Chrysler 300M

ottowrkr

http://www.nopi.com/pf2002/ShowCars/Chrysler-Dodge/300M-Metallic-- Orange.jpg

kosh_2258

It's an Intrepid with a 300M front clip!
I had suspected this was possible since both cars share the same basic shell.

kosh_2258

You have some sort of problem?

You seem to read things into my posts that aren't there. I put a question mark behind the Quality title with the purpose of getting feedback on the post, not to question the posting.
I made the comment about the M getting beaten off the line because the envisioned ad wasn't reality. I wasn't promoting stop light drag racing. But like it or not, a new horsepower war is well underway in Detroit.

There are some M owners who might not share your feelings given their experiences and I'm curious to see what their reaction is to that article.

My M has given me no problems and neither did the 98 Intrepid I owned before it.

bigmike5

Hey Otto--Aside from the burnt orange paint [could take that color for about a month and then goodbye], it looked like a lowered M. Couldn't read the letters on the top of the windshield. Liked the look tho.

topcut

Your ad idea isn't practical. Both the cars you mention would take the M off the line at a stop light, especially the Bonnie - sorry to say, but it's true. Hopefully the N will address that. .(those areYour words).....This is what prompted my response...Saying that the N will hopefully address the Bonnie beating it off the line,,sounds like a drag thing to me....:)

I have no problem at all,,,,you ask Quality Improving??....I gave you an answer to a simple question...I think it is and I think it will get better...

and I know there are people who have had problems with Chryslers...people have problems with all cars..that is no big mystery....I have had trouble with every GM car I have ever owned...much better with the Chrysler products..

We all know there is a power race with the autos..You call it criteria..,,I call it addressing the adolescence of some drivers..Car and Driver has an article on it...They had a saying about it as a car to take the kids to school in and then laying a strip to your favorite place...(something like that)...But then again practicality is not everyones priority is it

300michael

The power is geared toward the teens (the least capeable of handling it) instead of the older groups. As for launch power that is a factor as well as the skidpad (cornering), both were considerations (that is why I modded out my drivetrain) Do I race?, No, but it is nice to know you have the power to get out of the way of something if needed. If my Town and Country had the power my M had it would still be on the road today.

300michael

Checking to see what version of the DVD will tell you how new it is. The Next one should be out within two months (which I may purchase Phoenix has changed a lot in the last couple of years). It is a great system (same as mine) enjoy it, especially on the M Meets. It is nice to go to a strange town and still know where you are going. Plus you never have to ask for directions

topcut

I agree Michael......it is nice to have the power to get into traffic from on ramps,,seems to be a necessary this day and age and my 300 handles that quite nicely...And we all like a car that has nice handling and road feel,,,and that is a good thing too..hense the skid pad..

I understand you have a Nav System ???

kosh_2258

My statement about Bonnie and TL/CL being able to take the 300M off the line is simple fact. Therefore an ad depicting that would be deceptive and inaccurate. No more, no less. No boy racer thing what so ever.

300Michael, I'd have to disagree with you about where the ads are targeted. Those ads do appeal to teens but it's the 20 & 30 somethings that they are really aimed at. The teens don't have the dough to purchase these rides in most cases. Do these cars have more "get" than kids can handle? Oh yes, but shame on mom and dad for buying them and then turning junior lose with them to learn that lesson.

Denying the performance aspects denies the heritage of the 300 letter cars. They were originally conceived and marketed as luxury performance cars. All you have to do is look at the advertising of that time to know that to be true.

fastdriver

blonda-

Maybe Deiter thought that no one would notice the decontenting?? ;-))

ottowrkr-

Looks like AV got his hands on that car! LOL...

fastdriver

pster

As I was getting into my wife's Sebring LXi so she could drive me to get my 300M from the dealer, I noticed that the passenger side door handle had no keyhole/lock. Now there's some serious decontenting......I had never noticed it before.

ajpiii

Ive been wanting one of these for a while... I think the Alpine is the best out there, and worth every penney... Im planning on doing a road trip to Florida in the M so it will come in handy... Ive been wanting to take the M on a nice long trip ever since I got it. Now I will, and wont get lost

I checked out the dvd, its v1.30 of Coast to Coast 2002... recent enough I would guess

beach15

Now that I've thought about it a little more, maybe that idea I talked about wouldn't be the best. Maybe something like this, but the new high-class, elegant Celine commercials are pretty great. They just need to put an M in them before it's dead! Geez, sometimes I wonder what they're thinking when they just don't do certain things like this...do they want a product to go stale? They show just about every other Chrysler in one or two of the commercials, including the Sebring and T&C, so why leave the 300M out?

