Unlike fastdriver I have only had good experiences with my 2001 300M and the dealership that sold it to me. It has been a great car and I am looking forward to getting a 300C this fall. You can't beat the price/performance on this car.
Thanks to those few of you who have been willing to post your pricing info; I appreciate the input. In summary, it appears that of those of you willing to disclose your purchase price,
1 has paid $75 over invoice 1 has paid 2% over invoice 1 has paid 3% over invoice 1 has paid 5+% over invoice
Have only 4 people on this board reached a committed purchase price, or are there more who are paying msrp and perhaps a little reluctant to say so?
I did have one dealer discussion who indicated that some colors are currently restricted.
Personally, I think I'm holding off to take a test drive first and for the tire pressure monitoring system.
Your anecodtal evidence regarding your experience vis-a-vis Chrysler products are essentially as irrelevant as mine when determining whether they build quality products or not. That said, my experience has been exactly the opposite of yours. My wife's last three cars have been Dodges, and so far, with over 150K in combined miles, there has only been a single failure, a dead battery after 60K miles on our first Caravan (which we still have, and which has over 80K miles on it). Not too bad. In addition, the two different dealerships that we have had dealings with for scheduled maintenance have been spactacular, even to the point of re-programming the computer on the Caravan after the battery failure for free (I replaced the OEM battery with a Die-Hard).
Does my experience mean that DC has turned over a new leaf and is producing only perfect cars? Not likely. Does your experience mean that DC is only producing new vehicles that should only be driven to the bone yard directly from the showroom? Equally not likely.
From my perspective, I believe that DC is producing vehicles that are generally well engineered and built, and if they have an initial teething problem or two, so what. I can live with that. Interestingly enough, our last five cars have been the three previously mentioned Dodges and two BMWs, and to listen to all of the negative rhetoric I would have thought that we would have spent as much time waiting for our cars to be repaired as we would have spent driving them. I am happy to report that the sum and total of the unscheduled maintenance for all five cars has been about $70 (the aforementioned battery plus two taillights for my 1999 328i).
Will I take a chance on the 300C or maybe the Magnum when the time comes to replace my 530i? Highly likely and the potential of problems be damned!
if i remember right...almost all of fastdriver's problems centered around crappy goodyear tires. unfortunately it took "too long" for his dealership and chrysler to figure out the tire(s) were the problem! and thus his car had many things done to it that weren't necessary. still, i suppose a bad dealership experience can be enough to swear off a brand...but i must admit i don't understand the preoccupation with wanting everybody else to know your story...?
I bought a 1999 300M, and I went through the nuisance of having two sets of Goodyear tires put on the car by a Goodyear dealer (no charge). Didn't do any good, so I bought a set of Michelin MXV4 Plus tires which resolved the issue. I took this problem on myself rather than bothering the Chrysler dealer. I sent the bill for the Michelin tires to Goodyear and they paid it.
If you deny yourself the supreme pleasure of a new 300C just because of what happened to you in the past, you're the one who will miss out on the better lifestyle, the joy, the happiness, that a fine automobile like that can bring.
Did everyone receive their e-mail's from Mopar announcing the official wing-ding unvailing of the new 300's on April 22??? I was hoping I'd get mine way before that date.....I'm wondering what the "special gift" will be?? Maybe 0% financing, or perhaps a $500.00 coupon to apply as a deposit??? That wouldn't be too bad, I guess.
Fastdriver: I am completely shocked, I was lead to believe, by a Chrysler service manager, that I was the only customer unlucky enough to purchase a Chrysler LEMON!! And now there are two A WHOPPING 100% INCREASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Got my invite on e-mail this a.m. with my local dealer's showroom as the site. Apr 22 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. As we live in a semi-dry county I don't expect cocktails, but...hopefully the honored guests --300C, Crossfire roadster, and maybe a Magnum will be there, [but there was no mention of the Magnum]. So, I plan on going. They already have a Cruiser Conv. on the showroom floor, so that will be there unless someone ponied up the $28.5 for it that I saw on the sticker. Yow...
