But I’ve never been a huge tech fan, I still use magnets to hold a map onto the gas tank of my bike…

Admittedly Chrysler thought they would not be able to afford to maintain those warranties. I won’t make excuses for them so don’t think that I am.

As for the bailout, the cop out is to say they ran off with the money. But the bigger crooks, the guys who really failed monumentally, where the banks. If they had not failed do you think GM or CHRYSLER would have gone to the Gov’t? No. But they were so screwed by their investment divisions, that the one that could have helped had literally broken down, betting on money that did not exist.

I tend to take the proletariat view that any industry that actually makes stuff I can put my hands on is worth saving. Exotic investment scams are not worth saving if anything the Gov’t should be busting down doors and closing those shops just to protect our economy from the next monetary disaster they are cooking up.

Those investment banks are actually trying to monetize people’s life expectancies by buying life insurance policies. The Mega-banks will suddenly have every impetus to want you to die as soon as legally possible so they can collect on your policy. But that is a more disturbing story for another forum.

CHRYSLER was forced to sell out to FIAT because no one else was able or willing to to partner with or buy out CHRYSLER and OBAMA said that if the deal failed CHRYSLER was done. FIAT wanted back into the US and CHRYSLER was the vehicle for it. CHRYSLER was not going to refuse so it was a done deal almost from the word “go”. As opposed to what Rush and other knee-jerk conservatives, lookin for political coup to count, will tell you, OBAMA, being the type of guy that he is wanting to help his people, who were once just the people of CHICAGO but now are the whole of the American people, chose to try to save people’s livelihoods.

With parts suppliers literally living “hand to mouth”, if any one car company folds, it will cripple the parts supply chain. Think of the delays the CAMARO endured because of a payment issue for parts and another company could not deliver parts and even refused to sell the tooling back to make those parts. Now imagine if an entire company’s orders were canceled because they went under. Tire’s, wiring, specific tubing, engines, wheels, hundreds of parts, often unique to that company or just that car, suddenly stopped with no buyers and no one jumping in to save the day, as it were.

Whether you know it or not, very few car companies in America make their own parts. A parts supply disruption, if only one company failed, or collapse if two or more failed could easily cripple the entire Automotive manufacturing sector, domestic and “transplant” and with it retail, service, construction and so on. What is a recession can quickly become and full blown depression… and Walmart and Mickey D’s can hire so many people.

Before the late 1960s, the American Economy was not a house of cards, pull one card and the whole thing could collapse instantly. In fact, contrary to what Conservatives, I tend to think of some of their particular members as greed-mongers, will have you believe, the Economy was pretty well regulated at Gov’t and Corporate levels back then. Sure they wanted to be rich, and they could get there, but NOBODY was allowed to strip the tree bare, which is what is happening in our economy today as investment bankers demand more profits regardless of the long term impact.

Before you start trying to side with those looking to bemoan decisions that HAD to be made, being a Leader, in Government, and an ADULT, is making tough decisions. Not easy ones like whether to wear your sneakers or dress shoes to work, whether to eat Cheerios or corn flakes for breakfast, or whether or not to veg listening or watching to some blowhard tell what to think or going out and finding out what’s what for yourself. The tough decisions are the ones that suck to have to make that no one will happy to have made… no matter which way it has to go. But you have to do something like saving upwards of 7M jobs or whether and how to fix healthcare.

No, I am not happy that the decision to grant loans to or bailout CHRYSLER and GM, though GM looks like the better long term bet, HAD to be made at all. But I’m glad it was made. If you think that TOYOTA or HONDA, or VW, or HYUNDAI is just going to swell to fill the void you are dreaming like a Wanna-be. Frankly, I think the Gov’t should have their hand on all these companies, banks and automakers alike, for a very long time. Not a controlling hand but be in the board rooms as to have an immediate say when they go astray and maybe make a tidy bit of coin for the taxpayers as well.

I would wish sincerely that DODGE would make a new front end that looked more like the original CHARGER. Take some pages from the CHALLENGER and just ape the design language. The Old CHARGERs look like sedans anyway, if you ignore the doors themselves, so it isn’t much of a stretch.

