New week, new question... What Charger(s) do you REGRET BUYING???

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Last week I asked which Charger(s) you regretted NOT buying... This week, I thought I would ask, have you ever bought a Dodge Charger you REGRET Buying?  


Did you buy a Charger sight unseen, only to have it shipped home and find it to be a POS  

How about one you might have forgotten to inspect the numbers, taking the seller's word  

Or maybe you wish you found this forum and knew then what you know now?  

What are your stories

[Ghoste]

I don't actually regret any of them.

[Back N Black]

Do you have a data bank of questions? Do you have any car questions? tips?

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Do you have a data bank of questions? Do you have any car questions? tips?

Yes, yes, and yes   Start your own thread, ask a question, and if I have something to add, I will... That's how a forum works. Otherwise, if you don't like the topic, move on... 

[1970Moparmann]

ZERO!

The one I didn't care for was a 70 RT Auto low mileage survivor.   I had it for 5 years or so and just didn't car for the green on green.  I would have felt guilty of painting the car a different color, so I sold it.  I make almost 3x what I had into it, so I can't say I regret buying it.

[General_01]

Looking back, it is hard to say. In 2001 I bought a '69 Charger. I was a Dukes fan growing up and found a replica here in town for the sale. I enjoyed owning the car and had fun with it, but looking back I wonder how nice my '71 Bee would be if I had spent the money on it instead of the General. Still own the Bee. Sold the General back in '08.

[UH60L]

I'v  only been fortunate enough to buy one, my '69, and I don't regret it.  I wish I had been able to buy one (or more than one) sooner in life (got mine at age 33).  The car went into the body shop in Feb 2008, got it back in December, $24,000.00 later .  Thanks to the payment on our new car, I don't know when I'll ever finish the charger now.  Kind of depressing actually.

Winning the lottery would be great, but I'd be happy with enough to just pay off my house and car.....

[472 R/T SE]

Do you have a data bank of questions? Do you have any car questions? tips?

Kinda reminds a person of someone, doesn't it? 

[1970Moparmann]

I'v  only been fortunate enough to buy one, my '69, and I don't regret it.  I wish I had been able to buy one (or more than one) sooner in life (got mine at age 33).  The car went into the body shop in Feb 2008, got it back in December, $24,000.00 later .  Thanks to the payment on our new car, I don't know when I'll ever finish the charger now.  Kind of depressing actually.

Winning the lottery would be great, but I'd be happy with enough to just pay off my house and car.....

Was your car a basket case to begin with?   Just remember you can always have a plan B.   The biggest expense part of your car is done now, so if you have an engine that runs, clean it up, detail it, drop it in.  Same with the trans.   Interior, if you have the interior that came with it, your plan B could be to dye it, paint it, whatever, and then put new on later.   

I heard someone recently say "my car is a craigslist car", meaning he bought everything needed on that site to finish.  Said it took a lot of nights of searching, but was able to put together his car with 1/4 of the money.   Good luck.

[XS29LA47V21]

 
Back in the late 1990s I bought a 69 F3-318 Builder/parts car Charger complete, typical rust. 

True story, I bought it in ...at night, in the rain.... with snow on it (snow from previous day).  Got it loaded up on the following day and I realized what I had bought, way rougher then I thought and very rusty (for back then, not know).    In the long run kept a couple good parts and sent the rest on it's merry way.    Buyers remorse on any Charger, are you    Other than a short time with this car, NO.  Sellers remorse on a couple cars I wish I kept for sure....

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Back in the late 1990s I bought a 69 F3-318 Builder/parts car Charger complete, typical rust. 

True story, I bought it in ...at night, in the rain.... with snow on it (snow from previous day).  Got it loaded up on the following day and I realized what I had bought, way rougher then I thought and very rusty (for back then, not know).    In the long run kept a couple good parts and sent the rest on it's merry way.    Buyers remorse on any Charger, are you    Other than a short time with this car, NO.  Sellers remorse on a couple cars I wish I kept for sure....

Thanks  Those are good points about how to NOT buy a Charger (or really, any car)

At night, in the rain, and with snow 

I bought my 68 after looking at exactly NO OTHER cars to compare it to...  what did I know?

