(First Posted January 11, 2015, updated at the end of post) Last week I shared what happened to my Outback and then let you all try to help with input on the shortlist of candidates for my new car. Well, I finally chose one and now that the insurance check has arrived and been cashed, I will tell the story.
It turns out that the insurance company was quite a bit more generous than expected in their valuation of the Outback, to the point that I could easily have replaced it with another brand new one. However, I did look at the all-new 2015’s and while I liked the interior improvements very much, I just wasn’t willing to wait the quoted eight to twelve weeks for one to arrive the way I would have wanted it as there are very few 6-cylinder models on dealer lots.
This wouldn’t be a problem if I had a car to trade in to wait it out with, but the rental car would only be available for a limited time (although I still got over a month’s use out of it including driving it to California and back with the family and all of Christmas packed into it).
A goodly number of you suggested the new Outback and from a logical standpoint it makes a lot of sense. I hear quiet rumors that there may be a turbo offering in the works so that may be in my future one day…
I really wanted to find a Volvo XC70 T-6, but this time around they were very thin on the ground. I did get a chance to drive a used 2015(!) model over Christmas with only a few thousand miles on it that was apparently used by a Volvo bigwig at the Southern California Volvo offices.
It was fully loaded and priced in the mid to upper $30k’s, almost $15,000 off the new sticker price. While a very nice car, it was black (not my favorite) and just priced a bit higher than I really wanted to spend on one. In mid-winter it seems most owners of these seem to want to hang on to them.
The Audi’s – wow! I drove a 2008 S8 locally and then a 2011 S6 in California and then had a friend check another S8 out for me in Chicago. It was close. Both models use the same 5.2 liter V-10 (albeit tuned slightly differently) and were marvelous from a driving and sensory perspective.
In the end I decided against either as they are potentially just a bit “much” for what I do around here. If my garage was bigger I’d love to have one as a fourth car, but not right now. Of course these are just going to depreciate more and more so there may be another opportunity down the road.
The Jaguar wagon was just not available at the time and I was not willing to travel around the country for a ten year old car that may or may not have been a good one. Same story for the Allroad, just not many good candidates available.
I spent several hours looking at and kicking the tires of a couple of new Honda Accords. Very nice. I wish the Sport was available with a leather interior (but I know it can be added aftermarket) but in the end my wife just didn’t seem to want to go there.
I know, they are great cars and with snow tires may have worked, why, oh why won’t they just make a real AWD wagon instead of that Crosstour liftback thing?
The Ram – I looked at a couple at the dealer. I also looked at the F150 as many commenters seemed to prefer it to the Ram (never mind that I just got clobbered by an F150…) and in the end decided that while I like the IDEA of a truck and could actually use it as intended and it would provide a nice tax deduction according to my accountant, it’d be a compromise much of the time and I’d probably be just as happy with one day buying an older more beater-ish truck to knock around in when the mood strikes me.
The fact that I didn’t actually test drive any (although there was plenty of opportunity) kind of made me realize my heart wasn’t really in it.
I really wanted to make a Lexus LS460 AWD work, but never came across the right one at the right price in the right color in my short timeframe. They were either the long wheelbase, or had gray interior, or were priced too high or were too new or had too many miles. Another future contender for when I buy Jason Shafer’s barn and transplant it here, I guess.
Pretty much the same thing applies to the Mercedes E350 4Matic Wagon. I’m a fan of all wagons, and found several of these that sort of fit the bill, but all were still just a little more than I wanted to pay for the amount of miles they had on them.
I briefly considered the sedan and then also the slightly older version but in the end didn’t want to settle, so I took a pass on that this time around.
While in California, a couple of other things presented themselves that I hadn’t really considered before – I took a long hard look at a couple of Passats, and the reasoning against is the same as with the Accord above. Great cars in many ways, but not the perfect format.
Then I found an Acura dealer there since my closest one is an hour away. They had both a 2011 RL as well as 2009 TL, both with the AWD system and a V6. I drove both and liked the TL better and have to say the styling is not nearly as jarring to me as it was when it debuted.
The one I drove was a dark red with black interior as pictured above. (As a matter of fact all of the pictures are of the actual contenders if I said I drove them in this article). I actually made the dealer an offer and was ready to buy it. However he was completely stuck on his price so I decided against it. But it was close! I could have been happy with it, it’s quite underrated, I think the looks turn people off before giving it a chance.
