Fullsize Sedan

[recursive_action]

Anything that has an MSRP of 29k is going to be 32k+ once you get it off the dealership's lot.

You must be the worst haggler in history.

[crazzy88ss]

Well first off, i'm 20 and have never bought a car.

Second, my parents only buy volvos/BMWs, cars which you can't really haggle with because they're quality cars and don't sit around on the lot too long.

If the MSRP is 30k, add options unless you want a bare bones car. Options on BMW/volvos take it easily into the $35k range. Knock 2-3 grand off it, and there's the $32k I mentioned.

[MR_Candyman]

Well first off, i'm 20 and have never bought a car.

Second, my parents only buy volvos/BMWs, cars which you can't really haggle with because they're quality cars and don't sit around on the lot too long.

If the MSRP is 30k, add options unless you want a bare bones car. Options on BMW/volvos take it easily into the $35k range. Knock 2-3 grand off it, and there's the $32k I mentioned.

The MSRP is the final price set by the manufacturer AFTER options. Unless you get dealer installed options then that IS the final price before you haggle it down a bit.

[darkz]

i would get a used bmw7

[Sedriss]

Pick up a Chrysler 300 or Dodge Charger with the 3.5 v6 in it. Gets good gas mileage, plus.... you have a lifetime warranty on the powertrain.

[Blues]

The hunt is over

They went with the 300c

Which ironically was the 1st thing I suggested, before I got the criteria

eh.. on the upside ill prolly be getting a used Magnum by the end of the year. Nothing special, just something sporty, roomy and with low insurance rates. Which given the fact that I need a car, and I dont have much money, seems to be the best option.

[BGM]

Pick up a Chrysler 300 or Dodge Charger with the 3.5 v6 in it. Gets good gas mileage, plus.... you have a lifetime warranty on the powertrain.

im not even going to bother looking up the vital statistics of that car, but i doubt a 3.5ltr v6 engine in an american car has good mileage!

what exactly are you comparing it to? the ****ing titanic?

[kombolcha]

Pick up a Chrysler 300 or Dodge Charger with the 3.5 v6 in it. Gets good gas mileage, plus.... you have a lifetime warranty on the powertrain.

the warranty is valid as long as you do ALL of the scheduled maintenance (on time) with a chrysler dealer.

im not even going to bother looking up the vital statistics of that car, but i doubt a 3.5ltr v6 engine in an american car has good mileage!

what exactly are you comparing it to? the ****ing titanic?

if i'm not mistaken it will get around 16 city.

the 300 i have at home is the 2.7 i think and that gets 23 city.

[rathefeare]

the warranty is valid as long as you do ALL of the scheduled maintenance (on time) with a chrysler dealer.

Do you have a source for this info? The last car manufacture that required all maintenance to be done at the dealer was sued and the requirement was struck down.

[MR_Candyman]

Do you have a source for this info? The last car manufacture that required all maintenance to be done at the dealer was sued and the requirement was struck down.

ya, he's full of it. As long as you have receipts for even the oil and filters, ect. you'll be fine.

As far as mileage goes, the 3.5 actually does get quite good mileage. 4 cylinders aren't always best for mileage you know...

[rathefeare]

ya, he's full of it. As long as you have receipts for even the oil and filters, ect. you'll be fine.

As far as mileage goes, the 3.5 actually does get quite good mileage. 4 cylinders aren't always best for mileage you know...

Yeah, that's what I figured and hoped. I just did the oil change on my friends Charger with the 3.5 two weekends ago in his driveway. I think the bastards do try to discourage anyone from doing their own maintenance though, no section on it in his owners manual and no oil capacity listed (every other capacity listed though). I would hope that would not violate warranty. As I rule I don't let anyone else perform simple maintenance on my own cars.

[BGM]

i was thinking more about the grossly unecessary 3.5ltr part...

[Blues]

They wanted a v-6. It was part of the criteria.

and it gets about 18 city 25 highway

Its their money, and their pretty well off, gas prices have never been an issue. Its the unexpected cost of owning a car.

[rathefeare]

i was thinking more about the grossly unecessary 3.5ltr part...

I'm not sure what your objection specifically is. The engine puts out 255hp and 250ft-lbs and gets 17/24. The Hp and Torque numbers are decent for the engine size and the fuel economy is what about you would expect from such a large and heavy vehicle. This is a fairly large sedan with a lot of space under the hood and plenty of chassis weight already. They didn't really need to put an exotic high strung 2 liter in it. There is room and engine weight is not a concern. Nor would a lower HP engine really be enough to propel this heavy beast down the road. My friend owns a 3.5 charger and though it really isn't a car that I would buy; it is tame when I want it to be and is capable of some fun (in a straight line at least) when I want it to be. The 3.5 high output seems about right to me.

