Thinking of an 08 to 10 or so for wifey, your input is appreciated. We really enjoyed the car as a rental.
With the hemi…ooooohhhhh…yeeeaaaaaahhhhhh…
Thanks,
Assuming you can find one, get it checked out thoroughly, but if the wife likes it and the price is right, go for it. It might not be my choice, but I’m not the one lying next to you every night.
Whichever engine floats your boat, a co worker bought a used 300 a year or so ago (V6) and is very happy with the car, they are great cars, just find one that’s been well taken care of.
If you can find a well maintained 300…go for it. I have friends that own the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger and they wouldn’t drive anything else. I love the styling of both vehicles for what it’s worth. I would look for the 3.5 engine though.
Hemis sure are fun to drive, but if you drive one with the 3.5 and find it powerful enough for your needs and wants I’d buy one of those. The 3.5 is a quite durable, reliable, and simple engine. Hemis can get a little costly to repair and maintain.
Can you afford a 2011? The 300 was redesigned that year and got the vastly improved 3.6L V6. It will cost a couple grand more than a 2010, but it is a better car.
Great insights and your comments are appreciated,just another example of why the posters here are such a a great resource.
I thought the styling of the first generation 300 was closer to a show car than any mainstream car I’d ever seen. At the auto show where I first saw it no one quite believed it. The extreme attitude isn’t as strong in the current car, but it still makes me grin, and the interior is certainly nicer.
I have a 2006 300C Hemi. I bought it used about 4 years ago. Overall it’s been a decent car. I have about 90K on it now. I wouldn’t even bother with the V6. You will get maybe 2-3 more MPG out of the V6 than the V8, and on the highway maybe not even that. IMHO it’s not worth the extra MPG to give up the extra power and better styling. My only regret was not getting the AWD model since I live in the snow belt. But putting good tires on it will offset not having AWD quite a bit. And the A/C could be a little stronger, though I like it to be Arctic in the summer.
The redesigned 2nd gen cars don’t look as good to me on the outside, though they have nicer interiors.
Pre-2011 6 cylinders are anemic, but the 2011 and later V6 has plenty of power.
On my last visit to England, I saw a curious site; several black Chrysler 300s with dark windows. Then it occurred to me that the logo on the hood and trunk looks a lot like that of a Bentley, while the overall shape form a distance looks Bentley as well.
With the British penchant for impressing the public, these smart Brits got the exposure and envy at a tiny fraction of the $200,000 or so cost of a Bentley and much better reliability and operating costs.
I noticed the all tinted 300’s in London too. I love the looks and the ride, but I believe when I was looking in CR, the reliability wasn’t all that good/I might be wrong. The other problem is that at least here in Southern CA, they have a rep of being owned by trouble-prone crowd (like the Escalade), and I am not sure if I want to be constantly stopped by law enforcement.
My biggest complaint was the low ground clearance, the bumper would scrape on parking bumper blocks, then fording the stream to fern canyon, we scraped the gunnels, then bailing on not going to the interstate in San Fran ther was a low triangular lane divider, looked flat to me because i have no depth perception, but trans and visible body parts were intact on the dark rainy night we returned it.
@Barkydog: Yeah, I scrape the air dam on mine if I park too close to a high surface, and I had to get new ramps with a shallower angle of attack for oil changes, etc. It was annoying to get used to, but not a deal breaker.
But the important bits are up much higher. I suspect that besides for looks, that the ground effects improve mileage.
I don’t get pulled over more often in mine (all black), but I do notice that people do treat you with some respect–it’s rare that people tailgate and they do get out of your way. I didn’t realize how much I took this for granted until I drove someone else’s car.
@oblivion I have noticed a similar effect as far as respect for cutting off, pulling in front of, and aggressive driving when I am driving my daughters saturn vs trailblazer. The 11’s seem to be about the 20k price point, so we may just have to live with anemic for 12k for aan o8 with 78k to 90k miles.
I would stay away from the 2.7 V6 . . . sludge problems, I believe
You should consider the V8 if you want the 2010 or earlier.
was not thinking one engine or another but it sounds like pre 2011 v8 is a better choice, hate sludging!