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Chrysler 300M Life Expectancy

22 messages,  Last post on Mar 27, 2013 at 5:46 PM

You are in the Chrysler 300M Forum.

What is this discussion about? Chrysler 300M, Engine, Sedan

Messages Page 3 of 3

#13 of 22 Re: 300M Life Expectancy [nt300m] by jgarry

Jan 21, 2009 (6:31 pm)

Replying to: nt300m (Dec 24, 2008 7:07 am)
Hi everyone, just saw this thread.
 
My 2001 300M has 190K on it, and once again I was deciding whether to put some $ into it or move to the next big thing.
 
Basically, it needs tires and the hvac fan doesn't work. Poking about on the intertubes, I saw things about control modules and resetting by pulling fuses. The fuse trick didn't work, so I went to the dealer, $95 diag fee to tell me it needs $500 fan motor, ordered from LA.
 
However, while poking about on the dealer website, I saw they had a 2008 300C Hemi, so I decided to buy that before I knew about the $500 anyways.
 
So, any ideas about what to do with the 300M? Service guy offered me $2K, I said I could do better donating it (now having second thoughts, of course). It's a nice car, only serious complaint I've had is 4 trannys (1st right after warranty expired, sigh). So it has only 22K on an OEM upgraded tranny. Since I drive so much, I tend to take much better than average care of my cars. I'm thinking put it in autotrader for $2800, with note about fan and tires. Am I dreaming? I'm near San Diego. I'm no salesman.
 
Gold/tan, sunroof, premium sound, chrome wheels, couple very minor dings, driver seatback worn/cracked. Passed smog with flying colors last year. Most miles 80MPH on freeway.

#14 of 22 ABS and Traction lights turned on by eric_300m

Feb 05, 2009 (5:34 pm)

I have on this 300M (Year 03) about 200K miles and frankly speaking nothing really troubling at all other then regular stuff and on normal wear and tear. Recently, I have both lights on whenever I stepped on the brake paddle. Dealer checked it out for like $200 and told me to replace HCU (hydraulic Control Unit) and the ABS pump the cost is like $750, $650 and with labor goes up to about $2K. As this is really getting expensive and I couldn't find it at all searching on the Internet. Anyone knows if I can get by more affordably??
 
The 300M is just a beauty inside out, well built, and I would like to keep it for as long as I can until I get into endless engine problems (hope not).
 
Thanks in advance.

#15 of 22 re 300m life expectancy by wec02

May 04, 2009 (3:32 pm)

Hi everyone I own a 2002 300m I bought in 03.Had 20k when I bought have 180k now.No major prolems went thru 2 computers covered under warranty.And a master cylinder.Doesnt burn any oil, I drive it real hard from NH. to Boston every day an awesome highway car.Hope to get a lot more miles.

#16 of 22 Re: 300M Life Expectancy [jgarry] by jgarry

May 04, 2009 (10:26 pm)

Replying to: jgarry (Jan 21, 2009 6:31 pm)
Replying to my own post, I put in the ad, put sign on car, someone saw me in McDonalds parking lot said he'd tell his friend, friend bought it, talked me down a few hundred. Then I got about 20 messages on my answering machine wanting to see the car.
 
Getting many unsolicited compliments on 300C, seeing lots of similar ones around. People think the remote start is so cool, I'm starting to be startled by their reaction because I've gotten used to it. 300M had better ride/handling, I miss a few things like better feel on the garage door buttons, instant fuel economy readout, predictable buttons on the radio, auto adjust based on which key remote used. Some things I perhaps simply haven't figured out yet, not sure if they are things wrong.

#17 of 22 Re: re 300m life expectancy by 02owner

Mar 29, 2011 (2:30 pm)

Replying to: wec02 (May 04, 2009 3:32 pm)
I have a 2002 300M (non-PHP) which I bough as a Certified Used in 2004. Now approaching 136,000 miles. Arguably the best built car I have owned.

