Chrysler 300M

300mmm · January 2002

Well my second shot at ordering and ' 02 300m (dealer made a mistake on the first try) has come in! This time it came with all options I ordered (Lux Grp, PHP, Side Air bags and Moon Roof) but not the chrome wheels! They told me last time they couldn't order this group of options with the chrome wheels and I suspect they'll do so again. Does anyone know the story here? Can't you get this set of options with the chrome? Does anyone have lux and php on an '02 with chrome wheels. Frankly it's not a make or break for me but I hate waiting 10 weeks and not getting what I ordered. What's up with that?

jona57 · January 2002

300mmm

It is my understanding from the info on Edmunds (usu. more up to date than Chrysler's own web site!) that chromes are indeed available with the PHG/Lux Gp/Side airbags/Moonroof. Great combo choice- exactly how my Garnet 01 M is equipped! My guess would be there is some supplier delay somewhere & some uneducated soul just gave the go ahead to build your 1st order figuring the customer (you) would take it anyway-chromes or not. My advice is to stick to your guns- tell the dealer you will only accept EXACTLY the car you want. This is what I had to do to get my M the way I wanted it, although in my case they kept trying to get me to accept a NON-PHG car. (BTW- the chromes are a good deal, and the full-size spare is a great deal- I got it and have used it already)

Good luck!

Jon

sdmike2 · January 2002

Based on everything I read there's no reason why you can't get chrome wheels with that group. In fact, that's how my '01 is outfitted. Tell them they have one more chance or you'll go somewhere else. There is no reason to settle for less than you want. I agree with jona that the chrome wheels, including spare, are a great deal.

http://www.ritchiefamily.com/300m.htm

mikeyjohn · January 2002

I was at my local DC dealer in the last few months and was comparing my 01M to the 02M and the 02M's had the chrome wheels. The only difference between the two years is that the center section of the wheel was flat and on mine they were curved. It is also noted that otto put in a very long post on the way the cars were built, and they came off the same assembly line. I was also at another dealer last week and saw a 02M that had the flat look to the wheels, but this car did not have the PHP. I also read somewhere that a DC dealer had taken the wheels off an M and was selling them separately. I would not deal with an outfit like that, and we are lucky as there are lots of DC dealers who want your money and are willing to treat the cutomer with respect. On the other hand there are those others!!!!!!!!!!!

ottowrkr · January 2002

Yes the chrome is available with PHP and or LUX package. Do they have a M with the chrome? if they do change them.If chrome is not a big deal for you tell them you want a discount off the one that came in with no chrome( make them think you had to have the chrome). If not go to another dealer , dealers cant give the M away these days. Guess thats why we are off for two weeks on layoff starting tomorrow.

Going to Detroit this Wed, autoshow .anybody else??

russklass · January 2002

If you go Wed you will be early, very early, as the public cannot enter until Saturday.
We will be there Sunday.
E-mail me (address on profile) if you will be there this weekend.

300mmm · January 2002

Thanks everybody, pretty much confirms my belief. Since we sat down and he showed me his "invoice" and we specifically tacked on the $ for the chrome, I can't imagine my 5* still expecting the same price. I'll probably just take it and save the bucks. Hopefully I'll be giving my Mpressions of my first 300 next week.

Thanks again!

russklass · January 2002

The photos of the Luxury Group kit on the Joshua site are of my car. The superimposed woodtrim.com graphics are Joshua's doing.

http://www.woodtrim.com/catalog_detail.cfm?prod=3860

I have been very happy with this kit.

Don't worry about missing the 20% off sale, they have one every month...sometimes asking for free shipping works too.

The kits are, in fact, manufactured in, and shipped from, Mexico.

sdmike2 · January 2002

Go run the options and numbers for your car through www.carsdirect.com. It will tell you the MSRP and their price for the chrome wheels so you can make sure you don't get screwed. If I were you I wouldn't trust this dealer further than I could throw him since you were fed a pile of crap about the availability of wheels. They're liars. In fact, unless they can beat the carsdirect price by at least a few hundred $$ you should get it at carsdirect. No hassle.

sdmike2 · January 2002

I just ran through some numbers on carsdirect and got the following results. A fully loaded M, less smokers group and cold weather group, has a MSRP of $33,495 and a dealer invoice of $31,691. There is a $1,000 rebate in effect into March, and the CarsDirect price for this car is $30,741. If you subtract the rebate from the invoice you'll get $30,691, so their selling price is $50 over dealer invoice. Just so you don't feel bad for the dealer, keep in mind that they get "dealer holdback" which is 3% of the invoice price. In this case the participating carsdirect dealer will make the $50 plus holdback of about $950. They also get to try to make money on a trade, financing, add-ons etc.