And,yes, deliveries have been slowed by a couple of factors according to a tech. I talked to at a local dealer. They are parking them at satelite sites near the plant and doing extensive nit-picking inspections on the new productions to make sure that they are as close to perfect as possible before shipment. [They did a similar thing with the introduction of the 300M I am told.] The plant has also ramped up from 250-300 cars a day to 500+, but is still on its way to the 900+ that were produced daily on the LH platform. Some weekend overtime is being used to help meet the numbers required. I was also told that the dealer's main mechanic man has already received some training on the new 300C, and that the largest batches of them at the outset are being shipped to California, which I guess makes sense since it is farthest away from the plant. I was also told that there are no part shortages holding up production. It is just that the plant is "teething" right now on the LX platform on its way to being able to take a "full bite and chewing," to use a figure of speech.
"i guess ALL the problems you had with your 300m made it easy to accept the total tranny failure in your acura...eh... "
Yes. At 23,000 miles, it was and is the ONLY thing to ever go wrong. I had no door trim peeling, no trunk/interior leaks, no tranny fluid draining out while the car was sitting for 3 days, no fuel tank/gas gauge sender unit problems, no "putting" heater fan noises calling for fan motor housing replacement, no dead battery problem after going on vacation for a week and leaving the car in the garage, no rack and pinion replacement problems etc.
I brought the CL-S in on a Thursday and got it back on the following Tuesday. There was NO bull about fixing it. They gave me a brand new TL to drive and they weren't even the selling dealer!
I guess it all boils down to what you are willing to accept from a "flagship" car! To each his own. If I was retired, I probably wouldn't mind all the dealer trips on a regular basis. However, the dealer shop is the LAST place I want to be with ANY car!
fastdriver
FWIW Better get that 300 BEFORE May 1 in NY if you're leasing-
Thanks for the input Bigmike, every little bit helps. I do hope for those of us that ordered early that they should be arriving before April 22, at least at the same time our dealerships get theirs. If there's an unvailing, I hope it's my car ready to go.
You need to be careful what you post. "Christine" could be reading and then be lurking around any corner waiting to T-bone that Acura. God, she was a good looking "redhead," but don't cross/spurn her. lol
you were lucky with your Acura dealer. When my first tranny broke, I drove a rental Dodge Stratus for 10 days. Acura paid for it but still I didn't like driving that car too much.
When my second tranny was being replaced, I got a Volvo S60 rental for 5 days. Better than a Stratus, but I didn't like it much either.
The only time I got a true loaner (another Acura TL-S) was when I took my TL-S in for a 30K mile service and paid over $300.
My dealer sent my 300C order on January 13th, and his list of vehicle order numbers indicates that the car will not be scheduled for assembly this month or next month either.
I suspect that some of us are in for a looooong wait.
I have purchased 15 new cars in my lifetime (listed below), along with a number of used cars and collector cars. I have yet to encounter anything close to being a lemon. No engine failures, never been stranded, no transmission failures. I suspect that the existance of "lemons" is an urban myth. I have never even met someone face to face that complained of buying a lemon. I have been involved in the used car and collector car business as a sideline for over 30 years, and never bought, sold or come in contact with anything I know of that could be labeled a lemon.
LIST OF NEW CAR PURCHASES:
1962 Plymouth Savoy Super Stock 413 1964 Ford Custom 300 1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring 1973 Dodge Charger 1977 Chevrolet Impala 1978 Chevrolet Impala 1980 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency 1985 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight Royale 1986 Ford Taurus 1987 Ford Taurus 1989 Ford Taurus 1990 Cadillac Sedan deVille 1993 Cadillac Sedan deVille 1993 Dodge Intrepid ES 1999 Chrysler 300M
You know, I'm still in disbelief over that fact with you guys. When I checked on both mine and Dale48's Hemi C's, mine was in JS status, while his, ordered about a month later , was still in the process of being built. Let me ask both of you, Steve & Tibbune, what is your VON?? (Vehicle Order Number), and on my printout, I even have the date it was sent..Jan 19th. (I had ordered it on the 16th) Which gets back to the original question, who know's what's going on?? My guess is to forget calling the knowledgable people at 800-Chrysler, and call Brampton itself. Somebody on that end should be able to help.
