300C/Magnum advice

Have been looking for some time now at buying either a 300C STW or Dodge Magnum from about 2005-2008 all of them in my pricerange has 100.000-150.000 miles on them and i would love to own one with a hemi but have also looked at the 3.0 diesel and the 3.5L V6,the only engine that i have ruled out entirely is the 2.7.

Any advice on what to look for specificly on these cars,am i stupid for comsider one with that kind of milage?
I understand that a well taken care of car with more miles will be better than something that has been treated as garbage for half the distance but i dont know much about known trouble with these cars and such.

Moving to a house out on the country side pretty soon so will drive it quite some miles daily to work and such and would love to own one of them cars.

Front lower control arm bushings are junk, and used to only be available with the control arm. Not sure if they are sold separately now or not. If not, the control arms themselves are pricey (about $200 each for RWD, $400 each or AWD).

I have owned a 05 Magnum RT since it had 50k mi on it. It now has 135k miles on it and best car I have owned...ever! (daily diver). I had a wheel brg at 90K, front ball joint that needed replacing at 100K so I replaced everything (both lowers and upper on each side), air bag recall, O2 sensor, heater blower motor at 130K... are the only non maintenance (if you want to look at it that way) parts I have replaced on it.
As I said I love mine and I am considering getting a low mileage SRT8 version.

Relative had a V6 Charger and it ate front tires more than normal in my opinion. Also started to consume oil when it crossed 100k so they traded it in for a newer one.

Someone on here posted that the front frame rails can rust sway depending on where the car was driven.

I've had several Chargers with 5.7 and worked with 3.5's and 5.7's. The 3.5's have actually been amazing workhorses!!!!! Just keep on going and going!!!! Too bad the Magnums went out of production prior to '09 when Eagle Heads came out on 5.7's. But if you find one that sounds good and runs good, you're probably fine. Just keep up maintenance with proper oil.

Yes, front end problems, but not on my personally owned ones. The Police ones that are subjected to what I'll call abusive driving do suffer tension strut failures, along with control arm bushings. So you may have to replace them once, but if you don't drive on really bad roads, and aren't rough on it, it won't be worse than other cars.

I wish they would have offered the diesel over here !! I have a 06 magnum rt awd. Owned it since new, and now has 219k km (136k miles). I have always changed oil & filter at 5k km. Complete brake job @ 150k km, put larger police rotors on rear (makes a difference), shocks changed at 210k km - same time only needed one lower control arm (c/w ball joint & bushings), transmission service at 100k km. Transmission interlock replacement last fall (it is inside the shift mechanism - relatively easy to replace. And replacement part is anodized aluminum, not plastic - no way this replacement will break), differential service (frt & rear) . . . over all, I love this car. If I had to ONLY have one car, this would be it. Love the AWD in winter, 5.7 hemi still gives me a smile after all this time !!! . . . as usual, would suggest paying a bit more for a car that you find, that is in great shape !! . . . LX forum is good place to get lots of information on these cars.

Good luck !

Have you thought about looking at the insurance pools? There are 65 Magnums listed nationwide in Coparts system. Here's one:

https://www.copart.com/lot/51701589

I was recently shopping Magnums and came across a real rarity: 2008 R/T on ebay. Has the 1-year only styling and something like under 700 built. May end up with one...someday.

The OP is in SWEDEN . . . so for him over there, probably different issue. Also, in Europe, they sold the 300 in "magnum" form (stn wagon) . . . and with 3.0 liter diesel !!

I'm not sure that I understand your point. He's shopping this side of the pond isn't he? And didn't say that he wanted diesel only. So why would the insurance pools be a 'no-go' for him?

Being in Europe you have the best of both worlds available... the Chrysler 300c Wagon
The wife wanted a 300c wagon bad... but we weren't allowed to buy them in the US
And had to watch trailers of these heading down I83 to the Baltimore Harbor, to be shipped across the pond.

You could swap a 300 front clip to a Magnum. Supposed to be a bolt on swap.

Kevin

I have driven a 2007 Magnum R/T since new. It has 177,000 miles, a lot of them easy road miles.

The only failures I have had is the ignition switch and a problem with the shifter. The shifter problem is very common and I think the Mopar part is an upgrade and I think there are even aftermarket parts that are even better. Both of these problems involved a ride on a tilt back.

It still has the original brakes which are still good, but I plan to replace soon.

I recently had a four wheel alignment as all the suspension parts are still fine.

I have taken good care of it.

Varying opinions on this but if one of these engines has been overheated I think they are vulnerable to dropping valve seats. My research has been minimal but I have never seen anyone that had dropped a valve seat that knew the car had never been overheated.

You probably have seen it but if not there is a Magnum Page on Facebook.

Before you I saw you were in Sweden the mention of Diesel got my attention!

I assume there are lots of all wheel drive models there. Not many in my part of the woods but I think the reliably of those is good.

I wish they still sold them new!

The original shifter interlock is made from plastic. At some point in time as it ages, the little hook of plastic that holds a spring, breaks and releases the spring and no shift ! The attached pic is the piece out of my car ! I was lucky it happened for me, while parked in my garage at home . . . did a google search, and then off to NAPA for the Dorman replacement part - made of Anodized aluminum - no breaking in the future !!, and took about 1 hr to pull apart and replace !! . . . the "white spot" on the pink part is where the little hook broke off . . . and yes, that is the actual color of the part !!! Again, you can get the shifter working, without changing it, but it's a "jury rig" kind of thing . . . best to google the issue !!!

I had a 2005 Magnum for a while. Besides regular maintenance, I changed the headlight switch (headlights were flickering) and I believe it had a clockspring recall. It was mostly a solid car. I was one of the unlucky ones that had a valve seat drop in my hemi and it cooked the #1 cyl. While the engine could have overheated before I owned it (I don't know either way), it did not overhead in the 3 years I owned it so I was pretty surprised when it dropped. Anyway, it sounds like the pre-eagle head hemi is not on your list anyway. I really enjoyed driving that car. Tons of room and lots of space in the back with the rear seats folded forward. Comfortable on long rides. If they had kept making them I might have a 2019 Magnum in my garage instead of a Charger.

It's literally know as the "pink thingie" by most people that have had the problem.

When you google search pink thingie. https://www.google.com/search?q=pink+thingie&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1

If they made a 2020 Magnum with all the latest electronics I would have one on order!

Where does he say he's looking here, he's only looking for opinions and advice.

Just offering a suggestion. If it is out of line, everyone is welcome to ignore it.

Some good stuff here, i have been looking at the AWD versions aswell thats for sure but not sure i like how tall they sit compared to the RWD versions.

The 300s seems to have alitle more luxury in interiors but i somehow like the exterior look of the magnum better,decistions are hard to make.

And nope i have not ruled out a Hemi.,would actualy prefer one of those if one can be found at the right price that is not beat to death,but seems much easier to find a 3.5 or a 3.0 diesel in good shape. not in a rush yet i have a few weeks to get a car before moving to the house in the country side