On our trip west for sight seeing and the ROA national meet, we flew to Vegas and rented a luxury car since were would be driving around 2000 miles. Rental add stated Cadillac STS or equivalent. We know how that works but hoped if we were persistent we could get a Cadillac. Despite the lot attendant trying affiliated companies all they could get was a Chrysler 300. Being 110 degrees and tired waiting we accepted it. Attendant said its nice, same as Cadillac. We knew not true but stayed optimistic it would surprise us. Let me preface by saying I know much of this is personal preference so I am not discrediting anyone who has one and is happy. Just our "personal" review after driving 1800 miles in all sorts of road conditions. I'll start with the 2 positives we had. Car was very quiet on the road and it did not breakdown. Steering - It was so sensitive it was dangerous. Wife kept saying can't you keep this thing straight. Finally I let her drive to see if she could do better. That lasted about 75 miles. You had to hold the wheel with 2 hands and concentrate fully as the tiniest movement of wheel would send the car one way or other. Great for oval track racing but horrible for a daily driver especially on mountain roads with no guardrail and small berm death drops. Brakes - again super sensitive. Wife said can't you brake this thing without jerking the car. I said here you try it. We take into account many cars brakes are different and often just takes getting used it. After 1800 miles it was no better so maybe it would take longer. Anything except the lightest calculated touch resulted in jerky the car. As I was driving I realized the speedometer was suddenly registering in KMH. Had no idea how that happened. Started hitting buttons on the steering wheel and found a very prominent button easy to bump while driving is what changed it. Can't figure what that is necessary on steering wheel. Since we don't own a car with a built in navigation and entertainment screen we have nothing to compare to but the touch screen was so sensitive if you accidentally touched an area with a knuckle or brush-by it would change screen then left fumbling trying to figure out how to get back. There were icons all over around the perimeter so this was easy to do. Maybe this is just how they all are but we'll keep the old school simple controls. Too distracting to use unless stopped. Seat comfort - Best thing is they are air cooled beyond that HORRIBLE comfort for a luxury car. Hard to believe I'm saying this but seats in our 07 Subaru Forester are more comfortable and seats in our 2006 Ford dump truck are LIGHT YEARS years ahead in comfort. Just expected a luxury car to be high comfort for long hours in the cockpit. The doors didn't have quite enough stay-open holding detent and would not stay open if the car was on a slight slope. Can't imagine someone with kids or the elderly dealing with this without getting whacked. Poor Visibility. The long sloping angle of the WIDE A-pillars blocked a considerable view of traffic while approaching and stopped at intersections. Short height side glass and low seat height combination may look stylish but kills visibility. At 55 y/o with all the texting or drugged-up kooks on road, I'll take better visibility over styling any day.
I have noticed many cars today do not go straight. It is a constant series of over corrections. I am tired of the new generation of vehicles. I don't need a nanny car dinging at me for everything; to tell me I have a lamp out somewhere or a tire low, or change the oil somewhere, or the washer fluid or coolant is low or a door is ajar or my fuel mileage is not where they think it should be. The transmission spends more time trying to find a gear then moving the vehicle forward. Had a seat belt re-tractor switch go bad on my 06 Lincoln Town Car and it dinged 25 times every 30 minutes from Houston TX to Gainesville FL. Then it costs $2500 to replace both front re-tractors and their computer at the Lincoln dealer. So now the only thing not electronic on vehicles today is the hydraulic braking system and the engine. You can have these electronic nightmares, I am going back to older cars that were easier to drive and do not babysit you. Mikey
I have bad news for you. The brakes are controlled electronically by the ABS sensors and pump! The engine is just barely mechanical now, controlled by the BCM, ECM or whatever the heck it's called these days! Just messing around, but I agree with you whole-heartedly. I have many co-workers that want to "drive" the cars with the self-drive options. No way!
The poor visibility started with the cab forward design and the push for more aerodynamic styling. Wide A pillars are more for structural support and really make big blind spots. We had a newer Focus. that car was so closed in it was claustrophobic feeling. on top of all the blind spots was the windshield was at such an angle that it reflected the dash into your vision and was really hard to see out day or night. We replaced it with a Fusion. It has similar issues but not as bad and no reflection problems.Im with Mikey. I'll take my 50 yr old POS any day of the week. However 50 MPG is hard to beat.
I wonder if Chrysler has done something with tires or alignment specs? The Dodge Magnum and Charger share the 300 platform; we have had three Magnums and they all track straight and have no sensitivity problems. Two of the Magnums have/had Michelins, my daily driver Magnum has Dunlops.
