Overview & Reviews

Chrysler is generally considered part of the Big Three, a title that refers to the traditional triumvirate of domestic automakers. The current accuracy of this classification is open for debate, but there's no debating the fact that Chrysler has experienced a revival of sorts over the past few years.

Chrysler Corporation was founded in 1925 by Walter P. Chrysler, a noted machinist; he'd purchased the Maxwell Motor Corporation of Detroit and used it as the foundation for his new company. The automaker quickly earned a reputation for advanced engineering. In 1928, Chrysler Corporation expanded with the purchase of Dodge and the creation of the DeSoto and Plymouth divisions.

The 1930s saw Chrysler boldly looking toward the future with the introduction of its revolutionary Airflow. Powered by a front-mounted inline-8, the car was one of the first to be designed with aerodynamics in mind, and featured swooping lines and a prominent grille. Perhaps a bit too ahead of its time, the Airflow was a flop with the public. Chrysler was able to survive the lean years of the Depression thanks to strong sales of its entry-level Dodge and Plymouth brands, whose vehicles boasted more traditional designs and much lower price tags.

Chrysler shined postwar. For a period in the late 1940s, it even surpassed Ford as the No. 2 U.S. automaker. The company's storied "Hemi" V8 engine debuted in 1951. Offering 180 horsepower, it was a significant improvement over Chrysler's previous 135-hp V8. The Hemi engine was meant to trounce the V8 offered by Cadillac, Chrysler's rival, and it kick-started Detroit's horsepower race of the 1950s and '60s. The '50s also saw the debut of treasured Chrysler classics like the handsome Town and Country and the sleek 300C.

By 1961, Chrysler had trimmed its line of brands by dropping the DeSoto nameplate. New technologies were also afoot, such as unibody construction (Chrysler was the first of the Big Three to introduce it) and the replacement of generators with alternators for a car's charging system. In the latter half of the '60s, Chrysler was heavily involved with NASCAR and producing performance-oriented cars.

At the same time, however, dark clouds were gathering. As with other domestic automakers, the 1970s proved to be a difficult decade due to the oil crisis, new government regulations and changing consumer tastes. A costly and ineffective overseas expansion further hurt the company's bottom line. By the late '70s, the company was in such financial disarray that it petitioned the government for $1.5 billion in loan guarantees to save it from bankruptcy.

Thanks to impressive public campaigning by then-chairman Lee Iacocca, the debut of the well-received K-car platform and the creation of the modern minivan, sales had improved dramatically by the mid-'80s. The government's loan was paid off seven years early. The picture further brightened in the late 1980s with Chrysler's purchase of American Motors Corporation (which netted the company the Jeep brand) and a joint venture with Mitsubishi known as Diamond Star Motors.

Success continued through the early 1990s. In 1998, German-based Daimler-Benz merged with Chrysler to form DaimlerChrysler. At the time, this deal was presented as a merger of equals. But it quickly became apparent that it was more of a purchase, with Daimler being the dominant partner.

Less than a decade later, that merger was no longer, as Daimler sold Chrysler (and Dodge) to a private equity firm in 2007. However, that merger had borne some worthwhile fruit, most notably in the form of the Chrysler 300 full-size sedan. The latter shared some chassis components with an older Mercedes-Benz E-Class platform.

As such, the 300 was a highlight for Chrysler that had a pleasingly solid feel to its driving dynamics that was further sweetened via an available powerful V8 engine. But soon after the split, America's economy slid into recession. Due to poor sales and debt, Chrysler had to declare bankruptcy and the federal government intervened with bailout loans. Eventually Chrysler came under control of Italy's Fiat.

Today, the lineup has been pared down to a pair of sedans, a convertible and a minivan. However, after years of having lackluster entries in the very important midsize car category, Chrysler made major improvements in the performance, design and quality of its midsize sedan entry, the 200. The latest 300 also stands as a prime choice for a premium full-size sedan. Still, it remains to be seen as to whether this and future product releases will be enough to restore the company to its former glory.