#18 of 22 Re: re 300m life expectancy [02owner] by nt300m

Mar 29, 2011 (7:26 pm)

Replying to: 02owner (Mar 29, 2011 2:30 pm)
nt300m (Dec 24, 2008 7:07 am)
 
This is an update to my old post back from Dec 08. Car currently has 195k miles. Did a first tranny OEM replacement at 130k miles with 3 yrs 36k mile warranty. The one major issue I had after that was last year while my steering column got jammed while taking a turn from a set of lights, thank god it was not an highway. Costed me around 1k to fix it and then some minor tail light issues and other things during state inspection. Last month after almost 3 yrs of tranny replacement, while driving on my highway I lost transmission power while driving even though the engine was on. I was like man here it is the car is dead. I have crossed the 10 yr ownership of my car last Dec 2010 and with 195k miles, was not sure what should I do. The dealer said its tranny and 4k to get an OEM. This time chrysler offered 3 yrs 100k mile warranty. I ranged up couple of more dealers and one gave me an offer to fix it at 3k without looking at the car, even though the car was at a different dealer. Still we had a single car for a 2 person working household, rented a car for a week before to decided should I go for a new car or fix it. Well KBB value was 2k, but the car was not even in drivable condition. Not sure even how the donation worked on such cars. Even if I were to look for a second hand car of same 300m it was going around 5k.
 
So finally after much deliberation I decided to fix my tranny one more time (2nd time), considering I knew my car well and the same dealer match the price of tranny fix and he said the car is in good shape otherwise. There was a oil leak in the transmission line he mentioned that needs to be changed/fix, which I knew as I have seen oil drip while I parked the car. The main thing that convinced me to fix the tranny second time was 100k mile warranty and the dealer said he will give 1 yr warranty on his work. As my car tires were new which I bought from Costco again for 400$ all four with 90k mile warranty (Michellin), in all angle it made more sense for me to fix my baby again. As he started the work he said it needs new radiator, man I am now into this and can't back out. The total expense after everything costed me 4.5k. Whew, thats a big amount. Its been a month now the car is back on road put 500 miles. Hope I can pull the car without major issues for another 1 year and cross the 200k mile marker which was my initial goal. The only issue I have now is the silencer is making noise and not that loud, the dealer said its because the car is old and the line is rusted and while removing the transmission it gave up and since there is a small gap thats the reason for the noise, the permanent fix would cost me 1k, I said no and he just did a temp fix to subdue the noise, but said the noise will slowly increase as I will drive more. Let see how that goes. Hope I can get some ROI on my 4.5k invested for now.
 
Chrysler 300M is really a good car and very sporty looking compared to 300C. This is one of the better roomier car, not sure if I can find any other car with such room. I am ready for new car I guess in next 6 months to 1 yr. Since I had been die hard fan of Chrysler for 10 yrs wanted to try a different manufacturer, now I am very much hooked and sold to Volvo their XC models.
 
Thanks for reading guys! ">link title

#19 of 22 Re: re 300m life expectancy [nt300m] by crdivoff

Apr 01, 2011 (1:10 pm)

Replying to: nt300m (Mar 29, 2011 7:26 pm)
I had a '99 Chrysler 300M which I sold with 248,000 miles on it. The car developed a starting problem. The first start of the day was perfect. After I had driven long enough for the engine to get hot, it would not start without waiting 15 - 30 minutes. I sold it and told the buyer about the problem. He put another 5,000 miles on the cAr and got conflicting diagnoses. He sold it to someone experienced in tinkering on cars who bought it on first sight. The last I heard the car supposedly had a defective starter which would expand when getting hot breaking an electric connection which prevented it from starting; however, no one could explain why the car never quit running no matter how hot the engine got unless the key was taken out. I loved the car, so when I had to replace it I replaced it with a 2004 300M Special, which definitely drives different from the regular 300M. I don't know what I'lll do when the '04 wears out"!