Soozpk, I presume you have not rechecked our orders since your update at message 780 is that true? I just emailed my dealer and asked for an update. Friends ask me when I'm getting my new car and i just laugh. Dale
No, Dale, I haven't called...I'd think by now your Hemi C must have also reached "Just Sitting" (JS) status. Seeing that April 22 is the big nationwide wing-ding, I guess I'm just now getting resigned to that fact, and all the calls in the world won't get it here sooner, I think. However, I'm making it a point to run out to my dealership the weekend prior, and do a walk-around the place, and see if anything that resembles a new 300 is out there. They need to have them in place by the following Thursday, and I'm hoping mine will there someplace.
Soozpk, my dealer emailed me back that my car was built and shipped to storage. as he put it "I believe Chrysler is waiting for the right moment for delivery vis a vis their advertising/promotion programs."
A brochure picture (at street intersection) of the 300 reveals a few differences in appearance. Headlights, turn indicators, vents instead of fog lights, spray nozzles on the hood, black mirrors. The touring edition has its own badge on the rear of the trunk as does the limited. I guess the trim - chrome / body color/ or black is different too.
Also about the Torino leather, when I ordered my car there was no mention of different textured leathers. I assume I am getting the royal finish. Anyone know anything about this?
Lastly my Mechanic "Faithful Automotive" in Huntington NY told me yesterday that another customer of his ordered a 300c as well. He said like me, the other guy is excited about his order. Momentum is building!
Dale wrote: when I ordered my car there was no mention of different textured leathers.
You're correct, the only thing we went by were the light / dark colors available at the 300 website. Had we known about the Royal Leather Trim, I probably would have ordered that, as it appears much nicer. The way it's wriiten on my order is: -DD Dark Slate Gray / Medium Slate Gray.
Went to the 300C "Specs" page, and they only show two combinations: Dark Slate Gray / with Light Graystone Seating OR Dark Slate Gray / with Medium Slate Gray Seating
It makes no distinction between the Royal or Torino leathers.....I guess we'll find out......
i think the leather is different between the limited and C models...and you can't interswap them. in other words, the limited gets one kind and the C the other. some magazine (can't remember which) said they preferred the limited leather over the C. something about the C's leather being smoother...or something like that.
You're right, emale, the Touring and Limited have one type of leather, and the C has a higher grade. You can't get the C leather on a Limited, and vice versa. I think it was the Edmunds review that favored the leather on the Touring/Limited. While the leather on the C is softer and of higher quality, the Edmunds reviewers felt that the Touring/Limited leather better matched the vinyl trim on the backs of the seats.
Check out that 2.7, it has an MSRP of $244,000 and an invoice price of $23,430. One MUST assume that they are going to be discounting that car down near the invoice price. ;-)
bph74 It seems odd that they would use a picture of a 300 for the 300c if they really had it in stock. (see the second link) I wonder if they have the vehicles shown in your link on order and not on hand.
The VIN #'s also have a J in the 4th position compared with an A in Soozpk and mine. I'm not sure what each character represents 2C3AA63H95H119551 soozpk 2C3AA63H15H133461 dale48
The picture that dealership used is from a Car Show last year, I'd bet they don't have either vehicle on their lot.
My VON# is 11908220 Vin # 2C3AA63H05H103481
At last check it was being shipped from Middle Earth, through OZ, with an indefinite stopover scheduled in Never Never Land.
I have confirmed that the vehicle is either built, or not built, either waiting to ship, or not even scheduled to be assembled yet. Thank goodness they cleared all that up!
After I posted the original thread about the cars at dealerships I went down to koons (3 miles from my house) because I wasn't sure if they had the car or not. Right there on the showroom floor was the 2.7 ltr car. Sat in it, opened the trunk and played with it. Fit and finish was outstanding. Interior materials seemed to be pretty decent...although lower doors did seem somewhat cheap. Trunk was deep but not too high...hinges are like the video shows. Didn't open the hood as I have zero desire to see the 2.7.
