Chrysler 300M

dustinnewton

Chrysler 300M Enthusiasts Club

http://www.300mclub.org

300m_vt

Hi all, just to let you all know about how the M does in the snow. Up here (North Western - Vermont) we've had 10"s plus so far from this "North Easterner" with 10" - 20" more expected.
The M handles the snow well, it's the other drivers you have to look out for. Trac Control came on once during the 11 mile trek home from work at a stop light. To all you skiers, come on up there's plenty of snow, bring yourr M's if you dare...

300m_vt

http://www.300mclub.org

fastdriver

laurasdada-

Was thinking of you a few weeks ago when I was at the casino in Scottsdale, AZ. Finally won some money! LOL... Had to get some warm weather and SUN!

This snow is for the birds! I am so confused as to how much we REALLY are going to get in So. CT. Every channel says something different. No work today and most likely tomorrow too. That's fine with me. Sick of that too!

Glad you're still enjoying your car. Still have Christine, but not for long- 34,800+ miles. NOT going to be in MY name when it reaches 36,000 with no warranty. Still think I'm going with the Regal GS with the supercharged engine. The looks do NOTHING for me, but you can't have everything.

Have not been in these boards since they first started up. Too aggravating and stressful for me. Got tired of having to copy and paste messages when they never got posted. Should go read the directions to see how to make "bookmarks" and any other pertinent info. Have spent most of my free time at http://www.iwon.com playing the Ali Baba slot machine and Poppit. At least there I have a chance of winning money for FREE!

fastdriver

hazdaz

I was 3 at the time, so i defintly don't reember it, but so far rhis storm is pretty lame. here in CT we probably only got a few inches. so far - big deal.

HAZDAZ

easyrider300m

Snows starting to pick up here. Wind gusts are up to 30mph and expected to go higher.

Why cant you take the m to ski country. The seat folds down. You could also cut a hole behind the rear armrest and make it like the saab.

Happy shoveling

300michael

According the the weatherman the snow/rain evaperated before it could hit the ground. That is how bad it is here. Fastdriver too bad Igor and I missed you on your trip to Scottdale.

rscheller

Thanks Igor,

I guess I can't corroberate your FOB findings then since mine involves rear window motors as well. Also if the FOB thing was unique to front motors and could be corrected by turning on the appropriate seat heater, I should have been able to fix my left front motor by now but it's still INOP.

Was a good idea though. In these days of computer controlled cars, I'd not discount anything electrical.

fastdriver -

Good to see you posting up Bob, I agree, this new board is mediocre at best.

Rick

The Consummate 300M Pages

fastdriver

300michael-

I should have come into here before I left because I knew some of you were in the Scottsdale area. It would have been nice to hook up for a drink or something. Maybe next time. Still have a free voucher from America West for last year's bump that I have to use by the beginning of July. Maybe I'll be back. My friends got THOUSANDS of dollars in vouchers for America West bumps this time! I chose not to take any this time. I wanted to get where I was going. Stayed at the Sheraton Desert Oasis off Frank Lloyd Wright near all those CAR dealers! Tons of 300's and PT Cruisers out there! Maybe I saw you in my rented Chevy Silver Cavilier??? LOL.....

rscheller-

Thanks. Mediocore is MILD! SLOW is more like it! At least my posts aren't disappearing this time! Have there been any stats about how much their members' postings have dropped? Have only been in the 300 group so far. Looks like 500 posts per topic is a thing of the past or they just take their time creating topic # XXI??

fastdriver

dustinnewton

Come live in Alabama for about 5 years and you'll think 2 inches of snow is a blizzard!!! Our "storm of the Century" is a normal storm for y'all! I did get the M out in our *blizzard* of the year (2-3 inches) to see how it would handle in snow!

300msadowner

Hi, All

glad to be here on the board, I have major beef with the 300M. I brought My 00' 300M 6 months ago (new) it was great but now I noticed that the car is drifting, and I feel a slight shake in my steering wheel. I took it for service three times and each time they say nothing is wrong. The third time I took they said that I need to keep air in my tires (Badyear), I was like Hell this is a new car why do I have to watch air in my tires, and why is air coming out without a whole. They couldn't give me an answer. In any case, after the service the car was OK for a total of 2 days then it started again. AT this point I'm total P.O. at this car. I paid alot of money for a so called near luxury car,and I expected more from the 300M then a a big car that drifts and a vibration in the wheel. Before I brought this car I had a 92 accord with 120,000 miles on it and I didn't feel any vibration from the steering wheel like a 7500 mile 300M. Are anyone else having these problems our do I have a lemon. Besides that the car is ok (an few rattles here and there I can live with) I just don't like what I'm feeling in the steering wheel that they can't seem to fix. Today On my way to work I found myself yelling at the wheel, that's when I realized that I should've went with my gut feelingd and brought the Lexus ES300. Damn, I hate that I have to say that. I wanted so much for an American car to be just as good, but guess what. After this I'll l never buy anotherr American car. I have plans to take it for service for a fourth time, and if they don't fix it this time then I'm going to take the lose and try to trade up for a lexus(if they would take it that is) Need help do anyone have any suggestions on this for me