User Reviews:

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  What a Surprise - 2007 Chrysler 300
  By Exlex - November 13 - 1:57 am

  I have been driving a Lexus LS400 for 8 years. From the moment I sat behind the wheel of this vehicle and stepped on the accelerator I was hooked. On the highway the power and acceleration is awesome. The ride is as smooth and quiet as my Lexus. It even handles turns well. The dash is contemporary yet classic. I love the analog clock. My car came with Sirius for one year as an extra bonus. No nav or sunroof. I never used the sunroof on my Lex. Otherwise evrything else loaded (leather, heated seats, auto telescoping steering wheel, premium speakers. Just a great package. I also drove the V6 3.5. The road feel was similar. There is a big drop off in power and acceleration.

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  Why buy Japanese? - 1997 Chrysler Cirrus
  By john herrmann - November 12 - 8:03 am

  This vehicle has been in the shop once in 11 years for a minor repair other than normal service. I have consistently gotton 28 to 30 mpg and it handles as well as most sports cars. I have driven everything with 4 to 18 wheels and cannot understand paying 30 to 45 thousand for bells and whistles when this car can still be purchased in the low 20s.

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  10 Month Review - 2001 Chrysler Sebring
  By LtdOwner - November 12 - 2:00 am

  Only one problem: extremely high wind noise with the top up. A low roaring wind noise comes through the top front and a whistling noise from around the windows. Sounds like youre at the airport watching jets take off! Loud wind noise is due to poor seal with the top front clips and the rubber seals around the windows not sealing tightly. Dealership adjusted windows and the top front clips which greatly reduced the noise but it came came back after a few days of driving. Its actually quieter driving with the top down! Before you buy take it down the freeway with the top and windows up to make sure yours doesnt also sound like youre in a wind tunnel.

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  propespective buyer - 2002 Chrysler Sebring
  By sb coupe - November 12 - 2:00 am

  good car for the money.

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  171,000 miles and still going - 1997 Chrysler Cirrus
  By Mark in PA - November 10 - 7:12 pm

  The car was purchased at 95,000 miles. I knew the person & needed something inexpensive. I you are the kind of person who will do oil changes every 3k-4k, transmission serviced every 30k, do the major overhaul/tune-up at 100,000 and again at 160,000 and not abuse the car over bumps/road, this car will last and last. At 171,000 miles now, its no luxury vehicle compared to whats on the road today but it is cheap to operate and and gets pretty good gas milage for a car built in 1997. If you are thinking of purchasing one with lower miles (if you can find one), Id only purchase if you can be shown repair records. I figure this car will last till 200,000 miles.

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  Sweet - 2007 Chrysler Aspen
  By jason - November 9 - 9:23 pm

  My wife and I just bought the Aspen. This thing rocks. We got the HEMI, DVD, NAV, leather heated seats and so on. We bought this as a lease return and noticed the fuel is a little poor, but it is a big suv with lots of power. Everyone who has seen it has loved the interior and the exterior as well. Mention it has a HEMI and they say wow. The gas mileage is about 16 mpg in rush hour traffic, not to bad.

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  Fantastic Car - 2007 Chrysler Sebring
  By mike - November 9 - 6:49 pm

  We decided to give the Sebring Limited a try as a midsize. The major imports we looked at seemed to be getting bloated and were just plain boring(No spark). The car is just the right size, has great styling and handles extremely well. Twisty roads are a real blast with the precision steering and suspension. The 3.5l engine has lots of power and has a pleasant tone when you get your foot into it. Weve had the car for about 4 months now and it has been trouble free. The build quality is excellent and the interior design is pleasant and unique with high quality material. The seats are very comfortable. Were expecting great service out of this car like our old LHS, +100k and no troubles

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  The Ultimate Road-trip Machine - 2017 Chrysler Pacifica
  By minivanman - November 9 - 4:12 pm

