300M reliability

I'm thinking about getting a 2000-2001 Chrysler 300M. What kind of
reliability can I expect from the engine, and especially transmission? Was
the engine/trans used in any other models? Known problems? I've been doing
some research on it and i'm still not convinced either way. A few people
needed tranny replacements around 70k, but not a majority like an Acura TL.
What are your feelings on this car?

 

The *only* tranny failures to expect would be speed sensors - there are
two. They cost less than $20 apiece, and take less than 20 minutes to
replace even for a first-time DIY'er.

Many people here feel that the few tranny failures that you may hear
about were actually speed sensors but people didn't know any better
and/or were ripped off to the tune of a couple thousand $$ for a $40
problem.

The fluid and filter would need to be changed at 60 to 80k miles with
ATF+4. $100 to 200, or DIY for about $60.

Like any car, engine failures are not unheard of, but reliability is
very good in general.

Window motors are a weak point, but hopefully any such problems on a
2000 or 2001 will have been ironed out by the previous owner.

Windshield wipers act weird in cold weather (below 25°F).

Some brands and models of tires (including ones that came on them from
the factory) do not work well with these cars (noisy). If problems, you
can fix that after you get it. Come back for recommendations on
replacement tires.

As with almost all cars these days, rotors are marginal, and it is not
unusual to have some warping. Fixes for that too - report back when/if
the time comes.

BTW - those are the best two years as far as features and decontenting.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Hey Bill,
What's the fix for the weak rotors on these cars?

"> unusual to have some warping. Fixes for that too - report back when/if

 

I have a 2000 I bought new for my wife. She has 10,000 miles on it.

Internet chat suggests the following issues with the 300m.

Original factory Goodyear tires not so great
wind noise
windows that stick to rubber seals and/or window motor problems
paint finish on bumpers and hood that is easily damaged
Some questions about wearability of leather seating surfaces and steering
wheel and shifter.
Some problems with tranny sensors
Some problems with chrome look interior pieces wearing
Recall for bolts in seats.
Some steering rack complaints including early failure of rack / tie rod end
bushings.
The factory speakers are easy to blow out with the sound system.

Personally in 10,000 miles what I have seen on my own 300M are the
following.
Don't care for the roughness of the Goodyear tires
some minor steering wobble at low speeds (tires)?
a white haze on the top of the dash every couple of months that has to be
wiped clean.
sticky windows, maintained by coating the rubber with some silicon lube
real easy to scratch the bumpers up and the lower front valence
Killed the battery one winter because we didn't use the car for over 2
months straight due to weather (garage queen)
The memory seats/mirrors/radio won't switch between user 1 and user 2 when
unlocking the car with different key fobs. Works fine when selecting 1 or 2
from seat switch.
Can't get my daughters bari sax in the trunk without putting a rear seat
down. The sax fits in my K car based 88 New Yorker trunk or 1990's
Thunderbird with no trouble.
No tranny problems. No engine trouble. No braking or major steering problems
or serious structural issues. But then again it is a garage queen.

Steve
[/QUOTE]

 

