Dodge Challenger thoughts?

toyotajeep

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I am ready to throw in the towel on my old muscle car search for now. I have other old cars and buying anything right now is more pain than I can bear at the moment, don't ask just think FB or CL and you get the picture

I've owned or looked at most of the late 90's early 2000's cars. GTO, Camaro and Mustangs. Don't feel the need for another.

Recently I have been checking out the 2008 and newer Challengers. If you look around you can get a 2009-era srt8 for $15000-18000. Seems like a ton of car for that amount of money. If you drop down to the 5.7 you can get a little newer and lower miles for the same price.

I've been searching Challenger Talk etc. don't see any massive issues with them for the most part.

Any years to avoid or good ideas regarding these cars? I just want to do the usual stuff for me at least, drive to work, rip around and take a trip. An occasional trip down the strip kinda thing. My most recent car like this was a 2004 GTO that was great other than the lack of headroom etc. Seems like the Challenger would be the same only better and bigger which is fine.

Thanks for your thoughts!
 
It's a Chrysler product so you're rolling the dice on fit and finish and longevity. :flipoff2:

Depends who owned it. It may be hammered **** with 25k worth of drag strip passes, or it was driven down the interstate occasionally and kept in the garage.
 
Chevy_man said:
It's a Chrysler product so you're rolling the dice on fit and finish and longevity. :flipoff2:

Depends who owned it. It may be hammered **** with 25k worth of drag strip passes, or it was driven down the interstate occasionally and kept in the garage.
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That thought has occurred to me. Always a concern with the performance cars.
 
Chevy_man said:
It's a Chrysler product so you're rolling the dice on fit and finish and longevity. :flipoff2:

Depends who owned it. It may be hammered **** with 25k worth of drag strip passes, or it was driven down the interstate occasionally and kept in the garage.
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this, all of it


you dont want to buy a vehicle from me, good thing the majority of my vehicles go to the junk or scrap yard when im done with them :laughing:
 
toyotajeep said:
How come? I mean I can take it! I am looking for peoples thoughts.
Click to expand...
Awful blind spots , overall uncomfortable feeling for me entirely the first few times driving one, I felt like I couldn't see a damn thing . Also, wouldn’t drive a dodge unless someone gave me a hellacious deal just personal opinion though .
 
Contemplated a demon or a hellcat for a while. Almost pre ordered a demon.

After driving a few hellcats, I realized that dodges late model “muscle cars” are purely designed for a certain demographic. Pretty ****ty cars all around imo.
 
I own 2 Challengers. A 2016 Hellcat, with mods, and a 2020 Scat Pack. Ive owned 2 others in the past, a 2016 SRT and a 2018 SXT Plus.

. All of them have been great cars.
 
I haven't sat in one yet. Probably a good place to start. Lots of people didn't like the modern GTO. I never accepted the looks, but once nested in it was fun.

I am aware of some serious Dodge issues in that era. Could broaden my search for modern Camaro's maybe.
 
2JZ said:
I own 2 Challengers. A 2016 Hellcat, with mods, and a 2020 Scat Pack. Ive owned 2 others in the past, a 2016 SRT and a 2018 SXT Plus.

. All of them have been great cars.
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Looks like a nice way to get to work!
 
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Rockbuggy84 said:
Contemplated a demon or a hellcat for a while. Almost pre ordered a demon.

After driving a few hellcats, I realized that dodges late model “muscle cars” are purely designed for a certain demographic. Pretty ****ty cars all around imo.
Click to expand...
What demographic? Totally curious. I know Mopar people are unique for sure.

Do I need to crank the Jethro Tull and get a mullet?
 
toyotajeep said:
How come? I mean I can take it! I am looking for peoples thoughts.
Click to expand...

I got a ride in an srt 300C last fall, it threw me back in the seat when the driver hit the loud pedal and sure it rode a bit better than all those ****box v6 ones I fixed and drove but it's still feels like the same ****ty car with vroom.
 
I've riden in one, and think they're decent seat of the pants. They sound pretty gay stock, pretty much like a tbi 305 with cherry bombs.

Also ridden in a camero and they feel like the hood is ridiculously tall.
 
Rockbuggy84 said:
Honestly, Ghetto.

The type of person that wants a noise making machine that doesn’t care about build quality, handling, fit and finish, etc.
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I have been known to use that word, but don't generally fit the demographic.
 
toyotajeep said:
What demographic? Totally curious. I know Mopar people are unique for sure.

Do I need to crank the Jethro Tull and get a mullet?
Click to expand...
Depends.

Mopar people come in a few flavors with the 'Joe Dirt' stereotype being the one everybody thinks of.

30% are the Joe Dirts.
20% are the 'numbers-matching purists'
30% are the 'Cummins bros' (pre-'89 these were also in the Joe Dirt category)
the last 20% are like me, I like them but know what they are. Not as bad as many think, worse than the first 3 groups think. Many years quality was as good or better than the other American brands, but were certainly punctuated by some really craptastic models and years. Dealer experience on average is worse than Ford and GM, though there are some great Mopar dealers out there. More of a likelihood of having a bad year or two in an otherwise decent model run than the other two due to mismanagement reasons.

Someone in the industry once said "Chrysler must build good cars because the management is for ****" (paraphrasing for effect).

I've owned 3 generations of their trucks and I can say that most years they compared favorably to the same year Ford or GM for me. I've owned several different models of those as well, I just like Dodge better. Had some of their cars (all pre Daimler) and several of their minivans (all Daimler era). Vans are the best overall (I hear you Honda and Toyota, you are way overvalued for the quality and ease of maintenance), the cars were a crapshoot, some great and some bad.

