A Celebration of Hard Plastic - 2007 Dodge Charger SRT8 Long-Term Road Test

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A Celebration of Hard Plastic - 2007 Dodge Charger SRT8 Long-Term Road Test

The Dodge Charger's interior materials quality was horrible in 2007 and, surprise, it hasn't gotten better with age.

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emajor

That steering wheel just kills me. What child penned it and why was he paid to do so?

Chrysler really did churn out garbage interiors during those years. Design and materials are both terrible. I remember sitting in the first gangster-retro 300 and thinking that it ruined the whole car.

daryleason

I had a 2006 PT Cruiser (my wife picked it out) and I remember they included a screwdriver with the roadside kit. The reason was to allow you to tight up all the trim pieces after you'd had the car for a year. That PT Cruiser ruined any hope I'd ever buy another Chrysler product. I will every now and then toy with the idea of a Jeep Wrangler, Chrysler 300C, or Dodge Challenger, then flashback to the PT Cruiser and go, "nope...never again."

dm7279

I always wanted to like the Charger and Challenger since they look great, but the interiors always soured me every time I sat in one. Only for 2015 have they fixed it to where it is tolerable.

misterfusion

Ah, Daimler...the only entity on earth that could make Bob Nardelli look generous.

5vzfe

This was not a new trend for this company. We owned a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500, which cost my dad $37K when it was new. The interior was awful. The plastic was so flimsy and tinny, you could depress the dashboard inwards at any point with mild pressure, it was extremely glossy and brittle. Everything squeaked when moved or operated. The build quality of that vehicle, combined with its poor engineering (reliability, crash test scores) turned me off of any Chrysler products pretty much indefinitely. There are too many foreign cars that have been heralded for their quality for so many years for me to consider anything from Dodge, Chrysler or Jeep.

boff

Psssst...James...the Grand Caravan is made in Canada, too. In lovely Windsor, Ontario.

kshankar

Its not only Chrysler but other manufacturers as well. I rented a 2015 Expedition EL and the interior was hard and cheap plastic. Even exposed screws near the sunvisor. Pathetic quality in this day and age.

jfa1177

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5vzfe said:

This was not a new trend for this company. We owned a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500, which cost my dad $37K when it was new. The interior was awful. The plastic was so flimsy and tinny, you could depress the dashboard inwards at any point with mild pressure, it was extremely glossy and brittle. Everything squeaked when moved or operated. The build quality of that vehicle, combined with its poor engineering (reliability, crash test scores) turned me off of any Chrysler products pretty much indefinitely. There are too many foreign cars that have been heralded for their quality for so many years for me to consider anything from Dodge, Chrysler or Jeep.

My neighbor has 2 Ram 1500s; one a 1996 the other a 2000. Both are pitiful piles of crap. The interiors are disintegrating, the chrome foil on the grill is wrinkling, glass delaminating, the transmissions on both are junk, and there is a laundry list of other issues to numerous to list. The only thing that hasn't been a problem is the V8 under the hoods. I've driven both recently along with a friend's 300c and I'm with you, I'm skeptical of ANYTHING Chrysler makes and would be hesitant to buy anything from them. Audi/VW is another one. I got burned with my A4 and my mom was burned with her Jetta.

socal_eric

Many in the automotive press praise the nicer interiors in recent years and all the soft-touch material, which can definitely help to sell a car, but what about five or ten years later? Walk through some small used car dealers or a salvage yards and take a look at some decade old cars. If not cared for perfectly, many of these interiors turn to garbage. The soft vinyl is stained, cracks develop, and the paint and soft coated material delaminates. Not all cars, but many, and that's what sets apart a quality manufacturer. One that can make a nice looking interior that holds up to the test of time.

This first generation Charger falls into the other camp of lots of hard materials and a design that didn't look great (even when new), but if you didn't coat the interior in Armor All the hold up okay as far as material quality, with softer wear items like the seats and steering wheel showing most of the aging.