Newer challenger's

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Dan the man

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A friend of mine has been trying to get me to buy a newer challenger. I know that they are more comfortable and run great, but I'm not good with technology stuff, he showed me all the things that his challenger has on it through the information center on the dash and it was mind boggling to me. Plus they are not cheap, I'm not ready for a big car payment at almost 63. I did think about it though.
 
Get a new Charger, you’ll have something different than your friend.
 
I have a 2022 challenger scat pack with a 6 speed all the bells and whistles are neat. But I rarely us them its a lot more fun to hold the traction control button for 10 seconds when i first start it to fully turn off all stability and traction control.

The launch mode is neat as you set your rpms that you want to launch at from 2000-4500 rpms but that turns traction control partialy back on so I really dont use it.

I like to drive my car and make it do what I want. I dont like my car driving me.
 
I made the "mistake" of selling my 70 Challenger 440 six pack to buy a new Challenger SRT 392 6 speed in 2012. After owning it a year and putting 1,200 miles on it I traded it in on a new truck (which I still have) I realized that "I'm an old car guy" I also realized that the value of that car was less and less everyday and it really wasn't as fun as I expected. I bought a 71 Cuda not long after and haven't looked back. Old cars hold their value better and even appreciate in value.
 
I wouldn't buy one new.
I'd try to find one used that the previous owner didn't beat to death. Let him take the hit on resale.
 
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I just bought this RedEye. I’d suggest buying new, there’s currently 0% interest thru Dodge Financial.
 
I made the "mistake" of selling my 70 Challenger 440 six pack to buy a new Challenger SRT 392 6 speed in 2012. After owning it a year and putting 1,200 miles on it I traded it in on a new truck (which I still have) I realized that "I'm an old car guy" I also realized that the value of that car was less and less everyday and it really wasn't as fun as I expected. I bought a 71 Cuda not long after and haven't looked back. Old cars hold their value better and even appreciate in value.
I did much the same thing, and with the same result, except that I didn't get a new truck, just sold my 2013 Mustang GT convert privately to another old guy, and he traded it for a new truck. Lol
I kept my old 1990 Bronco and bought a 75 Dart Sport.
 
I did much the same thing, and with the same result, except that I didn't get a new truck, just sold my 2013 Mustang GT convert privately to another old guy, and he traded it for a new truck. Lol
I kept my old 1990 Bronco and bought a 75 Dart Sport.
The 80 should get it done some off-road, if it's a 4x4, and the Sport is a killer Street/ Strip Car. And they will run as an interstate bruiser with the right gears. They didn't have the modern suspension stuff back on the bay either....
 
I bought a base 2015 R/T 6M, only option was the Super Track Pak. Swapped an 8.4 into it and turned on the Performance Pages and drove it. Had plans to swap a 6.4 cam, intake and exhaust onto it when the warranty expired, plus upgrade the brakes to the biggest cop car ones (BR9). But life got in the way and I was concerned about carrying a car payment if I lost my job (which I didn't). So I sold it and started working on debt instead.

Have to say I miss that car pretty bad. Worse because I bought it for $27K with 5K miles, sold it for $23K with 25K miles and right now I bet it is worth $32-36K. I know the dealer that bought it from me listed if for $29,999 and sold it within a couple of weeks and that was long before the "rush" on Challengers that is going on right now.

Not a big fan of heated seats, adaptive cruise, etc. But I do miss being able to hop in the car, have it cool down the interior and just drive it. My Duster is no where near as usable without the AC, down on power and get's worse gas mileage. The target for my Duster is what my R/T was, but it's going to take me $10-15K and 2 years plus.

I honestly didn't feel like it was a "new" car. Felt like a muscle car to me, with some upgrades like AC and power windows. Buy a basic R/T with either a 6M or the 8A, ignore the wiz bang gadgets and just drive it. Try and find a 2017 or newer and get the active exhaust as they sound killer (to me). Only issue then is ignoring the Scat and Hellcat owners that look down on you for buying "just an R/T".
 
