Favorite/Least Favorite Things about G-Body Cars

[CaliWagon83]

Yeah. Even some of the biggest Mopar cheerleaders I know will tell you privately that the LX cars are POS. A while back I was thinking of buying a Charger Scat Pack, and I talked to a co-worker who was the resident Mopar guru, and he started going on a tirade of all the problems he'd had with his Challenger.

 

[joesregalproject]

Yeah. Even some of the biggest Mopar cheerleaders I know will tell you privately that the LX cars are POS. A while back I was thinking of buying a Charger Scat Pack, and I talked to a co-worker who was the resident Mopar guru, and he started going on a tirade of all the problems he'd had with his Challenger.

I have just never had or known anyone who has had a positive experience with a Chrysler vehicle. Even though it's not really relevant, this goes back to the 1950s. An older friend of mine, his father bought a new Dodge Royal in 1956. The car would refuse to start in the rain. Sunny out, it ran fine. Rain, you weren't driving. My grandfather bought a new Plymouth Belvedere 4 door in 1958. When winter came, whatever coolant was in it from the factory froze and cracked the block. My aunt bought a K-car Chrysler Lebaron convertible. Everytime the top went down the rear glass would shatter. She won a lemon law lawsuit and Chrysler bought the car back. Another aunt had a really nice Chrysler Town and Country minivan in the late 90s, the transmission was replaced under warranty and then failed again not long after the warranty expired. A friend of mine had an early 2000's Chrysler 300M. The timing belt failed very prematurely, Chrysler failed to fix it and he won a lemon law lawsuit. My Uncle bought a JK Wrangler Unlimited when they first came out. He racked up some miles on it, but after 50k mi, it started nickel and diming him all the way to the poorhouse. He got rid of it around 120k mi, and said he'll never buy a Chrysler vehicle again.

Maybe it's just coincidence, but maybe not. I'm not willing to gamble on it.

 

[Local Hero]

Like others have said, I like the variety and interchangeability of these cars. I like the full frame and I like that they are reasonably affordable. I have been able to find the parts that I've needed without too much drama. Since I use it as a daily and a winter beater, it gets a lot of looks simply because it's a "neat old car."

I also don't like the cheap plastic interiors. I don't like that the rear door glass does not roll down in my wagon. I also fooled myself into believing that the parts I stripped off my 77 A-Body (that this car replaced) would fit this car. Some do but most do not. I had to rig some of them to work. It is also no where near as good in the snow as the 77 was. I believe simply because it's a lot lighter. I'm also finding that it's not as easy to work on as I had hoped because it is smaller and some spaces that I've needed to get into are very tight, especially behind the dash.

 

[Ace Burt]

Favorite

relatively inexpensive to find a good clean car.
properly done they are the ultimate sleeper (the reason I chose a G body to build).
lots of information and resources available from enthusiasts sites like this one.
Aftermarket support is getting better all the time.

Least favorite

Expensive to build compared to other cars, F body for example.
Adding lots of power and getting them to handle takes chassis work, lots of motor and trans work (or a swap), rear end, brakes, and a modern suspension set up as a minimum.
Even a sweet car doesn't sell for what I think they should given the time and money it takes to build them.

 

[Qdub24]

Yeah. Even some of the biggest Mopar cheerleaders I know will tell you privately that the LX cars are POS. A while back I was thinking of buying a Charger Scat Pack, and I talked to a co-worker who was the resident Mopar guru, and he started going on a tirade of all the problems he'd had with his Challenger.

Love my Charger Scat Pack, sucks that the ex-wife has it now. Heard a bunch of horror stories about the Charger/Challenger Hellcats though.

 

[CaliWagon83]

Love my Charger Scat Pack, sucks that the ex-wife has it now. Heard a bunch of horror stories about the Charger/Challenger Hellcats though.

