I'm at a crossroads. I have a car that's very difficult to work on and if the past is an indication of the future, will require more work in the future, a high-mileage pickup that lets me down often enough and has enough things broken (like air conditioning) that using it as a daily driver is not pleasant, and my wife has a car that has been fairly reliable, but has more than 125K miles on it and has had a few problems.
We're also at a point where we may have kids, so four doors or else good access to where children would ride is required. My Stratus has that part covered, but her car, an Integra, doesn't, and the Nissan pickup only has those jumpseats on the sides, and while they might be acceptable for children no longer in outright child seats, they won't do for a baby.
I am considering several vehicles, some Mopars, some not. Mostly I'm considering used because of a general increase in reliabiltiy in the 80K-150K mileage range, but I don't want to start out there. I'd rather start in the 20K-50K mileage range and I definitely don't want to buy something over 80K miles to start, with the only real exception being possibly a diesel truck, but only then if it gets a clean bill of health from a dealership.
As far as LX cars go, I'm a little torn. The Magnum offers the most utility, but all of the new technological and design revision goodies from the Fiat era never made it to the Magnum. I don't care for the look of the first-generation LX Charger plus the headroom at the rear door isn't as good. I do like the 300 in both Daimler and Fiat eras, but the Phoenix-area market is now saturated with high-mileage first-gen 2.7L models with bad customization jobs, which seems to be actually increasing the prices on the unmolested ones through scarcity.
I like AWD, but I'm concerned about reliability, and when there are problems, how expensive they'll be to repair. I have rented a couple of 3.5L LX cars (a Magnum and a 300, both about five years ago) and I was okay with the power, but I can't deny the appeal of the RT and SRT8. I even did some research into a very low miles (like, 8900) 2006 Magnum SRT8, but between the color and the seller's asking price (a little over $25,000) I don't think that right now I could justify it. A year from now maybe.
I'd like advice as to how many miles, max, I should consider if I want to get the better part of a decade of service out of the car, around 10,000 miles a year. I'd also like to know what features I should avoid that have proven to be trouble, and if there are any characteristics of particular years that are better or worse than other years.
If I end up with a used LX, it'll undoubtedly be the most technologically advanced and feature-laden car that I've have owned, so even a fairly lightly equipped vehicle would be adequate for my uses.
We're also at a point where we may have kids, so four doors or else good access to where children would ride is required. My Stratus has that part covered, but her car, an Integra, doesn't, and the Nissan pickup only has those jumpseats on the sides, and while they might be acceptable for children no longer in outright child seats, they won't do for a baby.
I am considering several vehicles, some Mopars, some not. Mostly I'm considering used because of a general increase in reliabiltiy in the 80K-150K mileage range, but I don't want to start out there. I'd rather start in the 20K-50K mileage range and I definitely don't want to buy something over 80K miles to start, with the only real exception being possibly a diesel truck, but only then if it gets a clean bill of health from a dealership.
As far as LX cars go, I'm a little torn. The Magnum offers the most utility, but all of the new technological and design revision goodies from the Fiat era never made it to the Magnum. I don't care for the look of the first-generation LX Charger plus the headroom at the rear door isn't as good. I do like the 300 in both Daimler and Fiat eras, but the Phoenix-area market is now saturated with high-mileage first-gen 2.7L models with bad customization jobs, which seems to be actually increasing the prices on the unmolested ones through scarcity.
I like AWD, but I'm concerned about reliability, and when there are problems, how expensive they'll be to repair. I have rented a couple of 3.5L LX cars (a Magnum and a 300, both about five years ago) and I was okay with the power, but I can't deny the appeal of the RT and SRT8. I even did some research into a very low miles (like, 8900) 2006 Magnum SRT8, but between the color and the seller's asking price (a little over $25,000) I don't think that right now I could justify it. A year from now maybe.
I'd like advice as to how many miles, max, I should consider if I want to get the better part of a decade of service out of the car, around 10,000 miles a year. I'd also like to know what features I should avoid that have proven to be trouble, and if there are any characteristics of particular years that are better or worse than other years.
If I end up with a used LX, it'll undoubtedly be the most technologically advanced and feature-laden car that I've have owned, so even a fairly lightly equipped vehicle would be adequate for my uses.