The steering is electric assist and is adjustable from touring to sport. sounds like somebody had it in performance mode before you got it.
Just another NEW car that needs the alignment done correctly after being build. But, that won't fix the other issues.
[QUOTE="Briz, post: 2700317, member: 26943"Im with Mikey. I'll take my 50 yr old POS any day of the week. However 50 MPG is hard to beat.[/QUOTE] Show me one 50 MPG car you "want" to drive? Plus how far do I have to drive it to catch up to the 91 Lincoln Mark VII (paid $3800) daily driver that gets 19 city and is unique, tomb quiet, recliner comfortable, handles like a sports car and has a 5.0 GT drive line. Not the fastest car out there but the best highway cruiser I've ever owned. Rock stable and dead straight at 80-90-100 mph, no drifting around or pushed around by wind. Cheapest insurance, no collision, easy to fix and tune. Haven't spent $1.00 on repairs in the three years I've owned it, just maintenance. I've owned three of these things in the last 27 years and never had a pneumatic suspension issue or anti-lock issue or power-master issue. You do not want to change the evaporator or heater coil though as you have to dismantle the interior. Just saying I can't only own some car where you see three at every red light. I must have something not boring as it is not just transportation for me. Mikey
Show me one 50 MPG car you "want" to drive? Plus how far do I have to drive it to catch up to the 91 Lincoln Mark VII (paid $3800) daily driver that gets 19 city and is unique, tomb quiet, recliner comfortable, handles like a sports car and has a 5.0 GT drive line. Not the fastest car out there but the best highway cruiser I've ever owned. Rock stable and dead straight at 80-90-100 mph, no drifting around or pushed around by wind. Cheapest insurance, no collision, easy to fix and tune. Haven't spent $1.00 on repairs in the three years I've owned it, just maintenance. I've owned three of these things in the last 27 years and never had a pneumatic suspension issue or anti-lock issue or power-master issue. You do not want to change the evaporator or heater coil though as you have to dismantle the interior. Just saying I can't only own some car where you see three at every red light. I must have something not boring as it is not just transportation for me. Mikey[/QUOTE] Its the wifes car. she likes it and thats good enough for me. if I got a cross country trip to take Id take that Ford before the Riv anyday.
Funny. I love the new stuff. I have an old car that runs fine, but I wouldn't trade it for my new truck as a DD. To each their own.
Had no such issues when driving the 2016 Dodge Charger 3500 miles around the Pacific Northwest 12 months ago. That was a great car. Not been in a 300C though.
I bought a 15 Charger Hemi R/T with Road and Track pack a year ago, first Dodge I have ever owned, was skeptical but bought it as a leftover for a ridiculous price. I have been pleasantly surprised thus far with build quality, performance and technology. The suede and leather seats are a bit firmer than I like and the 8 speed trans hunts a bit at very low speed, but I have gotten used to it, other than that the car tracks straight at all speeds with no problem, and will break your neck if you punch the go pedal. With the cruise on at 75 I can get 27 MPG's which I think is pretty good. Had a Buick LaCross that had all sorts of electrical gremlins and with a 3.5 V6 never got better than 23 MPG's.
I don't have a dog in this fight, but I gotta give the Mopar folks a pat on the back. Our 2012 Chrysler minivan has run great for 82,000 miles. Recently we have been getting an intermittent "check engine" light. The car has run just fine, but we finally decided to take it to the dealer for a checkout. The dealer was Naples Chrysler,Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and whatever in Naples, FL. They diagnosed the problem as a cracked left (front, actually) cylinder head, and that the head would be replaced on warranty at no charge. They also gave the bride a new loaner Dodge Journey for the three days that they had the van. The only thing that they asked was for us to bring the Journey back with the same amount of gas that it left with. This is reasonable. The van was done when promised, the people couldn't have been nicer, and when I got home my flashlight and I were under the hood inspecting. They did replace the head, there were no fingerprints, everything was tight and where it belonged. A job well done.
I have a 2016 ScatPack Challenger with the A8 and I have no complaints .. for a 4200 lb car its very agile and very quick. it does ride a bit firm but that's the performance suspension, I didn't feel like spending an extra 10 grand to get the 3 way adjustable shocks and flat bottom steering wheel that come on the SRT.
I'm with ya on driving the new stuff. Thought the older cars were just fine till we started driving our "kids" new mid level vehicles, we got back into our car . Never driven your rental vehicle.
I've had two service loaners of the 16 and 17 variety and would very much prefer the car in for service vs the loaner. Was was an 04 for airbag recall. Nothing intuitive, everything integrated. Playing the radio was a major pita.
