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If anyone in the Manassas, VA area are looking for a Special, here's one at a dealer. I must say, it looks really good and probably would drive a heck of a lot better than ours, but one bad M is enough! Anyway, take a look (full-size pic with window sticker):
http://www.manassaschrysler.com/Chrysler/290132.html
anyone experience this? i dont remember anyone ever mentioning it. guess i`ll tear in to the door tomarrow.last week (i think),someone posted the website with the instructions on removing the door panel.can someone repost it? i thought i had saved it,but i guess i didnt.
i will post my findings,and remedy as soon as i find something out as to whats wrong with it!
http://www.kwmuth.com/TechSupport/PDFs/21000190.pdf
Do us a favor...get yourself a riced out Honda Civic and pretend it's the ultimate driving machine like the rest of the kids your age.
BTW...2 years here...ABSOLUTELY NO UNSCHEDULED SERVICE...no vibration...no road noise (except the Borla)...no alignment problem...wipers work fine (original blades)...no leaks...NO COMPLAINTS!
Hey Pat-- I responded to that post for "car crazy lawyers" and got blown off about as quickly as I anwered it. Guess they really didn't need that many.
Some recent news has me concerned however. DC Financial has really dropped support for this vehicle (and I suspect the base 300M) if their lease programs are an indicator. When I leased back in 1999, they had factory to dealer and customer cash incentives (like they do now), but the residual value was over 55% for a 3 year/36,000 mile lease. Their current residual value for a 2002 300M Special is 43%. That's their flagship vehicle for God's sake and it loses MORE THAN HALF its value in 3 years??!! Something doesn't make sense. It may be time to look elsewhere.
BTW-I own 2 DC cars, my 01 300M, and my wife's 01 Durango. Neither has had a single problem.
My previous daily driver was a 95 Intrepid ES with the prev. gen 3.5L, and that also seemed to lag a bit when stomping the accelerator to pass. I found that annoying, although some may prefer those "smoother" gear shifts. My 300M acts something like that Intrepid in 'Drive", but there is much less of that "tranny lag" in Autostick mode. I use Autostick mode for urban highway driving. When I want to pass, a simultaneous wrist flick and accelerator stomp & I'm gone! Much quicker response than stomping the accelerator in Drive. I like the Autostick!!!!!
BTW- Depreciation is worse on ALL cars after the huge new car sales numbers of the past few years (due to rebates, 0% deals, etc.). A savy friend of mine was just offered $25K tops in trade for his IMMACULATE 2 1/2 yr old 540i by a BMW dealer he's dealt with for years & bought several new cars from. This depreciation bug is hitting ALL makes to some degree. It's hell on new car buyers, but great if you want a clean 2-3 yr old machine.
Jon
Your Saturday overtime sure backs up that observation on sales. No Special for me as a bought a loaded '01, but no regrets. I love my wood luxury group!!!!!
BTW- Have you heard any rumors on DC offering the Special's "preformance gear ratio" to other 300M owners through MOPAR performance parts ?
Jon
My 2000 300M has circa 26,000 miles with no major problems, with the exception of the Goodyear tires. It is as solid as the day it was driven home, with no strange noises, squeaks, leaks, etc. There are alot of outstanding cars out there in the "near-luxury" class, but the 300M is the best combination of all the features one could want. I tend to not think of cars in the disposable sense...my first car had 217,000 miles on the original trans. and engine (Chrysler 2.2 turbo no less-not trying to profess brand loyalty here )when sold, so I am not concerned with depreciation / resale value. I follow the severe service recommendations with no "magic" additives, etc. All maintenance is owner performed. It's people like me who took advantage of 0.9% 60 month financing and deep discounts in late 1999 / early 2000 that create low trade-in values. Take a look at 1994-1998 Infiniti Q45 resale / depreciation values. Do those low values mean that the Q is a poor quality car?
sdmike--Sure do wish I could make the trek to the SD meet this month from VA. My wife and I will be in San Diego sometime later in the Spring, however...albeit driving a rental!
he had probs w/ the top,lights,the brakes,and other stuff too.it got hit in the left front,and he took it to the dealer to get it repaired. they had the car 8 mths! said they were waiting on parts! he got tired of fighting with the dealer and traded it in on a new `95 eldorado. they gave him 36k trade in! he lost 61k in 2 yrs.but he never had a single problem with the caddy,and got 100* service.
i took it to detroit one weekend and it needed the oil changed before i left,so i stoped in the dealer on morning of trip,and they said no prob.the actually moved a car off the rack and put ours on,and the other customer was standing there watching!they told them "he bought his car here new,and you bought your`s used from another dealer.our customers come first!" ours was free,and the other customer was paying for theirs!
i was in disbelief the whole weekend!