fuzzywuzzy

Seems to me your reaction is a bit extream! Your ready to dump a car for a little pull, & vibration? Lexus is not perfect either. I guess everyone is different. As for your problems. First, try another dealer. Second, try a real tire store. Most of these problems are with goodyears only. Some have had good expirences getting a good balance job done from another place other then the dealer. Vibrations are almost aways balance problems. A good tire shop can static balance the wheels. This means there are weights on 2 sides of the rim. Now the pull, could be an alighment, or tire problem. Which way does it pull. A good shop, or the dealer, could cross the tires.(for free) This means, that if the pull is from the left, you put that left wheel on the right side. If the car now pulls right, it's that tire. If the car still pulls left, it's an alighment issue. The same can be done if the pull is from the right. Swap it to the left. And then you can always replace the tires with something other then Goodyears. This seems to work 99% of the time. Get a good set, which would increase the performance of the 300M. Would work out cheaper then taking a loss trading it in.

mykem

Although I never had a severe problem with my Goodyears, I'll never buy 'em again.

As for a tire store, I had great luck with my local NTB.

If you go to a GoodYear dealer, they'll say it's the car. If you go to a Chrysler dealer, they'll say it's the tires. Go to an impartial third party

-m

jedi_knight

So I got around to ordering the side marker lights (turn signals) part # 4676 565 from my local 5* dealer yesterday. This morning he calls and says he cannot get these as they are flagged export only. So my question is, where did you guys who already have them order from? 5* says without a export vin # they cannot be ordered in the US.

Keith

laurasdada

Including two and five year old, so can't split fold the rear seats. I'd rather not make any holes in a perfectly good car, I'll let the rust take care of that!!!
Clutch cable broke in Saab last week. That and some dealer recommended "preventative Maintenance" of the serpentine belt system cost me $500, so I want to get some use out of the new stuff! Although, a road trip in the M would be lovely. Gee, can the five year old take care of the two year old at home while we go to VT? JUST KIDDING!!! REALLY!!!

illini4

The vibration/drifting problem has been discussed over and over. It's virtually always traced to defective tires or improperly balanced tires. There have been some reports of tire beads slipping (rotating) on the 17" wheels causing them to become unbalanced, but I don't know if that has been verified. In any case, you'll probably have better success in finding a fix by working with a reputable Goodyear dealer (if one exists), rather than a Chrysler dealer.

tandee

Ok trivia fans (all 2 of you), this week there are 2 questions. Both must be answered to win the point. One is 90's related, ala FuzzyWuzzy. A special shout out to D (Denverm) for helping with the other questions. Also, EasyRider - You can have a point if you actually answer the question correctly. ;> Ready?...

1. Which 90s sitcom character bought Jon Voight's Chrysler LeBaron?

2. What is the full name (first, middle, last) of the founder of Chrysler?

pjyoung

That's his name, but I'm not big on 90's sitcoms.

fuzzywuzzy

I don't know those.

jgoodson

George Cotanza, although it wasn't Jon Voight the actor's LeBaron, but someone else with the same name. Of course, George didn't find that out until after he bought the car.

tandee

One person must answer BOTH questions correctly.

pjyoung

1. George Costanza
2. Walter Percy Chrysler

pinetted

I noticed a lot of complaints about GoodYear tires on the board. Have any of you put BF Goodrich tires on your cars? I have them on my Regal GS and my pickup. They are excellent tires!

racefan9

http://www.car-truck.com/chryed/buzz/b030601.htm

tandee

You've won 1 point. Congratulations!

FuzzyWuzzy - Hey, I tried to help you out with the 90s trivia. Sorry.
JGoodson - Yes, you're right, and he found out from the chewed up pencil in the glove. (I could do a whole separate edition of trivia on Seinfeld, alone.)
Sugar - You deleted your post. Hmmm.