So what does that leave? Yes, the second generation of the most American car that America has built in the last decade (in my opinion). Large, a little brash (less so in the second generation), plenty of engine, a smooth ride, lots of toys, and a comfortable interior – In this case a slightly used (8032 miles), 2014 Chrysler 300C AWD with the 5.7 liter V8.
Painted Billet Silver with a black interior, this particular one has every available option besides the upgraded sound system (but the stock Alpine system sounds excellent to my still slightly ringing ears. Everything from the offerings on Backspin on SXM (Ice Cube was a classmate of mine in high school) to my daughter’s latest Taylor Swift comes across loud and clear.) Of course even though the car is ostensibly “American”, it is actually assembled in Brampton, Ontario and the engine hails from Mexico…
The options consist of a very large panoramic sunroof (very similar to that on our old VW Touareg), the “SafetyTec” package (laser-based distance controlling cruise control, forward collision warning, rear cross path detection coupled with the camera, blind spot monitor in the mirrors), Lighting package (Adaptive Bi-Xenon HID’s that swivel like the Touareg’s but use more inputs than just the steering angle, turn signals in the mirrors, front and rear fog lights, automatic high beam control), as well as the AWD system which is quite slick (no pun intended).
It apparently is able to automatically decouple the front axle via an electronic clutch if the temperature is over 40 degrees Fahrenheit and no slippage is detected (i.e. the summer). So currently with our freezing temperatures it is in full-time AWD mode and works very well. It has about 2/3rds of the power going to the rear wheels so still is quite able to get the back out at will but is very controllable in the slippery stuff.
The list of standard features is somewhat mind-boggling, I had thought a lot of this stuff would be optional but it is standard on the 300C – Navigation, leather, real wood trim, heated seats front and back, heated steering wheel, ventilated seats in front, heated and cooled cupholders (didn’t know that was a thing), power rear sunshade, powered tilt and telescope wheel, power adjustable foot pedals, memory for everything, keyless entry and start/stop, automatic headlights, automatic wipers and much more.
I’m perhaps a bit of a luddite, meaning I have a smartphone but really don’t use many apps and am waiting in vain for the day that my expensive phone actually keeps every call connected and generally prefer my climate controls to be manual rather than automatic etc.
However I am absolutely smitten with the 8.4” touchscreen in the center of the dash and never (perhaps unfairly, I admit) would have expected Chrysler to have engineered this. It is very simple to use, extremely legible and logical in both layout and operation and best of all has redundant knobs and buttons for many of the most used controls below it.
Setting up Bluetooth was super simple, the car automatically turns on the seat and steering wheel heater if it’s cold out but lets me change the settings on a start-up screen when I turn the car on, and the navigation part (powered by Garmin) is intuitive and even lets you replace the curser with a pictogram of my car in the correct color (or you can choose between a Charger, a Jeep Wrangler, and I think a Cherokee among several others). Maybe a gimmick, but fun nonetheless. I guess this is what they call a “surprise and delight” feature in the industry.
Of course the heart of this beast is the engine, the 5.7 liter V8 “Hemi” that can deactivate 4 cylinders under light load. On the highway I’ve observed mid 20’s mpg so far, around town mid to high teens, not great, but far from horrible for a car of this size, weight, and power. I do like American V8’s and still remember the one in my old Chevelle wagon fondly. This one puts out 363 horsepower, 392 pound-feet of torque, and a very good noise.
The engine is attached to a 5-speed automatic and while the 8-speed that is supposedly being offered for 2015 would probably provide better mileage, the installed unit shifts smoothly and quickly and gets the job done just fine. As an aside, the newer 2015’s are slightly restyled but no longer offer AWD with the V8, 2014 was the last year for that combination.
I bought it December 31st (this was originally written just a few weeks later), so have had it for a little while and several hundred miles. Freeway driving is a doddle, just lean back and relax in silence while the car wafts down the road. In town it just goes about its business, the windows are not as short as in the prior generation which really had trouble with being able to see overhead traffic lights and such, so that has been resolved.
The only annoyance that I’ve found so far is one common to many American cars, when you want the wipers to wipe only once, most imports let you push the end of the stalk up or down or in slightly with one finger, here you have to twist the stalk slightly, meaning you need to remove a hand from the wheel which is an asinine thing to have to do when you’d ideally want to maintain as much control as possible.
