Dieter Zetsche is a chairman and, to a lesser extent, the former figurehead for a failed DaimlerChrysler marketing campaign in North America. He was not the head of DCX’s product planning and development. Zetsche is not single-handedly responsible for making the decision to come in and push the Hemi as some kind of saving grace for Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep. The wheels behind that decision were in motion long before he ever became chairman, but I’m sure since you learn everything about the car industry from the commercials made by its advertising agencies, you know that if anyone’s responsible for the decline of the DaimlerChrysler merger, it’s former CEO Jurgen Schremp, don’t you?
raises hand My wife had an 2001 A6 wagon and it was junk. And it had the most ridiculously designed “cupholders” ever invented.
Keep in mind, these cupholders don’t reflect the research and development commonly associated with the current crop of products from Ingolstadt. To the best of my knowledge, if cupholders are put into domestic German cars in Deutschland these days, it is a relatively recent development, as years ago they were not a standard item in most German cars and were only added for export to foreign markets. Since I don’t see too many GDM vehicles, I can only assume cupholders are a new development for them, and taking into account that they probably don’t always have the gluttonous American appetite for 24 ounce bottles of carbonated sugar water in mind, I have noticed that the American models tend to be a bit, well, smaller in size.
Ah well, leave it to an American Midwesterner to fault an Audi for its cupholders.
Will it be outfitted with the latest in radar detection technology? Otherwise, I couldn’t afford to own it.
{raises hand meekly} Get what you want, the folks around here are the WORST people to ask.
Reality: I’ve had good luck with GM vehicles, Saturns, Chrysler vehicles, and my current Subaru I expect will be trouble free.
What you’re going to get here is a euro-centric-liberal-bias. You like the car? Get it, it’s got a warrantee. It’s funny how a problem in an American car is labelled as ‘cheap american crap’, but the same failure in an foreign car is ‘an oddity’.
You’d be better off asking folks here about the best religion. All you’re going to get is opinion and ‘Consumer Reports quotes’. Ask an audiophile what they think about consumer Reports reviews…then ask a Computer Guy what they thing about consumer Reports reviews.
Owning an operating a vehicle is the single most cost-inefficient thing you can do, yet everyone still does it. Buy the car you’ll most want to make payments on, everyone else’s opinions be damned.
(And FWIW, the 300 video was of a supercharged 300…not stock.)
Actually, if I had the money, I’d probably get one, but then again, I’m biased, since I have what is basically the 1969 version of the car.
I just purchased a 300C 2 months ago with everything except a sunroof, and I highly recommend it! All black with blacked out windows… I love mine!
You can get a great deal right now. I know people who’ve purchased the 2007 SRT8 model for 36k to 37k out of the door. If they have a new 2006 model left the deal gets even sweeter. I got the C model for 31k after all was said and signed. I wish I would have waited another week and I could have scored the SRT8 for about 36k. The local dealers were still holding out at the time! :mad:
To all of the eco-friendly… Without question I would buy a hybrid or electric car if it gave me the same capabilities at the same price. Until them… I’m sorry.
At 6’ 1" and 225 lbs (ok… 235.) I want a car that allows for some elbow room. I found the BMW 3 series a little small for my taste.
I don’t rally race, so I don’t care about dancing around the bends… The 300 lets me pass traffic when it’s time to pass traffic, period.
Once you get used to driving it and you stop gunning the engine at every given chance, your gas milage will settle to about the 19 mpg range on average.
If you aren’t afraid of modifying your car you can get a superchip tuner which will further improve your milage, and give you very crisp gear shifting along with more HP.
Consumer Reports predicts a much worst resale value? Really? No offense… but please. Could you ask them to tell me next weeks lottery numbers too? I’ll believe what they test, but not what they speculate.
Please ask the opinion of those who have actually driven the vehicle, and those who own it. For those who claim that the car is crap… Have you driven one recently? Have you owned one recently? Do you know someone who is having an issue with one personally? Or are you repeating what you’ve heard from somone who may be a fan of a different manufacturer?
I beg you… please do your own research. Talk to owners groups, and find those who have owned or currently own the model. That’s the best way. If a person owns the car and it’s a lemon they’ll tell you straight up. If a person heard that their bosses nephew had a friend that had a car in the shop all of the time he’ll tell you the same. But, which one is more likely to be telling you something you should consider in a decision?
Google “300CSRT forums” and you’ll see links to a community of owners that can give you some honest insight into 300 ownership. I find that they are straight up when it comes to facts and figures. The best part is that they do it with no inflation of reality unlike the other car owner forums of other vehicle types. (Yes, Mustang owners… I’m looking at you!)
All I can say is that I really, really, really enjoy my car.
I think they are great looking cars. I like them much better, looks-wise, than any BMW I’ve ever seen. I’m too cheap to pay that much for a car, but if I wasn’t I’d definately consider one.