Until next time...

cd17

I got news for all those who keep calling the m an american car. Chrysler was bought by the germans and the m is made in Canada. there's nothing american about it.

racefan9

geography lesson: the 300m is a North American car!!!

racefan9

i was taking a look at a new buick lesabre today, yes i was held against my will. the interior room in that doesn't seem to be as big as the 300m, so i'm thinking the regal is really small am i right? and is that the 3.8 supercharged you're looking at? are you considering this car just for the engine? if i were pushed against my will to buy a GM product and were buying it just for the engine i would buy the grand prix gtp...just trying to help, the grand prix isn't as hard on the eyes as the regal, just my .02 which in 300m canadian dollars is worth a lot more...

Racefan9

ruski

agree with Racefan. Grand Prix GTP is better looking than the Regal GS.

Unlike racefan, no one would have to force me to get one.

captainkenny

Hope you 300 Mer's don't mind an Intrepid RT owner in here but I have a question and some advice would be appreciated. I had a vibration on my 2001-RT. It has only 2000 Km. on it and I have only had it on the highway a few times. I noticed the vibration right away and took it to the dealer last week for balancing. They admitted that all 4 wheels were out and thus re balanced them. Now here's my question. Can the balancing weights be put anywhere on the outside circumference of the rim or do they have to be put on a specific part of the outside edge? I ask this because the dealer went and hammered new weights in different locations of the outside rim and thus where the old weights were there is now deep divots that not only look ugly on a gorgeous rim, but are also going to be the weak spot for corrosion and paint chipping. I find this unacceptable and wonder if any of you have any recommendations as how to approach the dealer. These rims are worth $385.00 here in Canada and if they were improperly balanced from the factory, why should I have to have put up with ugly divots on them? On a serperate topic, Have any of you tried the jet chip yet and if so what kind of improvement in performance? I imagine the use of these after market chips voids the factory warranty?

racefan9

to balance the tires the weights have to be put on a specific spot on the wheel...when i had mine rotated and balanced at 6k i requested that they put the weights on the inside of the wheel, they removed the factory weights off the outside of the wheel, put the wheel and tire on a balancing machine which tells them the correct weight to use and the exact spot to place it. there were no divets on my chromies from the factory weights.

Racefan9

300michael

You forgot to tell cd17 that the 300M was being produced before MB even talked about buying Chrysler. Sorry cd17 the 300M is truly an American built and designed automobile (read North American).

fuzzywuzzy

fuzzywuzzy

Hit post message & it didn't show up. Did this 2 times!

fuzzywuzzy

lets try it again. Short version!

fuzzywuzzy

Race is right on the balance issue. Seems the dealer messed up. I have the JetChip module installed. I will post #'s soon. Install was easy. There is a little difference. The 300m pulls a bit stronger. And it does not effect the warrenty. I got that from JetChip, & my dealer. I have some pics at:

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1280600&a=9485515

There the last ones, so hit show all

lflowers

Before you buy ANYTHING from Generous Motors, read Patrick Bedard's column in the new Car & Driver (April issue). Bedard clues us about what kind of cars GM is building now! I especially enjoyed his comments about the Aurora.

Lynn

ski1001

I just completed reading new Consumers Report, the annual car issue. I was surprised to read in the section of "used cars to avoid". They listed the y2k 300m. Being an owner of a y2k 300m it disappointed me. In the same magazine, under reliability for used cars, the y2k 300m listed off as "better than average". Comments?????

lflowers

Before you buy ANYTHING from Generous Motors, read Patrick Bedard's column in the new Car & Driver (April issue). Bedard clues us about what kind of cars GM is building now! I especially enjoyed his comments about the Aurora.

Lynn

pjyoung

Easy, they want you to avoid Amarican cars that are "better than average" so that they can continue to skew their recomendations towards Honda and Toyota.

fastdriver

race-

I'm really not interested in the back seat area. Rarely is anyone back there. If they are, it's not for long anyway. Yes, I loved that supercharged engine on my 96 Riviera AND the SMOOTH shifting transmission and the quietness of the engine when you did floor the car. It would just GO and leave others behind in a smooth and quiet manner- no jerking, no "roaring" engine noises. Ruski knows what I'm talking about. I agree that the GTP is better looking then the Regal, but my brother is connected with a Buick/Chevy dealership. With all the problems I had with Christine, I'm a little skittish about my next car. At least if I get it from him and I do have any problems, they will be taken care of without all the crap I put up with at my 3 "award-winning 5-STAR" dealers! I drove a GTP back in the Fall in New Hampshire. The guy just gave me the keys and let me go. I was not impressed with the quality of the leather. It felt like vinyl. While I like all kinds of gadgets, the GTP seemed to have too many for me. Not sure if I like the orange lighting on the dash or the fact that the moonroof slides up and outside the car. I have thousands of dollars in credit on my GM Mastercard that can be used as a downpayment on a GM car. If I didn't have this, I'd probably be looking at a Toyota or Lexus for my next car. Time will tell. Been driving Christine as little as possible to keep it UNDER 36,000 miles while it's still in my name.

