Chrysler Crossfires

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I'm thinking about getting one of these. I test drove one a few years ago and didn't like the rear visibility, but I generally like the way they drive and handle.

Any thought or experiences?
 
But they're a good bit cheaper than the Mercedes, though, aren't they?
 
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They are nice cars. Spec 0w 40 oil. Do not hold up well to getting ran over by a semi though. I wound not mind a srt6
 
They look like a small dog taking a life-changing dump.

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Originally Posted By: ET16
Any thought or experiences?


I've owned a 2005 SRT-6 roadster for the past 5 years. I bought it used with 5k miles, and it now has only 15k miles. There were less than 1,000 SRT-6 roadsters ever built, so it is quite rare.

These cars were assembled in Germany for Chrysler by Karmann (and the AMG engines used in the SRT-6 are each hand-built by a single employee). However, Crossfires do have a laundry list of "quirks" that need to be addressed to ensure reliability. There is an entire owner forum site dedicated to these cars and I recommend you check that out if you haven't already.

I love the car and the driving experience received for the dollars spent has few equals, but there are downsides to owning such rare cars as well. For example, almost any moderate accident will result in the car being totaled by the insurance company since many spare parts are very rare and quite costly.

Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions or concerns.

Good luck!
 
Originally Posted By: ET16
But they're a good bit cheaper than the Mercedes, though, aren't they?


The last of these were remaindered out cheaply when new.
I see these priced at nice beater prices today, like around five grand.
These are not unattractive cars and have decent performance and handling, probably better than anything else for the money.
For the right dollars on the right car, then why not?
You'd have something fairly unusual that you could probably enjoy for some years and miles.
An SLK should run double bucks for a car in similar condition with similar miles.
The three pointed star has a market appeal that the pentastar never had and never will.
 
My wife owned a 2008 Roadster for 3 years, when the original warranty was a couple months away from expiring. We drove it to Texas to trade it in for a Fiat 500 Sport, and she's been much happier ever since.

In the 3 years she owned the car, there was over $20k worth of warranty repair work performed, including replacement of the BCM 3 times, and the flywheel twice (first one sent from Germany was damaged when it was installed, and the idiots at the dealer didn't test drive the car properly before returning the car to us), plus the clutch and pressure plate (pressure plate lost tension, and took out the clutch and flywheel at 9k miles).

The car will violently follow ruts in the road surface, so be warned.

If you want to drive the car in snow, the owners manual recommends that you purchase a second set of front wheels, and run the front tire size on all 4 corners. This is the best way to do it. Not too many snow tire choices in the rear tire size.

The exterior of the car looks great, but the interior is outdated, and cramped if you are tall and large. Especially the passenger seat. Not much room to lean the seatback back, because they hit the firewall (compared to a Porsche Boxster or Cayman).

The engine is peppy, but the manual transmission is clunky, and the metal shift knob will slip out of your hand at the worst possible times. First gear is really, really short.

Steering is vague, but will be fantastic if you never drive a better sports car, ever.
The car will go where you point it, and traction is limited by the electronic nannies, and your tire quality. No limited slip rear differential.

BC.
 
They are pretty good value. I like that they have a recirc ball rack and pinion, MB V6 and a decent interior.

I have no personal experience with the crossfire, but I do know that the automatic is considered as one of the worst slushboxes ever produced.

Pretty sure that's the main reason this car didn't catch on. It's that bad.
 
I had a Crossfire convertible with the 6-speed manual. Loved it. No problems with rear visibility with the top down, clearly less than perfect with it up. It was built by Karmann in Germany with a SLK floor pan and SLK front suspension, with the rear suspension borrowed from the S-class.

You can get lots of information from some Crossfire nuts on this site:

http://www.crossfireforum.org/forum/
 
I have two different track days where these were one of our featured rides. These were all SRT6 models, very cool cars.

Imagine the feel as just like a 280ZX Turbo, very smooth but deceptively powerful. Very low 13 second quarter mile absolutely stock, with just a pulley and a tune they are nice and quick.

And the trans is the well respected and extremely durable WA580 if automatic. Not very many stick shifts out there at all...
 
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