A friend of mine just bought a brand new Dodge Ram (V8, power windows/locks, crew cab, 6-speed stick) truck for $16,000 from a local dealer. I thought the 50% savings was only on single cab, V6 strippers. Turns out, this truck was a leftover 2007 model. (not 2008) We pulled about 2 ft of string wrapped inside the pivot point in the side view mirror. This rig obviously had many, many balloons tied to its mirror as it waited for a new owner. The new owner wisely insisted the fluids get changed before he took delivery of the truck. Which brings me to this picture: I’ve been driving by another Chrysler dealership since March and the scene has not changed. (I took this picture on Tuesday) There must be over 30 Crossfires, always sitting on the front row. I believe they stopped making Crossfires over a year ago. Maybe this isn’t newsworthy, but there’s no better sign of the times than these two outsider recent snapshots into Chrysler’s miserable sales.
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At the local Dodge dealer that I drive by twice per day here in SE Michigan, there sits eight Challengers visible from the road. Day after day. Week after week. (And who knows how many are out of sight.) Priorities (of the buying public) sure do change with bad times. Interesting from another perspective, is the used, clean, 2008 Toyota Sienna minivan across the street at the GMC dealer, sitting there for a year now.
I actually bought a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab with all the trimmings for $2500.
Leather, Hemi Engine, Seating for 6, Infinity Sound, and about a 12000 pound hauling capacity.
Sure it’s got 130k miles and needs to have three body panels replaced along with four tires. But boy, what a hauler. I had it go over 500 miles in one day picking up vehicles at various auctions for my big Thursday sale. Multiple cars brought the mileage down to about 11 mpg but with only one to haul it got 17 mpg.
If we travel around the country this year, we’ll be using this along with a trailer.
The irony is, if a customer walked in the showroom and asked to see the Crossfires, the saleman would probably tell him they were selling like hotcakes, then ask him “if” he was ready to buy today and hit him at full MSRP.
Way back in fall 2007, when I first switched from Avis to Hertz, Hertz rented these things constantly. There seemed to be as many Crossfires in the fleet as there were Cobalts.
I haven’t seen one since Christmas of that year. Not even a rental company will touch them.
No wonder, though. People hated them. You couldn’t give them away for subcompact (i.e. Rio/Accent/Aveo) prices, despite their being a specialty sports class.
Also, the first post, about the Chargers, reminds me of the all-new Sebring launch in, I believe, ’07. This town’s Dodge/Chrysler dealer is on my route to work, just on the side of the road. They immediately took delivery of two Sebring Tourings when they first came out, one black and one red. I noted that in the following four to five months, neither moved. Literally did not move. Dust had built up on them visible from the road (it’s a two-lane with a turn lane, and the dealer’s lot is literally 5 feet from your window, and there is often a standstill backup from the light at the end of the road). Nobody was test driving them, nobody was washing them, no action at all. As I already worked for Avis at the time, we began seeing them in the rental fleet in high numbers well before either of those first two sold. I knew it was bad then.
Color me really warped, but I like the Crossfire.
When the prices drop a bit more, I’m going to snag one and either stick a MB 6.3 or 5L with a twinscrew in it.
The irony is, if a customer walked in the showroom and asked to see the Crossfires, the saleman would probably tell him they were selling like hotcakes, then ask him “if” he was ready to buy today and hit him at full MSRP.
Even after you told them about seeing the 5K off ad in the paper. They pull that crap with the Challengers that have been gatehering weather damage for the last three months. And they wonder…
On my commute, there is a mid-sized Dodge dealership that I drive past twice a day.
Wait – there *was* a Dodge dealership. It was literally there one day, and gone the next. From a lot full of cars to nothing overnight.
The trick that I learned was to look at the state inspection sticker and that will give you a good idea on how long the vehicle was on the lot. The dealers around me are almost ghost towns. Now is the time to buy a car.
Two weeks ago I traveled across the country, by car, not something you should do in winter. I was aghast on how some parts of the country have been hit hard by the economy. South Georgia, the Florida Panhandle seemed to be the worst areas. One thing noticeable were the number of dealerships that had recently closed. One town in Georgia looks as if they had lost two of the big three dealers overnight, with just the forlorn Ford dealership left, and that dealership had just four cars on the lot (why I don’t know).
I think they quit making the Crossfire, because Daimler quit Chrysler (other than their 20% equity stake). I have one, and it’s a great car. There is no cheaper way to get Mercedes engineering. You can’t expect up to the minute engineering, as it’s the old SLK underneath, but it is a hugely satisfying car to own and drive.
Kalapanablack, speak for yourself. Ever driven one? I think it’s a well kept secret. A lot of people don’t even know that it’s a Benz, built in Germany. It’s a Chrysler only in name.
I drove by a midtown Cadillac dealership this morning. It’s the typical Pontiac/Buick/Cadillac setup. I couldn’t help but notice that there were only 4 cars on the showroom floor. An XLR, some sort of smallish SUV, a Pontiac G6 convertible and some other indistinguishable sedan (Buick, I assume). I was stunned. They were the only new cars I saw. Last summer the used lot was full of used Escalades and other high end guzzlers. Now, it’s Cobalts and Grand Ams. Questionable products, unstable economy and inner city location… won’t be long before the sign goes in the front window.
A Mercedes underneath the skin with Chrysler depreciation. I wonder what the repair parts prices are like ?. Sounds like it could be the worst of both worlds.
The Crossfire is the Edsel of the 21st century.
Sajeev, whereabouts do you live?
There is an obviously ailing Chrysler dealer near me. Since it’s introduction, they’ve had a hemi orange Challenger RT sitting out front. It hasn’t moved an inch. As in the case of the dealership, it is adjacent to an extremely busy street and the car mostly sits there looking filthy and forlorn. I may even go look at it just to get a good look at one up close.
Chrysler gave each dealership an extra 10,000.00 per car to order remaining copr. inventory.
One Dealership in DFW took delivery of 50 and the GM used the 500,000 for “other” things and was retired from his position.
I took a look at the new Challengers a few weeks ago, they all had this chalky film on the dashboards. it came off when you touched them. It looked like the plastic was not cured properly. It really spooked me as Chrysler does not have a great track record with dashboards not cracking and collapsing.
http://www.carcomplaints.com/Dodge/Ram_1500/2001/accessories-interior/cracked_dashboard.shtml
@Mike,
The prices of used SLKs are about the same as used Crossfires. Though the Benzes seem to have more miles on them. (YMMV)
Technically, it’s assembled by Karmann, a subcontractor, who also assembled the SLK.
I always thought the Crossfire was pretty neat. Overpriced, but neat.
NickR : Sajeev, whereabouts do you live?
There is an obviously ailing Chrysler dealer near me. Since it’s introduction, they’ve had a hemi orange Challenger RT sitting out front. It hasn’t moved an inch. As in the case of the dealership, it is adjacent to an extremely busy street and the car mostly sits there looking filthy and forlorn. I may even go look at it just to get a good look at one up close.
I’m in Houston, and I’d rather not tell everyone which dealer it is, as that pretty much rubs salt in the wound.
Everyone should check out cars right now, the time is right. Salesmen are more than happy to see tire-kickers right now, even if you tell them you have no definite timeline for purchase.
I’m almost tempted to drive one of those Crossfires, even though there’s a good chance the brake pads have rusted shut against the rotors. Or maybe even worse.
Thank you all for reading.