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I have been considering the upcoming Ford 500, which will perform OK with the 200HP V6, but why buy that when the 300C is available? Both will have an elevated seating position (I saw one article saying the seat bottom was about 2.5" higher that the previous 300M).
I have also seen the 300C - parked in a Denny's lot a few months ago (silly me - I didn't bother the test crew), in flat gray with the emblems taped over, and with a Magnum, and both driving south on I-405 in Irvine, CA a few weeks ago (again in flat gray with the emblems covered, and some sort of pipe/hose connections below the left rear bumper - wonder what those are??).
If DC wants, to recoup the tooling costs faster by selling lots of fleet 300's; I say, more power to them. By selling more units in this fashion, DC will be able to offer the Hemi 300C at a price that is much easier for the rest of us to afford. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
The 300C is clearly much more car.
I am guessing that when the rebates start on the 300 that Gm will lose sales of the the wbody cars and also the CTS to the 300.
Back in ' 67, we were residing in Queens (NYC), and my old man went out and
bought a Fury III. Lo and behold, if one ventured into Manhattan, not only were
there piles of Fury I taxis, but the NYPD had dark green / black piles of them
also. What a ribbing I used to get from my friends whenever one of these fleet
vehicles would come by, saying, "You're mom's home"!!! Oh God, Shipo!!!
The 300C is equipped with many luxury features and it has a large interior, which also means it will compete with the Lexus LS 330, Lexus GS, Infiniti M45, Infiniti G35, Cadillac CTS, Nissan Maxima, and so forth.
I priced a 300C on Edmunds and the Chrysler site today - sticker of $35,218 with Protection Group 2, Sound Group 2, U-Connect, Power pedals, cold weather group, satellite radio, and wheel locks. That means it should be no problem to buy one for $33,500 or less.
Fortunately for me, I no longer live in the NYC area, and while I still go back there on business several times per year, I think that I would much rather ride in a 2.7 300 cab as opposed to the current fleet of Honda Odyssey's that they have running around now. :-/
Best Regards,
Shipo
The interior is cheap looking. The controls (seats, HVAC, lights) have retrogressed to the old style.
A 300C Hemi model on the floor, with no NAV or DVD player was stickered at $36,000!
A 2.7 litre engine in the base version of this monstrosity is a joke!
Evidently Chrysler has learned nothing from the Pacifica intro.
I don't know what other car you could buy that offers all that the 300C offers for the price. I priced a 300C with Protection Group 2, Sound Group 2, U-Connect, Satellite radio, power pedals, the cold weather group, and wheel locks at $35,218 on the sticker, meaning that I will pay no more than $33,500 plus tax and license. That buys a large four door sedan with:
- front, side,and head air bags, and a modern design which will perform very well in crashes
- rear wheel drive
- four wheel independent suspension
- a 340 HP, 390 ft.-lbs engine with a five speed transmission
- heated exterior rear view mirrors, with a driver side mirror which dims to prevent headlight glare
- performance four wheel disc brakes with anti-lock and brake assist
- stability program and traction control
- super sound system
- automatic headlamps and fog lamps
- rain sensing variable wipers
- tilt and telescope steering wheel and power pedals
- power seats with heated front seats
- universal remote transmitter
- outside temperature, compass, and driver information center
- memory for seats, mirrors, radio, and steering column
- many other fancy features
The 300 range will compete very well against the front wheel drive mid-sized and large cars at the low end, the ancient rear wheel drive Crown Victoria for fleet duty, and cars such as the Lincoln LS, the Lexus GS, the Cadillac CTS (and upcoming STS), Lincoln Town Car, and the Infiniti M45 at the high end.
If I buy a 300C (with hemi) for $35k+, I don't want to see cheaper 300 version ($23k) taxis or fleet cars all over the place!
Call it snob appeal if you like, but to me the "one size fits all" philosophy greatly detracts from the 300C's appeal and will ultimately result in a lower than expected resale value.
My wife and I have had 3 300M's. One of the reasons that we did so (besides loving the car!) was that no one ever mistook it for a Concord or an Intrepid...the new 300 is a 300C, Concord and Intrepid all rolled into one!
Just my humble opinion...
To show how all things are relative, the taxi driver (this time in a Chrysler MiniVan with a Fiat diesel engine) who took me back to my hotel after I dropped my car off to be shipped over here, asked me which car I had. When I told him that I had a 530i, he laughed and asked me, "What are you going to do with all of that power in America?"
Now here we are two years later talking about the 300C Hemi which has more than half again as much power. Go figure.
Best Regards,
Shipo
The '96 Impala SS I formerly owned did look just like a taxi or police car, but many people knew exactly what it was. Others, such as modified little four cylinder drivers who thought it was just a taxi with no marks were often surprised when I zoomed past them. The insurance showed the Impala as a Caprice, so the same may be true for the 300C - it will be a fast car, but should have low insurance rates.
The other possibility is keeping the 300C a Chrysler, and all of the lesser versions a Dodge with the Magnum front end. Does anyone know about plans for Dodge versions besides the Magnum?
Best Regards,
Shipo
I did order the California Walnut Trim option, but to be quite honest,
I'm not sure what I'm getting for the 400 bucks. Every pic I see
of the interior shows the upper wood-like steering wheel, and the
same thing on the door pulls, and shifter knob as standard.
The 2005 300 is now a whole series replacing Concorde, LHS, and 300M. I doubt there will be any 300 taxis, since no fleet only models are in the works. That would be Dodge's market anyway.
Re: Fury 3 as cop car also and getting teased. In my old 'hood, if a car was a cop car it meant that the car was powerful, durable, and fast, i.e. "cool". No "joke".
