Safford Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep/Ram bait and switch

[KrisZ]

The oil cooler leaks are less of a concern if you will be changing your own oil. Don’t torque the oil cap AT ALL, even to the factory torque spec and you will be fine. My Grand Caravan is at over 90k miles and it’s still dry.

However, the new Pentastar generation seems to have fixed the valve rocker issues and traded them for the head gasket issues.
I did the rockers on my minivan recently and the job is not too bad. A head gasket job though, I’m not sure I would be able to DIY.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

They list several 2023 Challenger SXT and Ram 1500 Big Horm for more than $6k below MSRP but when I got to the stealership, those were marked above MSRP. I asked if there were any promotion sales and they said ‘No’ so Inshowed then the internet listing and they said they just sold all of those today.

This is the only stealership in town with inventory out front, the rest hide them in storage lot offsite. No wonder many places here still list 2023 inventory.

Did you have the VIN in hand? Did they even list the VIN in the ad?

If it seems almost "too good to be true" I'll call the dealer first and ask to speak to the sales manager

I will look at my local dealer - right now - that has huge inventory and see what they are advertising.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

No Challengers.

But this ... what a deal !

 

[Vitamin Yoda]

I actually had a cashier check for $28.5k for out the door price for. 2023 Challenfer SXT, purple exterior with extended duck tail as the only option. I guess I’ll deposit the hat back tomorrow morning.

In 2019/2020 they couldn't give those away at $24K. Around the same time a Chrysler 300 V6 was $22K, while a Charger V6 SXT could be had for $24K~$26K. The platforms are antiquated. The vehicles are too heavy for what they are, and they can barely meet crash safety standards. Their only saving grace is looks. Their quality hasn't improved at all.

But hey, if dealers want to keep financing their floor plan and pay interest every month until the bubble completely bursts, then why make any effort to stop them, right?

[Edit]

Around the same time a Challenger R/T 6-speed was $29K~$30K. I wanted one at the time, but finances didn't allow for it.

All those vehicles were meant to be reasonable priced comuters with some fun thrown in. Stellantis is destroying their customer base by pricing them like luxury cars.

 

[Vitamin Yoda]

No Challengers.

But this ... what a deal !

View attachment 200386

At least it has ESS... which is what you want on a $110K vehicle. It won't save you any money, but hey, it will send your engine to an early grave. The recommended oil is 0W-40 (MS-something - whatevet SRT spec used to be called). That means that ot needs an HTHS of at least 3.5 to survive. When you run 10%~15% ethanol gas in it and keep stoping and starting that engine in bumper-2-bumper traffic, coupled with fuel dilution and heat, your oil is washed off into the pan pretty quickly every time you do it. This engine might be their new Pentastar. Waiting for it to show its gremlins and weak spots.

 

[OVERKILL]

Hemi ticks and oil starvation at idling on non-Hellcat models concern me.

There is no oil starvation problem. The vast, VAST majority of ticks are caused by leaking exhaust manifolds, which is common on most trucks from all marques.

 

[dishdude]

No one buys a Hemi to drive 5 under the speed limit to church on Sunday morning. Everyone of these gets hammered on, hard.

 

[hrv]

Chrysler/Dodge died years ago....and this company that owned them now....Stilleto or whatever is is called will kill it for good..

 

[OVERKILL]

Chrysler/Dodge died years ago....and this company that owned them now....Stilleto or whatever is is called will kill it for good..

And this is based on what, your profound knowledge of the industry and the corporate structure and operations of Stellantis?

 

[hrv]

And this is based on what, your profound knowledge of the industry and the corporate structure and operations of Stellantis?

no there sales and lack of vehicles that people want...

 

[OVERKILL]

no there sales and lack of vehicles that people want...

*their

- RAM 1500 is one of the best selling vehicles in North America, they sold 444,927 in the US in in 2023. That's more than Tundra, Tacoma, Frontier, Titan, Ranger and Canyon combined.
- Grand Cherokee sold 244,595 vehicles, which is more than Civic, Tacoma, Tesla Model 3, Corolla and Accord

Wrangler is also on the top-25 list.

 

[M1Accord]

Did you have the VIN in hand? Did they even list the VIN in the ad?

If it seems almost "too good to be true" I'll call the dealer first and ask to speak to the sales manager

I will look at my local dealer - right now - that has huge inventory and see what they are advertising.

Yes. They have vin in the ads. I couldn’t verify the bin on the car because the window sticker didn’t have it or I didn’t see it and I can’t make out the strip on the dash since it was dark.

Here is the ads for one of the challenger. The vin is below the year and make line on upper left of the page.

https://www.saffordoffredericksburg.com/inventory/new-2023-dodge-challenger-sxt-rwd-2d-coupe-2c3cdzag9ph681075/

 

[Vitamin Yoda]

no there sales and lack of vehicles that people want...

I want their vehicles, and so do many others. We just happen to think they're overpriced, so we're patiently waiting for prices to drop before we spend money on their offerings again. They're easy to work on, and with some TLC, they last for a very long time.

 

[OVERKILL]

I want their vehicles, and so do many others. We just happen to think they're overpriced, so we're patiently waiting for prices to drop before we spend money on their offerings again. They're easy to work on, and with some TLC, they last for a very long time.

Yup, my SRT was purchased for well below sticker, as was our 1500. IIRC, it was $20K savings on the SRT, which stickered at 94K.

 

[dishdude]

I want their vehicles, and so do many others. We just happen to think they're overpriced, so we're patiently waiting for prices to drop before we spend money on their offerings again. They're easy to work on, and with some TLC, they last for a very long time.

That's been my experience as well. I've had very few issues with any Jeep or Dodge product I've owned and never had any major issues like a transmission or anything internal to an engine.

 

[zzyzzx]

Why am I NOT surprised that a dealer in Northern Virginia would do this?

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

There’s deals out there if you’re willing to travel . And nobody should pay over MSRP for a FCA product there’s plenty of inventory

Nobody should pay over MSRP, period. Every single sale that goes over MSRP merely emboldens dealers to further fleece the consumer. If everyone refused to pay $1 more than MSRP, prices curiously fall REALLY quickly as that inventory stagnates on the dealer’s lot and revenue dries up…

 

[Rand]

Why am I NOT surprised that a dealer in Northern Virginia would do this?

949 processing fee.. uh what processing?

 

[Danno]

Ram deals just hit for Feb.
2023 DS is 20% off with 5.49% financing.
Paying full retail plus mark up is gone.
Maybe new Tacoma, but 2024 list is so high on those, dealer mark up may have been squeezed out. I was waiting for this to happen. We'll see.

 

[andrew_j]

They list several 2023 Challenger SXT and Ram 1500 Big Horm for more than $6k below MSRP but when I got to the stealership, those were marked above MSRP. I asked if there were any promotion sales and they said ‘No’ so Inshowed then the internet listing and they said they just sold all of those today.

This is the only stealership in town with inventory out front, the rest hide them in storage lot offsite. No wonder many places here still list 2023 inventory.

Did you in you inquire online or thru contact method about the vehicles in stock etc before becoming a walk in? Internet sales can be different than a walk in. Also Internet sales items may be isolated from general sales . Guessing they had no idea about status of them so they said sold.