Chrysler 300/300C

dale48

Thanks tibbune, I'm about ready to hit the LIE or the Northern State Parkway and do just that. Bmw's and MB's are a dime a dozen on those roads.

soozpk

Congratulations Dale, nice to see that you finally got your Hemi C, in Jade Green too, no less. You're going to have to stop cruising up and down the Sunrise Hwy at 85 mph !! LOL (For non-NY's, the Sunrise Hwy is actually a boulevard, not really a parkway)

My dealership called me at work and wants me in tonight to do the financing, I'll be getting my
C tomorrow !!!! Probably going to take the afternoon off and cruise the prairie. Pics to follow......

rayk1

soozpk:Just curious if I may ask when did you order your 300c?

Regards, rayk1

fastdriver

interest some of the newcomers here.

http://www.chrysler300site.com/cgibin/history.cgi

My first car at 16 was a 1963 Chrysler 300 RED convertible with 360HP and 4bbl carb. They have a pic of one on this site. I also have pics in my profile.

fastdriver

microrepair

fastdriver: great link..! Thanks...

The 2005 300's definitely are retro when you look back at the 1961,2,3 etc...

chuckg: I drove two different C's, one for 20 minutes and the other just one mile.. The first may have had way too much tire pressure. Bumps on a side road caused noticeable suspension bounce and noise and steering jiggle. Second one seemed much smoother, but it was a very short drive.. Otherwise it is a dyanamite vehicle..

soozpk

rayk1 asked: may I ask when did you order your 300c?

We ordered it on Jan 16th. However, the way these 300s have been stockpiled for this Thursday's national wing-ding night skewers the actual waiting time. I'm sure now that wing-ding night will soon be over, my guess is that Chrysler will now ship them out in a more reasonable manner. My guess is that the average waiting time will be about 9-10 weeks.

emale

lotboy,

there will undoubtedly be a police version of the LX. whether it's a 300 with a magnum front and rear clip...or the magnum wagon it's hard to say. supposedly it's been dubbed ENFORCER and has already been shown to several police departsments. personally i don't see why the wagon wouldn't work as a police car. heck i keep seeing SUVs as police vehicles. seems to me they'd be better of getting hemi powered magnums and saving a ton on fuel costs...

rayk1

soozpk: I ordered mine on 2/17, no doubt you waited much longer than i have.

regards: rayk1

dale48

I ordered mine 2/16 it arrived at the dealer late Saturday 4/17 was prepped on Monday and I picked it up today. It spent a week in Jersey before being trucked to Long Island.
Dale
BTW the HID lights are fantastic.

mmelendez5

Been reading your comments religiously for the past 4 months.

Was offered quote - Had power pedals, moonroof, sound II package 34114 + Title tax and tags and then a 1000 rebate. (got an Intrepid). What u guys think?

tom2

The quote you were given is $486 below MSRP with all those options. I have a spec chart printed from Edmunds.

If the car is on the floor and you live in Nor Cal, I say grab it as cars around Nor Cal have been "listed" at $3,000 to 5,000 over MSRP, which is ridiculous. However, the same dealers say they will sell at MSRP if you want to place an order--estimated time for delivery is 12 weeks.

Apparently they had no problem marking up the PT Cruiser for $5,000+ when it first premiered, butt hat was a low priced product to begin with --$19K.

If you can wait you will no doubt get a much better quote, but it sounds like a fair deal.

cruiser

What prices (relative to MSRP) has anyone out there been able to negotiate a 300C when ordering a car for later delivery?

cruiser

How did you get a rebate? Is this generally available?

needsahemi

Went into dealership today to purchase the 300C.
I was told the 7 year warranty ended and is now a 5 year warranty. After serious consideration to spend the $ 50,000 CDN on this car then to find out No REBATES AND SHORTER WARRANTY? Yeah right! It is a beatiful car but with no rebates and the shorter warranty period, I cant consider it.

emale

well, it's still 7yr/70k in good ole' america...guess you canadians will have to come down here now to get vehicles...LOL!

sebring95

I was told the 7 year warranty ended and is now a 5 year warranty

Maybe there's some confusion on the conversion. Are those American or Canadian years! LOL!

soozpk

mmelendez5 asked: What u guys think? ($34,114)