I bought a 2013 SRT8 Challenger in Plum Crazy Purple. I love that car. I will NEVER sell it. I still like driving my old A body and E body cars but to jump on the highway for a long cruse there is no comparison. If you think cars are losing value you might want to go price cars again. They sure as hell aren't going down in price. Anything that has SRT, Hellcat, Demon and likes are bringing big bucks. I just did a PDI a new Charger R/T with a 5.7 and the sticker is 50 grand!
 
I made the "mistake" of selling my 70 Challenger 440 six pack to buy a new Challenger SRT 392 6 speed in 2012. After owning it a year and putting 1,200 miles on it I traded it in on a new truck (which I still have) I realized that "I'm an old car guy" I also realized that the value of that car was less and less everyday and it really wasn't as fun as I expected. I bought a 71 Cuda not long after and haven't looked back. Old cars hold their value better and even appreciate in value.
I wouldn't have sold my 70 challenger for any new car. I can't believe that people think that these newer challenger's are worth a gold mine, they might be in 10 years or so. Look at the people that lost their butts on the viper.
 
Ok, I know no one wants to read a book on here but this got me jumping head first into a rabbit hole and I expect this will turn into just that.

Let me start off by saying that my favorite idea is a Duster that runs/drives like my R/T did. I love the idea of building it myself, and avoiding some of the compromises you have to accept with a new Challenger (weight, options you don't want, etc.). Plus, while I don't chase car show trophies I do like going to them and entering a car, which I wouldn't do with a new Challenger. Not going to "show" something that I bought even if I were to do a cam swap and upgrade the brakes. Oh, and building my Duster means no car payments which I really like.

I also understand that not everyone wants the same thing out of their car. If you want that old school feel, for whatever reason, no reason to read on. But if you want to drive your car every day, road trip it to Route 66 and back, and want something that could replace your Camry while still offering most of the comforts but a lot more fun, maybe a new Challenger or upgraded A-Body makes sense.

All that to say that if someone were standing at the precipice of wanting to drive something fun and useful at the same time, not sure upgrading a Duster is the best way to get there cost wise.

Just some quick budgeting starts to make even a brand new Challenger R/T look like a pretty good deal. Assuming you don't have anything to start with, I would go looking for a very clean basic A-Body that doesn't need body/paint or interior work with all good glass and seals. Maybe a restored slant 6 car. Figure $15K for something like that if you look hard? Then throw money at it so you don't have to spend any more time than necessary reengineering the swap and can almost bolt it together with all new parts.

Crate motor $8,000.00
T56 swap $7,000.00
Swap parts $1,800.00
PCM/Harness $2,200.00
Suspension $3,400.00
AC $3,000.00
Wheels/tires $2,000.00

That setup would total $42.4K including the car, and I am sure I am underestimating costs and missing things.

Even if you already own an A-Body that is fairly stock you are looking at $27.4K to do the swap.

For comparison, the R/T I would spec shows a final price of $43,645 on the Dodge website. That's with White paint ($0 cost), Performance Handling Group (for the Brembo brakes), NAV (to get the 8.4 only) and Driver's Convenience Group (for the security alarm). Not much more than the full build listed above. And the bare minimum R/T (for me) would be $40,870 with the Brembos, less than the above build.

Assuming you are as cheap as I am and don't mind years of collecting parts and building stuff yourself you could use this budget:

Used motor $1,500.00
T56 swap $5,500.00
Swap parts $1,800.00
PCM/Harness $1000.00
Suspension $3,400.00
AC $3,000.00
Wheels/tires $1,000.00

That's still $17.2K. And don't forget the cost of body work, paint and trim if you want the cleanliness of the new Challenger.

For $20K you could get a well used R/T if you look hard, and then finance it right now and be driving today. And add some nice features like ABS, traction control, cruise, power windows, etc. without adding any cost or work that the A-Body build would need.