Otherwise, it’s smooth, quick, and even though the chassis has lineage dating to an older Mercedes unit, I never thought there was anything wrong with older Mercedes’, so it handles just fine for most of the driving that I intend to do with it. Mine used to be a rental car, it was used only in Idaho between May and November of 2014 and seems to not have suffered any visible abuse.
There are a number of these that are ex-rental but most have more miles, I’m not sure why the company would have cycled it through their system so quickly but whatever, I’ll take the 40%+ depreciation over eight months every day of the week (and hope that same depreciation schedule slows down now.). I did drive several with between 20,000 and 30,000 miles and they all seemed just about as solid as my lower mile one is, no rattles or anything loose or worn.
I even found one located in Eugene (CC Mecca) but alas, it sold before I made up my mind about it, it apparently was as good a deal as I thought it might be. That would have been a good road trip home after a CC walk with Paul. In fact it was the one that I used the pictures of in the QOTD article.
As I get older, I am becoming more aware of the passage of time and am valuing the ability to relax and not worry (or think) about car repairs and such. I definitely value having the remainder of the 3-year, 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty and also the 5-year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. Since the car was built in April 2014 and has covered just over 8,000 miles, that still leaves me with plenty of time and miles.
Coincidentally my old Subaru was also built in April of 2014 and met its demise with just over 8,000 miles on it, so it’s kind of like I’m taking over where I left off but in a sort of parallel universe. Could I be the only Subaru Outback owner that replaced the car with a Chrysler 300C with a Hemi?
So anyway, thank you all very much for your input to my question a few weeks ago and rest assured that I am driving around with a smile on my face, my foot on the gas and (for now at least) barely caring whatsoever about the gas mileage. I have a Costco a mile from my house that is selling the go-juice for $1.59 per gallon…currently. God Bless America (‘Murica?)!
Update July 29, 2018: Well, it didn’t last that long in my stable, just under a year and about 12,000 miles actually. It did not have any problems whatsoever, it got me where I wanted to go and did so in a very quiet, dignified, and relatively efficient manner. And the V-8 was everything I hoped it would be. During the year I had two oil changes done at my local Chrysler Quick-Lube, both of which were performed quickly and without issue for very minimal cost. I cannot complain about the car itself at all, I would (and do) highly recommend it.
So what happened? Well, I guess it was another itch that I wanted to scratch and once done, that was it. I loved the V8, liked the American style, found the quality to be excellent, but then just got a bit bored with it. It was by no means a bad car, in fact it was absolutely excellent as a car, especially a freeway cruiser both in good weather and bad, but being a sedan it had some shortcomings that just weren’t going to go away. I simply realized I needed a vehicle that could haul some cargo and odd shapes much more often than I anticipated or realized.
So in the late fall, early winter I started looking yet again and then exactly a year to the day after the Outback got wrecked traded this one in on something else…But the experience did leave me with a very good feeling toward the company’s offerings as a whole which is something I don’t think we hear too often. The picture below was taken right after I handed the keys over and took the plates off. While looking for the picture I realized it was the only picture I had taken of it since writing this post right after buying it and taking the original set.
Nice choice indeed and I see that after several decades Chrysler has updated their gas pedal design. The unobtrusive touch screen that does not elevate out of the dash is nice to see and good to hear the cold does not bother it. The clock and knobs are good to see as well. Bit surprised to see arms (?) being used on the trunk and I am probably out of touch on this subject, but those are probably cheaper than struts. At least they are covered so nothing gets crushed when the trunklid is closed. I swear it looks like the Chrysler is trying to sprout fins. Was not aware of the windshield stalk issue, but that would explain why the family Kia has a one swipe feature.
Finding a used 2015 is rather surprising, but at least the Volvo dealer was not selling it new. Back in 95 W.T Pritchard Dodge had a Caravan/Voyager with ~6,000 miles on it that used by the wife of a sales person and they tried selling it new for around 20 grand; fools
Congratulations! And happy hemi motoring.
I’d totally forgotten that these were available in AWD. If they made a wagon version, it would have been a viable alternative for us.
I’m a bit surprised about these being bought as a rental cars, but I guess it makes sense in snow country.
Yes, I just rented a brand-new (it had three, yes 3! miles on the odometer when I picked it up) 2015 Dodge Charger with AWD when I returned to the east coast for Christmas.