Passport is a bit further from my house and I wouldn't have made it there by closing time so I can't vouch if they have the car or not.
My daughter stopped over last night and went through the catalog. She remarked that I should have ordered the blue color, referring to the pic of a 300 turning into an intersection. The pic says Magnesium, but I told her there is no blue offered in that color, and showed her what's available. My question is how do they get that beautiful hue of blue from that dull Navy Gray Magnesium??? Someone here had called it "Dead Dolphin Gray", which best describes it.
VON / VIN Tibbune, I see that one of your letters in your VIN (the 1) is showing a 0. Did you order a Limited or Touring?? Your sequence #103481 shows that it was built earlier than mine. It has to be in JS status along with mine and Dales.
I ordered a 300C, so I don't believe it's a limited or a touring. It is "limited" as far as information on build status, and I'd love to see it "touring" the road from the dealership to my home.
It's actually been rather amusing stopping in at the dealership and hearing "Great news, we were told Friday that we're getting the 300s next weekend!". Word for word, same expression, same confidence, same sales manager saying it....three Saturdays in a row.
I'm actually using the visits to teach my daughter about trust, honesty, and the lack thereof in the world of automobile sales.
For a "flagship" car, DC is keeping things pretty tight-lipped. You would think that they would go out of their way for those of you who are BUYING the car and not just looking!
"I'm actually using the visits to teach my daughter about trust, honesty, and the lack thereof in the world of automobile sales."
LOL...Boy, is she in for an education! If you think it's something now, just wait! ;-)
My 300 c VIN is: 2C3JA63H25H116121, ordered 1/24/04. I wonder if the "AA" sequence is a second round of production, since I was told last week that my car should have been delivered the first week of April. Go figure...
soozpk and tibbune: The 9th character is a check digit. Here is what I know * 1st character- Identifies the country in which the vehicle was manufactured. Canada(2), * 2nd character- Identifies the manufacturer. Chrysler(C) * 3rd character- Identifies vehicle type or manufacturing division. * 4th to 8th characters- Identifies vehicle features such as body style, engine type, model, series, etc. For Chrysler in the past they have used: 4 Safety System (I'm guesing the A is side curtain the J is without) 5 Body 6 Series 7 Style 8 Engine * 9th character- Identifies VIN accuracy as check digit. * 10th character- Identifies the model year. For example: 1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000(Y) --- 2001(1), 2002(2), 2003(3), 2004(4), 2005 (5) * 11th character- Identifies the assembly plant for the vehicle. * 12th to 17th characters- Identifies the sequence of the vehicle for production as it rolled of the manufacturers assembly line.
The check digit is used for checking the VIN accuracy.
A check digit is part of each vin (since 1981) and appears in position nine (9) of the VIN on the vehicle and on any transfer documents containing the vin prepared by the manufacturer to be given to the first owner for purposes other than resale. Thus, the vins of any two vehicles manufactured within a 30 year period shall not be identical. The check digit means a single number or letter "x" used to verify the accuracy of the transcription of the vehicle identification number. After all other characters in the VIN have been determined by the manufacturer the check digit is calculated by carrying out a mathematical computation specified. This is based on vin position, sample vin, assigned value code, weight factor and multiply assigned value times weight factors. The values are added and the total is divided by 11. The remainder is the check digit number. The correct numeric remainder - zero through nine (0-9) will appear. However, if the remainder is 10 the letter "X" is used to designate the check digit value/number.
"The values are added and the total is divided by 11."
Hmmm....and mine came out to ZERO.
Coincidentally, that's the exact amount of accurate information I've received from Chrysler regarding my order! This must be a sign!
Actually, after seeing a photo today (that's circulating around the net) of hundreds of 300s being stored in a Canadian amusement park's back lot, I put two and two together. This launch is just German engineering in action, amassing the troops at the border of a French speaking land, relating all troop movements in elaborate codes, holding supreme secrecy before charging into foreign territory in one large attack.
