New car?

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   / New car? #1  

dodge man

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Kind of off subject, but I'm looking for suggestions for a new car. We currently have a Chrysler 300C, about 60,000 miles on it and are thinking of trading for a new or low mileage used car. We like the car buts its devoloping a lot of rattles, partly due to the paved but rough rodes we live on out in the country.

Yesterday, we drove a 2006 300C SRT8. I kind of wanted to drive it for the heck of it, but the wife didn't like it, it rode a little rougher then her current car and she didn't like the sport bucket seats. I loved it, wicked fast, but its her car so its out. It had 9000 miles on it and they wanted $28k. It seemed very resonable since it was probably a $40,000 car new.

We also drove a Cadillac CTS. 2009, 3200 miles, 40k. We really wanted to like it, but it was a little smaller than our 300C, noticable less power, and just didn't impress us. Rode great, very quiet, but just didn't stack up against our current car.

We also drove a 2009 Challenger RT, 12,000 miles, 32k. This put a smile on my wifes face, but I think its too sporty for her, and we have a 12 year old daughter, and 15 year old son. The kids would love it, but my wife it worried about them climbing in the back seat. I think her biggest dislike is it just doesn't fit the image she wants, she said it will make her look like she is having a mid life crisis. I was impressed with the ride, firm but good, the power was great, and the trunk was huge.

We have also been looking at new 300C's, but the price has climbed. We got our car for 30k in 2005. It seems like the same car today is 40k. The only real difference is side airbags are on them now. I'm also afraid it will end up with the same rattles our current one has after a few years.

I guess we are looking for a larger midsized sedan leaning more on the luxary side. Any suggestions? My wife is pretty pick when it comes to the stuff, even going out of her way to get the exact color she wants.
 
   / New car? #2  
Take a look at Lincoln. They are very highly rated, in the top 5 for customer satisfaction.

The company I work for dumped all of our Caddys and GM product last year after we got $.20 on the dollar from ***** and his boys for products we had delivered prior to the bankruptcy. The got Lincolns for all of our company cars. The execs really squalled because they loved the Caddys, both cars and SUV's. Now they are all in love with the Lincolns. I would say 30% have bought a second one, at a great deal due to the relationship through our company, for the husband or wife. These are guys and gals who could buy anything. Most have BMW's, Audi's, Mercedes, ect. but have grown to love the Lincolns. Trust me they are hard to please, I fly them every day.:thumbsup:


Chris
 
   / New car? #3  
Kind of off subject, but I'm looking for suggestions for a new car. We currently have a Chrysler 300C, about 60,000 miles on it and are thinking of trading for a new or low mileage used car. We like the car buts its devoloping a lot of rattles, partly due to the paved but rough rodes we live on out in the country.

Yesterday, we drove a 2006 300C SRT8. I kind of wanted to drive it for the heck of it, but the wife didn't like it, it rode a little rougher then her current car and she didn't like the sport bucket seats. I loved it, wicked fast, but its her car so its out. It had 9000 miles on it and they wanted $28k. It seemed very resonable since it was probably a $40,000 car new.

We also drove a Cadillac CTS. 2009, 3200 miles, 40k. We really wanted to like it, but it was a little smaller than our 300C, noticable less power, and just didn't impress us. Rode great, very quiet, but just didn't stack up against our current car.

We also drove a 2009 Challenger RT, 12,000 miles, 32k. This put a smile on my wifes face, but I think its too sporty for her, and we have a 12 year old daughter, and 15 year old son. The kids would love it, but my wife it worried about them climbing in the back seat. I think her biggest dislike is it just doesn't fit the image she wants, she said it will make her look like she is having a mid life crisis. I was impressed with the ride, firm but good, the power was great, and the trunk was huge.

We have also been looking at new 300C's, but the price has climbed. We got our car for 30k in 2005. It seems like the same car today is 40k. The only real difference is side airbags are on them now. I'm also afraid it will end up with the same rattles our current one has after a few years.