The 300 in general is my absolute favorite car to get when I rent.
Thanks, yes, if they were still available as a wagon and if FCA would reintroduce Lancia over here and then sell it as a Lancia Thema wagon I’d be in seventh heaven…but very pleased as is. This morning I took it up to Wyoming to snowboard with the kids and it was marvelous on the wide open highways up there hitting some speeds that would be heavily frowned upon by the Wyoming State Patrol (that runs the same thing in the Charger format).
I’ve had several of these as rental cars, and it’s a good trip when I can score one. Mine have tended to be V6/RWD versions, though (usually in Seattle or Portland). Very comfortable and enjoyable to drive, even if lacking the V8. Congratulations on your purchase, I may have to consider going that route when it’s time to let go of my own H6 Outback (12 years and counting).
As I’m sure you’re aware, Europe got a wagon version of the 1st-gen 300C, basically a Dodge Magnum body from the b-pillar back with the nose styling of the 300. If it had the Chrysler rather than Dodge interior, it’s a shame they didn’t choose to share in on this side of the Atlantic, given that the Magnum was always a cool concept with a less-than-beautiful “face”.
Also surprised this was a rental, not so much due to the AWD, but due to the Hemi and the general loaded nature of the car. Nice choice!
Looks good! A friend of mine does a 60 mile roundtrip in one of those every weekday and says it’s the best. I’m jealous of the cupholders!
It’s great for gobbling up big distances. If I was a flatlander with a regular longish commute, this car would be great with the V6 and 8speed as well and should be able to hit or at least get close to 30mpg I had two rental cars while looking, a 2014 Grand Cherokee with the 6 and 8speed and then a 2014 Grand Caravan with the same 6 but only a 6speed. The engine was great (grand?) in both but the 8speed really put it over the top in the Jeep, the 6speed in the van was very poorly matched to the engine especially in hilly country or mountains, all in my opinion of course.
The six speed in the vans is indeed poorly matched to the engine. Shift points are horrible, especially in Eco mode. The Pentastar is great so far, tho.
Yes! I had it in Eco mode for the first few days, especially in the mountains it is miserable. Un-Eco it and it is a bit better (at least allows the engine its power) but very bad shift points. I actually felt bad for it at 10,000 feet as it was trying to reach the rev limiter in I what I presume was 4th gear and just screaming. Lots of power though, I had no trouble keeping up with almost everything else. Handled extremely well for a van as well.
Happy motoring days are back again! Congratulations on your most awesome purchase.
The shed is easily dismantled by the way. What’s the towing capacity on that Chrysler?
You know, I believe the book says only 1000 pounds which seems way underrated to me. There is no way that the drivetrain shouldn’t be able to handle well over that.
The Great Towing Conspiracy rages on!
I poo-poo that tow rating. Dodge / Ram / FCA has been putting that engine in all sorts of pickups. Fastest 3/4 ton I ever drove had one. Whatever they say…
Total American Anti-Towing Conspiracy. A bit of Googling in German brings up these towing specs for Europe:
300C 3.0 CRD : 1900 kg = 4180 lbs
300C 5.7 Hemi: 1640 kg = 3608 lbs
I wondered what a more reasonable tow rating would be for these too. Thanks for looking it up Paul. Unfortunately still too low for me, so I’ll have to stick to a p/u truck as my DD.
Excellent choice. I have used a 2007 300C (5.7L Hemi RWD) as my daily driver since 2010 and have been very pleased with it, and yours is improved in every way.
And once again our automotive histories seem to converge, S6, 911, now 300. Weird!
It is quite a remarkable series of coincidences. The only common thread between the cars that I can think of is that each model was sort of in a category of one at the time, and very desirable for that reason.
Very nice… there’s a lot more ‘there’ there than I would have thought. Other than the (lack of) fuel economy, and perhaps in a wagon (as Paul suggested), this would be worth a second look in my book.
Sweet sled! Of the cars you looked at, the Chrysler would have been my choice too. I like big American V-8 sedans and that is a beautiful one!
Congrats, Jim! Nice you went with my choice, too. I shall have to live vicariously through you 😛 Truly a great car!
