I have not had any personal experience with the newer Chrysler products but a while back i was talking to
my local tech, who i have known for a number of years. He was working on a Dodge Charger and i asked
how they were. He stated the front suspension was a problem and he had replaced control arms and had
to do a lot of alignments due to potholes and train tracks and bumping curbs. That was the biggest thing
he had run in to. Hope this helps.
I run a shop here in town and front ends are a constant repair!Fairly expensive to do(unless you're inclined).We also see a tendency for rear brake slides seizing/rotting rotors so service them often!
We bought a 2005 locally last summer, we're second owners. Actually it's my wife's car. She's had Caddy's in the past but likes this one just as well. The ride is a little harsher/tighter but still good. Nice seats, decent leg room, not a hemi engine but it still scoots. Need to use cruise control or your 20 over and not realizing it, it's real quiet. Put winter tires on it and it seems to do pretty well in snow etc. Replaced a front wheel bearing about 3 weeks ago, but other than that, start it and drive it. Based on this one, I would buy another.
The LX platform is a solid car. LX being the Charger, 300, Challenger and the deceased Magnum.
Front ends are bad yes, but there have been changes in the components from the factory and are now made a bit better. Aftermarket Moog front end parts are good as they now have grease fittings and can be serviced. They also come with a lifetime replacement warranty.
The early AWD was a bit weak so if you can go a bit older than the first year of 2005 you will be better off. Gas mileage in the 3.5 is good and the Hemi with the MDS is surprisingly pretty good and not much less than the 3.5 just the extra power there if you ever need it. People will talk and say the 4 speed trans is no good but it is a solid option all though the 5 speed NAG1 is great to play with.
All in all the car is good and very robust. I have a 2008 Charger that I bought used and now have 270,000 k on it and a 2006 Magnum with 216,000K on it. Both cars are great. The only thing to really look at is with the 3.5 it has a timing belt and requires replacement with the water pump at 180,000 to be safe. I did the Charger last fall at 250,000 and am doing the Magnum this spring. Takes about 5 hours and runs about $150.00 in parts from Rock Auto.
I had a 2006 Chrysler 300 and I didn't have any real problems with it. I didn't put a lot of miles on it though.
If I had anything to complain about it would be that the visibility wasn't great and that the engine management system took all of the joy out of the Hemi.
If you spun the tires just a tiny bit it would immediately shift up a gear, even with the traction control turned off. It would also shift very softly so it wouldn't do anything fun, like giving a little chirp when it hit second gear.
Aside from that, I thought it was a nice car.
Cool looking car with , as stated above , lots of front end issues ....heard that form a number of people including an old motor head buddy of mine who had to unload his 300 because of constant repairs . If daughter is hooked on Chryslers , do AVOID the old 2.7 V-6 motor ....when I was in the car business , we referred to that motor as a " hand grenade " .
Possibly another frame of reference is Facebook ....I'm not a big social media fan but there are some interesting Facebook groups . I'm on Ford FE and Ford Y block and there is decent info to be gathered . I'm sure there is the same for Chrysler products .
T
-- Edited by teejay99 on Wednesday 9th of April 2014 04:49:52 PM
We have an 05, 300c great car, no major issues, have done one upper control arm in 4 yrs.... exhaust flex joints at the convertor...both front hubs twice ( due to the 275/40/20`s common on these cars when running this size wheel and tire combo) did and egr vale as it was throwing an intermittent code and lastly the abs reluctor on the right rear is a common problem ( throws the abs light disables it along with the traction control....so for 4 yrs and a trip to Myrtle Beach and Florida not so bad....and with the Hemi got 27mpg.....( averaging 120k)
)
. Shhhhhhhh don't tell her that. lol