Over 20 years later, I have learned an awful lot  Fortunately, I only paid $1,400 for the car and wound up selling it a year later for $3,000. Not bad, but I probably had more invested than what I got...

Anyways, I almost got caught up in the excitement of a 1969 R/T SE car due to it being cold, I was hurried, and missed a LOT of small things... Brought a friend back the 2nd time and while this car that was previously advertised for $23,500 could have been had for $16k, I walked... Might have been a $10k car. Slowing down and bringing a second set of eyes helped a bunch 

[jaak]

Ive bought four, my 69....the 69 I used for parts (definately don't regret that one, saved me tons of $$$$!). I've also had a 72 and a 73. I made profits on both the 72 and 73....so I don't regret buying any of them I bought.


Jason

[69rtse4spd]

None, though I wish I would have kept a few of them.

[AirborneSilva]

The one I bought from HLPAG and his band of crooks! 

[challenger70]

Mine, nothing a boatload of $ can't fix , I am sure when it's done it will be worth it.

[Brock Lee]

A 1968 that was rougher than I expected. It was stolen before I had a chance to restore it.

[larmstrong11]

I bought a real nice looking 68 at carlisle drove it 4 hours home after putting it on a lift I sold it quickly total bondo buggy car looked nice, some one did a good job of covering up the body, i ve learned a lot in my 20 years in this hobby. Unfornatly not enough though, my 70 is almost finished at the body shop, i bought it as no#s matching 383 hp car, motor was at a rebuilders home shop he died, everything came up missing I am into this one more than i care to think about........damn love for chargers!!!!!!!

[UH60L]

I'v  only been fortunate enough to buy one, my '69, and I don't regret it.  I wish I had been able to buy one (or more than one) sooner in life (got mine at age 33).  The car went into the body shop in Feb 2008, got it back in December, $24,000.00 later .  Thanks to the payment on our new car, I don't know when I'll ever finish the charger now.  Kind of depressing actually.

Winning the lottery would be great, but I'd be happy with enough to just pay off my house and car.....

Was your car a basket case to begin with?   Just remember you can always have a plan B.   The biggest expense part of your car is done now, so if you have an engine that runs, clean it up, detail it, drop it in.  Same with the trans.   Interior, if you have the interior that came with it, your plan B could be to dye it, paint it, whatever, and then put new on later.   

I heard someone recently say "my car is a craigslist car", meaning he bought everything needed on that site to finish.  Said it took a lot of nights of searching, but was able to put together his car with 1/4 of the money.   Good luck.

I drove my car home from Salt Lake when I won the auction on e-bay, but it became obvious soon enough that the guy I bought it from (who owned 9 more '69 chargers......) put my car togeather with all the crap parts from the other cars, and a pair of hyundai front seats!   I wouldn't call it a basket case, but it needed a lot of TLC.  It was originally a 318 car, but had been changed to a 440 about 20 years before I got it.

I workded on and drove the car from 2004 to 2008, buying new or missing parts online, through my car club, and surprisingly, from the local chrysler dealer (some stuff is still in the inventory, though not as much these days).  The problem I have with finishing some of the things is know-how.  A lot of what needs to be put togeather, I didn't take apart, the body shop did, but I wasn't willign to pay even more to have them finish it.

The other part is money.  The problem is, when some people say "I don't have enough money to do (insert task here)", they really could afford it, but they choose not to, or they are just exagerating.  When I say I'm broke, I'm broke.

Thanks to a recent purchase (IE financing ) of a new car, during which the payment amount on Saturday was one amount and then when we signed the final paperwork thursday was almsot $200.00 a month more....we are now living thrsday to thurday again (I get paid one thursday and my wife gets paid the next thursday...).  We are not starving, nor have we lost our home, but have absolutely no money in savings now and are just barely making all of our payments each month, some 2 weeks late, some a month late.  Where I work, we are not allwed to get overtime pay, ever, per a union bargaining agreemnet from back in the late '70s or early '80s, so that's not an option...

I should have just given them the key fob back to the new car, but 1) they already had taken our trade in, 2)the new car we got was a 2011 challenger that we really enjoy, and 3) Saturday to Thursday wa  just long enough to go around showing our family and friends and co-workers our "new car" and the dealership played on that pride in order to keep us suckered into buying it even when the payment went way beyond what we could afford. 