Congrats! Nothing like buying a car and getting a good deal after a good chase. My Dad’s version was a first year Magnum SW. He has a balance problem, so he has a wheelchair sign to hang on the rearview mirror. When he owned it, he was 80+ years old and used to shock people when they saw him get out of it in one of the blue parking spaces.
Very nice – a tremendous amount of automobile for the price. And you avoided the dial control for the transmission – a feature I did not like on the 2015 model below that I saw at the LA Auto Show. Happy motoring!
I like the dial shifter for the new 8-speed. Too bad it didn’t allow them to get rid of the center console though.
Exactly what I had in mind when I recommended it!
Wow, you sure did look at the whole gamut of car types and styles. Except for the rush, that must have been fun.
After reading your reasoning, I could see myself being the second one to go from Outback to 300 if I wasn’t about to sebd 3 kids to college…
Thank goodness I’m still a few years away from paying for the 3 kids for college! The looking was fun, but the time crunch not so much.
Congrats Jim. Was Ice Cube angry back then?
Haha, his name was O’Shea Jackson back then. I think he and his friends were all angry about enduring a 1.5 hr each way forced bus ride into the San Fernando Valley for the LAUSD integration policy back then. I know I would have been but the policy resulted in very little actual integration within the student body if you know what I mean.
Fair enough. His musical legacy stays strong and his cuss-acting is very funny.
Never understood that forced integration shenanigans since it was never going to work amid LA’s decades of racial issues. Not sure how to improve the sitution either. LAUSD continues to make foolish moves to this day.
Wow, now that is something I never saw coming! The gen1 300 was super-popular here, but gen 2 isn’t as popular – probably because we have a very limited range versus gen1. We now only get the 300S 3.6 V6 and the SRT8. Gen1’s diesel engine and wagon bodies are sorely missed.
Anyway, congrats on your purchase and all the best for years of happy motoring!
On the ringing ears, back in 1985 I shot a .357 Mag a single time without ear protection. I can hear my left ear ringing as I type this (that ear was closer to the muzzle). I really only hear the ringing if I listen for it, although its always there.
I’ve wondered if air bags were loud enough to cause hearing damage, & now I know.
Hopefully your ringing will go away – what does the MD say?
The general consensus is that it gets better over time and is preferable to total hearing loss…
Airbags are a major cause these days as they are extremely loud especially as the quantity per car has increased in recent years. But again, it is a lesser evil than the potential alternative.
Did MD give you any treatment, I have heard of using predinsone or other meds immediately after the incident.
Mine never really got better or worse since it happened 30 years ago when I was a teenager.
From a one-time event, it usually does get better. In fact most cases of tinnitis is temporary to one degree or another. Me? I have chronic and acute tinnitus 24/7…and it’s only gotten worse over the last ten years. Major bummer.
I can’t drive (or fly) more than an hour without my Bose noise cancelling headphones. Road noise is particularly bad for me. Long road trips have lost their appeal, sadly.
Jim, it’s one of the main reasons I had to turn down your offer last fall to ride with you in the 911.
Ooh, that’s terrible, I did not know that. No problem on the ride, you’d never met me before, I could have turned out to be the most boring person on the planet for all you knew…last thing you’d want is to be stuck in a small car for 1200 miles no matter how fast they went by 🙂
That’s the part I regret; you’re obviously anything but boring.
Maybe a set of headsets and mikes like pilots or motorcycle riders use? 🙂
About 5 years ago I bought a set of custom-fit ear plugs. There were 3 levels of sound dampening available. I bought the highest level of protection, the red ones in this case. The plugs filter the “bad noises”, yet you can still hear the people talking who are next to or in front of you. Not very loud and clear of course, but I can hear and understand what they are saying.
They fit perfectly. Evidently, otherwise they wouldn’t be custom-fit…
And Jim, enjoy your new car !
Looks like I was unlucky, that is the only shot I ever took without hearing protection, and 30 year later my ear’s still ringing. I also find that my ear will ring worse after a long road trip from the road noise.
In fact, that’s my biggest complaint about my 2011 Accord: road noise. I use ear plugs on long drives. Of course, this probably slightly reduces my awareness car horns or odd sounds coming from my car.
Nice choice Jim, I did not see this one coming! While I totally hated the 2005-2010 300 for its cartoonish looks and bargain basement interior, I like the current generation 300 a great deal, probably even more so because the improvement in refinement is so great over the old model. Glad you got the Hemi V8. The Pentastar V6 is a good engine, but in the 300 you really have to get the Hemi. Happy Hemi-ing!
