Chrysler 300M

blonda · February 2002

I think it was a hex driver I used to install it -- my husband looked at it and gave it to me to use. (By the way,he won't touch my car to do anything like that. He doesn't want to hear me complain if he messes anything up!)

blonda · February 2002

All this talk about water leaks showing up after 50K miles has me worried. Someone even posted about the problem with a 2002 didn't they?

Vadrss1 - Your story sounds just like Fuzzywuzzy's. Maybe you can get your dealer to talk to his??? There has got to be a TSB on it -- I can't believe they won't admit it may be a problem with the body seams.

Otto - are the body seams welded by machine?

bigmike5 · February 2002

Saw the graphite color on the 300M Pro-Am model that was shown on the DC site. Man would that color look sweet on a Special with the black ground effects. Combine that color with 300 horses and I'd have to re-think keeping my platinum 99M.

By the way, did you know they named a soft drink after Big Red. I swear it's true. If I can get a photo of a can I'll send it to you.

I am getting close to replacing the pads and rotors on my 99. Getting some shuddering when braking at high speed. Can feel it thru the steering wheel and thighs. Does fine at lower speeds. I am thinking about the Applied Rotor Technology products. Will be about $540 plus shipping for all four and then the labor to mount them. Anyone try them? Fuzzy? Anyone think it could be anything else. The new Goodrich tires seem to be doing ok, so I figure it must be the pads and rotors altho the 5* looked at them previously and said there was no warping on the rotors. I'm at 40.5K miles on the brakes.

blonda · February 2002

I have almost the exact same mileage on my '99 as you do. I also think my rotors are warped. I notice when braking even at low speeds that the steering wheel will wobble from side to side a little. The pads still look good though. I have my wheels rotated at Discount Tire who even write "properly hand torqued by...." when the do it, but it started after my last rotation about 6 mos. ago.

sdmike2 · February 2002

It's a US thing. I'm not sure if they have coverage in Canada. XM is satellite radio, and it costs about $10 per month and requires about $300 in hardware plus installation costs and a "set-up" fee to XM. http://www.xmradio.com/

Kirstie_H · February 2002

We are looking for lawyers (any age, sex, kind of car) who are car nuts.

Please respond by March 9 to lordusky@aol.com

Any questions? Contact Edmunds.com PR at jfallon@edmunds.com

Thanks! (note to lawyers: I can't be sued for any of this, can I?

kirstie_h
Roving Host
Edmunds.com

300michael · February 2002

Should be no problem installing it at the meet if needbe.

300michael · February 2002

Generally the higher the better. The center top is the best place for it. Just don't put it over any wires.

sirharper · February 2002

Is a plant tour even a remote possibility? I'm gonna be in Brampton in June on other business and was wondering.

300michael · February 2002

So now you are resorting to bribes to get members to come. Sounds good to me

. See you at the meet.

300michael · February 2002

Thanks for the pin. These are the same ones I gave at the AZ meet. I have some plans for them.

fastdriver · February 2002

AV-

WHEW! Just got finished reading the 250+ messages that were posted when I was in FL last week! Great car! Congratulations! My favorite color too! Hey, you forgot ruski! He bought a CL-S! I guess we just like not visiting the dealer all the time! ;-)) 12,500+ miles on my CL-S so far. It will be one year old on 3/28- my birthday! No road noise, no wind noise, no rattles, no leaks etc. just pure FUN!

Blonda-

What's the name of that Acura dealer that had that 300M "showcased" on their lot? It's not Cush Acura on Kearny Mesa Rd.

tiffner-

I told you that it doesn't get any better. Get used to it.

splatt-

I had an external antenna mounted on my 99 300M that I used when I still had a 3-watt bag phone. When the phone was on, it wiped out a wide range of stations in the FM band when it was on and when I used it. It was mounted 2-3 inches from the top of the window on NO wires. They even tried putting a different antenna elsewhere on the car, but it made no difference as far as radio reception. It still wiped out stations. With the newer digital .5 or whatever watt phones, maybe this won't be the case. Try it BEFORE they wire it permanently. Scan all your FM stations with the phone turned on.

