There have been few writers on the web who have been as tough on Stellantis as I’ve been. It’s not because I don’t like the brands, rather, it’s because I do like the brands and haven’t loved the direction the company has taken. So I wanted to write something positive about the company and recommend a car you can buy right now from a Stellantis brand. That car is the V8 Dodge Charger.
If you don’t know what car you want to buy and you’re reading this website, the answer might just be a Dodge Charger with a big ol’ V8 engine. They’re cheap. They’re awesome. And there are thousands of them for sale at Dodge dealers across the country.
The Charger has been around for so long it’s outlived DaimlerChrysler, Cerberus-owned Chrysler, and Fiat Chrysler. Normally I’d say you’d want to get the nicest, newest platform for your money and that’s probably your best bet for a family crossover. But a solid, RWD sedan with a V8 engine? You’re only getting that from a Dodge dealer because almost no one else makes an equivalent, and certainly not at this price point.
Right now you can pick up a brand new Dodge Charger in R/T trim with a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 for under $35,000. That’s Camry money for something that could reasonably star in a Fast & Furious film.
Reason #1: They Are Cheap And Plentiful
The plant that made the LX-platformed vehicles like the Charger and Challenger stopped production of that platform in December of last year. Knowing there would be a delay in its inline-six/electric replacement, Stellantis built up a massive supply of the vehicles.
As of February of this year, there was a 477-day supply of Dodge Chargers. I went to Cars.com to see what was still around eight months later and found there are still over 1,500 Chargers for sale with a V8 and RWD. The cheapest one I found was a 2023 model-year police-spec version in Lansing, Michigan listed at $32,062, but the price seems to be artificially lowered by an employee discount and a partially-featured cop spec model seems unwise if your name isn’t Elwood.
The one I’m interested in is this $32,488 blue-on-black Dodge Charger R/T that still has the fender guards attached. An image suggests this is a courtesy car and it does have 563 miles on the odo. That’s not much, and for lower-trim Corolla Cross Hybrid money you’re getting probably the last American non-luxury V8 sedan.
You can bop around all day and find unsold 2023 R/T and Police-spec Chargers for under $35,000. Is there more fun to be had in a car that also has enough room in the trunk for six golf bags and two of your drunker golfing buddies? I think not. The fun-to-bucks ratio is off the charts. Dodge is also hinting at raising its incentives, so you might be able to do even better than the $8,000-$14,000 price drops that are being advertised.
Reason #2: Did I Mention It Has A V8?
There are multiple engine options for the Charger, including a V6 AWD option if that’s your flavor, but the V8 is the one to have. The least powerful version was the RT’s 5.7-liter Hemi V8, which still produced 370 horsepower and 395 lb-ft of tire-shredding torque. This means the slowest V8 could still boogie to 60 mph in almost five seconds flat, and sound amazing doing it.
If you wanted more power the SRT8’s got the 6.4-liter V8, good for up to 485 horsepower. Obviously, various flavors of Hellcat and more pushed that number to above 700 horsepower. Those aren’t going to be as cheap, though, and where can you drive 204 mph on the regular?
Nowhere. But you can do burnouts all day in the parking lot with this thing. If you can’t do a burnout in a Dodge Charger you’re either a dummy or you don’t know how to disable traction control, which makes you a dummy.
Reason #3: We’re All Going To Die One Day
In a rational universe, you would probably get a Camry HEV if you just wanted a sensible sedan. It’s around the same price, it gets more than double the Charger’s combined 19 MPG fuel economy. It’s nicer, it’s newer, it’s quieter, and it’s probably safer.
But this isn’t a rational universe. Did you know that Tony Hawk is now a grandpa? If you’re reading this and that means anything to you it means you’re old. Deal with it. And if you really want your hair blown off your head, should you have any left, the grandkid is also Kurt Cobain’s grandkid! And Courtney Love’s grandkid.
Life might be in a simulation and, as good as the Camry is, do not drive a Camry in a simulation. Drive the wildest thing you can find, which might be a Dodge Charger Hellcat Widebody Jailbreak in purple.
