Went and drove a 300

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
05/12/2018 at 15:15 • Filed to: None

Imagine this but much more beat up and way overpriced. It was in the wholesale lot at a local dealership so I went by to drive it around a little. Diver front end was mushed up, passenger door handle missing, some interior bits were just gone, the dashboard was a Christmas tree (lol MY2005 things), and it hat 140k. This thing had seen some shit.

So I sat down expecting the interior from my mom’s ‘06 PT Cruiser but, surprisingly instead of a hard plastic dashboard like I thought and it looked in the pictures it was a rubbery sort of soft material textured to look like [generic cowhide texture number 03]. Most of the switchgear felt fairly skookum and the window switches didn’t wiggle around a bunch or anything. Windows went up and down smoothly and automatically, sunroof opened with a buzz, despite the CEL the engine started right up and the A/C started blowing cold. I was... impressed?

Hit the road to the sound of “clunk clunk” from the front suspension. I was told that was an issue on older cars and usually sway bar related. But damn once we got to highway speed, coming from a Miata and riding there in my mom’s Saturn Sky I was just a bit blown away. For how cheap these are used (in more reliable 2007-2010 model years) I am astonished at how competent they are. Super smooth and dead silent, the sound system was pretty damn great, the seats were like Buick couches but with tiny little bolsters that at least make a vague effort to keep you centered while you (lol) go around corners. It handled like a barge but turn-in was quick which gave it a perception of better handling than it had.

Accleration was... brisk? It didn’t *feel* super fast but there could have been engine troubles because CEL. Torquey though. Got up to 75 in an entertaining manner.

Annoyingly the 300 was better than my beloved early 2000s FWD Buicks in pretty much every way, leading me to a crisis of faith.

I want one tho.

TL;DR gonna buy a 300c later this year JUST TRY AND STOP ME FUCKERS.

DISCUSSION (11)

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
05/12/2018 at 16:35

Buy a 300C, look like you’re one of a few things:

- Drug dealer
- Someone in their mid-life crisis
- Someone who literally does not care about stereotypes and just wants a 300C

sony1492 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
05/12/2018 at 16:42

Always thought they looked good in a tacky way, could turn into a cool muscle car with (any) other rims, tint, and less mufflers.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
05/12/2018 at 16:51

Just avoid the first few years of the Hemi, they dropped valve seats pretty much at random. I think it was cleared up by 2007, maybe 2008...my dad’s 2005 had it happen last year at 193k. Drove the car all day, made a quick stop, restarted it and it sounded like a sack of hammers. Put a hole in the top of one of the pistons, it was pretty neat to look at.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
05/12/2018 at 16:55

Yup. ‘07 is the year they fixed it. Jgrabow on here has an ‘05 Magnum with something like 210k on it. Engine crapped out at 150k I believe after dropping valve seat in cyl 1.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > sony1492
05/12/2018 at 16:56

Yup. Tint is phenomenal in Kansas (I plan on having my Miata tinted soon) and any wheel less than 19" would do many good things for a 300s looks.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
05/12/2018 at 16:56

I sat down and looked at the salesman and went “Shit. I just aged 40 years.”

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
05/12/2018 at 18:22

A lot of them I find are owned by old women who look like their name might be Sandra or Mabel.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
05/12/2018 at 18:23

Is he even still around?

ranwhenparked > sony1492
05/12/2018 at 18:59

IMO, the 2011-2014 models are the best looking of the lot. Always liked the tail light treatment, the ‘15s and up are just too plain.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
05/13/2018 at 10:56

He’s not active here much. Mostly on facebook. What’s funny is we talk about miatas and computers all the time and I never caught on that he has a magnum.

Tohru > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
05/13/2018 at 22:39

at the dealership we got in a Jeep Commander cheap that had dropped a valve seat. instead of doing it in-house, we contracted out the engine replacement to a different shop. said shop reused the old intake, which was full of bits of valve seat. said shop got to pay for it when we had to replace the intake, one cylinder head, one piston, and rehone one of the piston bores after it ingested bits of valve seat.