If it is a mediocre car that tries to compete with other 40K vehicles than the pricing model is a bad one.
If it is a solidly built vehicle with excellent structral rigidty and durable components then it is fine.
Mercedes got away with doing that because the their lower end taxi cab models would go 3-400K miles without major rebuilds.
Don't think anybody will go 400K with a Dodge Neon.
I had a 1995 Plymouth Neon Sport. It was not as "refined" as the import cars, but it was reliable and fun to drive. I never had a problem with it and only traded it because it felt small next to all the 18-wheelers on the interstate. It would probably still be running now.
We only see the loaded luxury Merecedes' here in the states.
In Germany they are as common as Chevrolets.
But people are willing to pay higher prices for higher levels of equipment because they feel that the basic design, even in it's cheapest iteration, is excellent.
If the 300/Magnum is durable then it will take over the taxi cab market from the Lincoln Town Car(which will go 3-400K miles,) and GM and Ford will also lose the police market.
Those 2 markets alone are worth at least 50K sales per year.
The Impala, which is FWD, sold 267,000 last year!
A good bit of those sales were to police agencies and taxiis.
We haven't even talked about rental cars yet.
I would sell my Impala in a heartbeat to get a RWD 300 if it turns out to be a well engineered vehicle.
But you don't see a lot of people running out to buy 31.5K supercharged Impala SSs. Because the general consensus is that the FWD chassis is not up to the competition.
the better of the bunch to "merge" with. (I use that term loosely) Can you envision Mopar
being run by the likes of Toyota / Honda / Nissan???
As for the 300's quality, that remains to be seen. The Mercedes 5-speed automatic
has been around awhile, so most of the bugs must be out of it. However, coupled
with Mopar's Autostick, can it take the constant shifting abuse that it certainly wasn't
initally designed for by Mercedes? (Thank God for extended warranty)
Included in the C are an oversized radiator, and larger disc brakes, so maybe
Mopar knows what it's doing.
Too bad the 300C will not have the new 7 speed automatic!
Here is the production data.
http://www.autonews.com/files/prod.pdf
* BA -------build order
* BB ------ review by fleet department
* BD ------ special equipment processing
* BE ------ edit error
* BG ------ passed edit not available for schedule
* BGL ----- edit ok parts unavailable
* BX ------ passed edit available for schedule
* C ------- sub firm
* D ------- firm schedule - dealer has allocation and all parts available
* D ------- 1 gateline schedule / scheduled to be built
* E ------- frame
* F ------- paint
* G ------- trim
* I ------- built not okayed
* J ------- built okayed
* JB ------ shipped to body vendor
* JE ------ emission check
* JS ------ shipped to storage
* KZ ------ released by plant , invoiced
* KZL ----- released / not shipped
* KZM ----- first rail departure
* KZN ----- first rail arrival
* KZO ----- delayed / recieved
* KZOA ---- plant holding
* KZOB ---- zone / distribution hold
* KZOC ---- carrier delays
* KZOD ---- carrier hold
* KZOE ---- mis-shipped vehicle
* KZOF ---- show-/ test vehicle
* KZOG ---- damaged vehicle
* KZOH ---- all other reasons
* KZT ----- second rail departure
* KZU ----- second rail arrival
* KZX ----- delivered to dealer
* ZA ------ order canceled
Best Regards,
Shipo
"quirk" however. Sometimes, if I go through heavy snow, the serpentine belt comes off.
However, the engine is by Mitsubishi (3.0), not Chrysler.
As for the Crossfire, I like the design, but, as another poster here pointed out early on,
it has no room for a spare. What you get is a 12V compressor, a can of tire sealer, and
a prayer that all you have is a puncture. I'd be paranoid to go out of town. A Continental kit could be used, but maybe wouldn't look right.
I have not seen it in person.
that resembles that. What I do see is a top section of steering wheel, either in wood,
or a resin, of sorts. Along with that are matching door pulls.
There is a California Walnut Trim option for 400 bucks, but I'm not sure what that
really comprises of, as I've never seen it. OR rather, is what one does see on the net
the optional woodtrim?????? My dealer wasn't sure. Does anyone have last year's
300M catalog to check it out??
I'm sure the California Walnut will look like the current option on the 300M.
I think the tortoise shell has a really fresh look, and the depth of the different amber and brown tones works well. I have the walnut option on my current 300M, and I'm looking forward to the change.
Does anyone know if the A and B pillars will be fabric covered? The 300M never got around to using the treatment, and to be honest, a $36,000 car shouldn't have molded plastic pillars up against the fabric headliner. It may be a petty detail, but even some Kia and Hyundai models have fabric covered pillars!
Also, are all the metallic accents real metal, or a combination of metal and treated plastic. These are the details that become relevant to me at this price range. Other touches like slow spring opening glove boxes and compartment covers are another feature common in many cars at this price that Chrysler hasn't incorporated yet.
I'm going to the Preview Party for the Philadelphia Auto Show on Friday night, and I hope they have a 300 available to see close enough to answer some of my concerns.
Magazine or other car magazines. Have not seen any real road test yet on any of these cars.
All base prices on the 3 cars are around 25,000, more or less. Which one would give you the most bang for the buck, and which one would be first, second, and third in a real road test?
Given that the base Chysler 300 has a 2.7 engine and the Grand Marquis has a 4.6 v-8 engine, both being rear wheel drive would be very interesting in a road test.
The Chyslers have more road noise than most of the American cars, hoping the new one will be much quieter.
Most of the Amanti onwers say there car is very quiet and very smooth riding.
if it were me I wouldn't even compare this to a kia... hell I wouldn't compare any car to a kia... cept maybe a Cavaler but thats another story. just my two cents
More hp will get to the ground.