Consumer Reports (300C)

I remember not too long ago that CR didn't rate the 300C too well but they
liked the 3.5. What didn't they like about the Hemi? Is it just the gas
mileage or is there issues with the Hemi?

Ken

 

It's not made by Honda or Toyota.

 

Unfortunately, you're probably dead accurate.
No one buys a Hemi for the fuel economy, but
I've heard nothing but praise for its MDS and
overall quality. Just ignore what C/R says.

But maybe I'm just biased...

Thanks,

Scott Moseman
http://www.TheHEMI.com/

 

They liked the acceleration but not the gas mileage. But frequency of
repair for hemi equipped has been bad. 3.5 is more reliable according to
their survey. Of course, one mistake at the factory in the first year of
the hemi or its 5 speed AT could have made reliability look bad in their
survey.

 

They're communists. Consumerism is a philosophy. A world-view, if you will.
The Hemi is too.... bourgeoisie. I'm sure you've seen enough to realize they
have an agenda.

 

Art,

Specifically, what repairs is the Hemi requiring?

Ken

--
"Now Phoebe Snow direct can go
from thirty-third to Buffalo.
From Broadway bright the tubes run right
Into the Road of Anthracite"
Erie - Lackawanna

 

I'm starting to see it. I've noticed that very few foreign vehicles that
don't make their list.

They also complain about SUVs being "thirsty" Gee, no kidding.

Ken

 

No, Consumer Distorts is biased.

 

I remember seeing the specifics but don't remember where I saw them. You
might look up TSB's and alldata.com if you can still get to them for free.

 

True but I just replaced my Avalon with a Honda minivan and remarkably the
minivan gets about as good mileage as my 99 300M which matches Consumer
Reports mileage figures. They claim that the Chrysler minivan does about
15% worse and I would tend to believe them based on my experience.

 

Okay - Thanks.

Ken

--
"Now Phoebe Snow direct can go
from thirty-third to Buffalo.
From Broadway bright the tubes run right
Into the Road of Anthracite"
Erie - Lackawanna

 

I did (dare I say) look at the Avalon. It does offer a lot of car for the
money but I just don't like the styling of it. I know it's a personal
preference so I hope I haven't offended anyone.

The C offers a DVD entertainment system which for us is great for those long
trips.

I have also considered or looked at the Cadillac STS, Pacifica,Maxima, Acura
TL, Audi S6, Lexus ES330 and Dodge Daytona. Yea, I know. I'm all over the
board. I do like that Top Banana Daytona Charger but I wonder how long
something like that would last without getting stolen.

I think of all of the vehicles I mentioned, the Pacifica has everything I
want in a vehicle but I've heard about how the 3.5 struggles with the extra
weight the Pacifica has over the M.

On a personal note: Did you find back support an issue on the M?

Ken

 

This Chrysler Aspen looks nice. I wonder when it will hit showrooms?

 

My wife and I liked the 300M and had no trouble with the seats. I found the
seats more comfortable than in 2001 Avalon which were just too hard for my
body. My favorite seats were in the 94 LHS. Should have kept the back seat
and made it into a living room couch.


I looked at the Pacifica and Charger. While deciding my father had to give
up driving and I needed a car that I could transport his power chair a
couple of times a week. I ended up with the Honda minivan and it sure seems
like a bargain compared to the Pacifica. After experiencing the power
sliding doors, I don't know how SUV's caught on with families with kids.
They work great for elderly parents. We rented a Caravan in Florida for a
week before deciding on the Honda. Unfortunately the Chrysler just doesn't
measure up. It is a good van but they have a ridiculous price on it so they
can advertise a rebate. And the Honda rides and handles better and gets
better mileage. The only negative to the Honda is back seatbelts a bit
difficult to put on and for some reason, Honda thinks that the informational
displays like outdoor temperature should be only readable by the driver.

 

The other thing that bothered me about the Pacifica is those rusting
suspension parts. Why the heck can't they paint them?

 

Just how long do you think paint would last on suspension parts?


Matt

 

Obviously other manufacturers have a solution to prevent rusting
suspensions. Show me another SUV with the same problem.

 

It may be chemical treatments/coatings that are put on the parts. For
example, I know that DC brake rotors (at least on the LH cars) rust like
crazy - yet you look at a Toyota (or other) brake rotor that is 5 years
old, and not a spec of rust on the rotors.

My understanding is that that the difference is that there is a coating
called Dacromet™ (sounds similar to di-chromate - not the same thing -
this is Dacromet™, spelled correctly - a trade name - probably there are
other companies' similar trademarked product/process names also) that
Toyota and some other car companies use on the rotors that pretty much
stops rust totally. Perhaps that or similar coatings are used on the
suspension parts on Toyotas, etc.

I think it's a matter of the modern business/MBA philosophy that "...if
it doesn't prevent the vehicle from lasting the required 'x' years, then
what the customer doesn't know won't hurt them, and we're just hurting
our bottom line to go to the extra expense of adding such things. Even
if it makes a better product, but the customer doesn't know it, we
consider that 'no-value-added'" (in MBA-think) even if over the long run
it truly adds value (i.e., in MBA-think, adding value is not the same
thing as value added™).

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my

 

Every vehicle I've seen, other than Corvettes and a few others with
composite or aluminum suspension parts have rust. My 94 K1500 is rusted
stem to stern.


Matt

 

Haven't you ever looked under a car? Some of the high-sitting SUVs have
comsmetic black paint on the suspension now, just because its so
visible. But look under most any typical car or truck with stamped-steel
suspension components from the past 50 years. Bare metal. No problems.
Its purely a cosmetic issue in the ones that do get painted, and I'd
call it "poor design" for letting the suspension hang out and be so
visible (eg Aztek, Rendesvous, and some mid-90s Cadillac sedans).