A friend at work is considering picking up a 2008 or 2009 Charger…not sure what trim level yet, but just trying to see if anybody on here has one or knows somebody with one…or if any mechanics have heard of any problems/defects/flaws that have come up regularly in these cars.
What to look out for, what to expect to go wrong and how fast, etc…
I understand they’re still very new to the market, so a lot of the typical problems for these cars may not have surfaced yet, but it’s worth a shot to see what useful information the NYSpeed community may have about them and their track record so far…
Mike, i said charger and i meant charger. My post makes sense. They’re still new to me, only been out for a small handful of years. Just trying to find out what tend to be the more common issues that arise as the miles get high
Isn’t it the same motor and everything as all the other cars(300C, Magnum, Charger)? Just the Challenger has a shorter version of the same chassis? I’m pretty sure a lot of people love their hemi, I haven’t seen any bad talk on the hemi yet. The only thing is the 6 speed manual but that might not even be a new transmission.
I’ve never seen anyone with a base model post on forums before lol. But out of the three or four forums I visit and the people who have hemi cars,(mostly chargers and rams) I have never seen anyone post something bad about them. These are the people who whined about all the problems with their old car till they got a new one. I can’t imagine a low model hemi being to much more then the v6, they have cylinder deactivation too.
The base version that we all beat to hell at an autocross was a horrible car. Not enough power to spin the rear tires from a stop even brake torquing it. “Wallowing” is the best way i could describe the handling.
Step up to a hemi R/T with it’s motor and stiff springs and I bet it’s a whole different car though. My old boss picked up a hemi charger and loves it.
whatever he gets, make sure he gets a new one so he gets the warranty
like i said, we didnt have any problems
and a 5.7L R/T Hemi model loaded w/o navi is only like 29k.
it’s a GREAT car for the money, the interior is pretty awesome (tho some parts are made fairly cheap) The seats are extremely comfortable, and the traction control was great. also the sound sytem was pretty fantastic for a factory system, VERY crisp sound
we had the offwhite color with tan leather interior, it really looked awesome too.
probably one of the few american cars i would actually consider purchasing
Guys guys guys…not all people have the NYSpeed mentality. He doesn’t give two shits about performance, a bigger motor, etc…he’s your normal everyday consumer, not “one of us.”
He will be going with the V6, not a hemi.
He’s not going to be doing ANY autocross, or any automotive related events at all…this is to and from work, the store, church, etc…whatever…
One thing he wanted to know is if it has a posi (sp?) rear or not, since the salesguy at the dealership, who must have been new or just dumb, couldn’t answer this question for him.
Its a chrysler product…is there a bigger reason not to buy one? I’m sure it will be trash like every other chrysler when it gets over 100,000 miles if hes keeping it that long. However I’m sure they are dirt cheap so if hes not keeping it that long it shouldn’t matter.
I thought we had the fleet vehicle 2.7l V6, not the base 3.5l. Brake torque didn’t work not because the lack of power, but because of the drive by wire defeat.
My dad has had 2 of the chargers. The first one he bought was in 2006 when they first appeared. He got he 5.7L Hemi. A lot of good things about the car. Handling is amazing, great speed, so smooth, tons of fun to drive, good mpg (around 22 usually) interior is sick(if upgraded), sound system was even nice. The bad was that it is a bigger car and that makes it little difficult at times.
After about the first year the charger started doing some weird things. When I would brake any speed above normal it would shake the car, like the brakes were wearing uneven. Had some weird problems with tire wear and alignment and eventually the transmission went at about 40,000 miles after about a year and a half.
I am by no means a car expert so I have no idea what was wrong. The tranny should not have went so soon though that is obvious. My dad babied that car too, I drove it a ton, but never beat on it.
So instead of fixing the tranny and waiting for something else to screw up my dad traded it in and bought a brand new 2008 charger with the 5.7L Hemi again. This time it had all black leather interior, a sunroof and some new rims. The selling point on the new one was that it came with a lifetime warranty on the entire car! That’s a damn good deal.
The guys West-Herr Dodge (where he bought both) said that the transmission problem was a rare one. I think it may have some factory defect or only a problem with the early models…like I said I’m no expert.
Overall, I have loved the Charger. My dad has not had any problems with the new one.