300M

[GN]

I looked at a 1999 Chrysler 300M. The guy is asking $4100 for the car. It has 72k miles, the passenger side windows do not work, the door lock  fell into the door trim and the tires might have about 15k left on them. Everything else appears OK. Is the car worth that much? Any ideas why the windows do not work? The car is loaded with options, things that could go wrong. The motor is a 3.5. Anyone have a 300 to give some advice?

[MichaelRW]

Edmunds puts the value at about $3900. Kelley Blue Book at $3700. Those prices are based on everything working. I'd offer maybe $3300 based on the items that need repair. He will most likely counteroffer and if he does you could walk away or counter back slightly higher than your original offer. The windows not working is quite likely a bad switch.

[Brock Samson]

 I have one and love it,.. the window switches are known to go bad,.. and some of them have been really dogged and are ratty,.. I'd avoid them, look for wear on the control surfaces like the turn signal steering wheel and pedals,.. And check the headlights for severe pitting.
I had to look a long time to find the cream puff i eventually bought,.. that was about six yrs ago now, but I'd buy another in heartbeat if i could find one in low milage condition.
I only like the black interior and a few colors myself, I passed on several because I didn't like the color combo and they didn't have the PHP (Performance Handleing Package) or the sunroof - which is one of the few options these Ms might not have. The PHP was intended for the Europian models and less then 20% of the US models were equiped with that option with includes better brakes, reason enough to prefer that option package as LH brakes are pretty weak. The real chrome wheels on my car shown below are the tipoff to the PHP option.
Later models had plastic clad wheels and are an easy way to spot the German influence at Chrysler.
  It's hard to find proper tires as only three manufactures produce the rare 14 inch dia. size. I specified the Continentals which cost a lot of money but have far better performance then the Goodyears which are alot cheaper,..
the original equip. Michelins are in the middle.
The cars are sought after and are hard to find unless they have hi-mileage/high wear... some last yr. of manufacture "Specials" can be found but their special wheel/tire rim size wont accept snow chains and only take Premium gas, unlike the other earlier models.
I know alot of info about these cars and will be happy to answer any question you might have,.. BTW: the '99s-2000 models have alot more features and content then the cars produced after the Germans took over, every Yr. they dropped features out of the M,.. the Special was a late attempt to return features to the car the Germans deleted.
I would rate my '99 as better and cheaper than average to maintain, though I drive pretty hard daily in heavy traffic and up and down San franciscos' steep hills.

 here's the 300M Enthusiasts website:
http://300mclub.org/index.php

[62dodge]

I bought my wife a 2002 300m special that car is very fun to drive. I would hold out for a 02,04 special. my buddy has a 2002 300m with the php and he likes my special he says its faster and handles better. Make sure that the timing belt has been replaced (100k) as it is not a fun job and if it breaks it will ruin your motor.    bob

[Brock Samson]

 Yes the "Special" has 5 more HP and a dual exhaust,.. it handels better because of the special wheel tire combo and it sitts a little lower, there are several other features on the Special like Hi-intensity headlights and Turn signal repeaters in the mirrors, which are cool, but the wider lower profile tires are the key to the handeling improvment but like i mentioned they will not accept chains for snow duty. I also don't like the carbon fiber trim on the dash and console and doors as it looks really gray and plain,.. I've upraded my console and doors with an adhesive Zambrono wood kit which sells really cheap at $99.oo  compared to most of the "wood kits" out there.
The reason they only raised the power by 5 HP (which was seen as silly at the time) was because the Trans. wasn't belived to up to the task, but generally the drivetrain is bullet proof.
 BTW:
The cars received Rave reviews at the time of their introduction.
And another tidbit of info: they were scheduled to be part of the Eagle Model line up as the follow on to the Eagle Vision, but Ma MOPAR dropped the entire Eagle line up and made it a Chrysler 300.

[GN]

I think that I will make that $3300 offer and go from their. The car has a moonroof and 17 inch chrome wheels. Platinum color paint and black interior. It looks like it would be hard to work on. Anything else I should look for? Thanks for the advice.

[GN]

Can the 3.5 run on regular gas? And what kind of mpg does it get?

[Brock Samson]

 The dash on '99s has been known to crack at ther pass. side air bag, it was fixed with a different vendor later in the Prod. Yr. and the door panels plastic cracked on mine - at the lower inside door area - hard to see you have to get down and look up at it, on my pass. front and rear drivers' side rear,.. easily fixed with slightly larger washers behind the bolt heads... you might check for cracks around the screws.  
Also the pass side window switch/s on mine wont work about twice a yr. but by using the drivers over ride or the doors' switch itself it seems to sort itself out till six-mos later, i've yet to replace any of them. it only effects one window at a time once in a great while.
I had a rear sway bar come aloose on one side, and i've needed struts on the front suspension. but like I say - I drive pretty hard under hard conditions. still using the original Battery which i find amazing.  
'n as to the Gas Milage with reg. I average 17-20 combined but as I said the hills and traffic here are vicious - as is my right foot. I have only occasionally used premium gas or the Sport Shifting option the car has.
and I'm approching 78K miles BTW:

[Mike DC]

It has 72k miles, the passenger side windows do not work,

Why am I not surprised? 

[ipstrategies]

My Daughter bought one 3 years ago it is a 99, after her 80 Aspen with new paint job was destroyed by an uninsured motorist. It now has 175,000 miles and still runs good she has had to do maintenance but it has been a great car. I love the 3.5 my wife has one in her LHS and tune ups are easy. I had to change water pump and timing belt  in wifes a couple years ago and even that was not to bad to do myself. I did have issues when I changed to a non champion plugs that they would foul out and the car would not wnat to start. I bought a set of Champions and no problems since??

[Brock Samson]

BTW: I checked the milage last night and it's now actually over 80K miles..

[472 R/T SE]

I had a an '00 with 108k miles.  70k when I bought it.  The only thing I bought were tires, brakes on the front & window switches.  It was a great rig.  A deer ran into the side of me & the insurance totaled it out.
Insurance had it valued at $5300.  I looked up book value & 108k miles were actually considered low mileage.
The back pass. side window didn't roll down.  I have the motor but never got to replacing it as it wasn't the switch.  The switch replacement was easy.

I could have had insurance fix it but I needed to do the 100k maintenance on it & that was over $1k.  I fully expected another 100k miles out of it if we had kept it.

daytonakid (Bill) is buying & repairing it to sell if you're interested.  The damage was very minimal so it was surprising it totaled.

[mauve66]

i would take a scanner to check for codes also, sometimes when regular people try to erase them it turns the light off but leaves the code in
reason i say this we have had 2 - 2004 Concordes with the 3.5 and both of them have had problems with the cam position sensor.  to get the sensor replaced and the timing chain replaced (due to mileage) was over 2 grand at the dealer, some of the other independent shops were only a couple of hundred dollars cheaper but when they took a week to get me the estimate "cause they had to look up the procedures" i wasn't impressed

[GN]

The seller agreed to $3500. Is this a good price? When I go to look at the car again what  else should I look for?

[Brock Samson]

vibration, shakey trim pieces,  wear. seat warmers that work, decent price if these are not evident.
look on the m website for problem areas.

[GN]

I bought the car today. That makes 2 mopars in this house!

[472 R/T SE]

Congrats.  I think you'll be happy.  That model was Chrysler's top of the line luxury model back then & pretty spendy at the time.  I remember when they first came out I really liked the front end but there was no way we couldn't afford one back then.