On another note, I can't wait to go to the Baltimore Auto Show on Feb. 8th. Love it everytime, and though certainly not the biggest and it lacks some cars (no Pacifica...), it is very fun. Last year we still had our 300M, and the car Chrysler had on display was a new fully loaded except for PHG, Steel Blue over Light Taupe. While the blue still isn't my cup of tea, the Light Taupe interior with real wood was gorgeous and felt of higher quality than our '00. I wish I could have taken that inside and put it in our Slate...

99_300m_ric_va

10 pm Eastern Time. www.300mclub.org/chat.htm

ottowrkr

kosh_2258 , oh yeah it can be done .all you have to do is take the stlye line out of the front 300M fenders and the bolt right up on a Trep , or Concorde .

bigmike5, I like the color , I guess cause nobody else will have that car in the same shade. one of a kind.

fastdriver, yeah looks like something he would do .

kosh_2258

Have you seen the any M's that have had an Intrepid front end grafted on? Maybe by someone who got really po'd at changing headlight bulbs?

300michael

Yes, it have had the Alpine 852A (DVD) amost since it came out. In my car alittle over 2.5 years now. Love it. I am planning on updating it (still running 1.1 2000version) this March when the 1.4 version should be out. They keep adding new towns and citys, as well as updating roads in the current ones. I have the 790 7" motorized screen for the front and the back (which if they choose can see it on their flip down 7" screen. I also have vidio camera (front vidio is dissconected until the new grilles are fully installed. The screens can also watch DVD movies or CD contols on screen. Each screen is independly controled to watch which ever of the 5 (front or rear camera, Nav, CD, DVD) features they want to watch.

300michael

http://www.public.fotki.com/300M/

ottowrkr

nope never seen that . Woud make changing lights a snap .

jab02lhs

I want a LHS front on a 300M. Otto are you taking custom orders? :>)

pster

Snow storm passed through yesterday and left some chilling temperatures: -1 today with a -20 wind chill. Expected to get clear and even colder tonight. The 300M with my new Dunlap Sport A2's handles quite well in the snow and ice, much better than the OEM Michelins. This car is just great in cold weather and I continue to be in love with the automatic temperature controls....it warms up fast and works well. Just hope my A/C hasn't leaked again....summer's
coming. Why do SUV drivers in snow think they are exempt from the laws of physics? Just missed being nailed by three in one day. New SUV owners should have to take lessons. Idiots.

njerald

ISSUE: Conservatives have endured name-calling for many years. Liberals like Ted Turner, Jesse Jackson, Tom Daschle, Ted Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton have called us a lot of
things.

Well, now we're being called "myopic" -- that is, "short-sighted" -- which wouldn't be so bad, except that it's coming from a large corporation that *ought* to be on our side:
DaimlerChrysler.

In fact, the DaimlerChrysler executive made the slur in the same breath as he was praising Jesse Jackson!

It was at one of Jackson's "corporate shakedowns" last week that Frank Fountain, senior vice president for government affairs at Daimler Chrysler, told CNSNews.com: "Most of
[Jackson's] critics are conservatives; they have a rather myopic view of the world."

Fountain, at the time, was taking part in Jackson's annual "Wall Street Project" in New York City. DaimlerChrysler,
as a "gold sponsor" of the project, had contributed money
to Jackson "in the six figures," Fountain said.

beespecial

Woo Hoo! Reached my first milestone today. Time for the first oil change at 3,000 miles. Just not real keen on laying on the garage floor when the temp is +5 outside and only +14 in the garage. brrrr. I am SO ready for summer so I can test out the A/C.

