Thinking of purchasing 300C or SRT, but.....

[Yeravener]

Hi folks;

I am in the market for a new car, have been following the 300C line for about six months now (started early), and have read a LOT about alignment and suspension problems compounded by a lack of knowledge at the dealer with how to fix/deal with the problems. I love the look of the car, the engine, and the styling...very cool.

I do not, however, think I be on a first name basis with the service manager at the local dealer for at least 5 years. I have seen many reports of first year, multiple, visits to the service center, as well as reports to government agencies...some folks on a yahoo board were even talking class action suit on the alignment problems of the 300C.

I am not flaming, my question is simply this: given what you have been through with recalls, service visits both resolved and unresolved, and road crown sensitivity/suspension alignment problems, would you purchase the car again?

Is the problem predominant/ubiquitous or an understandably vocal minority?

Thank you for your help. I love the car, but don't want to buy into a host of problems with no solutions, so your help and perspective are important to me.

James

[Northern Rider]

Welcome aboard, James. Have a poke around - tons of info and super great enthusasts here. Most of us were driving other makes of cars before getting our 300's.

Would I purchase again?

In a heartbeat. In fact, we added a Magnum R/T (wifeee's) this past summer.

As to alignment issues - there was a problem with the early 04 builds. The current builds don't seem to have any more issues than any other car with alignment.

As to suspension - let me just say this: the 300C is the best $60,000.00 Luxury Muscle Car that $35,000 can buy.

If you need more proof, just click on my sig links.

[HEMEEE]

Originally Posted by Yeravener

Hi folks;

I am in the market for a new car, have been following the 300C line for about six months now (started early), and have read a LOT about alignment and suspension problems compounded by a lack of knowledge at the dealer with how to fix/deal with the problems. I love the look of the car, the engine, and the styling...very cool.

I do not, however, think I be on a first name basis with the service manager at the local dealer for at least 5 years. I have seen many reports of first year, multiple, visits to the service center, as well as reports to government agencies...some folks on a yahoo board were even talking class action suit on the alignment problems of the 300C.

I am not flaming, my question is simply this: given what you have been through with recalls, service visits both resolved and unresolved, and road crown sensitivity/suspension alignment problems, would you purchase the car again?

Is the problem predominant/ubiquitous or an understandably vocal minority?

Thank you for your help. I love the car, but don't want to buy into a host of problems with no solutions, so your help and perspective are important to me.

James

James, hope you don't mind that I don't call you "vener".... I defy you to find a car out there that does NOT have it's share of problems, especially first-year models. Most problems with this car have been minor to moderate and most have been resolved.

The fabulous thing about a forum like this is that it provides a venue for us to share info and knowledge rather than, like the old days, simply taking the Dealer's info for bible or learning the hard way. In many cases, our members go to the Dealer or Service Dept. better informed than their own "experts".

Any perspective we provide will be biased, as this is a 300 enthusiast's board, but search our forums and you will find a wealth of knowledge, openly and willingly shared by the best and brightest membership any message board could hope for, with which to make a more informed decision...
Do the same at the message boards for any other brand you may be considering...
Then go drive them...
Only then can you put this into TRUE perspective - and I'm SURE we'll see you back here


Would I buy again?
WITHOUT HESITATION!

[bruno]

Super ditto what HEMEEE and NR just said! Even though I have had a few minor issues with it, I'm still very passionate about this car. I loved my 1996 Toyota Avalon XL so much that I purchased another one (XLS) in 2000. I loved it so much yet I ended up purchasing this 300c in 2004 and there's no turning back.

Should I decide to purchase another vehicle, it would probably be the 300c SRT-8. No regrets here at all, and that's after being a loyal Toyota customer for over 13 straight years!

Welcome and good luck with your decision.

bruno

[charlie D]

James,
I don't want to beat a dead horse but, as others have so aptly put it,all first year cars do have isolated inherent design flaws that need to be " de-bugged".Chrysler has seemed to have done that.When I got mine I did so as my "retirement" car.Something I could learn to love,enjoy,and build on.Oh I considered the obvious Vettes,Porches,Beemers,and the likes.What I ended up was doing a significant amount of research into all that floated my boat.Considering my past obsession with muscle cars,as well as my lifestyle ( being a full size sedan devotee),I set upon a trek to obtain as much knowledge as I could on the 300C.I spent literally hundreds of hours on various forums then ultimately pulled the trigger.As I respond to anyone who asks me how the car is, I simply state " This car is everything that's it's touted to be and more
Have I had any problems with it? -- NO !!--;Would I do it again ? --IN A MILISECOND;In fact if they came out with a "rag top" I'd probably jump at it to have as a second ride.That would mean letting go of my Benz "plaything" and wifey doesn't even drive.
But the bottom line is -- It's your thing, in order to do what you want to do ,make sure you do your homework so you will be able to enter into our infamous " comfort zone".Good luck, I'm sure that we'll be hearing more from you.