I get it that you can build a SB or BB to make as much power, but a used 6.4 will get you something similar in power and yet be far more drivable. Add the 6 speed, AC and suspension to the SB/BB build and you still aren't far off the cost of a used Challenger but you are probably behind in drivability.

There are certainly still cheaper ways to do this, too. Cutting the T56 out of the budget helps a bunch, but it also really chops into the drivability aspect. You could also try to a make a core 5.7 work like I am, and hope you don't flush $400-800 on a motor that isn't junk. Many ways to do this, just remember that most of them will result in a car that doesn't drive as well as a Challenger and will probably add a year or more to the build.

Not trying to talk anyone out of their A-Body or into a Challenger, just saying that there are a couple of ways to look at this and some of them put me on the side of buying a Challenger. If I had the space, and didn't care about the car payment, I would buy a Challenger and leave my Duster more like it is. But I don't want the payment so I need to bring the Duster up to what I had in the Challenger.
 
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BTW, I have a buddy with a 2016 Scat who is building a BB Dart because he doesn't want one car that does it both. So I get it.

Oh, and he owns the Scat outright and I am certain could sell it for far more than he paid for it right now. Certainly didn't depreciate for him.
 
Only issue then is ignoring the Scat and Hellcat owners that look down on you for buying "just an R/T".
This is the very thing I don't like about American car marketing. In my opinion, with the Challenger, it is pretty much all about wheels, tires, and stance. A base Challenger looks very base. I don't want that. An R/T looks like in the middle just like it is. Then the SRT group looks top of the line but it is way more expensive than I will pay. So... I don't buy any. Why not make them all look the best? They could be badged for different performance levels which I don't care about.
Now on to my Ram. This used to ruffle some SRT10 owners feathers when I was on DodgeTalk years ago. Probably not anymore. I bought a brand new 2005 1500, V6, 6-speed, air cond., cruise, cd player, manual windows and door locks. September 05, they offered employee pricing and rebates. That left $14,388. I planned to lower it a little, change wheels and tires, then drive it. I never intended to go this far but this is what I ended up with.
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Complete SRT suspension front and rear including the 4.56 Dana 60 (brought that 3.7 V6 to life). All the SRT body mods including front belly pan and brake cooling ducts. SRT leather seats, SRT instrument panel, starter button panel, and racing style pedal covers. The only aftermarket part was the combo u-joint to connect the Dana 60. No 500hp gas sucking engine that I don't need. 16mpg city, 20mpg hwy. And I have loved it for 17 years. To this day, I never see another truck and wish I had it instead.
 
This is the very thing I don't like about American car marketing. In my opinion, with the Challenger, it is pretty much all about wheels, tires, and stance. A base Challenger looks very base. I don't want that. An R/T looks like in the middle just like it is. Then the SRT group looks top of the line but it is way more expensive than I will pay. So... I don't buy any. Why not make them all look the best?

The funny thing is, just like your SRT brethren, the people that buy the upscale cars want them to look special when compared to the base model cars. You don't want to spend the money but want it to look the same, they spent the money and want them to look different.

On that note, the Scat Pack guys and even the 2015-17 SRT guys got miffed when Dodge used their front end on the lower line cars. So now you can buy a GT and it get's the same splitter as the Scat Pack does, and it get's the single scoop hood from the SRT's. Plus all GT's and R/T's after 2018(?) got the Super Track Pak as the standard suspension which lowers them and put's them on the same stance as a Scat Pack or Hellcat. Only thing missing was wheels. Of which, in at least 2015 and 2016 you had the option to buy the WRT wheels as an option which were the same wheels the Scat Packs got as standard. And later on, you could buy the Performance Handling Package on the R/T and some v6 models which got you the Brembo brakes and the Scat Pack wheels.