Thanks for the input Dale. Looking at my Lebaron manual here, and you have it pretty much on the money, considering you don't have access to the newest VIN 300 codes. The sixth digit in my book ('94) shows 2 as Low Line, 3 as Mid-Line, 4 as High Line, 5 as Premium, 6 as Sport. As for the AA, the first A denotes the Air Bag / Passenger Passive restraints. The second A denotes "Car Line", which would be of course, 300 series.
I'm sitting here trying to visualize my (our) poor car(s) sitting in an amuzement park someplace in the Brampton area. Somebody, please send in the clowns........
By alternating the #7 in the link, you can see all the photos this gentelman took (7 thru 20). He had access to the parking lot where the cars have been sittting. Low res camera phone shots from the back of a moving pick-up, but interesting nonetheless.
I enjoy your sense of humor. Don't lose it because it will come in handy in the future.
soozpk-
"Somebody, please send in the clowns........"
They're all in Auburn Hills and Germany! ;-)))))) An AMUSEMENT park?? Bet you don't find this situation amusing at all as you are chomping at the bit to get your car!
My wife had an interesting observation (trust me, this is news around our house), she wondered if Chrysler is holding the built cars back from the lots so that the sales numbers look better after their big April 22nd shin dig launch party.
Those of us who bought one months ago, will then be shown as April purchases, thus inflating initial sales figures for that month. Therefore, if indeed our cars are already built, and just biding their time at a Canadian amusement park (Canadian amusement? Oxymoron?) it would make sense that Chrysler keeps us in the dark as to their build status, in case we aren't thrilled with the prospect of waiting unnecesarily.
I would not be surprised at all if my car was already here in Phoenix, right now, just sitting under a dusty tarp at the rail yard awaiting the 'official launch' sequence.
Please refer to the 2nd paragaph of my post #861. I mentioined that my dealer told me they were using satelite lots for the excess production so that they could nit pick the cars before shipping. Apparently, the amusement park has a parking lot that was not being used this winter, so....
I don't know bigmike, the nit picking seems like a convenient excuse. They've built 12,570 of these cars as of last weekend. Yet only a teeny tiny handful (actually one so far that we know of) have made their way to dealerships. If they are inspecting these vehicles, one would expect that the vehicles already inspected would have been released from their holding pens.
I've read elsewhere that the cars have been shipping in mass over the border for the past week. Yet, where are they? Also in the past week the number of 300s listed on Autotrader has doubled to 394, but none have accompanying pictures.
I'm just eager. The truck I'm trading in for the 300 began it's 'seven year Dodge' automatic disintegration routine last month. Everyday something else goes out or breaks off, and it's value plummets.
Just a point of clarification for tibbune and anyone else interested. We have introduced a new feature called "Rules of the Road" which sum up the requirements for the Membership Agreement without using all the legalese that's required in the actual MA itself.
If you ever have questions about what's okay and what isn't, just click on the link at the top of the page - I think you'll find all your questions answered right there.
Comments
1 has paid $75 over invoice
1 has paid 2% over invoice
1 has paid 3% over invoice
1 has paid 5+% over invoice
Have only 4 people on this board reached a committed purchase price, or are there more who are paying msrp and perhaps a little reluctant to say so?
I did have one dealer discussion who indicated that some colors are currently restricted.
Personally, I think I'm holding off to take a test drive first and for the tire pressure monitoring system.
Does my experience mean that DC has turned over a new leaf and is producing only perfect cars? Not likely. Does your experience mean that DC is only producing new vehicles that should only be driven to the bone yard directly from the showroom? Equally not likely.
From my perspective, I believe that DC is producing vehicles that are generally well engineered and built, and if they have an initial teething problem or two, so what. I can live with that. Interestingly enough, our last five cars have been the three previously mentioned Dodges and two BMWs, and to listen to all of the negative rhetoric I would have thought that we would have spent as much time waiting for our cars to be repaired as we would have spent driving them. I am happy to report that the sum and total of the unscheduled maintenance for all five cars has been about $70 (the aforementioned battery plus two taillights for my 1999 328i).
Will I take a chance on the 300C or maybe the Magnum when the time comes to replace my 530i? Highly likely and the potential of problems be damned!