See, there, I said something nice about Stellantis and recommended a Dodge product.
Matt, great article as always. I just wanted to point out that you look like Michael Rappaport in the image at the top.
Thank you for keeping me thinking of Jon Lovitz (who supposedly died a long time ago).
https://www.reddit.com/r/LiveFromNewYork/comments/ije7eu/the_late_jon_lovitz/
OK, good, it wasn’t just me!
I was this close to putting in an order for an R/T AWD back when they still offered them (2014). But they killed it off before I got the chance. Always seemed strange to me they stopped making that variant supposedly because of low sales.
Ended up with a Fusion instead, and while definitely a “nicer” car with more bells and whistles it definitely wasn’t as fun.
I always thought it a failure on their part not to offer the AWD with the 5.7 or better yet the 6.4 throughout the production run. I imagine if they could do it in 2014 or so, and somehow get the systems to survive in track hawks, then a 4wd Charger Scat Pack should be no issue.
I endorse this message.
These are great cars. The price is right. They have everything going for them.
For folks who think that there are cars out there that are better, I’ll say that they’re not so much better as to justify 2x the price.
Hartley Peavy (of the Mississippi Marshall fame) once said “Guitar players like to believe in magic. They like to think that there’s some hermit in a cave winding pickups for a guitar that was dipped in mystical swamp water, when that’s just not the case.”
I think car people are very much the same…
I don’t disagree with this take. Even the V6 models are good enough- I wouldn’t buy one, but I certainly would snag them every time one was available as a rental car on a business trip- big, comfy, decently quick and decent enough mileage.
I thought about buying a 300 a couple years back.
These are something I’ve considered. Yet most of the ones around here are driven by the bros who have wrecked the truck Dad bought them. These were purchased over a Challenger due to lower cost and lower insurance.
And they all drive like every stop light is a staging area for a big burnout.
Which I understand, it’s all fun and games till someone gets hurt.
I would love one of these, or a Challenger as I had a 1970 Challenger back in the dark ages.
But tbh even being close to 70 I am afraid that my long repressed hidden 16 year old will remerge and. Well that’s when shit happens. Not all of it fun, or cheap.
The state troopers here drive these and the Durangos.
I want the Elwood model though…
I’m almost 70 also, and the Challenger sings a siren song, but then I come to my senses.
I would have bought an AWD Challenger if they made one with manual transmission, they didn’t so I didn’t buy one.
I would have gotten it in purple.
The 2023 Charger is based on the archetecture of the 2005 Charger / Magnum.
In 2005 Chrysler was owned by Mercedes and the Charger / Magnum was based off the previous generation E Class platform. Thats the only reason there even was a V-8 RWD offering in Chrysler’s portfolio.
I was recently in the market for a new car and couldn’t bring myself to buy a new car based on 20+ year old bones.
I rented V-6 and V-8 versions to try and convince myself otherwise but they drove like big, heavy, old cars with acres of plastic dashboard to stare at and uncomfortable seats. Pass
Wrong, the LX platform is based on the LH platform with W201 rear suspension and W140 front suspension added to it. The LH platform is derivative of Eagle Premier platform which was a derivative of the Renault 25 from 1983.
Or maybe don’t.
Or do and when you have warranty work because Hemi’s suck, I’m sure you’ll make a dealership happy.
Note: you won’t.
I had a 5.7 Charger (current generation) for a few years. It was a great car. I’d buy another one, but I already have a 392 Challenger. I needed another daily that my son can learn to drive in so I got a Giulia. It’s wildly different from the LX platform cars. Buying a Charger would have just been more of the same.
However, like you stated, it’s a cheap RWD V8 and, if you can afford to buy one new, then you should do it now. If you’re afraid of bad gas mileage or whatever, then buy a boring ass Camry and continue to post here about why you think all other cars suck.
Availability of a car like a cheap and new V8 Charger is partly why this website exists in the first place. We can only go on so much about brown Diesel station wagons with a stick shift before we start drooling on ourselves from complete boredom.