It was basically a bait and switch, one finance rate and payment on Saturday, and a much different one on Thursday all typed up on the paperwork ready for us to sign.  It wasn't technically illegal, but it was, in my opinion, un-ethical.  Either way, my wife and I both looked at each other, knowing we couldn't afford it, and allowed ourselves to be suckered.  We no longer have cable tv, a home phone, or any form of "extra" money, and we now car pool to work whenever possible.  As a friend of mine used to say "price you pay for fame and glory".

I'm not looking for sympothy, the debt we have is our own dang fault. I'm just making the point that I won't be able to buy anything for my '69 charger for a long, long time, without either winning the lottery or inheriting money.  Knowing my family.......I've got better odds with the lottery! 

On a positive note, the new challenger is a lot of fun, and actually gets as high as 29 mpg, even with the 5.7 in it......

[AirborneSilva]

I'v  only been fortunate enough to buy one, my '69, and I don't regret it.  I wish I had been able to buy one (or more than one) sooner in life (got mine at age 33).  The car went into the body shop in Feb 2008, got it back in December, $24,000.00 later .  Thanks to the payment on our new car, I don't know when I'll ever finish the charger now.  Kind of depressing actually.

Winning the lottery would be great, but I'd be happy with enough to just pay off my house and car.....

Was your car a basket case to begin with?   Just remember you can always have a plan B.   The biggest expense part of your car is done now, so if you have an engine that runs, clean it up, detail it, drop it in.  Same with the trans.   Interior, if you have the interior that came with it, your plan B could be to dye it, paint it, whatever, and then put new on later.   

I heard someone recently say "my car is a craigslist car", meaning he bought everything needed on that site to finish.  Said it took a lot of nights of searching, but was able to put together his car with 1/4 of the money.   Good luck.

I drove my car home from Salt Lake when I won the auction on e-bay, but it became obvious soon enough that the guy I bought it from (who owned 9 more '69 chargers......) put my car togeather with all the crap parts from the other cars, and a pair of hyundai front seats!   I wouldn't call it a basket case, but it needed a lot of TLC.  It was originally a 318 car, but had been changed to a 440 about 20 years before I got it.

I workded on and drove the car from 2004 to 2008, buying new or missing parts online, through my car club, and surprisingly, from the local chrysler dealer (some stuff is still in the inventory, though not as much these days).  The problem I have with finishing some of the things is know-how.  A lot of what needs to be put togeather, I didn't take apart, the body shop did, but I wasn't willign to pay even more to have them finish it.

The other part is money.  The problem is, when some people say "I don't have enough money to do (insert task here)", they really could afford it, but they choose not to, or they are just exagerating.  When I say I'm broke, I'm broke.

Thanks to a recent purchase (IE financing ) of a new car, during which the payment amount on Saturday was one amount and then when we signed the final paperwork thursday was almsot $200.00 a month more....we are now living thrsday to thurday again (I get paid one thursday and my wife gets paid the next thursday...).  We are not starving, nor have we lost our home, but have absolutely no money in savings now and are just barely making all of our payments each month, some 2 weeks late, some a month late.  Where I work, we are not allwed to get overtime pay, ever, per a union bargaining agreemnet from back in the late '70s or early '80s, so that's not an option...

I should have just given them the key fob back to the new car, but 1) they already had taken our trade in, 2)the new car we got was a 2011 challenger that we really enjoy, and 3) Saturday to Thursday wa  just long enough to go around showing our family and friends and co-workers our "new car" and the dealership played on that pride in order to keep us suckered into buying it even when the payment went way beyond what we could afford. 

It was basically a bait and switch, one finance rate and payment on Saturday, and a much different one on Thursday all typed up on the paperwork ready for us to sign.  It wasn't technically illegal, but it was, in my opinion, un-ethical.  Either way, my wife and I both looked at each other, knowing we couldn't afford it, and allowed ourselves to be suckered.  We no longer have cable tv, a home phone, or any form of "extra" money, and we now car pool to work whenever possible.  As a friend of mine used to say "price you pay for fame and glory".

