Sooner than I expected.

Tate Chrysler in Glen Burnie, MD (where I bought my car) has an add in today's (Saturday's) Annapolis paper. New Crossfires are advertised, with color picture (SSB) at a discount for $32,998.

They knocked $500 off MSRP when I bought mine a month ago. Since this is a dealer discount that Tate is eating, if other dealers have to follow suit, my guess is that Chrysler offering 0% financing on top of dealer discounts isn't far behind.

Too early for post mortums, but I think Chrysler has really blows this from a marketing perspective.

I was reading RX8 and 350Z boards just out of curiousity, just to check the banter to see if they're having the same kinds of discussions that are going on here.

There are a lot of posts on both...the RX8 guys are speculating about what they'll buy if they go with Mazda's buyback, the Z guys compare notes about their second choice if they had not bought the Z. In dozens of such posts, nobody even mentions seriously considering the Crossfire, most don't mention it at all as being on the list of compared cars.

Those that do totally dismiss it because a) it's a Chrysler, b) 215 hp and c) the Price, in no particular order.

Forget the dim radio display...that's the least of DC's worries with this car. They need to start letting people know this thing even exists!

 

They must be desperate to sell, because if it's an auto transmission, that's actually below invoice--doesn't sound right. If they are selling below that means the dealer is giving up his holdback--that does not make sense. This dealer obviously has to unload the unit for whatever reason--probably allocation reasons. Someone will buy it today at that price and they will get a great deal :lol:

 

My dealer had a big crossfire introduction and radio contest give away back in june.They actually gave away a crossfire! The moron who won it brought it back a couple days later and traded it for a pacifica.The car is great and gets alot of attention but they do no TV ads so nobody knows it exists.By the way my dealer dropped there 3 grand over sticker and still have 3 crossfires collecting dust in the showroom.

 

And what is the small print at the bottom of the ad? There is no dealer cash on these, nor is there going to be 0%. The Pacifica doesn't even have 0%. Too early in the game.

 

No fine print on the ad. And I spoke to my salesman about it. Even though, as with all ads, they give a stock number for a specific car, my salesman said that was the price for either of the manuals they had, and they would have a proportionalte discount for the autos they had.

Didn't say it was Chrysler cash back...all I'm saying is that some dealers are seeing that these cars, priced as they are and equipped as they are, need some help getting them off the lot. Single dealer giving the discount is the first step...enough dealers complain that they can't move their allocations and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see DC kick in cash back or low financing.

Look, I know I come off negative some times about the car...even though I was in the garage 'til midnight last night waxing it.

My disappointment in the sales is that if Chrysler decides this thing was a failure in the market, and it has a short lifespan, that the car will be a hassle to keep on the road. We've got dealers now who are hawking lit door sills, upgraded floor mats, and over priced car covers. I'd rather they have the bits I need to keep the car running right.

At least one poster in another thread has been waiting for parts for awhile needed to keep his car running right. If the actual number of these cars on the road falls short when it's all said and done, we can expect the dealers to keep only regular maintenance parts in stock...anything even slightly out of the ordinary will be special ordered, and there will be a wait and a higher cost.

Again, I like the car. It does some things VERY well...it does not have to apologize to the RX8, 350Z, S2000, or TT at all in the handling department, recirculating ball notwithstanding. It's quick enough, low hp and all. The Nissan is head and shoulders quicker than everyone else, but our cars are right there with the Mazda, Honda, and Audi products.
And of course we all know the wow factor it carries. The car is not a mediocre as the mainstream motoring press paints it to be.

I'm just really disappointed in Chrysler for how this car hasn't been marketed at all. I think they figured the same "I've never seen one before, it's radical, so let's do stories on it" attitude the press had over the Viper, then Prowler, then PT Cruiser would kick in for the Crossfire. Even folks who are not car nuts knew what those cars were as soon as they came out. The Crossfire, unique though it is, hasn't gotten anywhere near that kind of marketing traction.

 

I can see 0% financing and rebates coming if the cars start piling up at the dealers.Were supposed to get 15 and got 7 so far with 4 sold.If we get deliveries this week we might have 5 cars sitting on the lot.What do you think will move these cars if there sitting when there supposed to be hot right now?I dont care if they sell another crossfire I love my car and so does everyone I show it to.The drive line and most of the suspension is mercedes there shouldn't be a problem getting parts.Also I believe there's a 10 year rule on making parts for a car thats sold.I also believe its still early the car has be on the street for only 3 months.Most of the driving public has never seen or heard of this car.Ever since mercedes took over chrysler our car sales dropped because of lost incentives and no advertising.