Challengers in particular seem to be trouble-prone. One of the biggest areas of trouble is the front window sealing mechanism. It has one of those systems where it raises and lowers the glass slightly when you open/close the door, and I guess those have a tendency to have problems. Man...I'll bet that Charger Scat Pack was fun. Seemed like unbelievable bang-for-the-buck.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Pros:
You can stuff about anything under the hood
Interchangeable body panels between models
Came in a Diesel version
Still r

Yeah. Even some of the biggest Mopar cheerleaders I know will tell you privately that the LX cars are POS. A while back I was thinking of buying a Charger Scat Pack, and I talked to a co-worker who was the resident Mopar guru, and he started going on a tirade of all the problems he'd had with his Challenger.

Challengers in particular seem to be trouble-prone. One of the biggest areas of trouble is the front window sealing mechanism. It has one of those systems where it raises and lowers the glass slightly when you open/close the door, and I guess those have a tendency to have problems. Man...I'll bet that Charger Scat Pack was fun. Seemed like unbelievable bang-for-the-buck.

I have owned a 2010 Dodge Challenger since 2011. The main issues have been mud flaps broke off, the plastic panels under the doors were replaced twice, mild rust just started this year, stretched one oil change and used oil since plus the common tick and driver's seat leather cracked. The windows have been good other than freezing. It has 162,000 km's. GM's are not issue free either. A real POS is my neighbors brand new Dodge Caravan. Another good reason not to buy any brand new vehicle of any brand, instant depreciation and lemon possibilities.

 

[Qdub24]

Yeah. Even some of the biggest Mopar cheerleaders I know will tell you privately that the LX cars are POS. A while back I was thinking of buying a Charger Scat Pack, and I talked to a co-worker who was the resident Mopar guru, and he started going on a tirade of all the problems he'd had with his Challenger.

Love my Charger Scat Pack, sucks that the ex-wife has it now. Heard a bunch of horror stories about the Charger/Challenger Hellcats though.

Challengers in particular seem to be trouble-prone. One of the biggest areas of trouble is the front window sealing mechanism. It has one of those systems where it raises and lowers the glass slightly when you open/close the door, and I guess those have a tendency to have problems. Man...I'll bet that Charger Scat Pack was fun. Seemed like unbelievable bang-for-the-buck.

Even my 2012 Camaro has that convenience/headache. Eventually, I just developed the habit of raising both windows manually after turning the car on The wind noise was my biggest concern.
Nearly $50K didn't seem like a bargain to me, but I fell in the love with the car instantly the moment I turned the key for the first time and heard that exhaust from the driver's seat on the initial test drive.

 

[Ribbedroof]

My boss has owned 2 Challangers, an 09 SRT and a 17 Scat Pack he bought new, Only issues he has had are a plastic guide pin off the tail panel rattling in the deck lid, and he can't keep people from running into them. His SRT was totaled in front of the shop by a guy that tried to run a red light in the rain, and some jackhole drug a trailer across the left corner of the rear bumper cover on the Scat Pack.

Absolutely loves the Scat Pack, and drives it pretty enthusiastically, seemed like a good deal at 40K out the door just about a year ago

 

[olds307 and 403]

Big thing the Challenger has over the Mustang and Camaro is a very useable back seat and trunk. Plus they have a back up camera available. I can hardly wait to get the AWD GT slightly used in about a year's time. I will be keeping the 2010. When I buy the GT, it will be bye bye G body, I can only keep so many cars.
Pros for G bodies:
Last Oldsmobile V8 powered 2 door rear wheel drive car made.
Turbo Buick's
Cons:
Too many to list but,
Rust
Crappy heat
Junk wiring
7.5" rear, GM never learned look at the 4th Gen Camaro
Anemic old school motors, they could have went efi across the board
Crappy transmission's
Crappy suspension, actually worse than the cars they replaced and rear frame rails that always rust first
Mediocre brakes with no performance upgrades on performance models, as said no rear disk brake option
Little value other than the GN/GNX and maybe the Hurst/Olds
I will miss my G body but at the same time I won't