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Comments
I can't wait to drive my new 300 Touring, I just got a call that the car has been delivered to the dealer. I have been waiting 12 weeks. This car is worth waiting for, the messages posted have been helpful, and can't wait to drive tonight.
Surely you can find ways to discuss this (or any) issue without descending into some of the ugliness I've seen here.
Let's try to keep the subject of this discussion in mind - there are other discussions where driving habits can and have been examined at length. This isn't the right place.
He's like, I'd love to but we can't afford it. Anyway, the one we looked at has everything and it's got plenty of zip.
Just goes to show, I guess, that not everyone's expectations are real high. I can't imagine driving a 300 with anything but Hemi. The fact that people are buying the base model, though, and enjoying it hopefully bodes well for the car.
BTW, yesterday I saw a shiny new black Magnum with flames painted across the hood and front fenders. Arthur Fonzerelli would be proud. I understand that everyone has particular reasons guiding what they'll spend money on...uh...but that was just wrong.
Wood paneling can't be far behind.
I don't think you'd see much zip from the base -- I think it's 0-60 time is 10.1 seconds or more. The 3.5L should be in the 7.5 range...
stephen
stephen
These LX cars are a bit of a revival for folks. A kind of rear wheel drive American muscle renaissance is dawning. I imagine the 300 and Magnum will be the customizers victims of choice from here until the next US automaker (yes, I know DC is German) steps into the rear wheel drive waters with a 'striking' design worth screwing with.
The GTO is a joke. The Ford 500 is laughably ugly (Henry, quit with the nostalgia trip already). The new Mustang will probably take the reigns of "coolest thing on wheels" from the 300 when it comes out. Until then, we're gonna see a lot of customized LX cars hitting the streets. It's the late sixties all over again!
4dr
Touring 4dr
"C" 4dr
The "4dr" has the lowest group rating, so although the limited isn't listed, I would suspect the "4dr" is base because of the group rating. That's the one our client has. Keep in mind, we live in a small rural town. 95% of the people who live here would know true, refined power if it fell on their porch. They think a Taurus SES is a "really nice car".
I'm not saying I agreed with the guy, just saying that if people have that perception, it can only help with sales figures.
Is the base so slow, plain and stripped of needed options, that you would be better off spending the $23K on a V6 Accord or Camry?
It's sort of like Accord's trim levels. I mean, a big V6, leather, all the goodies MSRPs at high 20s. A truly fully loaded 300 MSRP pushes 38, I think.
I know the Accord will be faster, but that is not my primary concern unless the base 2.7 is "super-slow" and looks like a plain taxi due to a cheap interior or not having basic equipment expected in a $23,000 car.
The thing is, I would not recommend the base package to anyone. It's true that for the 23000, you can get an Accord or Camry that is, on the whole, a better car. (but, of course, if you pay 23k for a 300, you probably have discounted touring, not a sticker price base). And, since you can get an Accord or Camry to sticker at very high 20's (and sell for that) and a C, without sound package, roof, etc is 33K, but probably sells for less 6 months from now--the C is by far the much better buy.
What makes these comparos so difficult is the model stretches across all sorts of lines. Yes, pricing and equip allow you to compare with Accord/Camry--but the 300 is much bigger car than those--it's not a mid-size sedan.
A 300C with every available option still only stickers at 38 or 39k. It has the size of BMW 5 series and depending on the engine, better straight line performance, with most of same creature comforts. (It is a very heavy car doing 0-60 in 6.3 secs, with nav, upgraded stereo, heated leather, etc).
So it's difficult to put your finger on this car. Is it fighting the Camcords, Impalas, Tauri of the world? Is is trying to get some entry BMW buyers? It's probably trying to do it all.
I have driven all three models and would say that none of the engines are underpowered. Certainly the bigger the engine the more power that is there but outwardly the styling is similar and the seating room is the same.
We Hemi drivers need to be sure we enthuse over the design in genral not just lord it over someone that you have a Hemi and they don't. I bought one loaded to the hilt as this is probably the last car I buy before retirement and I wanted "everything" in it. Looked at Jaguar R series, and Cadillac but frankly couldn't beat the value of the 300C nor the features overall.
She had dealer plates, looked to be brand new, I felt pity for her.
Nah, just kidding, I laughed and peeled out.
I suspect there is a whole level of buyers who cannot afford the high 20's or mid 30's 300 models, but will buy the base @ $23,000 for the look. After all, only a discriminating observer will be able to identify the base from the hemi when they spot it in motion. And yes, the 300 has much more of a presence and visual impact than the cookie-cutter Camry, Accord, etc., so DC will gain a lot of the market at that pricing level.