I guess we are looking for a larger midsized sedan leaning more on the luxary side. Any suggestions? My wife is pretty pick when it comes to the stuff, even going out of her way to get the exact color she wants.
My wife has a new Ford Taurus SHO and it is the best of both worlds...stupid fast (I have a '69 Mach 1 SCJ, I know fast) V6, great sporty, but not too firm ride, lots of room, good gas mileage, we are very impressed with it.
 
   / New car? #4  
My wife has a new Ford Taurus SHO and it is the best of both worlds...stupid fast (I have a '69 Mach 1 SCJ, I know fast) V6, great sporty, but not too firm ride, lots of room, good gas mileage, we are very impressed with it.

+1 :thumbsup:
 
   / New car? #5  
Just start looking at other cars till the sedate mid aged one comes home with you.:D

Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen

and off course, the short bed 4x4 four door PU's.:D
 
   / New car?
  • Thread Starter
#7  
I've thought about the Lincolns. Sorry, the Tarus SHO doesn't do it for us, but I've, read good things about it. The Mercedes and BMW's are a little out of our price range I think.
 
   / New car? #8  
The Chrysler 300's underpinnings (suspension, transmission, etc...) are directly sourced right from Mercedes and it's basically an E-class underneath. If you are going down roads rough enough to make that suspension rattle in 60k miles then any of the others will be worse in even less mileage. Especially a car like the Lincoln Town Car / Mercury Grand Marquis, that car has been pretty much unchanged since the mid-90's and it shows. Look at any comparison test by Motor Trend, Auto Week, Automobile, etc... and the Lincoln/Mercury is typically in last place with the Chrysler or Buick in first.

Also, was your 300C AWD or RWD? The AWD version like many others tend to be harder on suspensions and have stiffer setups from the factory. The Chrysler 300C is the leader of the full-size sedan class, I bet the others will leave you even more disappointed. Find out what is rattling which is most likely bushings and end links and replace them with aftermarket MOOG parts. They will last longer and give a better ride.

That Ford Taurus SHO looks impressive! I bet it certainly has a huge fun factor but still too new to know it's reliability. If you don't need such a large car, the Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan is receiving high marks from testers and available in AWD.
 
   / New car? #9  
I should clarify. When I was talking Lincoln there is not 1 Town Car of the 60 plus our execs have. They are all the new stuff like the MKS, MKX, MKZ, MKT, and a few Navigators.

I agree the Town Car is really showing its age but the new stuff rivals anything BMW or Mercedes is making at a much better price point. The Navigator is starting to show its age a little also.

As for the Mercury's I have personally, well my wife, owned a 2004 Mountaineer and a 2006 Milan. Both were great vehicles. The Mountaineer was ordered the way we wanted it with the 4.6V8, all wheel drive, 3.73 gears, ect. It had 68,000 miles when we traded it on the Milan and the tires still had half the tread. Only thing I did to that truck was front brakes, oil changes, and took it in for a recall on the back hatch. It averaged 18mpg and towed 5,000# to 7,000# about 10 times or 1,500 miles. Not much but did get some work duty. Mainly my tractor and my Dads Corvette and did a great job. The Milan we leased for 30,000 miles and turned in at the end. Zero issues with it and the all wheel drive was amazing. She took that car through snowy roads my 4x4 Diesel F-350 with factory tires I would have had trouble with.

Chris
 
   / New car? #10  
We have had two Toyota Highlanders. When the first one got to 100k miles I wanted my wife to get a new car because she drives a lot alone and I don't want her to have car trouble.

First one now has 120k miles and I drive it whenever I want better mileage than my truck. No problems.

Second one is 65k miles and again no problems. We have AWD on that one and it just keeps going. The accelerator issues are greatly overblown.

If you want a sedan, I would look long and hard at the Avalon and Camry. Maybe not exciting, but no surprises either.
 
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