#20 of 22 Following up by 02owner

Nov 13, 2011 (1:36 am)

Thanks for the input. I ended up keeping it. My service tech (I use the dealer, with whom my family has done business for four decades, and the same tech has been working on my car since I bought it) is of the opinion that the car could reach 200,000 miles without much trouble. I just put a new head unit for the automatic a/c and some tires and brakes that were needed and changed all the fluids. Previously changed shocks and struts at front and rear in February 2010. Car has 146,171 miles. Took out a lady friend last night who has an '09 300 Base and she thought my much older car was much nicer inside with a sportier feel and greater comfort.
 
One issue, however is a little rust on the inside of the rear doors. I had it repaired a few years ago but it has returned.

#21 of 22 Totalled by naatz1

Jan 04, 2012 (10:15 am)

I don't think I ever posted to this particular sub-forum but used this set of forums (& Edmunds in gen'l) extensively in 2004 to decide on my 300M purchase 8 yrs ago. I probably did the last post on how to read and reset a check engine light on one of these forums. The "loose gas cap" was about the only gremlin I had the past couple years on my low mileage 76400 mi 2004 red 300M when it got totalled 2 weeks ago. Many tears from my wife on this unfortunate "traffic stopped in the right hand lane of the freeway and ramp" mess. We'd hoped to drive the car to 100k mi in 2-3 years and then do a trade for a smaller car - with kids out of the house we did not need all the room but loved the styling and handling of this great road car! As I cleaned it out at the body shop I did not cry but could not get behind the wheel either; while it was my wife's car I loved to drive it on long trips, hardly knew it after a 4 hour drive.
 
Current owners: Be aware that a not to high speed crunch into someones bumper (300M hood, right fender, right headlight, some front bumper damage) results in > $6k damage effectively totalling it. Unfortunately the value of these cars has dropped a lot, perhaps due to 8 yrs of age but insurance effectively added $1500 more with low mileage and options so go figure. I always had concerns on doing any work on this engine with such a compressed engine compartment but this model does seem prone to being easy to wreck, although all I really care about it my wife walked away, airbags did not even go off.
Good luck all of you who are still driving this as I will not even consider a new 300: don't like the style of even the sorta smoothed out 2012 300's and driving a RWD car in MN snow is stupid, too bad Chrysler did not stay w/FWD as the $2k option for AWD cuts the gas mileage too much. I want to get >30mpg highway mileage so will probably look at a mid size something, possibly a 200 but more likely a Fusion, Malibu/Lacrosse or possibly Passat, Camry or Accord.
 
Again, take care of all those 300Ms out there, love that car!

#22 of 22 Re: re 300m life expectancy [nt300m] by nt300m

Mar 27, 2013 (5:46 pm)

Replying to: nt300m (Mar 29, 2011 7:26 pm)
This is an update to my old two posts,
 
First: Dec 08, Second: Mar 011, Now March 13.
 
Currently I have around 225k miles on this 2000 300M chrysler, from my last tranny fix, I pulled off 2 yrs. During the course of two years, I have probably around 2k exp on regular maintenance, one tire change and OEM oil can change and brakes probably.
 
I always oscillate to buy a new car whenever my emissions sticker would fail and then I end-up fixing it. Recently the car breaks were gone and the ride started to wobble and the service tech said tie rods were gone and they estimated a 2k exp to fix it and he said, its not even worth it considering the miles on the car.
 
I decided to come back and update this post, as I just now bought myself a brand new car 2013 Lexus ES350, the only car in my analysis could match in all expectations to my 2000 300M chrysler. The dealer said from the trade-in value he will offer the fair market value of KBB just a approximation, but he said, they always go by the last auction sale price. So my car was valued around $1500 maybe. Still I haven't traded it in, as the new car would be the second car in the house hold. But I will eventually will be either trading it in or donating this car I guess.
 
All I have is till Sep 2013, my emissions sticker, after that I can't even drive the car, unless I fix it... so probably getting rid of this one before then for sure.
 
Well I definitely got the ROI for the money I spent on the car for 2 yrs, 4.5k tranny and probably 2.5k over 2 yrs maintenance..... I pulled 13 yrs and 225k miles not bad for a 300m Chrysler.
 
I will post a one last final post after I either trade-in or donate my car.
 
Thanks guys, now I am a new Lexus 2013 ES350 owner.

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