PSTER- I'm with you on the auto temperature controls. And especially the bun warmers in the seats. I've never had a car that warmed up as fast as this one.

bluesky999

300michael,
the online book of your mods is way cool. But I'm more impressed by all you've done toyour ride. On a minor note, the "sound deadening" album pix could not be brought up, at least by me. Other sections I looked at were fine, such as HID conversion, etc. Also, and this is super minor, "bumper removal" had a typo in the spelling (bumper removeal). But I think your car is amazing.

ottowrkr

Hey if any of you are going to contact that reporter , make sure you rell him that the 300 is the best car ever built. Also you can mention that Otto is one cool dude . LOL

easyrider300m

"best car ever built. " That is stretching it a bit. But I would think we could tell him it's the best value for the buck in the luxury sport category. But you guys do a great job assembling the M--its just that some of the part quality could be a bit better.

But I still love my 2000 M with 48K on the odometer.

PS: it's 6 degrees this morning in Boston--I went on my weather site and I see its 37 in Miami and 28 in Orlando--and its in the single digits in North Carolina. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

EZ

300michael

Thanks for the info. Thats what happens when you try to do it after 1am in the morning:)

300michael

Did you want Otto is the greatest or just the best? LOL Send a mug shot. Have a great day.

greasykid1

Recently traded my 2001 M on a steel blue/taupe/lux pkg 2003. Love the car.Feels much tighter and quiet with a better ride. Almost didn't buy it because of the DECONTENTING!. My local 5* told me about the $3000 rebate & also gave me well over book on my 2001, so I bought it.

Would like to have the headlights a little higher. Anybody know if there is a height adjustment? If so where? Not in the book.

Thinking of extended warranty as my wife says I have to keep this at least 5 yrs. Was quoted $790. Any suggestions? So far the car is great with no problems.

jab02lhs

Jim,

My wife has an '01 LHS same color combo as yours. She said she gets more compliments on this car that all here previous cars combined.

Be sure you get the max care.

A couple of ladies her at work thought that's what the were buying only to find out they had the cheaper added care coverage that did not cover most of the things needing repair.

Check these guys for types of coverage.

http://www.chryslerwarranty.com/

They really discount the Chrysler Factory Warranty. I bought mine from them.

pster

I agree with jab02lhs, go with Maximum Care. I have 52K miles on my 1999 300M and my $3000 in repair costs all occurred after the 36K mark. I still love this car to death and would buy another, but no way without the warranty. Chrysler's Chairman says their warranty costs are down 20%? That's nice, but to be a great car company I would think he should focus on the repair record AFTER 36k miles - the ADDITIONAL costs his customers are incurring. Unless of course he wants to make 36K mile throw-a-way disposable vehicles.

ottowkr: reporter e-mailed me and said she would call me today, nothing yet. She is with the Personal Journal section of Wall Street Journal - the best newspaper in the world (IMHO). I will give the good (mostly) and bad experience with my 300M if she calls. Based on some of the "avid bordering on maniacal" alterations performed by many of the posters here, she may simply want to know if I had tried yet to put a snorkle on my engine or added an ejector mechanism to the passenger's seat.......

ottowrkr

easyrider300m, yeah OK so maybe its not the best one , how about second best ???

300michael, Otto is the greatest is ok with me , mug shot to come.

pster- make sure you give more good than bad, I like my job .

kosh_2258

Pop the hood and look at the tops of the headlight housings. You should see a bubble level device between the headlights. The adjuster screw is behind that. It used to be a gold colored Torx screw but that may have changed.

Be sure the car is on a level surface. The bubble should be close to 0 on the scale. To be honest I cheated a bit with my Intrepid and adjusted it up to about 1deg. Bubble moving towards the front of the car is raising the beam up.

The Special has the adjuster but no bubble level so I've left it alone.

bigmike5

I'm not an expert here, but I recommend that you do the adjustment in a garage and put a dark line or string on the wall in front of the beam so you can judge a "before" and "after" adjustment. It may be hard to do an adjustment, and maybe a bit haphazard if you do it without a good starting reference point.

pster

Definitely more good Otto The one thing about the 300M that I continue to be the most amazed and pleased with - and this is perhaps a direct testimony to the cars "build" quality - is the incredible NVH improvements. I have driven Mercedas Benz and Jaquars that creaked and rattled more than this car. At 52K miles, I still have no rattles or noises, even over rough pavement and hard expansion joints. That Chrysler could do this and keep the weight to 3600 lbs is, in my opinion, astounding. My only beef is with parts failures.....and that I would feel compelled to have to buy an extended warranty. I think Chrysler needs to match the 4 year 50K bumper-to-bumper offered on the Acura TL to stay competitive.

