Winter performance/Resale?

[AR15]

I'm looking at a new family car and have narrowed down to two sedans 300 Touring and Mercury Montego. Both have great pluses over each other. However the Mercury Dealer said two things that really concern me over the 300.

1. Winter performance. My wife has never driven a RWD car. The Chrysler dealer bragged about the weight distribution and electronic aids (traction control). However, the Merc dealer showed me that the weight distribution is only 1% better (54/46 for 300 and 55/45) than the Grand Marquis which also has traction control and he says (and others that I've talked to that own them) that they don't do well in the snow. Has anyone actually driven a 300 in snow yet (I know that the 300 is new, just wishful thinking probably). All wheel drive would be nice but isn't in my budget so its a FWD Montego or a RWD 300.

2. Resale: I'm worried about resale. The Mercury dealer showed me a letter stating the the Montego (and Ford 500) won't be sold to rental fleets so they won't suffer the poor resale that has plaged their previous products. He said the Sable will remain for that. However, He suggested I go look at the rental lot for 300's and sure enough they have quite a few at Enterprise so now I'm worried about resale on a 300.


Thanks for any help/advice you can offer.

[jeddy]

there is a video somewhere in here that shows the winter performance comparison to impalas and tauruses

[Vaderwagon]

Go buy the Ford. That way there will be more Chrylers for the rest of us. :lol:

[Jim]

Theres really no good answer to your first question as none of use have driven either the Magnum or 300 in winter weather yet, give us another month or so though here in Colorado. As for resale its hard to say. All I've seen of 300's at rental car places is the base model so if you with the higher models you should be ok in that respect.

IMO, these are both mass produces domestic vehicles so they are both going to loose value at about the same rate. If I were you I'd go with the one that fits your personality better.

[RTMagnum]

there is a video somewhere in here that shows the winter performance comparison to impalas and tauruses

here is the link....

http://www.dcxmediaservices.com/videoptrs/wms/dctv/Mar04/Houghton_Ride_Drive_300k.wvx

[RTMagnum]

and a couple more good videos on the ABS, Traction Control and ESP systems...

http://www.dcxmediaservices.com/videoptrs/wms/dctv/Mar04/Retail_300C1_300k.wvx

http://www.dcxmediaservices.com/videoptrs/wms/dctv/Mar04/Retail_Magnum300C2_300k.wvx

[markyneutron]

I read somewhere how a woman that worked for the national safety council in Washington was suspicious of the RWD so DCX gave her a 300 and put her on an open ice rink. She admitted that she really needed to turn hard and goose it before she could get it to slide. The next day she ordered a 300 in magnesium. Do you really expect a ford dealer to say that a 300 is a better purchase for you just like I would never tell you to buy a Montego

[DucatiBoy]

Well, I used to have a crown victoria before the 300 and it had traction controll too. Personally with it on or off, I didn't really have too much trouble in snow. If you have good modern tires and put some weight in the trunk, and the roads didn't have huge hills, I didn't have any problem in the snow in the north west (but then I grew up driving mustangs in Buffalo NY).

I haven't tried the 300, but I would be willing to bet the traction control is much more advanced in the 300/magnum than was in the Crown Vics or Grand Monkeys.

Personally, if you need AWD to get moving (and it wasn't safe for me in the crown vic), you probably shoudn't be on the road in the first place. I also hate front wheel drive cars in the snow. I don't like the way they handle. All things being =, when you are stopped on a flat level ground, AWD will be best at accelerating, then FWD, and then usually RWD. But they all stop the same way, badly. So with a RWD car, I feel more aprehensive than I would in a 4x4 which gets you moving but wouldn't stop.

I never had a probem with my CV in the snow till it got to the 1 - 2 feet high lever and it would get burried. I figured the 300 I bought couldn't be any worse.

My feeling is, don't buy a vahicle for the half a dozen weird times. My CV was just as good as most any car for 99% of the driving I would do in the north east. I'm not riding around in a 4x4 just for that 1%. If that 1% is so bad, I stay home. I would try both cars and get what you like. I would bet the 300 will surprise you in snow.

[thuffman03]

If you are concerned with trackion buy the AWD.

As for the resale I cannot say how that will look. Only time will tell. The Town Car also is seen in many rental places and they seem to hold their resale.

[BunjiMunj]

No amount of electronic anything can REPLACE common driving sense... it's a safety feature nothing more.

Also... being FROM Canada and HAVING experienced winter in all sorts of FWD and RWD cars (no traction control) get out there, parking lot, open space and find out how the car will handle in the snow or adverse conditions. Understand how it feels, negotiates corners in slick weather... driving is a feeling. No matter what you choose Ford or Chrystler you have to drive it, feel it... want good resale get Japanese.

[AR15]

I'm going to test drive both tommorow. I'm still undecieded. One further question. Does anyone know a place to find lease residuals? I had a co-worker tell me that was a good way to figure out what resale should be.