ruski-

I agree 100% on the looks, but.............

lflowers-

I will check it out. Thanks. Not sure if it's positive or negative.

fastdriver

dustinnewton

Go to a Goodyear store. They will cover work on your tire problems because the tires are still under GY warranty. My GY shop was very accomodating and fixed the pull/vibration problem. It is the fault of crappy GY tires, not the M. As soon as my tax refund comes in, I am chunking the GY's in favor of some sweet Pirelli P6000 beauties!

300N-How soon can I put my order in? DC, I will buy the first one off the line, just don't screw it up or cancel it between now and then!!! Daimler-Benz ran Chrysler into the ground, but maybe they have realized their mistakes and Chrysler will return stronger than ever!

All-Anyone know of a source that gives sales figures for particular car models? Like how many M's were sold in January or something like that?

jashou

I am a former '99 300m owner. I loved my I but had too many problems and spent too much time taking it back to the dealer. The various problems I had; replaced window motor (of course), interior lights would not shut off - located short dealer replaced wiring, grumbling noise in front end - dealer replaced rack in the rack - in- pinion steering (after 3 visits), vehicle would not shift out of second gear - dealer replaced shift sensor, I had to drive 35 mi. to the dealer in 2nd gear (not good for the tarns). Had brake job at 26k hi and then notice a front end vibration, don't know if it had anything to do with the brake job, but at that point I had enough. Traded the vehicle in after 1 1/2 yr. and 30k. on a 2000 Bonneville SSEi and have had it for 3 months and love it. The supercharger is a lot of fun to drive and after doing research on GM products (which I have never previously owned) the 3800 engines are very reliable. Don't knock the Regal GS, GTP or Bonne SSEi until you drive them. I do love the looks of the 300 and I love the future Hemi C, but if I do get one , I will wait 1-2 yrs after initial production. If you look on Carpoint.msn.com the 99 and 00 300m 's have their share of problems but the reliability seems to be much improved in the 01 model.

memphis300m

Pinetted: Have Goodyears on 3 cars. Have an 87 C4 Vette with the Gatorbacks - no vibration or other running problems and they stick like glue - only problem don't make them in the 15" anymore. No real problem on the 2000 M - a slight vibration at times but seems to be road related. Just put them on my 93 Ranger to replace the bad Firestones. Seems a little rougher ride but again a truck.
As to Consumer Reports - they have been anti-US car for many years. While some of what they say is true, does make one wonder about their impartiality.
JMHO.
Memphis300m

laurasdada

My 300M continues to perform well in the snow/ice. Although our driveway was plowed (twice!) yesterday (my town "only" got about 12-13" of snow) it was still icy/snowy. My wife's Saab had trouble getting up the drivesay, and then due to a Honda Accord sliding up and down the hill to exit the neighborhood, she had trouble getting to Main Street. The traction control in the M got me effortlessly up my driveway and didn't even come on to get to Main Street! Geez, maybe I should take the M to Vermont this weekend!
How'd y'all survive the Nor'easter??

Platinum '99 300M, ~20,300 trouble free miles and counting. Great car.

dustinnewton

If anyone thinks we argue excessively on this board, check out the "I don't like SUV's so why do you?" board!!! No kidding!!! I tried to post the link, but ironically the TH software would let me post a "word" over 100 characters in length. It's the 1st link under "most popular" boards on the TH main page.

sugar300m

Tell that to my wife. We had about 7 inches in Rockland County ( about 25 miles north of NYC). There is a nice hill on the road leading up to my house. She made a left onto this road (not plowed), but someone backing out of their driveway got in her way so she had to stop. Of course, she couldn't get going again; she had the car in 1st gear. If she used the Autostick & put the car in 3rd, wouldn't she have more traction than in 1st?

sugar300m

I was lurking there a few days ago but got tired of it. M owners/drivers agree to disagree (for the most part); that SUV site is like when we were kids & "my bike is better than your bike". I think people just like to vent on that site. I'd like to see some of the posts that are deleted from there!

mykem

Hi... I'm an idiot.

Where can I find information on purchasing a service manual for the '01?

-m

hayneldan

Dustinnewton, sales figures for all cars are at http://www.autosite.com under center column, market reserch, 300M is listed under sporty cars.

3118 sold in January.