That’s too bad about the Acura TL though. The TLs are really underrated cars. The one you looked at is Basque Red Pearl, one of my favorite Acura shades.
Interestingly, one of the colors available on the current Accord is “Basque Red Pearl II” I did a double take when I saw that. It is a very attractive shade. The TL is extremely underrated, the engine is a peach and the infotainment system is spectacular compared to what is usual today, never mind five years ago. The somewhat controversial looks totally overshadow what is underneath. The prices are also very attractive for what is a very reliable and long lasting car.
I remember looking closely at the original 300C at the Detroit Auto Show around 2004 or 2005 and really liking it, especially with the tortoise shell interior trim. The rest of the interior was not as impressive from a materials standpoint though. I’ve always liked the idea of it in the back of my mind. The 2nd generation was always “there” but never really stood out to me, it kind of stays in the background of the typical street scene. A closer look last month is what really drew me in, I found it to be a tremendous value and a lot better than I expected. It is amazingly quiet and refined at speed and the interior materials look and feel good but also appear to be quite durable. The whole line is good and should appeal to different sorts of people, I’m a bit surprised that the Charger outsells it about 2 to 1, maybe because it starts a bit lower (?)
My wife’s car was a 08 300 until recently. Unfortunately it suffered the same fate back in Sept that your Outback did. I’m just glad no one was in it. The only trouble we had with it was a bad battery right after we bought it and that was fixed under the warranty.
Hope you enjoy your 300 as much as we did ours.
BTW, we bought an Audi this time around. It’s a great road car.
Congrats on the purchase. So much car purchase drama, between yours and Cavanaugh’s Miata.
re the Acura dealer not budging on the price, I had the same experience when I was looking at an RSX a number of years ago. I was ready to buy. Showed him I brought my checkbook. I offered $1K below the price he had it tagged at, the tagged price being a couple thousand off sticker as the RSX was discontinued and he still had this 06 on the lot in Feb 07. He said no, refused to budge a nickel. I climbed back into my winter beater and mosied off. Gave him a week to come to his senses, but he never called back, so I went to the bank and put the money back into a CD.
I bought a 2014 Charger RT just three months ago. I like the engine and styling, but could live without the keyless entry/start, uConnect touchscreen, and spoiler.
My final choices were between the Dodge, a used Genesis Sedan R-spec, and a pristine ’78 Cadillac Sedan de Ville. The Taurus SHO would have been in contention if the center console wasn’t so intrusive.
I guess time will tell if I made the right call.
Very sweet, I would’ve liked any one of the cars on your list and have always loved the 300C. When the LX cars first came out, I thought it was a sure sign that Detroit would soon enter a new RWD renaissance phase and I still hope that happens someday. Not every single car, but at least a few more than we have now.
If I ever get a 300, it would have to be all black, Heisenberg-style:
Congratulations! I think you made a good choice.
I never really warmed-up to the previous gen 300 but I think they fixed the car’s looks with the refresh. I love the floating bars in the grille, and am disappointed that they changed it for 2015.
Apparently that was the biggest complaint about the 2nd generation (the smaller front grille) and the reason it is so much larger again for 2015. The Chrysler logo floats within it this time around.
Congrats on the new car. I am sure you will enjoy it. I was surprised about the 5 speed auto. That is a bit outdated for a powertrain in 2014. I had a 5 speed auto trans in my 2006 Sonata. Though I suppose it is better then at Toyota where they are partying like it is 1993 with their offering of a 4 speed auto transmission in the 2014 Corolla.
I’m surprised by the latter as well. It appears that the four-speed is only used on the base U.S.-market L model; everything else has a CVT. (There’s supposedly a six-speed manual offered somewhere, but while Toyota’s website mentions it, it’s listed as not being available on any model, at least in Southern California.) The CVT has better EPA mileage ratings, so I assume the four-speed is just cheaper.
Interesting choice and quite a contrast with the Outback.
I guess a fair amount of the 40% depreciation is linked to the high spec and number of options on the car.