300C-----------------------------------LXCS48------------32,370--- - - --------29, 973
Wood Trim-------------------------------CSY-----------------400-------- - ----------368
Sound Group II--------------------------ATL----------------- 535----------------492
Protection Group II--------------------AD4------------------840----------------773
Power Pedals--------------------------XAM----------------- 175-----------------161 Destination Charge------------------------------------------- 625----------------625
 ________________________________________________________
                                                                      34,945----------32,392
Whatever----------------------------------PPA-----------------34,- - 945--------------533 ___________________
                                                                        34,945---------32,925
My deal: 32,995 with 1,000 discount =$31,995
As for the warranty, 3 years / 36,000 on the car itself, 7years / 70,000 on engine & drivetrain.
Extended warranty: 100,000 miles 7 years/ 0 deductable, about $2500.00. This was from Chrysler, I decided to stick to Mopar's even though there seems to be better deals on the net from independents.
I tried getting 0% financing, but it's not available at this time on the 300 line. I got 4.29% from Chrysler financial. I'm happy, the dealer's happy, and DCX should be happy too. What can I say?

bigmike5

Got the R & T advertising insert magazine yesterday. It is similar to the one that Mazda had them do for the Mazda RX-8. I winced when I looked on page 21 and saw a drawing of a design that DC rejected for the new 300 "as being too European and lacking the boldness of a traditional American sedan." I showed my wife the pic of the new 300, and the drawing of the reject, and Mrs. 02 Eldorado's [with spoiler]response was the same as mine--you mean they turned down that beautiful design to build this big ugly sedan? All I can say about the reject is what I sent to DC by e-mail when I first saw the 300 Hemi C [not the current 300C], "Build it, and let me know where to send my check." Oh, well, but what a dream car it could have been... Checked my dealer again yesterday, and still no sign of a 300C unless it was out back in the garage getting prepped. It definitely was not in the showroom or out front. Our other DC dealer nearby also doesn't have one. But they will have appetizers and punch [dry county] available for the Premier.

chuckg

microrepair- Thanks for your feedback.

Seven days ago, I had no idea that Chrysler was building such a car as the 300C. Sure I knew about the 300M, but that car just didn't interest me. You see, I'm currently driving a 10 year old vehicle that should of been replaced years ago. The only problem is "with what?"

A couple of months ago I actually started looking at cars on the road. And what did I see? The same old, same old. You know, same front wheel drive offerings that kinda all look the same. Sure, the BMW's are nice, but who can afford them? Not me. Even Cadillac came out with a fancy model but of course GM ruined it by sticking a front wheel drive system in an expensive car.

What happened to the days when your car was a statement? Remember the GTO, or the 442, or the Hemi, or even a Mustang for that matter? Then take a look at what's out there now. All they are is transportation now in my eyes.

Last week I was surfing around the Edmunds site looking to replace my aging vehicle sometime before Christmas. Sure it was depressing....but it's time for me to start looking. I clicked on Chrysler and then up popped a screen saying 2004 or 2005. Well I thought, let's see what the 2005's bring to the table. And there it was. A 300C that is plush, rear wheel drive, with a strong Hemi engine, and a price I can afford. Did I die and go to heaven?! This couldn't be true, or could it?

So, I surfed on over to the Town Hall and started reading. I couldn't believe the anticipation or the enthusiasm or the real passion people have for this car. I still can't believe it. And it's infectious, because I have the fever like all of you. Amazing.

Sure I've read all the reviews and have been to Super Dave's site and watched the videos. All that I've read and seen just sustains what people are saying on this forum. So, I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for making my car decision easy. I don't have to test drive this vehicle, I already know. I'm getting a 300C this fall, and frankly I can hardly wait!

tom2

To soopk:

You got a good deal, nice work! A couple q's: where did you buy it? and when did you order it?

fuzzywuzzy

Yo do know these services aren't free right? You have to pay for them after the free trial period. I really think they are a waste. All cars in this price range come with road side asstance. And if you have a cell phone on top of that(most people do), I see no need to spend more $$ on these services. I have never locked my keys in any car I owned, With todays cars I just don't see how anyone could do that. I guess it happens though.

crispiegee

My personal feeling is that OnStar or other systems are not worth $399 per year (starting price). Chrysler may consider offering it as an option for those who insist, but I sure don't want it.

tibbune

$399!?!

You've GOT to be kidding.

So someone can notify me that my airbags have deployed? "Hey manks more malling, I'm mell maware of the missue". My friend had it on his Escalade. When the truck was stolen he calmly called On-Star and asked them to find it. No luck, apparently the thieves had driven out of cell range. Great system!

Of course for four hundred bones you can find an address if you forgot to write it down, retrieve keys if you forget them in the car as you manually locked it, you can even find your car in a parking lot by having them honk the horn if you can't recall where it is parked.