The only downside is that it may somewhat reduce the prestige factor for the hemi owners. But, at least for now, the marketing strategy is working very well. Perhaps, in a couple of years, it may be less effective if base level taxis and fleet cars flood the market, thereby reducing the overall appeal of the 300 line. Time will tell, but at least for now, DC has a major hit!
Personally, I would consider only the 300C model.
But you are right, the styling is almost the same on the outside, but there is something different on the inside. My wife and I went to see the 300 one day, and there was a 3.5L with leather and a C. We didn't know at the time which we were sitting in, and there was no mistaking between the two of us which had the best interior! The funny thing about that situation was that we really couldn't put a finger on exactly why the C was SO much nicer on the inside to a "similar" 3.5L. I mean you just knew it the moment you sat in it!
Very good point. Chrysler's goal now should be to sell cars. If selling goodly chunks of 300s at base level is what is done, so be it. It's money for them to continue developing products--keeps the SRT-8, a 300C convertible, etc in the pipeline.
"The only downside is that it may somewhat reduce the prestige factor for the hemi owners."
I sort of agree. Person next to me might think I cheapened out and bought a blahmobile because it looks cool. The thing is, I would know the truth and that could be a little fun--the person next to me doesn't know I've got the Hemi lurking. Sigh...If I owned one, of course.
I wasn't thinking of it on an individual basis (that thing got a hemi?), but from the effect of the overall flooding of the market with 4 300 models. The 300C will be somewhat lumped in with the other 3 300's, thereby reducing that special prestige that I think the 300C deserves!
Having had 2 300M's over the past 4 years, I enjoy the fact that a 300M is exactly that and there are no lesser models to reduce the level of prestige it carries (at least to me!). I'm not sure I would feel the same if I owned a 300C...so I am waiting to see what happens over the next year or two...
But I agree that DC is absolutely doing the right thing from a business perspective -- after all their business is selling cars!
The 300C is disntinctive enough.
My thinking is that even if the "lesser" versions of the new 300 start to drag down resale or seem to make the vehicle less distinctive. The addition of such a marketing powerhouse as a hemi engine, that added power, the extra luxury items and the 300C-only options packages...it seems to me that it IS almost a different car. Similar to many company's special model offerings. I can see a point in the near future when supply catches up with demand where DC will be offering nice rebates on the cars, EXCEPT the 300C. I can also see where used-market demand for the 300C model might stay high enough to command an entirely different depreciation schedule.
No guarantees, of course. But other models have similar realities. The Mustang Cobras, BMW M-series, Mercedes AMG, etc. All it takes is a solid demand to continue to drive new prices and a strong resale market.
I know that I would expect to pay a premium for the 300C model in resale versus a similar equipped 300 Touring, etc.
Not quite. BMW is, in itself, a prestige name and so, in the above example, variations of a model still retain that prestige level associated with BMW.
Chrysler is not (yet) a prestige name so it has to rely on individual offerings (300C, Viper {Dodge}, etc.) to build prestige -- i.e. prestige does not automatically flow from model to model or through a model line. Hopefully, the Chrysler name will do that in the future.
There are still a lot of potential buyers out there that are skeptical of Chrysler quality, so it may be some time before the Chrysler name is associated with high quality.
I certainly agree with you that the 300C will likely have an entirely different depreciation schedule from the other 300's.
It makes no sense to have a 300 priced below a moderately equipped Sebring. I think the base 300 was a nervous marketing response to the poor roll-out of the Pacifica.
All of the 300 television advertising dropped the "starting at $23,999" in late June. I bet the base model is gone before the Sebring redesign hits the market.
When I test drove the 300C, I remember using the autostick on the highway as well as in local streets just to get the performance feel and difference.
I did notice that as soon as I selected the autostick, it would default to 4th gear, and I had to bring it down to 1st. This is even standing still at a light. Now on the highway, same thing... going about 20MPH, it shouldn't be in 4th but maybe 1st or 2nd at most.
Anyone experiencing this in theirs... is this common or a bad test car.
If this has been covered, then I apologize... must've missed out on that one.
This is a concern to me because I don't find logic on how the tranny wouldn't recognize what gear it's in when moving from D to Autostick.
Thanks.
Other than that, it is useless. For instance the old autostick on the 300M would hold the car in fourth gear if you wanted. The new autostick, if it is in "4" and you floor the gas, it downshifts to three. You don't get the option of smooth use of the power. There's always a jerk of the car and over-revving roaring of the hemi whenever you want to pass a car.
Is it solid? Thanks.
I have read on other sites that some have put after market Nav's in for a fraction of the cost.
It is a $2800.00 option so think long and hard before you get it ... but I for one am happy I did!
Thanks.
I wish they would bring a 300C wagon to the US. I wrote to a couple Chrysler contacts, but nobody ever replied.
Please read arnoldw's post and you will see that our radio systems do exactly the same as yours!!!
Anyone know where the thermocouple is located, either inside or outside??