Re: [Chrysler300] Chrysler 300M, Epilogue

[Andy Mikonis <r41hp@xxxx>]

My mom has @150K on her '99 from new. She loves it,
but it's starting to get expensive to own. I try not
to get too involved, but her higher out of warranty
repairs included a transmission computer, and more
recently a fuel pump and CV axles - all at the same
time her second set of Goodyears started to self
destruct ( yep, she had about 80K on them! ) So now
she has some new Michelins, and has recovered from the
recent expenses. She wasn't real happy when I looked
up the blue book and it was $7700. The car still
looks great, the mechanics are always surprised at the
mileage...

Andy

P.S. Send me your 300 HURST stories...NOW!!!


--- Thomas Miller <tfm@xxxx> wrote:
> Well, 
> 
> Yesterday was the day. After 63mos. of faithful
> service, the lease was
> up on my '99 300M and I opted to walk away. I know
> there are a few
> folks on the list that have 300Ms and some that have
> considered new or
> used 300Ms, so I thought I would quickly share my
> overall experience
> with this car. My 300M went into service in
> November of 1998. We've
> put 75,000 miles of mixed in town and highway
> driving on her. My around
> town fuel economy was rarely over 18 mpg, but I
> could approach 29 mpg in
> strict highway driving. 
> 
> Being that this was a first year model, I opted to
> spend an extra
> $750.00 and extend the warranty from 3yrs./36,000
> miles to 5yrs./75,000
> miles. I lost that bet. The only service I got
> under the contract was
> about $150.00 worth of coverage for problems
> experienced with dry rotted
> front sway bar bushings. 
> 
> Under warranty, Chrysler replaced the body computer
> at 18,000 miles
> (had a weird anomaly, if you would push any button
> on the remote entry
> key fob while the car was running, it would lodge an
> error in the
> computer and close the warm air door in the heater
> system. Damned cold
> "feature" in December....). At 24,000 miles
> Chrysler replaced all 4
> tires on my car at no charge with Michelin "Z"
> -Rated Pilots to solve
> balance issues with the OEM Goodyear tires. At
> 35,000 miles, Chrysler
> replaced the hazard flasher switch on the steering
> column (on a really
> hot day, it would pop up on its own and turn on the
> flashers!). 
> 
> Out of warranty I replaced the battery, changed the
> oil (5W-30 Mobil
> 1) and filter (Mobil 1 # 301) @ 3,500 miles, 17,450
> miles, 38,220
> miles, and at 56,525 miles (BTW, I NEVER had to add
> any oil between
> changes), and bought another set of Michelin Pilots
> @ around 51,000
> miles. (I still had about 5/32" all the way around
> on them @ 75,000
> miles). 
> 
> So, outside of gas, insurance and the lease payment;
> I had out of
> pocket expenses with this car of around $800.00. 
> Not bad in my opinion.
> All tolled including gas, insurance, lease payment
> and the above
> mentioned incidentals, I spent around 41 cents a
> mile to drive this car
> over a period of 63 months. 
> 
> Am I going to miss it? Yeah, I already do. But,
> I'm going to wait
> around till next month to see what the 300N er I
> mean 300C looks like. 
> But, I have a sneaking hunch I may try to find a
> deal on a nice used
> black 300M special. But, then again 340 horsepower
> under my right foot
> would make for a pretty righteous daily driver! 
> 
> So, there are the facts. Anybody else have an M
> story to share? 
> Specifically, I'm curious if there are any high mile
> (150,000 to 200,000
> miles) 300M owners on the listserv and what sort of
> maintenance you've
> had to perform. 
> 
> 
> Best Regards to All,
> 
> Thomas F. Miller
> tfm@xxxx 
> 
> 300C ('57)
> 
> Thomas F. Miller
> 
> tfm@xxxx
> pageTFM@xxxx / text paging
> 614.975.4164 / voice
> 707.667.2601 / eFax
> 


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