Carsdirect's price for the chrome wheels was $690, and their price for the full sized chrome spare was $354. Therefore, "your" car without the chrome or full sized spare would cost about $29,700 from Carsdirect. Don't pay any more than that at your dealer. In fact, go run the numbers on-line and tell your dealer that just for being stupid they have to beat the price by at least $300. lol

achance · January 2002

Awhile back there was a site called midnightmoose that I learned about on this site, and which was good for 300 lights. The site hasn't worked in a while. Anyone know what happened to them? If they're gone, anyone know a good source?

bigmike5 · January 2002

Well, on Friday afternoon I spent a half hour talking with the local tire store manager about the 245/45-17 Dayton Daytona tires he mounted on my 7" stock rims. He was absolutely definitive, not withstanding the recommended rim sizes on the manufacturer's chart, that there will be no problems with that size tire on that stock rim. I guess I will keep them--God, they do make the car handle a lot better, and even in a ZR configuration they are quieter than the LSs were.

kosh_2258 · January 2002

As long as the wheels aren't charged on the sticker just be sure the agreed price comes down by an equal amount at the very least.

I wouldn't let on that the wheels aren't an issue. Make a big deal out of it. If they give you the same story about not being able to order the wheels with those packages, call them on it. Make an even bigger stink, demand to talk to the dealership manager or owner. By the time you're through with them you should be able to name any reasonable price to them just so they can keep the sale. Really work them on the fact that they screwed up TWICE on the same thing so what else might they screw up on?

Many dealers wouldn't think twice about working a customer so take advantage of your knowledge and work THEM for a change. Just don't go ballistic, remain calm but very firm with them and show them you mean business. The shoes on the other foot for a change, so have some fun with it.

illini4 · January 2002

Russ, you're 1 week off. The Detriot show opened to the public last Saturday. You will be going on the last day if you wait until next Sunday. I'm going tomorrow.

jona57 · January 2002

Otto-

My Garnet 2001M does indeed have chrome wheels- and an extra stock chrome wheel on my full-size spare (for not much extra $$ on the sticker!). My M also has PHG/Lux Gp/Side airbags/Moonroof/ Infinity II 4-disc CD.

BTW- Can you shed any light on the possibility of adding the Special's performance gear ratio to a "std" 300M?

Jon

ottowrkr · January 2002

russklass the show opened to the public Sat Jan 12 .It runs for two weeks .for more info on the show .. http://www2.naias.com .

jona -Sorry cant give you any info on putting the Specials gears in the regular 300. All I know is that when we build the Special we use the trans that is also used with the 2.7 engine. At first I thought they made another trans with different gearing ,but on closer inspection we only have two racks of trans on the line. So the Special and 2.7 cars use the same one. The only change is in the software used in the controller..

mboomgarden · January 2002

I was at my dealer on Friday, ordering my new front speaker, and saw the new Special, in silver. I like it! The aerodynamic add-ons do make the car look more aggressive, particularly in the rear (along with the dual exhaust). The interior trim is nice, and the HID lights, signal mirrors, and wheels are positive additions. Overall, if I was purchasing at this point, I'd definitely go for the Special--with the add-ons, it's an excellent value. However, since my '01 is less than ten months old, it ain't going to happen.

kosh_2258 · January 2002

Well all the snow HAD melted, but the weather gods dumped 4 inches of new wet, sloppy, snow on us last night.

Unlike last time, I was prepared for this go around. I had put the Michelin Pilot Alpins on the Special Saturday. Best purchase I ever made. Man, that car moves through the snow like a hot knife through butter now.

No noticable negative effects either. The ride hasn't changed much, the handling is still good, and out on the wet but bare pavement of the freeway the tires were quiet and smooth.