That is, if you can remember On-Star's phone number.

intrepidspirit

< I sent to DC by e-mail when I first saw the 300 Hemi C [not the current 300C], "Build it, and let me know where to send my check." Oh, well, but what a dream car it could have been...>

Still is a dream car -- if only a dream! I still have it as wallpaper on my computer at work...

Maybe if they give their designers something other than an etch-a-sketch to design their cars, they will resurrect something like the Hemi C convertible again! But I don't think that will happen unless Daimler sells Chrysler...

soozpk

Tom2 asked: A couple q's: where did you buy it? and when did you order it?

We ordered it back on Jan 16. We ordered the vehicle through our local (only) Chrysler
dealership (Hansen's Chrysler Center) up here in Grand Forks ND. I've been buying my cars from this dealership since 1982. They're a Five-Star dealership; been pretty good to me through the years.

crispiegee

Welcome to the club. This board is full of people who would have never thought they'd be in love with (and buying) a new Chrysler. I thought my next car would be foreign, or - more recently - a GTO or Mustang.

(Yes, I KNOW they are completely different cars, but my decisions are based on what moves me, what is a good value for the money and what will retain its value. I think the 300C is a winner.)

bigmike5

If you got [or can get] the R & T supplement and saw that sketch on page 21 your jaw would drop, and your heart would break that someone at DC decided it was "too European" to be built. I got a 300 Hemi C drawing on my wall at work, done by Donie Odulio at Cydonia Press [on the net], he also did the caricature of my 300M that made it to the club poster for the Dream Cruise last year. I see that 300 Hemi C everytime I pass my desk.

tom2

Looks like you got the early adopter price. I don't think we'll see below MSRP for a couple of months in Nor Cal. Thanks for your info.

fastdriver

bigmike5-

I haven't seen the R&T supplement. Is the REJECTED pic the 300C convertible? I have that BEAUTY appearing every so often on my MAC desktop as my pictures change every few minutes. If that's not the one, is there anyway you can scan the pic and e-mail it to me? Can I buy this R&T supplement at the store or was it mailed from DC?

Thanks.

fastdriver

soozpk

Traditionally, it used to be that the urban high volume dealerships could give a better deal than the smaller small-town type. In this enviornment, the small dealers may not be gouging. Perhaps if you ventured out to the more rural outlying areas, you may be quite surprised. Why not make a small list of dealerships away from your normal haunts and give them a jingle.....see what happens. The question remains: How far are you willing to drive to get an honest deal???

tibbune

I lived in Norcal's east bay back when I bought my current vehicle. Dodge Durango pre-orders were going for the same $5K mark up you're seeing. I got frustrated going from dealer to dealer and seeing the same greed.

So I turned the greedy suckers against each other. I faxed ten dealerships, as far apart as Marin and Modesto, offering invoice, and not a penny more, for a fully loaded model (they get a kickback on every sale from the manufacturer and that's profit enough in my mind). The fax explained my price, and listed all the dealerships I was faxing it to.

"one of you will get this sale today" was the capper.

My phone rang within hours, and a fleet guy in Redwood City sold me the truck that afternoon, not a penny over invoice price.

Make them fight each other for you. It pays.

skuuter

Got the R&T guide today. I am very impressed with this car...so far. However, when I stopped by my local Chrysler dealer here in Gresham (20 miles E of Portland, OR), they had no C's, but three Limited and one Touring. The 300 /T in brilliant black is gorgeous! I was also quite happy to jump inside one, but no drive yet. Very comfy, spacious and upscale looking IMHO.

However, every one of these cars was marked up $9995!!! I couldn't believe it and told the sales manager that I would definitely be waiting for the hoopla to end before seriously considering one. His reply was, "We made $5k over sticker on the Crossfires for a month. The demand justifies the price, for now. See you later"

You betcha! Maybe late summer, unless Cadillac can futher entice me to buy a CTS instead.

seminole_kev

of the medium slate gray 300C's interior? Only pictures I've seen (and the one I sat in) where in the light (basically white) interior. Curious as to what the medium gray would look like as I think I'd prefer it.

307web

Don't expect much of a discount when the dealers are only getting a handful of cars at a time for now, but Chrysler plans to make quite a few more 300s than Crossfires.
It shouldn't that long of a wait for big discounts. They can't get $9995 over MSRP even now, but they can "ask for" whatever they want.
They might as well have marked them up to $99,995 over MSRP.

rellyrell

I ordered a black 300C on Monday April 19. My dealer told my that I have a little bit of a grace period if I wanted to change the color. After seeing the car up close and personal I just
loved the color. But now after thinking about it
I don't have a garage, I dont have a lot of time to take care of a black car like I should, and I
have never owned a black car. I wanted to know if
anyone here has seen the Satin Jade pearl color
with the dark jade/light gray interior and how does it compare to the black pearl coat? If any of you was in a similar situation which color did you chose or would you chose?