Best Regards,
Shipo
I'm so happy that you have had wonderful DC products. Hope all your future ones are as good.
emale-
"...i don't understand the preoccupation with wanting everybody else to know your story...?"
Just want people to be forewarned that their DC experiences may not all be as wonderful as shipo's!
fastdriver
PS The tires were only one of many problems if you bothered to read the WHOLE story!
I bought a 1999 300M, and I went through the nuisance of having two sets of Goodyear tires put on the car by a Goodyear dealer (no charge). Didn't do any good, so I bought a set of Michelin MXV4 Plus tires which resolved the issue. I took this problem on myself rather than bothering the Chrysler dealer. I sent the bill for the Michelin tires to Goodyear and they paid it.
If you deny yourself the supreme pleasure of a new 300C just because of what happened to you in the past, you're the one who will miss out on the better lifestyle, the joy, the happiness, that a fine automobile like that can bring.
stephen
:-)) That's quite all right. You can have the "supreme pleasure" of a new 300C" all to yourself.
Hope you get a good one.
fastdriver
i guess ALL the problems you had with your 300m made it easy to accept the total tranny failure in your acura...eh...
And,yes, deliveries have been slowed by a couple of factors according to a tech. I talked to at a local dealer. They are parking them at satelite sites near the plant and doing extensive nit-picking inspections on the new productions to make sure that they are as close to perfect as possible before shipment. [They did a similar thing with the introduction of the 300M I am told.] The plant has also ramped up from 250-300 cars a day to 500+, but is still on its way to the 900+ that were produced daily on the LH platform. Some weekend overtime is being used to help meet the numbers required. I was also told that the dealer's main mechanic man has already received some training on the new 300C, and that the largest batches of them at the outset are being shipped to California, which I guess makes sense since it is farthest away from the plant. I was also told that there are no part shortages holding up production. It is just that the plant is "teething" right now on the LX platform on its way to being able to take a "full bite and chewing," to use a figure of speech.
"i guess ALL the problems you had with your 300m made it easy to accept the total tranny failure in your acura...eh...
Yes. At 23,000 miles, it was and is the ONLY thing to ever go wrong. I had no door trim peeling, no trunk/interior leaks, no tranny fluid draining out while the car was sitting for 3 days, no fuel tank/gas gauge sender unit problems, no "putting" heater fan noises calling for fan motor housing replacement, no dead battery problem after going on vacation for a week and leaving the car in the garage, no rack and pinion replacement problems etc.
I brought the CL-S in on a Thursday and got it back on the following Tuesday. There was NO bull about fixing it. They gave me a brand new TL to drive and they weren't even the selling dealer!
I guess it all boils down to what you are willing to accept from a "flagship" car! To each his own. If I was retired, I probably wouldn't mind all the dealer trips on a regular basis. However, the dealer shop is the LAST place I want to be with ANY car!
fastdriver
FWIW Better get that 300 BEFORE May 1 in NY if you're leasing-
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2004-03-25-ny-leasing_x.htm
If there's an unvailing, I hope it's my car ready to go.
When my second tranny was being replaced, I got a Volvo S60 rental for 5 days. Better than a Stratus, but I didn't like it much either.
The only time I got a true loaner (another Acura TL-S) was when I took my TL-S in for a 30K mile service and paid over $300.
Let's get back to the 300, okay?
Last week they said it was "D-1", not built, but gonna be built any day now.
Today: NOt even D-1, in fact, it's not even scheduled to be built, just registered as an order in the system.
I realize Chrysler is a German company, but it seems they learned their 'forward march' from the French.
Bastages! If things keep progressing in this manner, Brampton should have my 1926 IMperial built by 2015.
I suspect that some of us are in for a looooong wait.
LIST OF NEW CAR PURCHASES:
1962 Plymouth Savoy Super Stock 413
1964 Ford Custom 300
1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring
1973 Dodge Charger
1977 Chevrolet Impala
1978 Chevrolet Impala
1980 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency
1985 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight Royale
1986 Ford Taurus
1987 Ford Taurus
1989 Ford Taurus
1990 Cadillac Sedan deVille
1993 Cadillac Sedan deVille
1993 Dodge Intrepid ES
1999 Chrysler 300M
the process of being built. Let me ask both of you, Steve & Tibbune, what is your VON??