I'm not looking for sympothy, the debt we have is our own dang fault. I'm just making the point that I won't be able to buy anything for my '69 charger for a long, long time, without either winning the lottery or inheriting money.  Knowing my family.......I've got better odds with the lottery! 

On a positive note, the new challenger is a lot of fun, and actually gets as high as 29 mpg, even with the 5.7 in it......

Not trying to beat you up but you should have told them to take the car back, I sold cars for a couple of years and can tell you with full confidence that they would have done whatever it took to get your payment down to the original price quouted you, or at the very least within a few dollars.  I just bought a 2011 Ram (w/Hemi of course), and they tried the same crap on me, I told them I was prepared to walk and take my trade back unless they gave me original pricing, they did! 

I'm glad you enjoy the Challenger (my wife has an SRT Challenger and loves it), so enjoy the heck out of it and build the Charger when you can.

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

When I say I'm broke, I'm broke.

Thanks to a recent purchase (IE financing ) of a new car, during which the payment amount on Saturday was one amount and then when we signed the final paperwork thursday was almsot $200.00 a month more....

I should have just given them the key fob back to the new car, but 1) they already had taken our trade in, 2)the new car we got was a 2011 challenger that we really enjoy, and 3) Saturday to Thursday wa  just long enough to go around showing our family and friends and co-workers our "new car" and the dealership played on that pride in order to keep us suckered into buying it even when the payment went way beyond what we could afford. 

Not to beat a dead horse, but the extra $200/mo. is all profit to the F&I guy at the dealership. Ouch! This represents THOUSANDS of extra dollars over the life of the loan which it sounds like they sold you at one rate/price but had you take at another.

The "puppy dog" close, where they gave you the car to parade around with and get comfortable, is a good trick - especially for those who seek approval on what they drive. They knew you wouldn't give the car back. 

Unfortunate, as you have now learned the hard way about buying a car  But here's to getting back on track and getting the Charger on the road 

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

I bought a real nice looking 68 at carlisle drove it 4 hours home after putting it on a lift I sold it quickly total bondo buggy car looked nice, some one did a good job of covering up the body, i ve learned a lot in my 20 years in this hobby. Unfornatly not enough though, my 70 is almost finished at the body shop, i bought it as no#s matching 383 hp car, motor was at a rebuilders home shop he died, everything came up missing I am into this one more than i care to think about........damn love for chargers!!!!!!!

Any pics of the 68?   

[472 R/T SE]

On a positive note, the new challenger is a lot of fun, and actually gets as high as 29 mpg, even with the 5.7 in it......

And dealerships' wonder why they get the shady reputation they have. 

Didn't you folks sign paperwork on Saturday locking in rates, finance, etc.?

Did they sneak in a warranty?  They're real good about that.  The last 2 rigs we bought they came out with paperwork with the extended warranty already wrote into the loan.  I flat out asked them why they did that & that I never requested it, now we have to wait for you folks to recalculate everything eliminating that.  I told them I couldn't figure out why they did that cause I could have saved us both time.   

$200 more a month is quite the difference is interest rate.  If you're not in a credit union, now might be the time to join one.  If it's interest alone that raised your monthly payment, you surely can do better.

That absolutely sucks that they pulled that shit, a phone call would have been the respectable thing to do.  We got burned back in '96 so I have zero patience for some salesmen tactics. 

May I ask what dealership did this?

GL.

[RallyeMike]

None.

But that's becasue I will not buy rusty cars except purely for parts. Rust buckets are the number one dissatisfiers in my opinion.

[UH60L]

I'v  only been fortunate enough to buy one, my '69, and I don't regret it.  I wish I had been able to buy one (or more than one) sooner in life (got mine at age 33).  The car went into the body shop in Feb 2008, got it back in December, $24,000.00 later .  Thanks to the payment on our new car, I don't know when I'll ever finish the charger now.  Kind of depressing actually.

Winning the lottery would be great, but I'd be happy with enough to just pay off my house and car.....

Was your car a basket case to begin with?   Just remember you can always have a plan B.   The biggest expense part of your car is done now, so if you have an engine that runs, clean it up, detail it, drop it in.  Same with the trans.   Interior, if you have the interior that came with it, your plan B could be to dye it, paint it, whatever, and then put new on later.   