[MR_Candyman]

I'll use an example that we discovered in our Chrysler dealership when I was selling cars. The Dodge Dakota came with a 3.7L, a 4.7L, or a 4.7L HO (High Output). If you were to look at the EPA guides, it shows that the 3.7L gets worse mileage than both the 4.7L models. So we kept asking our customers what they were getting (and of course chopped off the totally wacky high and low numbers because people are idiots) and found that indeed, the 4.7L models got better mileage. We did our own test next. We let the owner's wife drive each of them till the tank was empty. She is a very casual driver, so none of the pedal stomping we'd be doing. The best mileage came from the 4.7L HO, with the other 4.7L closely behind. The 3.7L actually (in our test) got 5mpg worse than the 4.7L and about 6 worse than the 4.7L HO.

We then decided to stop carrying the 3.7L unless somebody wanted to special order one. Anybody that wanted a 3.7L we would explain our findings. Some people of course were always "a smallert engine ALWAYS gets better mileage". That is simply not the case though.

Top Gear even did a comparison between the BMW M3 and the Prius. The M3 got much better mileage.

[Blues]

Its not what you drive, but how you drive it.

Avg 55-60 on the highway, and dont floor it at a stop light.

Those 2 things will save you gas milage i guarentee it

[Argote]

Here's a couple of good ones:

• VW Passat
  
• Nissan Maxima (some may even consider the Altima to be "full-size")
  
• Mercury Milan (Rented one in the summer for a couple of months and found it pretty enjoyable)
  

I do not recommend Chrysler or associated brands for reliability.

I also would recommend the Vectra if they sell that where you live (you can find it under the Opel/Chevrolet/Saturn brands)

[kombolcha]

ya, he's full of it. As long as you have receipts for even the oil and filters, ect. you'll be fine.

As far as mileage goes, the 3.5 actually does get quite good mileage. 4 cylinders aren't always best for mileage you know...

let me rephrase that... you must go to a chrysler dealer for the scheduled 'check up' of the powertrain inspection. The first time i had read it from autoblog. I'm sure it'll be one of those, well you got your services done at jiffy lube and missed a few oil changes by a couple thousand miles, therefore your warranty is void.

In order to maintain the Chrysler Lifetime Powertrain Warranty, you must have a powertrain inspection performed by an authorized Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge dealer once every 5 years. This inspection, performed at no charge, must be made within 60 days of each 5-year anniversary of the warranty start date of the vehicle. It is your responsibility to perform preventative maintenance on your vehicle. You?re strongly encouraged to follow the instructions contained in the Scheduled Maintenance Service guidelines in your Owner?s Manual.

[rathefeare]

That makes far more sense than requiring the oil changes, ect to be done at the dealer. Once every 5 years and at no cost I can handle as long as the dealer doesn't make up problems at the inspection. I would probably have it checked over by an independent mechanic prior to the dealer just in case. And as far as keeping maintenance records, I do for my own use and for the next guy when I sell the car, but I'm not giving them to the dealer. Let them prove I didn't keep up maintenance.

And yeah I know that I'm paranoid, but I have a few bad experiences at the dealer.

[MR_Candyman]

You guys must have crummy dealers or something. In my immediate family we have owned ~15 (too lazy to count) Chrysler products. None of them have ever required more than maintenance until they have gotten over 400,000 kms and quite old. My car ('95 Dodge Avenger) is the only exception as I had a planetary gear shoot through the transission case a couple months ago at ~200,000kms. Even then though I can't really blame Chrysler because 1) I've been very hard on the car and 2) The whole car's really a mitsubishi. I got it fixed with an updated casing (they actually did solve the issue with a case revision, something most companies wouldn't do) and I know it will last me a lot longer.

As far as giving the maintenance records to the dealer: You only need to show them, not GIVE them to the dealer. If they insist on having them, just get them to photocopy them. I 100% guarantee they will not take your records. If you trade it in though, definitely DO give the records. You will get a lot more money for your vehicle.

About the 5 year thing: so what's the problem? It's free and if anything IS wrong have it fixed for free. It's an issue with the powertrain, so it needs to be honored by the warranty. They are doing this so you don't cause farther problems like a blown engine or transmission.

[rathefeare]

My dealer problems were not Chrysler dealers. My friend had a problem with his Intrepid though. Blown engine that they didn't want to cover under warranty probably one of those crummy dealers. To Chrysler's credit after he started talking to someone in their corporate office, well the local dealership became more reasonable. I work as a marine mechanic so I tend to do my own work and just in general am distrustful of others working on my vehicles. Nothing against Chrysler dealers specifically. My go to guy when I can't figure out auto problems is a mechanic at the local Honda dealer, so I know there are quality guys at dealers also.

I wouldn't even show them my records really. If they want records then it is their responsibility to keep them. I really do not want them looking for an excuse to get out of their warranty and I do a decent job on maintenance as it is. Keep the burden of proof on them. Now I do provide the records at time of sale. Either to the dealer or to the private buyer. At that point they or he needs that info.

I don't have a problem with a free inspection once every five years. Sounds entirely reasonable to me.