Rick,
Here's my personal list of recommendations:
1) Only be concerned with the front rotors - the rears don't see much
heat or wear, and are never (almost never?) a problem for warping or
wearout.
2) If you don't have the Performance Handling Package (PHP), switch over
to the PHP type rotors in whatever brand you plan to use. They require
no mods to fit right in place of the non-PHP rotors. PHP rotors are
vented differently (pull air from road side rather than engine side of
wheels) - that's the only difference. The outside venting is not as
effective if you have the steel wheels, so if that's the case, best to
change to alloys for better air flow. (Rear rotors are the same
regardless of PHP and non-PHP.)
3) Get a good quality rotor. People, including myself, have reported
good success with Raybestos (there are other good brands as well).
NAPA's United Brake brand are re-boxed Raybestos, and are $47 each - the
right part number is 86777 (ignore the counter guy if he says that's not
the PHP rotor - their computers are wrong, even though their web site,
www.napaonline, lists them correctly).
4) I got the Raybestos, and went an extra step further and had them
cryogenically treated (www.300below.com, $75) for claimed resistance
against warping, and longer pad and rotor wear life. Have had no more
problems since doing that. I honestly can't say if just switching to
Raybestos alone would have solved the problem or if there really is
something to the cryo-treating. (My car is a Concorde which came with
15" wheels - I had to go to 16" wheels and change out a suspension part
on each side to accept the larger front rotors that come on the 300M -
but as I said, no mods necessary on the M to go with the PHP rotors -
they all come with the larger front rotors, whether PHP or non-PHP.)
5) The 300M ezBoard and www.dodgeintrepid.net both have a special
arrangement with irotor if you're into drilled, slotted, and plated
rotors - partly for performance, partly for flashy appearance - not my
cup of tea, but people are having good performance out of them. Fronts
only: $135; all four $249, free shipping for club members.
6) From reading a few Chrysler- and LH car-centric forums, it also
appears that the pads can make a difference. I have a theory (not
original with me, but I mostly believe it) that the pads can make
unwarped rotors *seem* warped; how they do that is that they can film
unevenly over the wear surface of the rotor (inconsistent friction
properties). It would appear that some pads are much better about this
than others based on reports on the forums. Two that people seem to
have very good success with are Hawk HPS (I use them and am very happy
with them), and Akebono ProAct (ceramics) for the front and Satisfied
Pro for the rears (from www.tirerack.com).
7) You probably know this, but it seems there are always some who
haven't gotten the message: Always torque your lugnuts properly - no
weight on the wheel, star pattern to half torque (45 ft-lbs), then star
pattern to full torque (95 ft-lbs - have someone apply brakes if
necessary, but don't apply weight on wheel until it's fully torqued).
8) Have your alignment shop give you "before" and "after" printouts on
your next alignment. That way you know there are no alignment problems
that they just don't want to fool with, are fudging, and aren't telling
you about.
9) Be sure the tires are not causing problems - critical with these
cars.

It's hard to pin things down when there are multiple interacting
problems (alignment, tires, brakes).

HTH

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Oh - one more thing: Be sure to follow the pad manufacturer's
instructions to properly bed new pads in (goes back to the filming
thing).

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

I've got a '99 with 74,500 miles. Only problems I've had have been with the
windows, and what I thought was premature brake rotor wear; had to have them
turned and new pads at around 50,000. Owner of the local dealership keeps
asking me when I'll be buying a replacement, and I just tell him to let me
know when Chrysler comes out with something better.

Gramps

 

Thanks, Bill. Great info.

 

You're welcome, Rick. Tried not to tell you what you "have" to do, but
give the right information so you can make your own educated decisions
that fit you.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

I've owned a 99 300M since new. I haven't had any major complaints.
The only real nuissance was a bad window motor that needed to be
replaced and I had one occurance of the bad input speed sensor. Both
were fixed under warranty. One minor nuissance (that 99% of the people
out there would have just ignored) was a tiny bit of seepage from the
differential. I also had this fixed under warranty. It's now at about
34k miles and it is absolutely bone dry (not a leak or seep anywhere).

In terms of preventative maintenance, here's what I've done:

Mobil 1 synthetic oil after initial 1000 miles and changed every
2500-3000 miles.
Brake fluid flushed every 2 years.
Transmission fluid changed every 15,000 miles (with ATF+4)
Coolant flushed and changed every 2 years.
Power steering flushed @ 30,000 miles.

Some of these change intervals are substantially shorter than those
recommended by Chrysler, but I'm rather obsessive that way.

Most of my other "issues" were just idiotic dealer-related silliness.
The few times I was too lazy to do things myself and relied on the
dealer, I've generally walked away disappointed. 90% of the time I do
my own work since my family owns a service station w/lift/tools/etc.

Lastly, I'm actually selling my 300M. It's basically been sitting in
the driveway for the last few months since I bought my Audi A4. If
you're in the NYC area, give me a shout if you're interested.

Cheers,

C

 

Great car except power window problems which hopefully were resolved
in the car you would be buying.