A big thumbs up for the Pilot Alpins!

russklass · January 2002

You are both right!
We always go MLK weekend to take advantage of the Monday holiday for the Henry Ford Museum.
Sorry for the erronious post.

uxca300m · January 2002

I think you guys in the U..S.A are being ripped off by D.C. Consider the following. Price a 300M special base unit at http://www.daimlerchrysler.ca and it will be around $44,345.00. Now I know that the Canadian dollar is worth diddly squat but it is worth something on the international market and has a fixed exchange rate with U.S.A. banks. Now price the same 300m

at Chrysler U.S.A. at http://www.chrysler.com in the U.S. and it's $32,595.00. To convert Canadian to U.S the factor is .63 so the $44,345 .00 in comparable real money would be

$27,937.00. The exchange factures can be found at http://xe.com/ucc/. So if your paying $33,000 for the M U.S. your actully paying around $52,800.00 Canadian. I wonder why there is such a discrepency.

sdmike2 · January 2002

maybe $5,000 to ship it from Ontario to the states.

blonda · January 2002

Sorry for the late reply. I didn't check in this weekend. Since I work in RB and I'm out and about quite often around lunchtime, it's probably easiest to meet somewhere then. Perhaps in Carmel Mountain Ranch area (I go there alot). Just let me know when you're going to be in the area anytime between 11:30-1:30 and maybe we can coordinate, and I'll do the same.

On another note...I know everyone wants to you to work on a Vegas meet, but I had a thought if you wanted to look into this for So CA. I live within walking distance from Carlsbad Raceway. They run open drag races every weekend and on Saturdays they start lining up at 11:00 for the gates to open at 1:00. I love looking at the variety of cars when I drive by. A few weeks ago I noticed at least 5 late model Lincoln Mark VI's lined up. Not your average drag racer. I'm assuming they were a club maybe taking the cars out for a meet and test run. Might be fun to do with the 300M's. There is a wide variety of cars...this weekend was overwhelmingly late model Camaros, but you usually see classic muscle cars, hot rod antiques, mustangs and of course lots of Rice Rockets. Only thing I can tell you need to race is some sort of "neutral safety switch" whatever that is. Here's the link if you want to check it out (if I post it right anyway)

http://carlsbadrags.tripod.com/carlsbadrags/

mboomgarden · January 2002

This URL still works on my browser--don't know why you can't get it(????)

drive_a_300m · January 2002

Did you ever get the shifter cover in wood? I have an extra one that I think you need. If you still need it - email me - shan_osborne@hotmail.com

blonda · January 2002

Thanks for the offer -- that would save me a lot of extra cash if I decide to go with the discount dash (as opposed to buying a new shifter assembly). I'll send you an email later today.

pat · January 2002

Ai-yi-yi, here's where I'm s'posed to mention that we all know the Membership Agreement forbids using the Town Hall for any sort of personal gain.

Taking this conversation off-line is a really good idea.

Thanks! ;-)

Pat
Host
Sedans Message Board

rogor2k · January 2002

The URL works for me too. I just got snail mail confirmation of a 10% discount from them for 300M Enthusiasts Club members. We should have it posted on the Club web site in a few days. I'll announce it here when it's on the site. There's a discount code that you have to use.

I inquired about true HID conversion kits for the 300M. They say thay're not currently available, but they're releasing new kits all the time. Maybe there's hope. The price on the conversion kits isn't all that bad, $450 for most kits and Club members would get 10% off that price.

uxca300m · January 2002

No, the shipping charge can't be it because I live about 30 miles from the plant and my destination charge was $900.00 Canadian. I think they just average this destination charge out. Besides if you know trucking, a trailor carrying say 10 vehicles from Ontario to California, perhaps a four day trip would not be able to charge 10 x $5,000.00 for a total of $50,000. If they can then I'm in the wrong buisness.

uxca300m · January 2002

I bought my 01 300M in November of 01. It was the dealer owners demo car and had 3000 miles on it. (Gotta say here that I wouldn't have know what a 300M was until walked into the dealership and saw it sitting on the showroom floor. ) Poor advertising by D.C. I guess.
Anyway after two weeks of negotiation with the dealer I bought it for $35,100 Canadian which would be about $22,113.00 U.S.It came with the luxury group, chrome wheels, full sized spare,
rain deflectors, mud guards, sun roof and rear spoiler.

