2008 Chrysler 300 Touring 3.5 from North America

Summary:

Great car for the price I paid, but shoulda got the Hemi

Faults:

When I first purchased the vehicle, the chrome strips running along the doors on both sides of the car had started to look like they were corroding, which was replaced under warranty.

After 7 months and 23***km, that's the only thing actually defective/broken.

General Comments:

I purchased this vehicle brand new in March of 09 as an 08 model. It had 70km on it when I picked it up, and currently has 23548km. All in all, it's a great car for the price I paid for it. It's smooth, looks good, drives nice, quiet on the highway, and has adequate power.

The few things I dislike about the car are as follows:

- The A/C is very underpowered for a vehicle of this size. The air coming out is cold with your hand on the vent, but for it to feel cold when it reaches my face, I have to have it on the highest blower setting. It's been to the dealer to get checked, and I am told everything is working as it should.

- Also when you take your foot off the brake at a red light, it feels as if the car is jerking, or lurching forward at times. Again, all is checked and normal.

- The seats are very flat and don't have much cushioning, and you start to notice it after about an hour or so.

- The front bumper is way too low, so in shorter parking spots, it's constantly being rubbed on the curb.

- The car takes 5.7 liters of oil per change, which means you have to buy 6 liters, making switching to synthetic pretty costly, even doing it yourself.

- This may seem unimportant, but it really ticks me off. Chrysler only put one hook in the floor of the drivers side to hold the floor mat in place. It for some reason is located in the bottom right corner of the floormat. So when you get out of the car, you naturally put your left foot out, and push yourself up with the right, which causes the floor mat to get all bunched up and pushed around, due to only having one clip in one corner, instead of both.

Some of the things I like about the car:

- The styling you can't find anywhere else.

- Huge trunk.

- The smooth cruising feeling on the highway.

- Plenty of legroom in the backseat, even with the front seats all the way back.

- The turn signal lever that you just tap, and it signals 3 times then shut off for switching lanes.

- I have the upgraded six disc CD/DVD changer, and it sounds great, even with the volume at full, there is little to no distortion.

- I find the car has good visibility, even though it is a common complaint amongst other owners.

- I like the upgraded key fob for the 08 models, Just a small plastic device that slips into your pocket, with no metal kep to jab you when you sit down.

- This may not seem as important until you've had a bad experience with it, but the cupholders are very well placed in front of the armrest, so there is no reaching for your drink.

- Another little thing I find convenient is the two tiered storage in the armrest. With a big bin in the bottom, and the shallow tray up top, along with a coin holder and a power outlet inside for your phone charger, which also has a little slot cut into the side of the lid, so your cord can stick out and still close the lid. Chargers out of the way, and you don't have to continually plug and unplug it.

- Mine is equipped with foglights, which are always on, and provide great visibility, coupled with the large headlight on the highways at night, even when there is no fog.

- Another little convenience Chrysler threw in is lights on the bottom of the doors that come on when you open them, great for avoiding that first step into a puddle when you're getting out in the dark.

As far as Performance Marks goes I gave the car an 8/10. The V6 is adequate, but knowing I could have had a Hemi brings it down.

For Reliability marks it got a 10/10. Again 23***km in six months and I haven't had a problem with it other than the chrome strips.

For Comfort, again an 8/10 because of the as mentioned flat poorly cushioned seats. I feel they could have done better.

Dealer service got a 0/10. The dealer was great in their sales department when they wanted my money, But the service department where I purchased the vehicle was just terrible on 3 separate occasions. Fortunately I've found a different dealer to get my servicing done at, and they are great.

Running costs got a 9/10. I've only had to pay for gas, oil changes, tire rotations, and I put upgraded Valeo wipers on. The reason for the nine and not a perfect ten is the car needs 5.7L of oil per change, which makes it pretty expensive to switch to synthetic.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th October, 2009

18th Oct 2009, 09:12

About the A/C... the dealer doesn't know which end is up. Have somebody else look at it.

18th Oct 2009, 11:59

About your floor mat hook issue - I have a 2001 Camry and it only has (had) one plastic hook, and it came out.

My Taurus only had one hook, too. I wouldn't say Chrysler is running too far behind in this aspect.

16th Dec 2009, 17:53

I'm confused... how many miles does the car have?

18th Dec 2009, 18:18

The car now has 30100KM.

26th Sep 2011, 23:32

Great review, thank you for posting. In many ways, it was better than what you would get in a "professional" review, because you've lived with it. Some of the quibbles with the car are puzzling (why did they design the 300 to use that much oil?) and have me second-guessing whether I would buy one used, but no car is perfect.

10th Oct 2011, 00:08

A/C is designed to bring the ambient temperature down in the interior of the vehicle, thus allowing you to be at a comfortable temperature. So you won't feel the cold air on your face from the vents, because it's more efficient to have a less forceful motor.

2008 Chrysler 300 Touring 3.5 V6 from North America

Summary:

TheGreat American Auto

Faults:

The car is as perfect as you can get. It isn't a Rolls Royce, however for the workmanship in the auto it might as well be. I haven't had any problems with the car, it runs perfectly.

General Comments:

The car is great looking, and performance for this kind of a car is awesome as well. I have driven many Chrysler products, and I can tell you that it is as good as previous vehicles I have had, if not a lot better in quality, and performance.

I have have read many reviews where people complain about reliability, or build quality. I have the 3.5 V6 with the convenience package and the car is absolutely beautiful and a joy to drive, and is in line with other cars or better on reliability.

I average 30 miles to the gallon on the highway, and around 21 in town. I had a 2006 model and it was a great car as well. I have looked and compared, and the Honda Accord at the top level can compete with the Touring, and the Touring is cheaper and just as reliable, and in most areas more fuel efficient for a large sedan.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th March, 2009

25th Apr 2009, 09:35

I am the original poster of the previous post. Doing an update since I purchased the car.

In other posts you will see negative comments against the dealers they bought their car from or took it to for repairs or updates.

The sales team where I bought the car worked hard to get the deal done for me. I had door seals that didn't match up on the passenger side doors, and a broken rear vent (the car was a Hertz rental), and honestly I didn't feel they should have to replace the rear vent because obviously the 7 months at the rental place is what caused the damage. However the dealership where I purchased the car from ordered the parts for the rear vents and door seals; also they put the WI (Wireless Interface) on the car and found 3 modules that needed to be updated, transmission, radio and center cluster. They did all the needed updates, and repairs at no cost (car still under warranty).

The car is as perfect as it can get, and I am extremely happy with it. Only things I hated them changing on the car is removing the second intake manifold metering valve and they replaced the Mercedes transmission with the Chrysler 42RLE transmission. I am not bashing the Chrysler transmission, however it just doesn't have the same level of refinement that the Mercedes transmission. However overall this car is still much better then most available on the market, and is sad now that Chrysler is yet again facing Bankruptcy, I hope all works out for this amazing (yet some times stupid) company.