I heard someone recently say "my car is a craigslist car", meaning he bought everything needed on that site to finish.  Said it took a lot of nights of searching, but was able to put together his car with 1/4 of the money.   Good luck.

I drove my car home from Salt Lake when I won the auction on e-bay, but it became obvious soon enough that the guy I bought it from (who owned 9 more '69 chargers......) put my car togeather with all the crap parts from the other cars, and a pair of hyundai front seats!   I wouldn't call it a basket case, but it needed a lot of TLC.  It was originally a 318 car, but had been changed to a 440 about 20 years before I got it.

I workded on and drove the car from 2004 to 2008, buying new or missing parts online, through my car club, and surprisingly, from the local chrysler dealer (some stuff is still in the inventory, though not as much these days).  The problem I have with finishing some of the things is know-how.  A lot of what needs to be put togeather, I didn't take apart, the body shop did, but I wasn't willign to pay even more to have them finish it.

The other part is money.  The problem is, when some people say "I don't have enough money to do (insert task here)", they really could afford it, but they choose not to, or they are just exagerating.  When I say I'm broke, I'm broke.

Thanks to a recent purchase (IE financing ) of a new car, during which the payment amount on Saturday was one amount and then when we signed the final paperwork thursday was almsot $200.00 a month more....we are now living thrsday to thurday again (I get paid one thursday and my wife gets paid the next thursday...).  We are not starving, nor have we lost our home, but have absolutely no money in savings now and are just barely making all of our payments each month, some 2 weeks late, some a month late.  Where I work, we are not allwed to get overtime pay, ever, per a union bargaining agreemnet from back in the late '70s or early '80s, so that's not an option...

I should have just given them the key fob back to the new car, but 1) they already had taken our trade in, 2)the new car we got was a 2011 challenger that we really enjoy, and 3) Saturday to Thursday wa  just long enough to go around showing our family and friends and co-workers our "new car" and the dealership played on that pride in order to keep us suckered into buying it even when the payment went way beyond what we could afford. 

It was basically a bait and switch, one finance rate and payment on Saturday, and a much different one on Thursday all typed up on the paperwork ready for us to sign.  It wasn't technically illegal, but it was, in my opinion, un-ethical.  Either way, my wife and I both looked at each other, knowing we couldn't afford it, and allowed ourselves to be suckered.  We no longer have cable tv, a home phone, or any form of "extra" money, and we now car pool to work whenever possible.  As a friend of mine used to say "price you pay for fame and glory".

I'm not looking for sympothy, the debt we have is our own dang fault. I'm just making the point that I won't be able to buy anything for my '69 charger for a long, long time, without either winning the lottery or inheriting money.  Knowing my family.......I've got better odds with the lottery! 

On a positive note, the new challenger is a lot of fun, and actually gets as high as 29 mpg, even with the 5.7 in it......

Not trying to beat you up but you should have told them to take the car back, I sold cars for a couple of years and can tell you with full confidence that they would have done whatever it took to get your payment down to the original price quouted you, or at the very least within a few dollars.  I just bought a 2011 Ram (w/Hemi of course), and they tried the same crap on me, I told them I was prepared to walk and take my trade back unless they gave me original pricing, they did! 

I'm glad you enjoy the Challenger (my wife has an SRT Challenger and loves it), so enjoy the heck out of it and build the Charger when you can.

Nope, your absolutely right, I should have, but that guy knew when my wife and I looked at each other that he had us.....I went back after making the first payment (and not amkign some other bill payments) explained that we really couldn't afford it, because it was more than what we told them on Saturday etc etc, and he said they couldn't help us, but maybe we could try to get it refinanced at a different bank, credit union, gave me a name of a gal at a local credit union, and said good luck.  Just for the record it was Withnell Dodge in Salem Oregon.  I've heard good and bad things about them over the years, but this was my only experience with them.

[UH60L]

When I say I'm broke, I'm broke.

Thanks to a recent purchase (IE financing ) of a new car, during which the payment amount on Saturday was one amount and then when we signed the final paperwork thursday was almsot $200.00 a month more....