(Vehicle Order Number), and on my printout, I even have the date it was sent..Jan 19th. (I had
ordered it on the 16th)
Which gets back to the original question, who know's what's going on?? My guess is to forget
calling the knowledgable people at 800-Chrysler, and call Brampton itself. Somebody on that end should be able to help.
I just emailed my dealer and asked for an update.
Friends ask me when I'm getting my new car and i just laugh.
Dale
resigned to that fact, and all the calls in the world won't get it here sooner, I think. However, I'm
making it a point to run out to my dealership the weekend prior, and do a walk-around the place, and see if anything that resembles a new 300 is out there. They need to have them in place by the following Thursday, and I'm hoping mine will there someplace.
http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/roadtest,view,Chrysler.spy?ar- - tid=21679&pg=1
The touring edition has its own badge on the rear of the trunk as does the limited.
I guess the trim - chrome / body color/ or black is different too.
Also about the Torino leather, when I ordered my car there was no mention of different textured leathers. I assume I am getting the royal finish.
Anyone know anything about this?
Lastly my Mechanic "Faithful Automotive" in Huntington NY told me yesterday that another customer of his ordered a 300c as well. He said like me, the other guy is excited about his order.
Momentum is building!
You're correct, the only thing we went by were the light / dark colors available at the 300 website. Had we known about the Royal Leather Trim, I probably would have ordered that, as it appears much nicer. The way it's wriiten on my order is: -DD Dark Slate Gray / Medium Slate Gray.
Went to the 300C "Specs" page, and they only show two combinations:
Dark Slate Gray / with Light Graystone Seating OR
Dark Slate Gray / with Medium Slate Gray Seating
It makes no distinction between the Royal or Torino leathers.....I guess we'll find out......
i think the leather is different between the limited and C models...and you can't interswap them. in other words, the limited gets one kind and the C the other. some magazine (can't remember which) said they preferred the limited leather over the C. something about the C's leather being smoother...or something like that.
-- Mark
and a 300C on http://www.passportchrysler.com/servlets/webSearch?vehicleid=2908- 2343&invdid=23502&url=www.passportchrysler.com
I live in the DC area and these are some of the largest Chrysler dealers in the area. Check them out.
Brad
Best Regards,
Shipo
It seems odd that they would use a picture of a 300 for the 300c if they really had it in stock. (see the second link) I wonder if they have the vehicles shown in your link on order and not on hand.
The VIN #'s also have a J in the 4th position compared with an A in Soozpk and mine.
I'm not sure what each character represents
2C3AA63H95H119551 soozpk
2C3AA63H15H133461 dale48
2C3JA43R55H142032 300 koons.com
2C3JA63H15H110472 300c passport
My VON# is 11908220
Vin # 2C3AA63H05H103481
At last check it was being shipped from Middle Earth, through OZ, with an indefinite stopover scheduled in Never Never Land.
I have confirmed that the vehicle is either built, or not built, either waiting to ship, or not even scheduled to be assembled yet. Thank goodness they cleared all that up!
Passport is a bit further from my house and I wouldn't have made it there by closing time so I can't vouch if they have the car or not.
VON / VIN
Tibbune, I see that one of your letters in your VIN (the 1) is showing a 0. Did you order a Limited or Touring?? Your sequence #103481 shows that it was built earlier than mine. It has to be in JS status
along with mine and Dales.
It's actually been rather amusing stopping in at the dealership and hearing "Great news, we were told Friday that we're getting the 300s next weekend!". Word for word, same expression, same confidence, same sales manager saying it....three Saturdays in a row.
I'm actually using the visits to teach my daughter about trust, honesty, and the lack thereof in the world of automobile sales.
For a "flagship" car, DC is keeping things pretty tight-lipped. You would think that they would go out of their way for those of you who are BUYING the car and not just looking!
"I'm actually using the visits to teach my daughter about trust, honesty, and the lack thereof in the world of automobile sales."