Dr. Pixel & sdmike2-

Get well greetings for sure! Did "youse" get your flu shots this year?

BTW- rented a KIA Rio in FL last week. Make fun if you want, but this was NOT a bad car. Less wind noise and road noise than Christine! There is one section of Lake Worth Rd. that Christine used to roar on. Not this KIA! Maybe Chrysler should have bought KIA instead of Hyundai! ;-))

fastdriver

beach15 · February 2002

You know, having an M is just one of the best automotive experiences--not!!

Well, the wipers have not worked in 2 months, and after 2 or 3 supposed "fixes", still do not work. First, they fixed a loose wire. Then, last time, they replaced some switch. Well, I highly doubt they did either, shown by the fact that in over a year, they have not given my mother the receipts they're supposed to when the car goes in. They've given 2 or 3, but as you know, it always takes them about 5 trips to get anything done, so we always get the "I'll give it to you next time when we get it done."

My mother has complained loud and clear but to the best of my knowledge, still doesn't have the records of work done that she should.

So, today, she leaves and comes back, slamming the door with a few choice words that I'd best not repeat, and says that she wants the phone # for DC headquarters because "the *&$@ wipers would not work and she's tired of the &#$^# idiots." I gave her 3 #'s.

At work, she didn't use them, but rather called the dealer again. She must have raised heck with them, because instead of calling her back at work, they called the house and told my dad that the wipers don't work because of something wrong in the computer. Okay, whatever, pretty weird diagnosis for never looking at the car!

I had expected her to at least call DC because this isn't the only problem the piece of junk has that can't be fixed. Well, she didn't.

I dont' have the slightest idea of when the car will go in for this latest "computer glitch". I'll tell you this, any moron can see with what's going on that this is not a computer problem but rather mechanical-related.

This past weekend I actually got her to admit that she would have gotten rid of the car a long time ago if new things weren't so expensive. Namely in her case, if a new Tahoe or Yukon didn't cost $35-40 grand. She could lease, and was actually planning to after the accident but then decided to keep the car. We don't exactly travel a lot, maintain our vehicles faithfully, and our usually tired of them after 2 or 3 years (though in this case it took only 1!). Too bad this car is worth nothing, now not more than the pay-off.

I don't ride in the car that often, but when I do, it feels like it's been through the paces. But then, you look at the odometer, and it only says a few ticks under 18,000! Our past 2 cars were great in comparison to this, both the 89' Chevy Corsica and the 97' Grand Voyager.

But it's just so good looking!

rogor2k · February 2002

The Club web site was down for a couple of days. This ALMOST NEVER happens, but once in a while we fall victim to the gremlins. We are now back up and operating.

Any new posters here who haven't joined, check us out at www.300mclub.org. We have some nice embroidered Club polo shirts and hats, and are about to announce sweatshirts as well.

You East Coasters and Midwesterners, get on board before our big event of the year in Detroit on Saturday August 17th. Does Woodward Dream Cruise get your transmission fluid flowing? It is simply the biggest single day auto event on the planet! On Sunday we'll caravan to Brampton Ontario Canada to drink some Canadian beer and on Monday we'll tour the LH plant where our 300Ms were born.

Yours 300Mly,
Roger Waters, President
Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club

beach15 · February 2002

Isn't that weird, we post right after one another yet again. And, I have a complaint too!! You just don't know how jealous I am of your Acura. No road noise, no wind noise, no rattles, or leaks!! That's just a dream for us!

I'm not suprised by the Kia, all their cars are getting better and better (except the Sportage and Sephia). As for Hyundai, I sat in a XG350 at the auto show, and wow, that is one nice car!

achance · February 2002

Well, I heard back from them - they are the satellite radio; someone was asking about that. Like most everything except environmentalists and income taxes, the service is only available in the contiguous states. I'd like to make our oil only available to the NON-contiguous states.

sdmike2 · February 2002

If you keep the oil you wouldn't get your annual AK resident windfall check from the oil $$.