I have a Chrysler myself (PT Cruiser) and I love it.
I rented one once … It’s OK for city driving, but not very comfortable. Check it out first-hand before you buy.
Well, since opinion is exactly what the OP asked for, it’s what was provided. What’s the problem there?
As for Consumer Reports, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that audiophiles don’t think much of CR, as sound quality can be subjective. But I don’t understand why CR ratings can be derided since they’re based on actual statistics, which as far as I know, they are. If the history of one car company’s vehicles show drastically higher QC, service and repair issues compared to another company’s vehicles, how is reporting it a reflection on the reporting agency?
Because they often are based on the wrong statistics. I follow digital cameras and their reviews are horrible. They often don’t know what they’re talking about. I can probably trust their reliability numbers, but those aren’t very important for digital cameras.
For cars, I tend to trust their reliability numbers, but I also trust my own experience and other things.
The CR Ratings are based on reported statistics from people who own the cars. I got a survey, and it’s easy to see where subjectiveness can throw the results off.
It’s a great car, beautiful design, powerful, the finest new model to come out of the U.S. in decades. If you’re considering buying it, one can assume that the price of gas is not a problem in your budget.
As for people who are worried about resale value, I will bet that in 20 years this model of car will be considered a classic. Take good care of it in the meanwhile.
I think maybe you want to learn a little more about the industry before you go accusing people of getting their info from car commercials.
D-B took over Chrysler in 1998, booted much of the senior executive staff, and what staff was left took off in a hurry (rumors aboud as to the why, but most speculation suggested that their opinions were not welcome anymore, the germans were going to show Chrysler how to run a company). The direction of the company was largely controlled by the Germans from very early on. Dieter Zietche was put at the helm to “fix” the company which, before the merger, was cash rich (I beleive $15 Billion in cash) and selling a shitload of highly profitable cars. In a matter of months --once Daimler looted all the cash from their coffers to buy up other companies-- Chrysler was a “troubled” company in need of serious restructuring. Years of mismanagement by the geniuses at DCX, and now Chrsyler is only worth 5 billion? And somehow this was put into motion BEFORE the merger? Average R&D cycle on cars now is down to under 2 years. That means all the bad R&D decisions that had been made when DC took over should have been shaken out by 2000, and they have had 7 years to come up with alternatives. And what did we get? The Caliber? Thanks but no thanks, Dr. Z
Car ownership is subjective. It’s why some will buy a GMC but not a Chevy, It’s why Saab will sell a rebadged Subaru, Its why Mazda will rebadge a Ford.
This group of people (with exceptions like the esteemed Mr. Tucker aside) do not like american cars. That’s their opininion and you’re welcome to it, but the OP will NOT get an unbiased impression of the 300 SRT-8 (as can be clearly seen).
I find it laughable that we buy cars, own them for two years, consider them worn out at 60,000 miles at which point the get shipped south of the border and run another 200,000 miles, get a ring/valve job, then CONTINUE to be run.
:dubious: ANY car you buy for $39,000 IS a nice car. Reguardless of marque. Everything else is opinion, and this is NOT a Chrysler friendly forum.
Evidently I missed the part in the OP that solicited opinions only from pro-Chrysler posters. My bad.
Hopefully, he’s concidering opinions from those who have actually experienced this particular make and model car.
Which by the way, is built on the LX platform which is basis for the Dodge Magnum, and Charger.
Nice.
My experience is exactly opposite to your opinion. My PT cruiser was reliable, had great build quality, reasonable repair costs, and the resale is in line with any other car I’ve seen. The depreciation curve on cars is pretty consistent, My ‘japanese’ Subaru was purchased along the same depreciation curve that I calculated out for my Chrysler. I think if you pick representative examples and actually do the math, you’ll find most cars depreciate consistently. When folks say ‘highest resale in class’, You’re talking pennies on the dollar. Four years later, after losing $20,000 in depreciation, you’ll get another $200 on the sale. Wheee!
Too much about car ownership is not recognized for what it truly is: rhetoric
I’m not sure I agree with that logic. But at any rate, I’m not a Chrysler hater. I think I"m a Chrysler realist, having owned several of them in the last decade. IMO, Chrysler has not demonstrated the attention to engineering and build quality that would justify (to me) paying nearly $40k for one of their cars. To me, that’s “it’d better be built like a swiss watch” territory. Your results (and opinions) may differ.
~fig
Whelp, $40000 bought us a Corvette a few years back, and it was far from a swiss watch. Would I have done it all over again? You betcha, the car’s a hoot. $40,000 will buy you a real expensive Honda from their Acura store…and that car will be as swiss watch-like as their $24000 Honda. They’re all apples and oranges and moving targets. What did you own and what were your experiences?