LOL...Boy, is she in for an education! If you think it's something now, just wait! ;-)
fastdriver
* 1st character- Identifies the country in which the vehicle was manufactured. Canada(2),
* 2nd character- Identifies the manufacturer. Chrysler(C)
* 3rd character- Identifies vehicle type or manufacturing division.
* 4th to 8th characters- Identifies vehicle features such as body style, engine type, model, series, etc.
For Chrysler in the past they have used:
4 Safety System (I'm guesing the A is side curtain the J is without)
5 Body
6 Series
7 Style
8 Engine
* 9th character- Identifies VIN accuracy as check digit.
* 10th character- Identifies the model year. For example: 1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000(Y) --- 2001(1), 2002(2), 2003(3), 2004(4), 2005 (5)
* 11th character- Identifies the assembly plant for the vehicle.
* 12th to 17th characters- Identifies the sequence of the vehicle for production as it rolled of the manufacturers assembly line.
The check digit is used for checking the VIN accuracy.
A check digit is part of each vin (since 1981) and appears in position nine (9) of the VIN on the vehicle and on any transfer documents containing
the vin prepared by the manufacturer to be given to the first owner for purposes other than resale. Thus, the vins of any two vehicles manufactured within a 30 year period shall not be identical. The check digit means a single number or letter
"x" used to verify the accuracy of the transcription of the vehicle identification
number.
After all other characters in the VIN have been determined by the manufacturer the check digit is calculated by carrying out a mathematical computation specified. This is based on vin position, sample vin, assigned value code,
weight factor and multiply assigned value times weight factors. The values are added and the total is divided by 11. The remainder is the check digit number.
The correct numeric remainder - zero through nine (0-9) will appear. However, if the remainder is 10 the letter "X" is used to designate the check
digit value/number.
Hmmm....and mine came out to ZERO.
Coincidentally, that's the exact amount of accurate information I've received from Chrysler regarding my order! This must be a sign!
Actually, after seeing a photo today (that's circulating around the net) of hundreds of 300s being stored in a Canadian amusement park's back lot, I put two and two together. This launch is just German engineering in action, amassing the troops at the border of a French speaking land, relating all troop movements in elaborate codes, holding supreme secrecy before charging into foreign territory in one large attack.
As for the AA, the first A denotes the Air Bag / Passenger Passive restraints. The second A
denotes "Car Line", which would be of course, 300 series.
I'm sitting here trying to visualize my (our) poor car(s) sitting in an amuzement park someplace in the Brampton area. Somebody, please send in the clowns........
http://a.1asphost.com/ddakrt/Picture(7).jpg
By alternating the #7 in the link, you can see all the photos this gentelman took (7 thru 20). He had access to the parking lot where the cars have been sittting. Low res camera phone shots from the back of a moving pick-up, but interesting nonetheless.
I enjoy your sense of humor. Don't lose it because it will come in handy in the future.
soozpk-
"Somebody, please send in the clowns........"
They're all in Auburn Hills and Germany! ;-)))))) An AMUSEMENT park?? Bet you don't find this situation amusing at all as you are chomping at the bit to get your car!
fastdriver
Those of us who bought one months ago, will then be shown as April purchases, thus inflating initial sales figures for that month. Therefore, if indeed our cars are already built, and just biding their time at a Canadian amusement park (Canadian amusement? Oxymoron?) it would make sense that Chrysler keeps us in the dark as to their build status, in case we aren't thrilled with the prospect of waiting unnecesarily.
I would not be surprised at all if my car was already here in Phoenix, right now, just sitting under a dusty tarp at the rail yard awaiting the 'official launch' sequence.
I've read elsewhere that the cars have been shipping in mass over the border for the past week. Yet, where are they? Also in the past week the number of 300s listed on Autotrader has doubled to 394, but none have accompanying pictures.
I'm just eager. The truck I'm trading in for the 300 began it's 'seven year Dodge' automatic disintegration routine last month. Everyday something else goes out or breaks off, and it's value plummets.
If you ever have questions about what's okay and what isn't, just click on the link at the top of the page - I think you'll find all your questions answered right there.
Alternatively, you can always email me.