I've got a few rattles I didn't have earlier, but I'm blaming the very stiff ride -- I have the PHP with 18" wheels and Eibach springs. The car performs great and is mechanically sound. Not a single drop of fluids on the floor of the garage.
For the last year or so, I've been using Earnhardt Dodge for oil changes (ever since Q-Lube bought me the new pan). I bought the car at Earnhardt Chrysler, but a job change a while back made them less convenient. But I was out running errands last weekend and took it to Earnhardt Chrysler for an oil change. Even though the two places are owned by the same people, the difference is like night and day. I mentioned this to the service rep and he just shrugged his shoulders. Earnhardt Chrysler (IMO) clearly deserves the 5* while Earnhardt Dodge needs to improve. Even so, judging by some stories here, Earnhardt Dodge sounds better than most.
While I was waiting for the oil change I went in search of the Special. The eight sales people waiting by the front door all pointed me in the same direction, but it turns out the one they were talking about had sold. They told me they have 4 more due to arrive and I should check back in a few days. Oh well, maybe next time.
About resale value... A few months ago I considered trading down to a new Sebring (due to the job change mentioned earlier). They offered 16k in trade. Needless to say, I've still got the 300M.
It is only my 4th car, but it is without a doubt the best car I've owned. Although I've only owned four, I've driven everything from Cadillacs, BMWs, and Porsches to Chevettes, Pintos, and Vegas. Of all those cars, this is the best one for me. It has the combination of size and performance I want.
Now all I need to do is get the speedometer and ground effects from the Special.
Igor
Of course i'm not interested in that M....I've got one I'm perfectly happy with!
Beach -
We have a much higher resale value on cars here in California than the east coast. I think it's mainly because we don't have to deal with road salt that causes rust and corrosion. The Chrysler dealer down the street from Acura has a 99 and is asking $23K. But on the other hand, older american sedans (in the 80's) can be sold for a hefty profit back east. For instance I had inherited an 88 Old Cutlass Ciera with the 3.8 V6 from my great aunt a few years ago. It was 8 years old and only had 38K miles on it. It looked like a total "old persons" car but at the time I thought it had a lot of power. Doesn't even come close to the M Although the Olds did require a feather light touch from a stop not to burn rubber...(like Mboomgarden described). The M on the other hand requires a feather light touch at high speeds...going 95 mph I'm hardly pressing on the pedal. But back to the resale value...I was only able to sell it here in CA for $2,500, but I did some searches and found that back east the same car was going for as high as $9K.
Oh, and your comment about the slack gas pedal. You also mentioned that you guys baby the M and don't hit the throttle hard....remember it has a learning tranny. If you drive it like a grandpa it's going to treat ya like a grandpa.
I owned an 87 BMW 325i, but not for long. It had a nasty warm start problem that the dealer never did fix plus various leaks and other problems. Not very "Ultimate" in my book.
Blonda, 10-4 on the tranny. If you want the car to respond you have to teach it. The Special, with the lower final drive, gets up and moves just fine with only part throttle but I have taught it to kick down under 3/4 throttle.
BigMike5; Yep, a few more colors and offer the cladding in contrasting colors to the body. Remember the 300M Special prototype? Sapphire Blue with gold cladding. So Gold with Blue, Silver with Black, Silver with Gray, Red with Gold...
General observation: Someone here need to find a different dealer to work on their car, one that can actually FIX the problems. Constantly going back to the same, obviously incompetent, dealership and enduring the frustration is quite silly.
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
Have you talked to them about all this stuff? Has your mother?
Doc
MSN? What's going on?
I appreciate the fact that you took the time to explain things so well. I fear my own tendancy is to respond is less tactful. I am sure that this is partly fueled by the fact that when it comes to DC build quality there are so many ignorant and so little time. I'm on my 5tth, 6th, and wife makes 7th DC product currently and never a serious problem with any.
http://communities.msn.com/Chrysler300MOwners/chat
Thanks for chiming in though!
-beach
Please follow through with this - what you report is not at all the usual and we need to look into it.
Thanks!
Pat
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Sedans Message Board
The added pep is also impressive.
Should I disconnect my battery like I have heard on this board of M owners doing.
What does this do?
got to get me some duals!
Used a Magna flow and a dynomax muffler.
Total cost $291.00
My Y2k is 2 years old with 30K on the dial--I had numerous very minor stuff covered under warranty but all in all, its a great car and I look forward to the next 50,000 miles---
I will seriously consider the 300N when its released--if I dont like it, I may jump on the 2003 or else buy a 2005 Seville STS!
As far as removing the battery connection for tranny relearning, Scotian has shown us the TCM fuse that can be removed for a little while and accomplish that without shocking the rest of the electrical system by disconnecting the battery.