i don't yet own one of these cars, I would say that the only thing I'm slightly negative about with the 300c is the boot. What i mean is, the whole car has a certain quality about it, ride power ergonomics aura etc, but the boot to me feels tinny. During one test drive i took good time to just sit in the car whilst parked and just mose it over, open and close everything, play with every gadget, pump up the stereo with my fav cd's, pop the hood, open and close all doors to hear what sort of feel it gave, sunroof etc, everything passed with flying colours except the boot (well, the glove box isn't flash either i guess). I opened it and closed the boot and i felt like i was closing the lid of a mid 90's japanese 2-door, compared to the feel the doors gave me i was disappointed. But having said that, I was actually trying to pick problems with the car, and this is all i really found. Overall the car makes me feel like a million dollars.

[Hemi57]

Well, with you guys debating a couple of minor issues means I must come clean with a couple of minor points I accept with the 300C.

I have yet to see an Australian 300C with the bonnet centre "spine" lined up with the nose spine and bonnet panel gaps right. The dealer Service guy spent some time on mine yesterday and basically said they will need to research with Chrysler how to fix it.

On the subject of the boot lid. The North American members were complaining about their '05 models not having an internal pull down handle or strap. This was rectified in the '06 spec model and I cannot understand why we did not get it.

Have you noticed that the Leather on the seats is only on the seating surfaces. This is not problem from my perspective and helps hold the sale price down and inclusion of more "goodies" but may be a source of criticism from some opponents.

My paintwork is not perfect from an even colour perspective or depth. Next to my wife's Audi (silver too) it is no comparison. However, it does not have any issue with "orange peel".

[1st300]

Originally Posted by Hemi57

Well, with you guys debating a couple of minor issues means I must come clean with a couple of minor points I accept with the 300C.

I have yet to see an Australian 300C with the bonnet centre "spine" lined up with the nose spine and bonnet panel gaps right. The dealer Service guy spent some time on mine yesterday and basically said they will need to research with Chrysler how to fix it.

On the subject of the boot lid. The North American members were complaining about their '05 models not having an internal pull down handle or strap. This was rectified in the '06 spec model and I cannot understand why we did not get it.

Have you noticed that the Leather on the seats is only on the seating surfaces. This is not problem from my perspective and helps hold the sale price down and inclusion of more "goodies" but may be a source of criticism from some opponents.

My paintwork is not perfect from an even colour perspective or depth. Next to my wife's Audi (silver too) it is no comparison. However, it does not have any issue with "orange peel".

I was aware of the missing pull down strap and very carefull when pulling down the bootlid. Last week I was at DC HQ and saw a chap with a lanyard which is printed with photos of the 300C v8 safety car etc. It is now attached to our bootlid as the pull down.
When polishing the car I have found areas on the rear quarter panels that have a decided sand paper feel. Or should I say they did, and have managed to rub out a fair bit of it.
We have also got one exhaust tip extending further out than the other which annoys the hell out of me every time I look at it. Intention is to eventually change these tips for something a little more aggresive but theres not much pipe to play on.
Cheers