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Having recently moved from Europe to North America, I had read many reviews criticizing US vehicles however. I decided to approach the situation with an open mind and chose a Dodge Magnum as my company vehicle.
Firstly, it may have some Mercedes heritage, but there is no comparison to the real thing. This doesn't make the = Magnum a bad car- just be aware you get what you pay for. In my opinion, the quality of materials is better than my partners 2007 Impala, but is not close to the standard of my old Audi A3 which costs similar money.
I enjoy city and highway driving although I find my car surprisingly struggles on most types of uphill climb. On a recent trip to Whistler, I was passed by many vehicles at 60 MPH and the engine was loud. Please also bear in mind that I was only with one person and there was no significant amount of luggage.
The design of the Magnum has my friends split in opinion. Personally, I love it. Given the opportunity again, I would specify leather seats and XM radio if available.
In conclusion, I would recommend the Magnum. It represents good value, has design character and is practical. I just hope you live in a very flat area.
The magnum is now at 16,000km. The engine seems to be running a lot more smoothly now after 2 oil changes and the fuel consumption has also improved. On the negative side, the seats are beginning to sag. For the record I only weigh 170 pounds so for a vehicle less than a year old, this is very disappointing. I am hoping to switch to a 2 year old BMW 5 Series.
The 3.5 litre has plenty of power. When climbing hills, downshift to fourth from O.D. The engine is struggling because the computer will constantly select the lower gear and shift to the higher one when you let off the pedal.
The seats are nice, but have a tendancy to ripple and sag. Take the seat out and add extra hog rings to the underside while pulling the material back.
As for the engine. I like that noise... it sounds like a twin cam engine should. These engines may prove popular for rodders in the future. This block is used in more cars than you think...
It's an automatic, you shouldn't need to play with the gears to alter the performance, it should know what gear it should be in, otherwise it would have a standard gearbox. The seats shouldn't be giving way like this after a year either.
I had one for two weeks, travelled from Ontario down through the US as far as West Virginia and back over two weeks, and LOVED this car! It's awesome! Just a bit thirsty, especially with the AC on. That was the only gripe.
In response to the last comment on automatics knowing what gear to be in, that is indeed the reason that I never buy auto; Much of the time they don't know what gear to be in, and/or are late getting to the proper gear. For optimum control you need a standard, as your brain is obviously much more intelligent than even the most sophisticated auto trans. You can gauge the gradient of the hill etc. and know what gear to be in, even before you have to actually switch gears. I prefer the control of a standard over the practicability of an auto.
As for the auto trans on the Magnums, it is quite decent but like all autos I've driven, not perfect, though nothing that should stop any perspective buyer from getting this very good vehicle. It is a shame that they are discontinued, but sharing parts with the 300, at least you won't run into the extra cost of hunting down discontinued parts.
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