300michael · January 2002

It is a good thing that knowlege, or enjoyment is not considered personal gain, or we would all have to quit this board:)

fastdriver · January 2002

300michael-

Yikes. I know. I'm sure one wood piece that someone could use for their car would net them a fortune big enough to retire! Maybe if they "barter" that would be okay?

fastdriver

uxca300m · January 2002

I guess Pat must have missed my earlier posts to SDmike where he offered to pay the shipping costs for a part of a Joshua Tree kit I mailed to him. I have to confess that the stamps worth .80 cents were stolen of my wife so my cost was zero and I did insist that the next time in Canada he had to buy me a half a beer. I'm sorry Pat for undermining the integrity of this board and SDmike, you are released from the beer obligation.I don't want to be accused of making a profit. I'm so ashamed that my butt is turning deep (Inferno) red.

jona57 · January 2002

I always thought the stock amp had internal frequency cross-overs and that the stock 6.5" in the front doors and the rear deck 6x9's were woofers. The other day I ran across this on AllPar indicating those speakers were "full-range" rather than woofers. Claims to be from Chrysler sources.

www.allpar.com/model/300m-nvh.html

(The audio spec and speaker descriptions for the Infinity II system are about 3/4ths of the way scrolling down the page). Is there a practical way to check the exact frequency output ranges of the various amp feeds to the specific speakers to check this out?

sdmike2 · January 2002

Rest assured that I *WON'T OPEN* the package you sent me because I might find something beneficial in there....and we can't have that, can we?

ski1001 · January 2002

I have a 2000m and really haven't had any real problems except in the winter. I live in the Northeast and find that the heater blower does not keep my right foot warm. The hot air really does a good job over the brake peddle but leaves it cool over the gas peddle. I have had many cars and this is the only one I can remember that has this problem.

Anyone else notice this or am I just getting old.....???

mboomgarden · January 2002

You may have reached that point in life where it makes sense to start wearing socks. Seriously, I haven't noticed this. Is it possible that you have a disconnected heater duct? I had this happen in a car I owned many years ago, and the heater--understandably--seemed to lose almost all its output. If you're suffering from general low heat output, you may have a defective thermostat.

If one of these things is not the problem he only other thing I could suggest is inserting a piece of plastic in the duct to redirect some of the air flow toward your right foot. I don't think that would be difficult to do.

ajpiii · January 2002

Guys...

How much do you think these are actually worth ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=600249400&r=0&t=0

I want them, but I dont want to pay too much for em...

ottowrkr · January 2002

Not to bad of a price. I think just the one basic book is like 90 CDN. But you get all the books . Good luck.

intrepidspirit · January 2002

You're right! I noticed this 3 1/2 years ago when I visited Canada (Ontario), so the discrepancy is nothing new. I was even looking at ways to buy there and drive back to California, but there are several govenment restrictions.

It comes down to supply and demand. All cars (not just Chryslers) are cheaper in Canada when discounted for the exchange. The Canadian $ has fallen from around 1.00 down to the low and mid .60's over the last 25 years. That means cars should have gone up by that amount in Canada (before price increases), but my guess is that the automakers felt sales would fall dramatically if they tried to increase prices to those levels. So they seem to use an arbitrary exchange rate (around .75) in setting pricing.

So the U.S. buyer is indeed subsidizing the Canadian buyer! But Canadians are nice guys, eh...

bigmike5 · January 2002

Just got back from the dealer where I had them looking at my light switch. The problem is that I go to work about 0530, and to come on to the military base I have to switch to parking lights. Recently, when I would do this after a second or two the lights would power back up to full power, and would not go off, even if I turned the switch to "off." They would only go off when the key was turned off. Weird, and it would only do this sometimes. Well, I got to the dealer and the problem replicated !!! for the service rep. However, later after talking to DC they were told to use the voltage meter on the switch [$80], relay [$11], and BCA [computer--big bucks] when it was malfunctioning to see which part was faulty. Wouldn't replicate for the tech then so we went with the switch under my warranty, and if it turns out to be the relay I will problably eat the cost of that part. If it is the computer, well, it better not be.