[Upstate]

Depends on when you get rid of your 300. For the first two years I bet they do better than average on resale. Heck people are waiting to get them. The used car buyers will be waiting in simular lines in two years as the first used ones become available. Supply and demand and we have a car that is in demand. Owned many, many Fords this is my first new Chrysler product. I would only trade this to get another. I've got over 11,000 great miles on my car and have owned it since 4/9/04.

[AR15]

Went and looked at both yesterday. They are competitors, but are Very Very different FROM one another. As to my resale question, The 300 Limited had a residual of 58% (2 years) and the Montego had a residual of 65%.

I drove a 300 Touring and thats definately out, wife won't give up her auto cliamate control. So now we're looking at 300 Limited (which puts the 300 at a large price disadvantage). I liked the 300. Its biggest selling point for me was styling. I felt the 300 felt "sportier" in the handling department. I really like the telescopic wheel. They showed me some video on the winter weather performance and that makes me feel slightly better, but I don't trust manufacturers propaganda (see below on Montego) so I'm not 100% sure on that yet. I also got to drive a 300C, aRRR-aRRR-aRRR, this is what I really want, man that thing runs, but I have issues with the price so its proably not going to happen.

The Montego was a different feel. It sits higher and has much better visability. It reminds me more of an SUV. Interior is a tie with the 300, but the outside of the car is very bland. It does have HID headlights, dual zone auto a/c on all models and the message center on all models. For the equipment we want this gives it a larg price advantage as it stickers for almost $3500 less than the 300 Limted. We also looked at the "Premier" package that should compete with the Limited and that in AWD is still less money than a 300 Limited.

Other things I noticed, trunk is HUGE on the Mercury. On both the Mercury and the 300 the trunk opening could be larger, We had a hard time putting our stroller in either one. The 6 speed car feel about the same as the 3.5L 300 for performance. The CVT car is a little weird feeling. They feel completely dead off the line but feel decent ones moving 15MPH or better. The also had a video (it was the Ford version) showing drag racing a 3.5L 300 and beating it severly and also a slalom comparison where it handled much better than the 300. However, I have trouble beliving these type of videos FROM any manufacturer so I didn't put a lot of faith in this.

So after my test drives all logic, pricing and equipment, resale, tell me to buy the Mercury, yet I still like the 300, Chrsyler needs to give their styling department a major pay raise for HAVING acomplished that. I'll probably wait a week or two and hope for some rebates or something to sway my decision.

[sidetrack]

Are those Chrysler video links working?
For the past 2 to 3 weeks I can't play any videos FROM the Chrysler website.
I keep getting the Windows Media Player error "The remote system refused the network connection".

I had assumed Chrysler decided to block public access to their videos.
Is anyone able to play these videos?

http://www.dcxmediaservices.com/videoptrs/wms/dctv/Mar04/Houghton_Ride_Drive_300k.wvx
http://www.dcxmediaservices.com/videoptrs/wms/dctv/Mar04/Retail_300C1_300k.wvx
http://www.dcxmediaservices.com/videoptrs/wms/dctv/Mar04/Retail_Magnum300C2_300k.wvx

[sidetrack]

Well somehow I got the videos to play.
I had to go INTO the Registered Files Types under Folder Options.
Changed the files types FROM Media Player to Real Player, and then back to Media Player. After that I could play the videos.
Doesn't make sense to me why that worked.
But I am not going to argue with my computer gremlins.

[RTMagnum]

Are those Chrysler video links working?
For the past 2 to 3 weeks I can't play any videos FROM the Chrysler website.
I keep getting the Windows Media Player error "The remote system refused the network connection".

I had assumed Chrysler decided to block public access to their videos.
Is anyone able to play these videos?



I just tried clicking on the links and all of the videos opened and played in my Windows Media Player (didn't need to make any adjustment to any settings, etc).

[brimmer]

The links are still working today. Perhaps the site was just down when you tried.

[Fred]

They require windows media player 10 I think because the extension looks new

[bri]

Went and looked at both yesterday. They are competitors, but are Very Very different FROM one another. As to my resale question, The 300 Limited had a residual of 58% (2 years) and the Montego had a residual of 65%.

if people are around who can accurately predict resale values of brand new to the market, unproven cars 2 years down the road, i need to be probing them for stock tips.. the residual may also be a possible indicator of future resale, but it's realistically just a number that the dealer thinks it might be worth, a figure that is equal to, or (usually) greater than the value of the car new minus the money you've paid them over the lease period.. the residual should be competitive with the resale value of a similar vehicle, but all it really has to do is cover the manufacturer/dealer's expenses..

if resale is really that big of an issue, maybe buying the car isn't the smartest move for you - leasing avoids the issue completely..

[AR15]

I just want to thank all those here that posted. I decided to get the Mercury. Perhaps I'll be in a 300 in a couple years after the RWD has had time to prove itself to me in the real world.

Again, thanks for the help.