  This is by far the best van I’ve ever owned. I opted for a fully-loaded Limited so it’s also the priciest. I currently own a 2016 Odyssey and previously had a Chrysler TC and Kia Sedona. Drive: Overall, the Pacifica handles very well. It has the Advanced Safety Tec and the default settings for the lane departure are helpful without being obnoxious as is the adaptive cruise. Leaving the park assist on can be annoying though because it sometimes beeps when stopping behind another vehicle at a red light or driving close to an ATM (you can quickly turn it off with the push of a button). I expected the van to have a blind spot camera that would activate when changing lanes given the price range, but it does not—just the lights on the side view mirrors that light up like in my old TC. I had to drive the van back from a 120 mile trip through snow storm and it handled well. While driving in the white-out conditions, I wished it had AWD, but the Sienna is still the only one with that feature. The snow covered the external sensors and the lane markers on the road so lane departure and adaptive cruise could not function. A heating system for the sensors might be a good idea to deal with these issues. The rear backup camera is low res—lower than my mid-trim Odyssey and when you’re paying a premium, you don’t want a fuzzy image. The ride is fairly quiet, but I expected it to be quieter given how Chrysler touts the noise dampening features. The unconventional gear shift knob is fine, but it stresses my wife out because she’s afraid that she might absentmindedly shift the car to park when trying to adjust the radio volume. Interior: The interior is very comfortable with lots of storage throughout. In my previous vans, I’d get annoyed when my wife reduced the center console to a counter for her massive purse. The Pacifica addressed this with a space in front of the console big enough to accommodate a spare tire or her purse (but just barely). The three glass panel roof is great and gives the already roomy van a very open feel. I like being able to shift the second row seats up with car seats in place to allow easier access—especially for adults—to the third row. A warning to morons like me, don’t try to shift the second row seat while your toddler is seated lest you meet the business end of the aforementioned massive purse. It’s nice that the third row passengers have controls to recline the seats, but it would be nicer if both sides of the third row had USB charging ports. I’m the last person to advocate for kids to have their faces in screens, but I’m even more opposed to hearing my kid piss in my ear about how it’s not fair that his sister can charge her device while he can’t. Also, if you have the vacuum, that side of the third row has no cup holder (the other side has two). Basically, the third row passenger sitting on the driver’s side gets screwed. I like being able to kick under the sliding doors and tailgate to open them when my hands are full, but you can’t kick to close when you’re unloading your cargo/toddler. The second row stow is the one thing I’m glad that was carried over from the earlier Chrysler vans. I love using the compartments for extra storage when taking long road trips so the main cabin is less cluttered. The lack of this feature made the hybrid version a nonstarter for me. Tech: The nav system is ok if you’ve never used one, but the nav screen looks 10 years old. I’ve always opted out of getting nav when I had a choice because I assumed it would be inferior to Google Maps or Waze on my phone. The Pacifica’s nav only confirmed that practice. Otherwise, the UConnect Infotainment system is very good. It’s fairly intuitive and takes a few minutes of playing around to figure out how to control everything. It would be nice if the theater allowed you to play two different DVDs on the two screens, but that’s not too big a deal. I like being able to play movies off a USB drive that plugs into a port next to the DVD player. You can play different movies off the same USB on the two screens. mp4 format does not appear to be supported, but it plays avi files fine. I was able to use my Roku mini (both screens have a usb for charging and HDMI ports) to watch streaming content by tethering to my phone. I believe you can pay extra to have the van itself serve as a wireless hotspot, but it’s only 3G. I ordered an HDMI lightning cable for my iPhone and will see if I can mirror to the second row screens. Bottom Line: While it may seem like I’m critical in pointing out deficiencies in the Pacifica, I am extremely pleased with it and have no regrets (so far). I got this van to do more road trips with my family and I am certain that we will travel in more comfort and have more fun than in any other minivan on the market.

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  Chrysler 300 Touring Signature - 2006 Chrysler 300
  By Jeffrey Morris - November 9 - 1:36 am

  I’ve only owned this car for a few days, so this is a first impressions review, but WOW It has far exceeded my expectations, especially in the room and comfort areas. While the engine is smaller than that in my Jeep Wrangler, this car has much more zip, and may be more fun to drive. The most noticeable feature about this car at first glance is the aggressive exterior styling - my wife calls it a gangster car. She drives a 2004 Nissan Quest minivan similarly equipped to my 300. The styling on the 300 has more masculine appeal than most large sedans, and my 3 year old son would rather ride in “daddy’s car” than the Quest.

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  Better than Old Lexus - 2008 Chrysler 300
  By THOMAS BEECHUM - November 9 - 1:32 am

  I love my new SRT 8! I have been an owner of a Lexus GS and an Infinity 4.5. They both are Yugos compared to this. I love the power and fit and finish is great!. Any stoplight drag race is mine from now on. I dont think Ill ever go back to imports