But no supercharger or turbos, DI yes. there not wort it, let that be after market. (maby the 6.4 and the 5.7 get di) i would like to see the 4.7L to become smaller and a hemi but there would be no place for it, and making it smaller wont really do that much for fuel economy. the main problem was the 6.1 was made with no concern for mpg dumb but it was.

aggie531 well said, especially your last line, more people should take that to heart.
(me to when it comes to Toyota)

Pro’s: Decent exterior styling, big power, decent ride quality, assembly quality, reliability,
straight-line performance, good seats, V8 hemi soundtrack is nice….

Con’s: Cheap and bland looking / feeling interior materials (feel like stone!), TOO big and TOO heavy therefore unimpressive handling (except with respect to its weight),
TERRIBLE fuel economy…even if not so bad for 425hp…
fast but NOT extremely fast for this much power….
(it better be able to hit sixty within 5 seconds with 425 hp and that type of fuel econ… again… weight…)

22-24 mpg @ steady highway cruising, but 13mpg in the city!!! (or as soon as you hit the gas in general) !!
that is terrible, lets see if they even can make a new hemi and continue on in existence, with this type of fuel-efficiency!

all in all: a great american sedan with 2000′s styling and late 90s chassis,
but late sixties or early 70s standards everywhere else
now if you like modern-retro…. here is your perfect car…

In my opinion, because i own neither of those cars, then I would take the Taurus. I’m more of a tech guy so that’s why. Don’t get me wrong, I like both of them, but the Taurus looks better on the inside and is a better value. It is also a fresh re-design.

All automakers have made great cars, so what’s wrong with liking them?

The answer is crystal clear.

For some people IT IS ALL ABOUT TIRE SMOKING AND RAW HORSEPOWER!!! You can take your Travelink, SYNC, WiFi, Bluetooth, and all that other crap and shove it up your whiny @ss!!! That garbage is for the birds.

@American_Cars_Crap:

Your precious Hondas and Toyotas are made in the good ‘ol USA, right? Like in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee where they have no unions in those states. That’s where the import companies’ labor is even cheaper, so don’t give me that crap about Toyota and Honda being domestic cars…because all they ever did was exploit a big loophole in order to send more profits back to Japan.

Let’s not forget how many different NHTSA investigations and lawsuits against Toyota are currently underway for everything ranging from premature frame corrosion to top executives illegally hiding crash data.

So there goes a big part of your argument of how imports are superior to domestics in terms of safety and quality.

Morons like you keep losing every argument. Why? Because your unabashed import bias and seething hatred for America overshadows your ability to reason and understand the truth.

Chrysler makes mostly larger cars with would not benefit at all from small displacement high hp engines. gm could use a few in economy cars but there economy cars why put the money in N/A high revving engines in them.

all Chrysler 4cyl engines were designed for turbos not high rpm operations (for some reason they don’t use turbos that much, coast and reliability may be)

the 6.1l is a little outdated but still a good engine the 5.7L is probably what people should get because it gets descent mpg and for its power. displacement dose not mean as much as people think in regards to hp, it more in regards to torque. turbo engines may be more advanced but i would prefer something simple that with less parts and less stress on the engine parts.

this is a much more sporty handling car the the Taurus sho and quicker. the next gen r/t probably will get similar mpg to the show and speed at 7k less. the current r/t is fairly close in every regard but a bit cheaper (not the original 340hp)

I’m not going to defend the Charger, in fact I don’t even like the Charger (I’m a Mustang guy) BUT there is something about the rumble of a good V8 that makes me smile every time I hear it. The SHO is a great car for what it is, but it’s not for me or other V8 lovers. And technology isn’t everything, nor is interior (The Charger isn’t THAT bad, you guys sure are nitpicky).

The REAL trick is what makes YOU smile when ya drive that car, so buy what makes ya happy.

@greg

Are you kidding? Have you even sat inside one of these? Just because this car has been around for 5 years doesn’t mean you are getting some prehistoric flintstone car. The Charger (and 300C) are on its last year of the current body and interior before a major overhaul for 2011.

For less “as tested” money, I’d rather have a “state of the art” 20100 Taurus SHO and add a few tech features with a “world class” interior and still get better MPG that the Dodge and enjoy AWD too!

property

I personally can’t wait to see the new LX cars.