So, if you bought a 2015 R/T (as an example) with the Super Track Pak and the WRT wheels, it would look like a Scat Pack in all ways except the splitter. Buy a 2019 R/T with the Performance Handling Package and it looks exactly like the Scat Pack minus the bee emblems behind the front wheels and a different hood.

So in the end, it is pretty much exactly what you wanted. Big difference is what wheels you can get and the hood, but for the most part they all can look the same if you order it right.

Oh, except for the grill/front facia. The Hellcat one's are specific to them only. Seems like the Widebody get's the HC grill, but not sure. I know on the narrow body cars, only the HC can get it though.
 
The funny thing is, just like your SRT brethren, the people that buy the upscale cars want them to look special when compared to the base model cars. You don't want to spend the money but want it to look the same, they spent the money and want them to look different.

On that note, the Scat Pack guys and even the 2015-17 SRT guys got miffed when Dodge used their front end on the lower line cars. So now you can buy a GT and it get's the same splitter as the Scat Pack does, and it get's the single scoop hood from the SRT's. Plus all GT's and R/T's after 2018(?) got the Super Track Pak as the standard suspension which lowers them and put's them on the same stance as a Scat Pack or Hellcat. Only thing missing was wheels. Of which, in at least 2015 and 2016 you had the option to buy the WRT wheels as an option which were the same wheels the Scat Packs got as standard. And later on, you could buy the Performance Handling Package on the R/T and some v6 models which got you the Brembo brakes and the Scat Pack wheels.

So, if you bought a 2015 R/T (as an example) with the Super Track Pak and the WRT wheels, it would look like a Scat Pack in all ways except the splitter. Buy a 2019 R/T with the Performance Handling Package and it looks exactly like the Scat Pack minus the bee emblems behind the front wheels and a different hood.

So in the end, it is pretty much exactly what you wanted. Big difference is what wheels you can get and the hood, but for the most part they all can look the same if you order it right.

Oh, except for the grill/front facia. The Hellcat one's are specific to them only. Seems like the Widebody get's the HC grill, but not sure. I know on the narrow body cars, only the HC can get it though.
I understand all of that. If I paid that much, I would want it to look different too, but only different from a car that I didn't think looked as good. I wouldn't care if it didn't have 700+ horsepower that I don't need. But if they all looked good, it wouldn't matter. Some would buy the V6, some would pay more for the supercharged Hemi. And they may sell more overall. Probably one more anyway.
 
I'm just keeping them all. Drove the Scamp to work Tuesday. Drove my Jeep on Wednesday. Drove the Challenger today and I'm gonna drove my 1969 VW Beetle tomorrow! I love them all :)
 
I understand all of that. If I paid that much, I would want it to look different too, but only different from a car that I didn't think looked as good. I wouldn't care if it didn't have 700+ horsepower that I don't need. But if they all looked good, it wouldn't matter. Some would buy the V6, some would pay more for the supercharged Hemi. And they may sell more overall. Probably one more anyway.

But that's what I am saying, the v6 GT looks as good as a Scat Pack now. Some would say better since the current Scat Pack hood is the old Hellcat hood with the 3 openings. I actually really like the current R/T and GT hood.

Hmm..I should add that an AWD v6 looks kind of tall to me and doesn't look as good. I forgot about that one.

But a v6 GT RWD up to a Scat Pack all look mostly the same now.
 
I haven't checked them out lately. Maybe I should have looked at current offerings before commenting.
 
I'm just keeping them all. Drove the Scamp to work Tuesday. Drove my Jeep on Wednesday. Drove the Challenger today and I'm gonna drove my 1969 VW Beetle tomorrow! I love them all :)

I'm thinking about sucking it up and driving my Duster this evening to run an errand. But it's like 95 degrees and I will be doing it alone if I do because my wife would be really uncomfortable. Or we go together in her car and I leave the Duster in the garage once again. One of those times where my Challenger would have been nice to still own.
 
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