Kirstie_H

Don't forget tonight's member-to-member chat - it's open mic night, so come and discuss whatever's on your mind.



http://www.edmunds.com/townhall/chat/townhallchat.html

6-7pm PT/9-10pm ET. Drop by for live chat with other members. Hope you can join us!

kirstie_h
Roving Host & Future Vehicles Host

crispiegee

Tell that sales manager that you will not do business with them EVER if that's their attitude. Then do some more checking.

When you find a dealer that will give you a GOOD deal, call up the sales manager from the first dealership and say, "Remember me? I bought my new 300 from another dealer and paid FAR less than you wanted. They now have a customer for life, and I've told all my friends what kind of outfit you run."

emale

bigmike,

i would not be surprised if the upcoming charger has some similarities to that sketch on page 21 of the R&T special 300 edition...

tornado25

"Even Cadillac came out with a fancy model but of course GM ruined it by sticking a front wheel drive system in an expensive car."

What model are you referring to? None of Cadillac's new models are FWD. I'm a big Chrysler fan and would take the 300C over the CTS, but that just caught my eye--maybe you're having a hard time finding yourself a car since you have wrong info. Of course, that led you to the 300, so I guess it might be a good thing! :-)

xmf314

It would be foolish to pay even near sticker price for a 300 now. If the Dodge version of the vehicle comes out in a few months we will see these cars as taxis and police cars all over the place. And as was discussed earlier, the rental fleets are already getting them.

Hold on for a bit and we will be talking invoice minus rebates.

carcom2

You sure don't know how to negotiate car prices with a car dealer if you pay MSRP or even more. They're looking for customers like you that think the sticker is the price people must pay. The other day I just asked an open ended question to the Chrylser salesman asking what kind of deals are you making on these cars. He was honest enough to tell me in similar words-whatever it takes. He never said the price is on the sticker or $5K above MSRP. He even told me he sold a 2005 300 last week-list was about $32K for $27K. I said "that's below invoice-how did you do that?" He said there was a $4K dealer holdback on that car. I'm not sure if every 300 can be sold at such a great discount or if it was this particular one they wanted to sell quickly. But it goes to show you, there are good deals to be gotten. You have to learn how to get them. Good luck.

fastdriver

tornado25 -

Aren't the current DeVille and Seville FWD or am I mistaken?

fastdriver

tom2

Regarding your question about light or dark grey--I saw a dark grey interior on a Magnesium Touring model and I thought it looked sportier than the light grey. You really can't go wrong, they both look like quality interiors.

dennis

Been there done that. The rural areas here in No. Cal. are charging $4000-$5000 above sticker. Cost of living is sky high, so I guess they are just rolling it on to the car prices. I'll order a 300C out of state if I have to. $48,000 for a loaded 300C is absurd.

kvilleboy

I have seen and driven both colors. You will not go wrong with either choice. Satin Jade more biased towrd luxury look, black more biased toward "mean" look. I decided on black but have a garage. Without the garage I'd have gone with the Satin Jade. The Dark Jade interior I/P upper is very very dark green.

skuuter

I agree with you, to an extent. They are very close to my home, convenient for my test drives, but no dealer will get my business unless they are willing to compete on price. I don't care what their rep is if the price is right. I can take it to any dealer I want for service.

I expect to start negotiating at 2K under sticker when the time is ripe. By then, maybe there will be cash incentives as well.

chuckg

tornado25- Your points are well taken. If I could edit my post I would.

fastdriver- Thank you for your post.

kvilleboy

There is a cool vanilla 300C on ebay with 31 photos including shots that show the nav system, sun roof and puddle lights. Just FYI.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1- &item=2474794356&category=6175

ruski

yeah, that dealer meant to say that they marked up Crossfires 5K extra, but did they really sell any at that price?

fsmmcsi

I sat in a black 300C today, and sat in a magnesium C with the gray interior last Friday. The gray is a medium gray, and looks fine, but I will probably order the dark green / light two tone interior with the satin jade or magnesium exterior.

At two dealers the salesmen both tried to tell me the 300 was really a Mercedes underneath. I would be surprised if DCX corporate likes that kind of incorrect sales talk, but I wonder if anyone else has encountered the same thing?