The last 3 cars I’ve bought have been Ford approved, which resell ex-lease and hire cars through Ford with a good warranty. Given the number of cars available, you can spec the colour, model, engine and options pretty well, and get a current model OEM warranty covered car of your choice with 8-10K miles for around 70% of list price. Almost the new car experience without the depreciation. My current Fiesta was actually previously owned by Ford UK in the staff scheme and was 8 months old and 2300 miles, and spec’d just how I wanted in, with a range of factory options.
If you’d only waited a tad longer Jim…
http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/melbourne-wife-gets-revenge-on-cheating-husband-by-selling-his-porsche-for-20000/story-fnjwnhzf-1227182531211
What? Not an SRT? Kidding.
Great choice, like some others, I had guessed that you would pick something else. It sounds like you found a really nice one. Enjoy!
And has the world somehow gone into a strange wobble? I have a red sports car and you are driving a V8 Chrysler sedan. 🙂
“There is a grave disturbance in the force…” A friend said something to me about about having become “of a certain age”. Your purchase could be explained the same way 🙂 But seriously, I give a lot of credit to this site, while I like most cars, there are many that I really would not have looked at twice before I started coming here. I was slowly eyeing (and appreciating) an early ’80’s Caprice in a restaurant parking lot the other day for example. Still, you at least have a Honda and a Kia as well, and I’ve had a fairly wide variety. Shafer on the other hand has made a complete switch with his turbo-Passat from his historical norms…
Mr. Klein,
A big congratulations to you on the purchase of the 300 – I find it to be a big, classy sedan that you can use as the family car for many years. Plus, I hope that you can teach your kids to drive on it when they reach driving age.
And Mr. Cavanaugh – I hope you don’t mind me asking you this but – do you still have the ’93 Crown Victoria, and if so are you planning to sell it at some point later this year? The reason I’m asking is because I recently got into a Panther phase – after finding an old picture of my mom’s old ’85 Grand Marquis, I thought to myself, a nice Panther would be quite a change from the Volvos I’ve been driving for many years. I looked at two Crown Vics yesterday but had to pass as they both needed a fair amount of work. Is your Crown Vic running alright, and/or have you had to have the engine or transmission rebuilt yet?
Congratulations!
Every time you floor your Hemi, a terrorist dies. It is your civic duty to mash the gas whenever you have the opportunity.
That’s pretty tasteless and unnecessary.
Sheesh…tough crowd. I’ll be sure to burn my computer so Kim Jong Un will not know I watched the interview.
Did Honda dispense with the leather seats in the 2015 Accord Sport? The leather was an option on the 2014 Honda Accord Sport.
My next door neighbor daughter and son in law bought a brand new 2014 Honda Accord Sport in July 2014 and it came with heated leather seats, sunroof, sport badge in the back and dual exhaust. It had just come off the truck when it was bought so there was no outside upholstery work done to it at the dealer.
Congratulations on your new 300 Mr. Klein. I’m a bit jeleous as I have wanted a 300 since I first got a good look at one last summer. My preferred 300 is an S with an 8 speed and loaded the same as yours. They are hard to find in this spec in eastern Canada but there are few just like yours at my local dealer. Hopefully in the next few months my wife and I will be looking at a newish car and I’ll be on the hunt for my 300s. Happy motoring with your new 300.
Congrats and enjoy your new 300 – such a great car!
Re Dodge Ram: A few years ago, Dodge introduced coil springs in the rear on their 1500 models. Made a lot of noise about being the first pickup to do so. Evidendently they forgot the 1960s vintage Chevrolet pickup had coil springs in the rear. The coil springs were smooth riding when truck was empty or running light but I recall tended to wallow side-to-side a little when loaded.
Re Ford F-150: I understand the 2015 model will feature aluminum body exclusively. It will be interesting to see how body repairs and estimate cost will be.
I still think the 300 looks like a gangsta car, especially in black. All you need is dress up like the Blues Brothers to complete the picture. But it’s a cool car.
Great choice and beautiful car Jim! I’m not a big fan of American cars, but the 300 has it going for it in spades. As an Outback owner, I’d look that way if I needed a sedan.
Well done.
I have the same 2014 300C model, mine is black. I noticed a nice feature – if you have the rear sunshade up, and if you shift into reverse, the shade automatically retracts to permit full viewage out the back window. I love this car!
One year??
Maybe it was the weight,,,, how much?
I’m pushing 220 or so….oh, you meant the car? Around 4500lbs from what I can find, with the V8 and AWD with the panoramic glass roof it has to be the heaviest version. But while there was certainly “ground-hugging weight” it felt lithe enough with that engine and the traction. Certainly not ponderous.
