I'm hearing that the days it takes to sell a Chrysler 200 fell a GREAT DEAL from March to April. Apparently the figure was up at 107 days in March, and is now down to somewhere around 50 days.

The plant runs on two shifts and also builds the Dodge Avenger. The Avenger also sold, but production is more 200 than Avenger.

Still too early to call it a hit? Just curious to hear what enthusiasts would call a "hit" or not and when to call it one.

 

Man, you have some man-love for the 200.

 

Amazing what a good, specific model advertising campaign and flooding the market with the ads can do.

 

Well that Sebring POS is everywhere. I have to assume this car has a lot of the same fans

 

The 200 is a totally different car than the Sebring.

Yes, the 200 and the Sebring are off of the same Mitsubishi Lancer based chassis (the same way the current excellent Cheverolet Malibu shares the same chassis as the pretty poor, rental fodder Chevrolet Malibu from the start of this decade I might add). However, every single issue that made the Sebring a bad car has been fixed in the 200.

Cheap materials? New materials are light years better.

Lousy handling? There's a new suspension system.

Poor NVH? Been addressed, and the car is much more solid.

Poor performance? That's cured by the new Pentastar V6 that's putting out close to 300 horsepower....one of the highest powered cars in it's class.

Steering? fixed.

Looks? It's been redesigned and given a far better look as much as possible with the proportions of the chassis.

It's my experience to date that every single person....without fail.... who talks the 200 down as nothing but a Sebring has either never actually taken a 200 out and/or is simply parroting something that someone else who has never compared the 2 cars has said.

Do yourselves a favor.

Take out a Sebring.

Then take out a 200.

Then lets talk.

 

I still have yet to see a 200 on the road! It look good in the pictures though.

 

Still even with all that refinement... It's still a Sebring. Park a 200 and Sebring next to each other and you'll see its a Sebring. The car is old and needs a real update. It currently competes competitively with the fusion and the malibu, but it's going to be short lived as the next gen 2013 malibu and (maybe 2013?) fusion are headed to be released.

Don't forget Chrysler considers themselves an American Luxury car brand. Every one of their cars is still light years behind Cadillac and Lincoln from a luxury aspect.

 

I've seen one on the road...thought it was a new Taurus from the rear until I got closer to it. Looks pretty good from the outside, but nothing earth-shattering IMO.

 

I just test drove an Avenger with the Pentastar v6. It is what these car could have/ should have been when they came out. the interior was very nice, soft touch materials all over the place. the cluster looked very nice, as it was the 'Heat' trim level, it was a bit more sporty (so I was told, didn't check out all the trims). The engine didn't feel like 280 hp, but it was a 20 mile car, so it may need to loosen up a little. that being said, it still got up and left, with minimal torque steer. The 6 speed auto banged off close ratio redline shifts, then would cruise serenely at 70mph. It handled Michigan potholed roads with no problem.

 

It didnt have the Pentastar V6 that has 280hp. That's reserved for the Avenger R/T.

Nice to know you liked the Avenger. This platform is good.............as Guy pointed out.

 

Well, the window sticker said it did, and the epa mileage numbers were different than the I4 C200 next to it. So, i think it did. Go to the Dodge site and build your own here, as you can see, the R/T no longer exists, now it is Express, Mainstreet, Lux and Heat. Even the sales guy said those trim level names sucked.

 

Or I could just avoid Chrysler like the plague. I've had/seen nothing but bad experiences with their quality in every aspect. Electronics always go crazy, transmissions are just terrible. They continue to lag in gas mileage for equal power. They carry a steriotype of being a ghetto prefference. They completely ignore the driving enthusiast, I mean really, what's their most fun car to drive? The super heavy automatic sedan whose only redeeming quality is power? No thanks

 

The same thing can be and is said about Cadillac...

 

I saw a new 200 going down the road a few days ago, and I was impressed by its on-road looks. It's not an 'OMG look!' design, but it's fresh, mature, well-done, even if it's a little understated.

I think even Chrysler said that they didn't have time to develop an all-new car, so they gave the current Sebring their best shot. I'd expect they'd have an all new 200 on the road here in a few years, just like Chevy is getting ready to stick another malibu out there soon.

Remember the Dodge Stratus / Chrysler Cirrus of yesteryear? When those cars came out, they were quite good. Sporty and 'nice'. A very nice setup in a small package with appropriate-for-the-time styling appeal. That's kind of what the 200 is now. No, it's not a Lexus. It IS a nice package at an affordable price and it offers class-leading power.

 

It's not.

I don't know why anyone would have bought an LS1 F-body when they could have just bought a '93. They're the same car. Or you could park a C6 next to a C5 and see that they're basically the same too

As for the 200 not being real update? They updated the exterior, interior, powertrain, and suspension. Not minor tweaks either.