[chasb]

'o4 issues -- yes. I NEVER buy anything in its first year.
'05 Minor
'06 none

Like Linda said You get twice the car for half the price. And you can do lots with it aftermarket wise.

Chas

Originally Posted by Yeravener

Hi folks;

I am in the market for a new car, have been following the 300C line for about six months now (started early), and have read a LOT about alignment and suspension problems compounded by a lack of knowledge at the dealer with how to fix/deal with the problems. I love the look of the car, the engine, and the styling...very cool.

I do not, however, think I be on a first name basis with the service manager at the local dealer for at least 5 years. I have seen many reports of first year, multiple, visits to the service center, as well as reports to government agencies...some folks on a yahoo board were even talking class action suit on the alignment problems of the 300C.

I am not flaming, my question is simply this: given what you have been through with recalls, service visits both resolved and unresolved, and road crown sensitivity/suspension alignment problems, would you purchase the car again?

Is the problem predominant/ubiquitous or an understandably vocal minority?

Thank you for your help. I love the car, but don't want to buy into a host of problems with no solutions, so your help and perspective are important to me.

James

[urbanchemist]

i say go for it, i started out with a base 300 and after 6 months i needed the HEMI. yes there had been some issues most have been addressed and there are fixes for most of them. you cant go wrong with a 300. i never thought i would go back to a car after having SUV's for years and the 300 has made me a car lover again. its also a lot of fun to mod the car. there are finally a good selection of aftermarket gear for the LX platform. we are all just waiting patiently for the darn programmer tuners to come out. 300 all the way

[Yeravener]

Thank you to all for your input. I really appreciate hearing your thoughts. I have been reading multiple forums (fora?) on the 300C for >6 months now, and doing research on the "competition", which I agree are all $20K (at least!) more than the 300C for equivalent size...or, for the same price, the competition is the size of a breadbox. Bottom line, it has no competition in its price range (or anywhere near). And yes, the competition is not exactly trouble free either. All these reasons are why I keep coming back to the 300C.

I also have a muscle car background (ahhhhh..the 68 Plymouth GTX 440cid) and proscribe a high value to being able to get into my car without bonking knees and head. No matter how nice a car is, if it is too small, it is not "nice".

I know the first year of any vehicle is usually problematic...its how the dealer deals with it that is critical. I am also heartened to hear that the usual freshmen problems have known solutions (e.g. I read a detailed post on this forum re a solution to the early alignment problems).

I will keep all of this in mind when I go test drive an SRT8 shortly.

Thank you all,
James

[sorbs]

Go to the SRT event in Fontana CA in February. $300 for registration http://www.srttrackexperience.com/schedule.do You drive every model of SRT including the Viper. They mail you a coupon to buy any SRT for 1% under invoice. You take it to the dealer and pay a lot less! Nuff said.

[pd171]

Got my 300C in Sep 04. I will list everything I can remember that I have had for problems.
#1 Girl hanging out the window of a car screaming "I love that car! I've got to have that car!" (wife was in the car with me and didn't appreciate the moment like I did)
#2 Airbag light kept coming on for no reason. (repaired by dealer; no problem since)
#3 Recall for radiator brackets (REPAIRED BY DEALER)
#4 Car is crown sensitive (dealer aligned, still crown sensitive) according to others on this forum it is the Continental tires. 25,000 on mine and they still have lots of tread left.
#5 Kickback on bumps. Again according to others on this forum it is the Continental tires. I will replace with the Goodyear Comfortreads if these ever wear out (obviously the crown sensitivity and kickback aren't all that bad or I would have replaced already)
#6 Water in transmission fears (I never had a the problem but dealer performed the service bullitin and gave me peace of mind)
#7 23+ MPG on road trips (pisses me off that the Hemi gets better mpg than my 6 cylinder Dakota)

Would I buy this car again? YES, this is my favorite car I have ever owned.