If this thing still came with a manual it would be perfect.
As the steward of a V8 300C that I wouldn’t have picked out for myself, but quite like driving, I have to agree. It’s comfy and reliable, and while burnouts aren’t my thing, accelerating from 40 to 80 on an on-ramp never gets old, and the Hemi sounds great doing it.
Oh, and it averaged 28 mpg driving across the country, too. Good car. Uconnect pretty much blows, but otherwise good car.
This advice also applies to a 300C, especially if you can get an old Varvatos edition.
I had a coworker with a Varvatos Luxury edition. I thought it sounded like a dumb option package when he told me about it, but it was surprisingly nice inside. I could never tell of the exterior color was supposed to be blue or black…
Yeah, I could buy one, but then I’d be thinking on my deathbed years later, ‘The only new car I ever bought was a damn Stellantis product while ol’ Pictured Above was in charge. FML!’
The Dodge Charger is like the Honda CR-V for automotive casuals. It’s a sign you’ve given up on some aspect of your life. Charger people have given up on their dream of owning some vintage muscle car or something and decided that an off-lease R/T was “close enough”. Now they’ll spend the rest of their natural lives trying to convince strangers (and themselves) that what they bought is somehow rare, special, or significant in any meaningful way.
I’d argue it’s what the Mustang used to be – cheap, dated/unrefined muscle for the masses in a tough guy wrapper. It’s a quintessentially American thing, and I’m happy at least one of our automakers still offers it.
That’s one way to look at it. I, however, agree with Matt. These cars aren’t my cup of tea, but they’re relatively cheap, plentiful, and more fun than 4 cylinder crossover. Seems like a decent car for someone who wants to go a little fast, for not a lot of money, and maybe is new to the car enthusiast community. We shouldn’t shit on people for the cars they buy; DT has been writing articles about the i3 for months and I would assume most Autopian readers wouldn’t consider buying one for one reason or another.
Plus there’s something to be said about having a car with OBD and “modern” amenities. Maintaining a classic muscle car can be a lot of work, and maybe the less mechanically inclined car enthusiasts would save themselves some heart/wallet ache by buying a “new” Dodge Charger.
I’d wait for a Hellcat to take a massive depreciation hit before I’d consider buying one.
Normally they depreciate like that because an actual hit is involved.
When we were touring the pick+pull in Sterling, MI (prior to DT’s party) I noticed that the neatly-aligned rows of modern V8 Mopars all had serious front-end damage for some reason…
WOW, you can get a V6 model for $24K+shipping as it’s in Florida 🙁
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/7eb9487d-b7a3-4b5a-ba4d-b724f646fd90/
You could stab yourself in the knees with a letter opener for much cheaper and save yourself the trouble of having to go to Florida while you’re at it.
Is the v6 that bad?
As long as its the 3.6, these aren’t bad at all with a V6.
Yeah… Keep in mind what just happened to Florida. Are we sure it didn’t go swimming?
Ah, per the first pic on the listing that blue Charger was a courtsey car. Not sure what model out of the CDJR brands is most in line with such a greeting but an R/T Charger doesn’t seem like it.
Most of them are going to be loaner cars. About 3 months ago, Stellantis started giving dealers cash for every Charger they had or put into loaner service, with pretty loose rules, the cars just needed to have 500 miles or more on them. So a good majority of these are just chargers that managers drove for a few weeks to claim the money and get them discounted enough to move.
Makes sense and loaners are probably how many dealers are hitting their numbers with the way Stellantis has (or hasn’t really) supported them. I was just amused by the typo in the overlay they put on the pic. 🙂
A good number of them got bought up by dealership employees as well, because there was some extra money for us if we wanted one. I was VERY VERY close to picking up a 23 Hemi 6 speed manual Challenger for about 27k.
I’ll probably regret not doing it someday.
I like how for the reason #1 pic, cars.com has apparently just thrown in the towel and depicted the vehicle with the yellow plastic shipping guards intact.
Only thing that popped into my head
Mad Max
Mechanic: It’s last of the V8s!