Jim: I am surprised that you were so satisfied with the Chrysler but not that there is a wagon or the like in your future.
It is a shame that the Dodge Magnum was abandoned by Chrysler; one equipped like your Chrysler could have been the next step.
I like a wagon too and I am currently intrigued (but not enchanted) by the Opel Intrigue/Buick Regal TourX. It has only half the cylinders, cheap plastics inside, a leather interior only in the top of the line and GM offers no rebates on the car (yet). But – it has lots of legroom, lots of style and lots of length. It looks good.
Great article, but I was a bit disappointed to read at the end that the Chrysler was not a keeper. Just to be nosy, why would you take the number plates? Does the number go with the owner and not with the vehicle?
Yep. In American the plate belongs to the driver, not the car.
And it’s very easy to design vanity plates. My van is SYKE. Maggie’s Dart is NO ANGEL. The motorcycles are SYKE 1 thru SYKE 3.
Not here in the burned to a “Golden (crisp) State” of California. Plates stay with the car. Forever. Amen.
And old plates never need be replaced with new ones like other states do. So as long as a car has been continually registered it might have the original plates on it. Not unusual to see black/gold and blue/gold plates around these parts. It’s a selling point in many cases to have the original plates still on the car.
Unless you buy vanity plates, which we, in possibly the best bureaucratic feat of linguistic legerdemain this side of Washington DC, call “environmental licence plates”. Those you can keep and take to your next car, provided you pay the $43 reassignment fee and the $43 annual fee to keep the plate. (Fee varies depending on the exact plate you get) That’s on top of the regular annual registration fee, which, for laughs, was $128 this year for my 88 year old mamas 2000 Ford Taurus. Oh and she had to get a smog check, that was $47 bucks as well.
$175 bucks to register an 18 year old Ford. California: nice work if you can get it.
In Colorado you take them off the car. If you use them on the next car any unused portion of the registration fee is applied to that which is nice. You have twelve months to use the plates again, after that you are forced to buy new ones and the old ones end up in the garage.
if you look back at my COALs from when we moved to CO the same two plates show up over and over. The Porsche added a third set and now we just added another set (5th) last year. The set that were on the Chrysler (4th) you’ll see again this Sunday. One of the original sets was on the Subaru and too mangled to reuse so that’s the end of the line there and the set that ended up on the Mercedes is on the shelf waiting for me to buy something by February but who knows if that will happen…
In the earlier article about the 2000 Buick LeSabre I enquired about the American obsession with cup holders as it bewilders Europeans, and there were some interesting and funny comments in response
but now I think we have just seen the ultimate in cup holder technology in the Chrysler with its heated and cooled cup holders.
Petrol at $1.59 per US gallon did I read that right ? In the UK we pay £1.279 (Shell) for a litre, so the UK gallon = £5.81 which at the current exchange rate is $7.63 and the US gallon would cost £4.84 unless I have my conversion wrong somewhere
Bring on the cupholders!! My single cab/two door pickup has 7 cupholders for my wife and meselfs personal cupholding needs. And we regularly fill them all. Sunglasses, phone, water, soda, Burger King French fries in that perfectly shaped cupholder box, yup, we run out of empty places to put all the cup shaped things.
Yes at the time of the original post it was $1.59. Today at the same pump it’s about $2.55. Colorado has relatively good prices, California in general is at least a dollar more per gallon. U.S. gallon is about 3.8l. BTW why don’t we say the Hemi engine is gallon and a half sized engine?
You’re right. Apparently, the AWD system doesn’t fit into the LX cars when equipped with the 8-speed and the HEMI, so 2014 (with its 5-speed) was the last year for an AWD V8.
I myself just bought a 2015 Grand Cherokee Overland. It’s just RWD–I live in the South–but I like it. And the Uconnect 8.4″ system is awesome. The revamped-for-2018 system is even better. This is my first Chrysler vehicle ever, and so far I’m impressed. It feels like the M/GLE-Class with which it shares a platform, but for a lot less money.
Yep, that’s a nice rig, congrats! I assume the Pentastar with the 8speed? Excellent combo. (Or the V8?). The UConnect 8.4 is excellent compared to many (most? all?) of the others, extremely simple, no learning curve whatsoever.