Avoid MDS and 3.7L and you should be fine. Well-maintained Hemi and Pentastar will be okay.

Just like anything else you'd buy, don't fall in love too quickly and buy the best example of what you want that you can afford.
 
toyotajeep said:
How come? I mean I can take it! I am looking for peoples thoughts.
Click to expand...
Jesus not this again. What are the other OLD cars you own? What do you like? You sound like a guy that kinda likes cars but is more interested in just getting accepted by a certain community, like being accepted by the cool kids in high school.
 
Own a '16.

5.7 with the 6 speed manual

I like it but I've been a Mopar guy my whole life, would have preferred a 6.4 but my two goals were manual and B5 blue. Engine choice was secondary.

I guess its all what you want vs what you can afford. I Auto X mine and run the Dragon often and found the limits of the stock brakes and suspension pretty quickly.

By the time I finish getting the car where I want it, Probably could have bought a Hellkitty and been cheaper

But I like it. Its a comfortable DD when I want it to be, women like riding in it, and its paid for so... :homer:

Edit: it’s also worth noting I’ve put twice as many rear tires on it as front tires. Rolling burnouts are stupid fun since it’s got a nice wheelbase to be controllable
 
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Stuck said:
Jesus not this again. What are the other OLD cars you own? What do you like? You sound like a guy that kinda likes cars but is more interested in just getting accepted by a certain community, like being accepted by the cool kids in high school.
Click to expand...

He's already posted about that. He was looking for 60-70's era muscle cars and kept screwed around by sellers iirc.

He doesn't sound like that at all. I always see the "build quality is terrible" bs about ****ing every single vehicle made. Ford truck? Pos, terrible fit and finish, wont last. Any GM product made in the last 103 years? All pieces of **** that break down, burn oil, have plastic interior, blah blah blah.

I've owned a ****ing **** ton of cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc. According to people on the internet every single vehicle I've had is a complete pile of trash. Yet every one of them has never been problematic. People that whine about "ohh the interior is so junky it just squeaks and rattles and falls apart", like they drive a Bentley with custom virgin whale penis seats and baby seal skin covered steering wheel. Anything less than that is trash :homer:.
 
Nothing wrong with a Challenger. The Scat Pak cars are some of the best bang for your buck that you can get today. And yes, the visibility is ****, since all the pony cars have blind spots, it's part of the design. My only critique is all the cars on that platform (300, Charger, Challenger) feel really wide, but you get used to it. The beauty of owning a Challenger is you you aren't some sucker that got swindled into buying a Camaro, and you aren't just another *** in a mudstain. Me personally, I would stay away from the 3.6L V6. Nothing more depressing than a "muscle car" with the smallest engine available. I would also avoid the AWD models, they are cool, but don't seem durable enough to handle performance driving. Get a V8, upgrade the brakes and tires and hit the mountain roads.
 
crispins said:
When ever they show up to my business they are 99% driven by gold teeth having fellows with baseball sized wads of $20's in their pockets.

Is that the look the OP is going for?
Click to expand...

I knew the SxS rental thing was a cover to...convert currency :flipoff2:
 
Wife had a 2012 she bought new. We sold it in 2019 with barely 60k on it. She has a company car, so the challenger sat and was only driven to church on Sunday. Sometimes I’d drive it to work, but it mostly sat, so she sold it.

It was a nice car, but had horrible blind spots that took a while to adjust to. Long ass hod that was hard to see in front of, and long heavy ass doors where if someone parked closer than 4 feet beside you, you’re squeezing your ass in, and any incline greater than 1 degree, forget the doors holding themselves open.

It was a fun car, but I would probably not DD one. It’d be more of a fun weekend toy for me, should we ever get another one.
 
IowaOffRoad said:
Depends.

Mopar people come in a few flavors with the 'Joe Dirt' stereotype being the one everybody thinks of.

30% are the Joe Dirts.
20% are the 'numbers-matching purists'
30% are the 'Cummins bros' (pre-'89 these were also in the Joe Dirt category)
the last 20% are like me, I like them but know what they are. Not as bad as many think, worse than the first 3 groups think. Many years quality was as good or better than the other American brands, but were certainly punctuated by some really craptastic models and years. Dealer experience on average is worse than Ford and GM, though there are some great Mopar dealers out there. More of a likelihood of having a bad year or two in an otherwise decent model run than the other two due to mismanagement reasons.

Someone in the industry once said "Chrysler must build good cars because the management is for ****" (paraphrasing for effect).

I've owned 3 generations of their trucks and I can say that most years they compared favorably to the same year Ford or GM for me. I've owned several different models of those as well, I just like Dodge better. Had some of their cars (all pre Daimler) and several of their minivans (all Daimler era). Vans are the best overall (I hear you Honda and Toyota, you are way overvalued for the quality and ease of maintenance), the cars were a crapshoot, some great and some bad.

Avoid MDS and 3.7L and you should be fine. Well-maintained Hemi and Pentastar will be okay.

Just like anything else you'd buy, don't fall in love too quickly and buy the best example of what you want that you can afford.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I am pretty brand open, but my two DD trucks are Dodges and I drove the last one for 11 years. I've always liked Mopar and have bought a few Jeeps new etc. in the past. The old Mopar car scene is an interesting one. Weird culture but I like the older cars for sure.
 
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