I should have just given them the key fob back to the new car, but 1) they already had taken our trade in, 2)the new car we got was a 2011 challenger that we really enjoy, and 3) Saturday to Thursday wa  just long enough to go around showing our family and friends and co-workers our "new car" and the dealership played on that pride in order to keep us suckered into buying it even when the payment went way beyond what we could afford. 

Not to beat a dead horse, but the extra $200/mo. is all profit to the F&I guy at the dealership. Ouch! This represents THOUSANDS of extra dollars over the life of the loan which it sounds like they sold you at one rate/price but had you take at another.

The "puppy dog" close, where they gave you the car to parade around with and get comfortable, is a good trick - especially for those who seek approval on what they drive. They knew you wouldn't give the car back. 

Unfortunate, as you have now learned the hard way about buying a car  But here's to getting back on track and getting the Charger on the road 

Yup, the combination of driving the new car for a few days and havning not been able to drive the charger since 2008, that guy knew we wouldn't give it back.

[UH60L]

On a positive note, the new challenger is a lot of fun, and actually gets as high as 29 mpg, even with the 5.7 in it......

And dealerships' wonder why they get the shady reputation they have. 

Didn't you folks sign paperwork on Saturday locking in rates, finance, etc.?

Did they sneak in a warranty?  They're real good about that.  The last 2 rigs we bought they came out with paperwork with the extended warranty already wrote into the loan.  I flat out asked them why they did that & that I never requested it, now we have to wait for you folks to recalculate everything eliminating that.  I told them I couldn't figure out why they did that cause I could have saved us both time.   

$200 more a month is quite the difference is interest rate.  If you're not in a credit union, now might be the time to join one.  If it's interest alone that raised your monthly payment, you surely can do better.

That absolutely sucks that they pulled that shit, a phone call would have been the respectable thing to do.  We got burned back in '96 so I have zero patience for some salesmen tactics. 

May I ask what dealership did this?

GL.

We signed paperwork on Saturday that basically said we would come in on Thursday and sign the real apperwork, because the finance manager guy was not there on Saturday.  It literally took about 5 hours for them to figure out how to get the payment down to $564 a month (we told them it had to be down in the $500 a month area or there was no way we could do it....).  That was at a certain finance rate and 72 months etc etc.

Then on Thursday, they couldn't get that finance rate and they couldn't get 72 months, and then a month later when looking to refinance we realized that they indeed snuck in an extended warrantee that we thought was included free of charge (thousands extra...).  Between all those things the payment is well over $700 a month (our previous car was $301 a month....).

It was Withnell Dodge in Salem Oregon.  I have to say, the actual salesman that we worked with on Saturday was a great guy, and I don't think he had anything to do with what happenned in between Saturday and Thursday.  I also have to say that taking it in for servicing and warranty work has gone very well, no problems.  The only issue I have is how the deal went down.

In my opinion, what should have happenned is, as soon as they knew they couldn't make that deal, they should have called me and I would have taken the car back and figured something out, or given it back.

It didn't help that that Thursday night was our car club meeting, so we had planned to go sign the paperwork and then drive to the meeting show our club the new car...........yep, that finance guy really saw us coming.......

As you say, they wonder why they have a bad rep.

[472 R/T SE]

You can get out of the extended warranty.  Imo, it's a new rig, you shouldn't need an extended warranty.  When the factory warranty runs out they'll be pestering you trying to push an extended war. on you then.

I talked a big talk about them adding the warranty on our past 2 rigs.  I did have them eliminate it though but this last time I got to thinking about what we were buying.  A specialty rig.  I also got to talking to another customer while we were waiting on them & he mentioned he knew someone that had the same truck & it nickel & dimed him to death.  I read the Viper motor was sensitive as well but the fact they added the warranty pissed me off.  So...I brow beat the dealership (I'm a real bad ass  )since this was our 3rd rig we had bought from them & got the lowest $$ I could for a 3 year warranty.  It's an '05 so after 3 years we'll know if it's a lemon or not.  We've already had it in twice for check engine light issues.  But it's an '05, not a '11.



Anyhoooootttts....my Mom's been a comptroller with a Mopar dealership in DFW for 20 years & in the business since the late '70's.  If Andy74 doesn't jump in, I'll ask her what all you can do.