Maybe you alaskans can pool your checks and launch an XM satellite to hover over our northernmost state.

sdmike2 · February 2002

sounds like you need a good fire. Maybe some of Dr. Pixel's friends in Noo Yawk can arrange something.

fastdriver · February 2002

beach15-

Yep, it really is nice not to worry about what is going to break or leak next. Not having to deal with the dealers except for oil changes is fantastic!

Friends of mine have a Hyundai 2001 300XG-L or whatever letter it is. It's a nice car. It's comfortable, quiet and shifts like a dream. The only thing I don't like is the leather. It feels like what was in my Christine. No problems for them so far. I think the car is about 8 months old.

fastdriver

fastdriver · February 2002

Looks like the stockholders are out for "blood"-

http://www.detnews.com/2002/autosinsider/0202/28/b04-428548.htm

fastdriver

bobhex40 · February 2002

Any word on the '03 model?? Thinking of getting one unless the 300N is coming out within the year.

fuzzywuzzy · February 2002

Yeah sounds very much the same. There's not really anything you can do but pay. If the leak is still there then they have to fix it since you paid to have a water leak fixed. Even if it turns out to be something unrelated. Yeah it sucks!

fuzzywuzzy · February 2002

I have the rotors from them on my Explorer. Been very happy with them. They stop in the cold, hot, wet, & dry conditions all well. The still look brand new due to the coating they put on them.

mikeyjohn · February 2002

You might want to go to the Hyundai site on this car and read some of the horror stories on both the 300 and 350 (2002) model, it apears that they have a real safety problem with airbags not deploying in serious accidents, and a possible tranny problem.

ottowrkr · February 2002

Nothing really changed, just satellite radio on the 300M. They put this bubble on the roof(antennae) near the back window ,looks like crap. the one I saw was a silver car with a black bubble ,hope this is just a trial part and production ones are the same color as the car.

300michael · February 2002

Maybe I will sell you my 99 300M (in about 4 years) it is as good as the day I bought it. Actually it is better (quieter, preforms better, and has more toys). I agree it is great to have a trouble free car, and I am enjoying mine.

blonda · February 2002

You're close...it's Cush, but in Escondido (those Cush guys have the coolest web sites). The M was moved off the place of honor last week and replaced by a PT Cruiser (heh heh). Don't know if the M is still there or not.

blonda · February 2002

I installed the knob myself no problem (I'm actually pretty good at that stuff--you'd be suprised), but if you're offering to install a dual exhaust system for me I'd be happy to let ya!

sdmike2 · February 2002

Sell the kids and dog on eBay and take your car to Ed Hanson Muffler in Spring Valley (about 30 minutes from me). Every performance shop you'd go into in San Diego would direct you there for performance mufflers. Helluva nice guy too.

Actually, it might only take selling the dog. The dual system like I have cost me only about $500.

glennbp · February 2002

Has anyone kept up with these additive potions like Slick 50 etc.? They were the hottest thing going a few years back, but I haven't heard much about them lately. Are they still a worthwhile thing to use?

scotian · February 2002

Stay away from them. They were never hot, just advertised a lot.

blonda · February 2002

I don't think I could get $500 for my dog unless I charge by the pound (he weights about 110lbs)...LOL!

Actually, I have a limit order in on some stock options and it should kick in by summer. When it does I want to take a grand and put it in the car...dual exhaust, wood dash kit, and maybe the K&N Charger...what the heck! I am however going to get those Ding Doctor guys to fix my dings in the next couple weeks (I'll let you know what they quote me).

bigmike5 · February 2002

I saw a long infomercial on Duralube products on cable one Sunday morning, it was really fascinating to see how they tested their products with people watching. I asked about the tranny [$20] and oil [$10] additives here but no one indicated that they had tried them, so I held off. I see Duralube sponsors a NASCAR so they must have a good product, right? I may still try them when I do the tranny again at 50K miles.

splatt · February 2002

Thanks for the info. I'm putting it in myself (not very hard, especially due to the fuze box placement

I have the hands free in, but hadn't done the antenna yet. I'll try taping it on first and see if there's any interference.