On oversized tires on the stock rims, Bridgestone/Firestone/Dayton called me back after I gave them a hard time on the web site and they recommended not running 245/45ZR-17s on the stock 17x7" rims. They said the same thing as Nitto did about possible bead problems and irregular wear. The dealer was ballistic when I called him about what they said, and I plan to see him tomorrow as we decide if anything good in sizes 235 or 245 will fit the rims. He doesn't care for the Goodrich Scorcher or Comp TAs, says they are trash, and there is not much else except the stock size 225/55-17s that will run on the 7" rims. Bummer. I feel stock size Potenzas coming on.

sdmike2 · January 2002

My tire guy says that going larger than 225 on the 7" rims is a crap shoot...meaning that it may or may not work depending on the tire and profile. He feels pretty confident that a 245 can be made to work, especially a taller 245 (e.g. a 55 instead of a 45) because of the geometry of the tire, but 225 is the limit published by virtually all tire manufacturers for 7" rims. Some of this is "cover your butt".

As a reminder, here is a tire size calculator that shows the size and mph variances of switching sizes.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

drive_a_300m · January 2002

Well, as for the price.. I paid $80 for a 2001 300M shop manual, and they forgot to take out the DC invoice - not too bad - the company I purchased it from made $20 off me - their cost was $60 for it. If you get multiple manuals - that would be great - but my shop manual covers everything listed, and is almost 4 inches thick. ?? Not that size matters :-)

Not meaning to offend - but I had no intention of gaining anything from the shifter cover. Just wanted to help out a fellow 300M'er.

lflowers · January 2002

When I was shopping for tires, a search on the Michelin website recommended that 245/50-17 tires would work on the 7" rims while 245/45's were not recommended. However, a search on the Discount Tires website shows a very limited selection in that size. Perhaps the OE size is the smart way to go with the standard rims. However, it you're at all interested in going with aftermarket wheels, it's a pretty easy purchase to rationalize. I wanted to go with a high performance tire when replacing my Goodyears. In the stock size, the selection of good high performance tires is quite limited. The best choice was Michelins at almost $1200 for the set.
I bought a set of Konig Tantrum 17" x 8" wheels along with Goodrich Gforce TA KDW tires in 245/45ZR17 size, mounted and balanced with the road hazard guarantee for a little over $1600, sold my original wheels and 30K mile Goodyears for $550, and the next time I need new tires, I should be able to get another comparable set for a little over $600. So the purchase was easy to rationalize.....it almost made sense to my wife (with the emphasis on ALMOST).

fuzzywuzzy · January 2002

It does really depend on the tire. The dunlops I had were just horriable. However some other with different brands are fine. I say you just get a good set of stock size tires. A wider tire doesn't always mean you get better performance. I wish to death I just waited & put the 18's on from scratch instead of wasting my time, & money with the 245-17 option. I also read a few post that stated they wouldn't do it again.

ajpiii · January 2002

Yes I was one of the ones who wouldnt go with thee 245/45-17's on a stock rim again... Ive been running them for more than 30,000 miles... Ive only had one problem with a tire forming a bubble, but worry about furture problems...

Personally, Im going to find some stock size snow tires (anyone know of any ?), and get some 20's for the good weather

glennbp · January 2002

Hi All,

Does anyone know the color coding of the Infinity amp both input and output? I want to upgrade the amp and speakers. Also, can I get to the door speakers and tweeters without removing the entire door panel? Any help here would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Glennbp

scotian · January 2002

I'll post it from home tonight if someone doesn't beat me to it. If this board had a useable search function, I could find it in this discussion and point you to it.

glennbp · January 2002

Thanks Scotian - I'll look forward to it!
Take care,
GlennBP

scotian · January 2002

I'm thinking of making my upper and lower grille black, instead of its dark grey. I don't want to paint it, since paint will flake off in no time. Is there some special ink-like substance that will stay on this kind of plastic?

scotian · January 2002

What kind of plastic are our grilles made of?

This site is interesting:

http://www.urethanesupply.com/

http://www.urethanesupply.com/3400.htm

http://www.urethanesupply.com/v4n1.htm
Bumper and Trim Black will probably get rid of those salt stains on the rubber window trim, as well as refinish any discolored black panels that cover the B-pillar...

Chrysler 300M

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