My 2013 R/T plus is a great car& I bought the Chrysler lifetime warranty however a couple of things have me wanting to trade it in for a 2014 for a couple of reasons. First reason is to get away from that MDS on my R/T. The fact that the timing chain issue that affects the 5.7 automatics is something I don't want to deal with, I take very good care of my vehicles and to do this only to have the TC fail and destroy the engine is something that I don't want to have to worry about, I want peace of mind in my NEW car. Second reason is the unknown history of my car when I bought it in april 2013 through a dealership trade and was told the car was still in transport to the calif. dealer and later find out that not only was that not true the calif. dealer had the car on their lot since NOVEMBER 2012 AND it had 10 miles on it then, in march of 2013 with 26 miles on it, it was sent to the body shop for SOMETHING they claim was a scratch however checking the repair order I found it said the repair order was opened on feb. 25, 2013 and closed on march 20,2013 almost a full month FOR A SCRATCH ??? all I know is when I got it the hood had uneven gaps & a couple of other cosmetic issues that my dealer sent it to a body shop here in Nevada for 10 days where the removed the front bumper for a black nick I never saw ( the dealer says they saw it) the body shop repainted the entire bumper leaving thick paint along the entire edge of the bumper where it meets the front fenders on both sides, and the hood is still uneven at the front. I don't know why the hoods front gap cannot be made even on each side where the hood meets the front nose & being WHITE the black hood seal really makes that stand out more. BOTH the thick rounded paint edges on the front bumper nose section & uneven hood gaps & the 25 day body shop unknown repair work bug me and the body shop says if they try to reduce the thick edge they will probably damage the bumper & they suggest leaving it alone. The car runs great but I really want to get away from that MDS. I may or may not have the NEW RE DESIGNED TC parts so I figure on getting a 14 with NO MDS. I want an automatic but they come with MDS so a manual transmission is what I will need OR else a bigger engine. Do the SRTs with auto transmissions have the MDS or is it only the 5.7s ? on the 13 sales brochure it says the 392 autos have cylinder deactivate but I hear they don't.. If I get an SRT I wonder what the difference in insurance coverage will be compared to the R/T. My salesman said whatever 14 I choose I will get it for invoice and with my 13 as a trade I wonder what kind of $$ I am looking at. For what I paid for my challenger I shouldn't be having these issues or even having to be thinking of having to trade it in already with less that 1800 miles on it. ANY THOUGHTS OR IDEAS are welcome.
If my 13 Has the plastic componets they may get brittle over time with the heat of the engine. There may be a chance that my Challenger has the new metal componets but there is no way to tell unless the engine is opened up to inspect it. I wish dodge would provide this information for customers who bought dodge cars.
I know all the problems you have had. This decision seems based on the fact that you had issues from the start with your '13. If you don't feel happy with the car you have now, then pull the trigger and buy one from your local dealer that you like and start enjoying the Challenger instead of saying I'm not satisfied with this one. Good luck in whatever decision you make.
My salesman is a good guy as he has told me some things and confided in me off the job & he knows what I am talking about with my car. My car is probably just fine but to get one from the factory delivered to MY dealership and maybe go with a 6 speed & get away from the MDS with all of its plastic parts. Who knows, my car could have the new redesigned metal parts but no way of telling without tearing down the engine to see it. I have read the 400 plus page post about the TC issue and knowing that there is a very good chance the TC would go & thinking where you will be driving ( most all of them were on the freeway not good ) it makes you not want to go too far from home. Do the SRTs with automatics have the MDS ? My salesman said he would get it to me at invoice & I bought the lifetime warranty on my challenger so I know I would have to re buy it for the new challenger. The SRT is more car than I need but peace of mind & enjoying a NEW challenger is very important also. I could get a 14 R/T 6 speed or an SRT auto IF it did not have MDS, I am thinking this over a lot in order to make a good decision. Bert
For anyone who has done this,What kind of difference is it going from an R/T to an SRT ? I read here that is like night & day. I take care of my engines in my car so they will be reliable and take care of me. To do that & have the engine crap out because of a TC failure is gambling with your safety, besides my wife has a muscular dystrophy disease and her body cannot cool itself in the heat of summer & she needs to stay in climate controlled house & car. if the TC were to fail out of town where we need to go or on the way to the DR. the A/C in the car would stop working and she would be in trouble fast. A new car should be the most reliable car you can have & when you take excellent care of them only to have something like the T/C fail at low mileage that is just not right. this is why I would get a new 14 which would probably have the new redesigned parts but getting a manual transmission this time in the R/T would give me more peace of mind & if the SRT had an auto tranny without MDS then I would move up to the SRT to get that. I prefer an automatic but I also prefer peace of mind even more. IF I would have known about this T/C issue with the MDs before I bought my R/T I would have got the 6 speed. hind sight is 20 20 as they say.