Hopefully not

lflowers · February 2002

I don't think that sponsoring a NASCAR team proves your product is good, just proves your MONEY is good! Heck, Viagra sponsors a car, you gonna try that?
I'm just kidding...I don't know anything about Duralube products. I'm sure you know more, since I haven't even seen the infomercial (I try very hard to avoid watching those things!)

Lynn Flowers
McKinney, Texas

beach15 · February 2002

Just got my driver's license this afternoon and drove the M home. All I can say, is that I'm not impressed. Granted, I've only ever driven this and the 00' Mercury Sable driver ed car, but this car wasn't too great. At 50+mph, the steering wheel vibrates noticably and at any speed, the accelerator is bad. It just feels so soft and springy, and to get the car to move, you have to push it, farther and farther and farther. Both of my parents have said this about the car quite often and now I see what they mean. Going 40mph, I had to push it in more and more and more and got nothing. Our Voyager was the same was from a stop.

Not bad to drive, just not that great. But then again, I've only really driven 2 cars!

See yah!

blonda · February 2002

That doesn't sound like an M to me. I think ya got a lemon.

mboomgarden · February 2002

Your 300M may be a bit beat up or, as blonda suggests, a lemon. The more likely reality is that you've experienced a Ford/Mercury "trick" to make people think their less powerful cars are actually kind of hot.

What Ford (and, hence, Mercury) does in many of its models is set up the gas pedal to provide an initial fast, nonlinear engagement of the throttle. In effect, a small amount of pedal movement yields a greater application of throttle. This is done to create the illusion of greater engine power. In fact, they're often no faster (or even slower) than cars that don't employ this little bit of trickery. They don't necessarily do this on their real performance cars, just on the more mundane models. This is actually not that uncommon a thing--other manufacturers do this with many of their less powerful cars.

The 300M seems to exhibit a more linear application of throttle, much like some of the high performance European and Japanese cars. The power's there, but the car requires you to tell it what you want.

As for the steering wheel vibration, something's wrong--it could be a wheel balancing problem, an alignment issue, or even a defective tire. It can happen in any car and should be easy to diagnose and repair.

fastdriver · February 2002

mikeyjohn-

Like they say- you can get a lemon with any kind of car. So far my friends have had NO problems with their 300XG-L. Their car shifts seamlessly.

My cousin's husband was in an accident about a month ago with his Mercedes sedan. He slide on the snow/ice and hit a tree head on and his airbag didn't deploy either. He was going fast enough for it to open. Mercedes has NO clue why it didn't deploy, but supposedly they are checking it out.

blonda-

Thanks. I'll e-mail them and let you know if it was bought at auction or traded. Cush in SD said no way would they have bought it. If they did get one in trade, they said they'd wholesale it.

beach15-

Congratulations! Drive carefully. Watch out for the OTHER guy!

fastdriver

beach15 · February 2002

You're telling me! We were beyond the lemon stage long, long ago!

As for the car, you're telling me that you guys don't notice slack in the gas pedal? It's surely not very responsive and feels really lose to me. And apparently I'm not nuts, because the wonderful owners of this car (who must be WONDERFUL to still have it) have talked about the same thing before, strange, because they don't like to acknowledge many problems with the M.

And as far as driving goes, the steering isn't bad and is smoother and lighter than the Sable, but IMHO could be a little crisper or tighter. There's also too much float in the suspension for my taste. The fix? I'd say get the PHG, no question about it. In October 2000, when we we're going to buy a 00' Stone White & Lt. Pearl Beige M with the PHP, it was better on the test drive. Yeah, the ride was firmer, but it was clearly better controlled and more precise, all in all, the car felt a lot nicer. It was a difference I noticed immediately when we drove this car the next day. It seemed smoother and maybe a little quieter (not by much) but there also there also was more float and softness and it felt less sport-like.