…600 horsepower through the wheels!
Not sure why Dodge never just threw the kitchen sink at these and gave us an awd Hellcat. These cars could package awd, they have an awd system that can handle that much power on the Jeep Trackhawk, why not combine them?
Best guess is that the AWD system in the Trackhawk necessitates the engine sitting up higher, and there’s not room in a charger/challenger unless they were to throw a lift on it, which would be hilarious, so on second thought, I agree. That should have happened! Safari Hellcat!
If they wanted to save the V8, they could have made a smaller platform and made an ultra-slippery sedan body on it with a Cd value in the mid 0.1X range.
I’d like to imagine a next gen V8 Charger Hellcat in something ultra slippery akin to a Dodge Intrepid ESX2 and sized like a Nissan Versa sedan, except with a stiffened/reinforced chassis. Imagine a sub-3,000 lb curb weight with the Hellcat’s engine flinging it around. Such a thing might be able to squeeze out 40 mpg highway with a conservative driver and maybe low 20s mpg city, but the performance would be hypercar-like, all thanks to having 2/3 the mass and less than 1/2 the aero drag.
It may not have the muscular looks of its predecessors, but if the mission statement is to be a car for the street takeover crowd and antisocial assholes to terrorize the roads with, it would perform that duty even better, and would be greatly more dangerous on the whole.
ew
Owner of a 2011 Grand Cherokee with the 5.7 and 4wd. It’s tight as hell in the WK2. Like “starter removal is supposed to necessitate dropping the sub-frame if you value the skin on your arms and your sanity” tight. I’d hate to see it in a Charger. Well, I’d love to see it, I’d hate to work on it.
I’d had a couple V6 Chargers as rentals and I liked them. I wouldn’t get one because I’m still deep in the “must have a manual” territory, but I see the appeal. The infotainment system is simple and easy enough, and I’m not a fancy car journo who abhors plastic-y interiors. Would strongly consider one if an automatic didn’t bother me.
That’s the beauty of the Challenger, as the manual was available up and down the powertrain lineup, and short of being a 2-Door, was close to identical to the charger inside.
the manual was available up and down the powertrain lineup
Just not with the V6.
I had one as a rental a while back too, I freaking hated it. The AC was insufficient for a Texas summer, you literally couldn’t even tell the ventilated seats were on, and it got worse mpg than my classic V8 Toyota Crown. Yeah it was more powerful, but I just saw no advantage to it at all. The interior was also so bulky that while it’s likely the biggest sedan I have ever driven, it didn’t feel roomy at all.
Y’know what made me feel old? Watching MeTV Toons. Some of the stuff I grew up watching was made ninety years ago.
On Sunday, the Simpsons did a (fake) series finale celebrating 36 years. Not bad for a show I first saw as bits on the Tracey Ullman Show.
I still have my videotape of the first season, complete with commercials…
ON BETA.
My now fiancé has one, she quite loves it. I wish the seats would go lower and the backup camera was clearly made using leftover Motorola Razr V3 cameras
LOLOLOL
Everything usually advertised in Michigan is based upon employee price discounts, They assume someone in your family can get you the discount. Have they done anything about the key cloning car thefts with the Chargers and Challengers. heard its pretty common.
Why is Michael Rapaport trying to get me to buy a car?
Is that what’s happening? I was hoping that Charger was about to squash his head like a grape.
I was then confused as to why the article itself wasn’t laid back but in an aggressive, off-putting way. And louder.
Wow, that’s cold.
Crazy, that is exactly what first popped into my mind with that top shot.
I am a Michael Rappappoorttt hater.
Well nothing personal, but you’ve gotta admit, that’s a very Rapaportial pose and expression you’ve slapped up there. If it makes you feel better, I’ve never been struck that way by any other photo of you!
Interesting. I generally find him someone who… exists and that I am generally aware of.
But yeah, maybe check that odd look with the scrunched up neck and avoid in the future to not enable that association.
If we’re going to have a doppelgänger, best not to have a constant annoyance following you around.