So I had my Oil chnaged today...

[Intrepidation]

Well I took the Intrepid to Tom Manzi Dodge today to have the oil changed since it was about 100 miles before it wad due. The clerk/technician guy comes into the showroom where I am (ogling a 300C), and says they found an oil leak. Oh great, so it has one after all (if you remember from when I first got the car, the mechanic we normally go to looked at it and found oil on the engine but wasn't sure where and said he couldn't find out until they cleaned the engine...when it got warmer). Anyway, he brought me over to my car which was on the lift and showed me. As it turns out, the Oil Pressure Sending Switch is leaking oil. It's not a big leak, and not that expensive to fix (about 60 bucks...most of that labor). He said I could probably do it myself if I wanted, but...I'd rather let them do it..especially since you need to get under the car to replace it. They also found another leak, which I was surprised about...the Power Steering Cooler Tube is leaking a little. Again, it's not a lot, but it's there nonetheless. It looks like the leak has been there a while. Again, not a serious thing and about 60 bucks to fix. So about $120 in repairs...not bad considering besides a battery and a couple of bulbs, I've had to do no parts replacement for this car since I got it. I'll probably get the switch replaced next week and the tube replaced the week after. I got a good look at the underbody of the Intrepid, and it looks pretty good overall. He told me the rear bushings on the left rear strut might need to be replaced soon, but until I hear noises going over bumps they're fine. Besides that he said they found no other problems with the car.

They went back to changing my oil, and I went back into the showroom. Some guy came in driving an old $h!box (which he even called it) Nissan Sentra. He said he was looking for a lease and wanted to get ot of the $h!box he was driving. The funny thing was that he didn't really know what he wanted. First he asked about the Caravan, then he asked about "the other van" (which I'm guessing is the Sprinter that this dealer doesn't sell). He asked about the Durango, and then about the 300C I was sitting in (he wanted to spend 250-300 a month). HE asked a funny quest: if they were going out of business or something. It's funny because even though Chrysler's been having inventory issues...this dealer is pretty low on cars....only some about 10 Rams, 7 Caravans, a Charger that was sold already (too bad...I wanted to drive it), a Nitro, a few Calibers, the 300C, and a Neon SXT with the Sport Package...oh and 2 Stratus's. The salesman said they were waiting for more inventory. I dunno where they went after that, probably to test drive something.

Anyway, the car...the 300C AWD I sat it...I had a good look at the interior of this car...and I gotta say 1.) I don't know what people are complaining about it materials wise 2.) If all Chrysler products were like this Chrysler Group wouldn't have any problems.

The upper dash is soft textured material, and very nicely textured too. The lower dash I think is hard plastic but i didn't poke that too much...but who cares about the lower dash anyway? The upper door panels as well as all of the armests (even the center armrest which had the DVD player was soft) were soft touch, and all of the materials felt solid and everything was put together perfectly. The turn signal stalk is mounted kinda low, and the cruise control is strange..but that's all I could find to "complain" about.

Oh, and Fly...the 300C has struts to hold the hood up.

Eventually I got done looking at the 300C and looked at the Caliber and Nitro...yup...the Caliber's upper glove box is $h!...door won't stay up. The Nitro is ok...not nearly as bad as the one NorthStar sat in, but mostly hard plastic. There was soft armrests for the FRONT occupants though. It's functional that's for sure, but the materials lack the quality of the 300C. I talked to one of the salesman and the was mentioning Chrysler interiors should improve in a few years (referring to that article that was posted), and agreed what's in the Caliber is pretty bad. After I got my paperwork done I also chatted with Eric, who brought one of his co-workers in to show them the 177K miles on the 2.7L He said he couldn't let me drive the Charger since it was already sold but I could drive one when they get more in. Good stuff.

Oh, it cost me $26.95 for the oil change...cheaper than our normal mechanic, and I have a discount card so next time it'll be 4 bucks off. They also gave me a 10% off coupon for the oil switch. It's such a friendly dealership...I wonder if Saturn dealerships are like this?

[Flybrian]

Oh, and Fly...the 300C has struts to hold the hood up.

Not the base 300, though. I'm not sure about the Touring, but its still pretty unacceptable for a car with a hood that large. Niss...Infiniti finally put lifters on the G35 this year.

After seeing more rent-a-vengers lately with chromed grilles and Chargers outfitted likewise, I wonder why anyone would buy a 300 or Sebring. The Dodges look so much better.

[Intrepidation]

Not the base 300, though. I'm not sure about the Touring, but its still pretty unacceptable for a car with a hood that large. Niss...Infiniti finally put lifters on the G35 this year.

After seeing more rent-a-vengers lately with chromed grilles and Chargers outfitted likewise, I wonder why anyone would buy a 300 or Sebring. The Dodges look so much better.

I dunno, I love the Charger and all but in person, up close, the 300 looks really good to me...and the interior is great. Although man, that steering wheel is kinda big...that's something I noticed...bigger and a bit thinner than the Intrepid's. I dunno about Touring either...personally I think the base model should be fleet only, then they can have a prop.

[mrmonte]

The 300c is sweet I want one too. It would be my first choice for a new car.

[ocnblu]

We have a nice '06 300 Touring in the shop right now... with $5000 worth of front end damage. It has gas struts for the hood.

[Intrepidation]

We have a nice '06 300 Touring in the shop right now... with $5000 worth of front end damage. It has gas struts for the hood.

There ya go Fly I wonder if the SXT Charger/Hemi Charger have struts or props? I haven't got to pop the hood on one yet.