More and more, I wish we had bought that car. It didn't have a sunroof, but if they just would have given a little more on the trade, we would have had it. It sat on the lot until about February or March of last year and then someone bought it. I still see it everyday too. Some lady who works at a personal car home just up the road owns it. She keeps the car immaculate all the time. Every time I see it, it's always shiny and the chrome wheels look spotless. The color combo also looks nicer than what we got, especially after a year and some scratches and swirl marks.

Just think what I might have been typing right now instead if we had gotten that 300M! Probably not the mess that I usually do!

Now, if I could just get a job and a car...

beach15 · February 2002

Yet again, we've posted right after each other! I think it's a sign of some kind...

Thanks for the driving tip! After the little mishap back in October, believe me, I look out for every other crazy on the road! Especially here in southern Delaware, "Land of the Stupid" as we call it!

-beach

glennbp · February 2002

AH-HAH! Now I know where my ex-wife lives!!!

blonda · February 2002

That M on the Acura lot is driving you crazy isn't it?

fastdriver · February 2002

blonda-

NO MORE! They just responded to my e-mail.

"Hi Bob,

You are correct. Both cars were"trade-ins" and they are not "HOT" market movers.

Have a great time in your Acura 3.2CL-S!!!!

Kathie Thompson
Internet Department Manager
760-737-6582
kthompson@cushcars.com
Have a great day!!!!

"

fastdriver

specialm · February 2002

You need to try out a 300M Special. They handle real niiice with the 18" rims and tires. And Like mboomgarden said the M's have a European type of performance feel to them. Mine winds out nice with hardly any foot into the thottle. But when I mash it she really takes off. I own a couple of muscle cars, so I know what fast is. The 300's aren't real fast but they're impressive.

blonda · February 2002

Must have put them out front cuz they're much, much prettier to look at. Acura's are so bland and common, ya don't even notice them.

beach15 · February 2002

Don't get me wrong, I was not a fan of the Sable at all, I really didn't like it. It was like driving some sort of truck. It wasn't all that powerful either, so it's not what's throwing off my opinion on the M. I know what having a linear and refined feel is, and the M is almost there but there's still too much slop between what the pressure applied and how the car responds. All 3 of us have the same opinion on the car.

I do, however, like the brakes, they do have a nice, smooth, strong, linear feel to them. Forget those Buick comments a few months back, those were just overtly strong (though the trottle response was much better).

Actually this somewhat lazy throttle is good for a new driver, as it isn't too abrupt. As for the M being beat, yes, that is exactly what it feels like. The body feels like it has really loosened up, there's various rattles, things don't sound all that nice anymore, etc., etc.. But on the contrary, we drive the thing like you would a Buick! Warm it up for 15-20 minutes every morning, don't mash the trottle, nor is there very many bad roads that it's driven on. And, to top it off, only 18,000 miles! Actually, now that I think of it, the warranty is now have gone, OH NO!!!

Believe me, when it comes to cars, I know just about everything possible, almost to the point that it can be annoying at times! Maybe that's why I plan to become an engineer, and have already majored 2 years of high school in CADD, Computer-Aided Drafting & Design. Who knows, maybe one day in the near future, you'll be driving a car I had something to do with? Just a thought...

-beach

fastdriver · February 2002

blonda-

Yep! That must be the reason! It has 49,316 miles. It's a 1999 and they're asking $19,995! Interested? ;-))

fastdriver

guesswho1 · February 2002

has anyone installed one? if so fill me in.

rogor2k · February 2002

Trying to email you and your bigfoot email is bouncing. Can you send a current email address to rogor@gte.net.

Thanks!

Chrysler 300M

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