300michael

Park 25ft away from a wall on a flat and level surface. You want to find the center line both verticle and horzonal marks. the beam pattern shoud be not higher then the level marks. Or 24.8" on a stock M. If you lowered it as I did, you have to adjust it.

indydriver

Had to go on a six day business trip to Boca, so I decided to get it done rather than end up stranded somewhere. $606 P&L. Noticeable improvement in shifting....very silky now...no slam bang upshifts. 99,800 miles and hoping for no more repair work as the wife's '00 DGC with 40,000 miles needs the cracked windshield replaced and an oil leak stopped.

indydriver

is now the wallpaper on my desktop. I am particularly fond of the 3/4 frontal view. When Creed says "85% of this concept car will reach production", I hope that includes the supercharged hemi. Obviously, the seriously good stuff will be later in the production cycle. Do you have any word on whether the SRT-8 will actually be produced?

pster

Heard a Durango RT with 5.9L last night...very nice sound coming from the back end! I am very fond of the proposed '04 Dakota, I hope the final version is close to the preview. I want one.

...ok, ok....this is the 300M board.

kosh_2258

Since the car is new, you do have the option of taking it back to your dealer to have the headlight aim adjusted. It should be covered under the warranty.

Since they have all the equipment at the dealer for that, it might be less of a hassle for you to try that approach first.

If you still aren't satisfied you can do the wall alignment method if you have access to 42ft (25ft + the length of the car) of level ground and a blank wall to work with.

99_300m_ric_va

When they say 85% will remain, it's the supercharged part that most definately not make it to production. My opinion is based on what's happening to the Crossfire. Concept had 2.7L SC, production model has 3.2L no supercharger.

ottowrkr

The SRT 8 is a PVO built car , like the neon SRT 4 and the viper . I have heard ( but dont take this as the gospel) that once we have launched all the LX cars they will make a PVO version of the magmun( and other LX cars) available . I did hear supercharged on the PVO ( pray ). If they build it I will come , I mean buy it . LOL I too have the Magnum as my wallpaper . I love the car , cant wait to see the other versions ( 300 and Dodge Intrepid replacment) Heck I cant wait to build these bad boys.

indydriver

Thanks for your insights on these exciting new vehicles from DC. I see you're covering the SRT-8 board so I will return to topic here and see you there. Ric Va-you're probably right about the supercharger, but the unblown hemi should provide plenty of excitement on its own.

clpurnell

Was at the houston Auto Show and next to infiniti and buick(concepts) I think Chrysler had the best vehicles to come. The crossfire might be under powered but it is drop dead gorgeous. The pacifica is a knock out also. Unfortunately they didn't bring the magnum only the kahuna. Man if Chrysler would go 4yr/50k with there warranty, offer loaners and make there dealer really earn there five star marks I would definately buy another they are light years ahaead of other makes in design.

russklass

John, I'll be in Boston this week, staying at the Hampton Inn, Natick, Tues & Wed nite.
If you feel like hoisting a frosty, give me a call there!

easyrider300m

I'm heading to foxwoods today and staying through Tues. Not sure if I could meet up when I get back as I will be busy catching up with work missed. I live about 10 miles from your hotel. I'll ring you up if I can meet.
EZ

fastdriver

Goodbye Deiter...........

Hello Kerkorian??????

The plot thickens

http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosinsider/0301/27/a01-69685.htm

fastdriver

pster

Corporations do proforma acquisition and merger modeling projections all the time. Kerkorian is nothing more than a discgruntled investor that didn't get the return on his Chrysler share ownership he expected, so he's suing Daimler to extort more money. Corporate raiders do this all the time. Kerkorian is a "financial buyer", not an "owner operator". Didn't the Chrylser shareholders have a vote on all this?

fastdriver

pster-

Think they thought they were voting on a MERGER and not a takeover!

fastdriver

kosh_2258

Taking into account Schrempp's ill considered statement and now this, at minimum, I think it's safe to say he's going to find himself on the outside looking in before the smoke clears. Even if the merger isn't unwound I'd bet he'll be shown the door at DCX.
Former Chrysler stock holders will probably see a few denaro from it too.

Lovely.