 

Just another data point: Yesterday I stopped by the dealer I'm likely to buy from. They'd had one (white autostick) Crossfire in stock for at least six weeks, and just received a new shipment of at least six more, in various combinations. Practically the first thing the salesweasel said when he saw me come in the door was, "hey, if you take it today, I can give you $2000 off sticker."

Now, this is a dealer who has been selling them at list all along (ie no dealer markup), and they were supposedly having a special one-day event (they had a mobile broadcasting truck from a local radio station on the lot - big whoop). But given the way I've seen Crossfires sitting on several lots for the last month or six weeks, and having heard about the abyssmal August sales numbers, I strongly suspect that my need to wait until late this year or early next year to buy is going to result in a much better deal.

On a more personal note, I finally had a chance to drive a manual Crossfire yesterday. I've read really mixed things about the manual, but all I can say after driving one is "$#&! the automatic!" The weasel also let me take it off the (dead straight) main road, up a nearby twisty hillside. It may sound cliched, but the only words I can think of to describe the handling of the Crossfire is "on rails". In fact, I think that term must have been invented in anticipation of this car. Now, I wasn't familiar with the road, so I wasn't exactly pushing the car to an extreme, but I wasn't going easy on it either, and there was basically no body roll at all, and the damn thing felt glued to the road. The 350Z didn't feel nearly as good when I drove it, though that might have been my fault, since I seemed to have an inordinant amount of trouble with the transmission on that car. So change my order to an SSB Manual, or perhaps a Graphite. And give me a bib so I don't ruin all of my shirts drooling on myself for the next few months until I can actually buy a Crossfire.

Cheers,

Greg

 

You've got it! Wring the car out for what it will do. It' straightens out exit ramps, and those country road twisties, like nothing in a long time.

THAT'S the Crossfire message!

Paperboy came by to collect today...my car was in the driveway. Told me it was really cool looking. Thanked him. When my neighbor gets the new Chevy pickup with the retro look and ooodles of horsepower and handling, my car becomes invisible...but it will still be a blast to take to Summit Point on track day...

 

That Chevy has more hp than the Crossfire, but it's a lot slower... I think the 0-60 is over a half second slower than the Crossfire.

 

Crossfire invisible because of a Chevy truck--NOT!!! :twisted:

 

To some it will be. Hell, to some it's invisible now. That may be one of the reasons why the dealer I mentioned was offering $2000 below sticker, at least for a day. They're in a basically rural area of SoCal. As rural as SoCal gets without being bare desert, anyway. More specifically, they're in a horse town, right next door to a dairy town. The kind of place where a four door dualie is a cowboy cadillac. The kind of place where a bunch of the people who came out to the dealership the other day were there to meet and hang out with the DJ from the local country radio station that had a mobile on the lot, and didn't look twice at any of the cars because neither Chrysler nor Jeep make trucks (ie pickups). Not to mention they looked at me funny when the salesweasel announced I was another fan of the radio station about to test drive the Crossfire. Of course, that may have been my fault. I cut my long hair a year ago, but they might still have known a not-so-repentant metalhead when they smelled him. Er, me. Whatever.

But who cares? Maybe the Crossfire will catch the eye of a pretty girl or two. Maybe it won't. But its beauty will continue to haunt my dreams. And as for actually driving it down a good road, well, that's a waking dream, and I don't need to share that with anyone else. Fortunately, riding a motorcycle has already introduced me to most of the local good roads, and I'm already used to enjoying them without giving a damn what anyone else thinks.

Cheers,

Greg

 

Greg:

Point well taken...

My dealer was in W Texas I and I got one of the first Crossfires in Texas and he let it go because he sells 90% trucks.

 

I guess it depends on why you bought the Crossfire. I knew before I bought that it wasn't the fastest in class. I bought it for the looks and handling so for me it goes fast enough. There are not many opportunities to run 0 -60 or run a 1/4 mile flat out. I find the gear ratio keeps you in a good torgue range if you run up to 4000 - 5000 rpm the Crossfire is really pretty quick. As someone else on the forum has already said any car could benefit from an extra 50 hp. As far as the prices going down I think you have to look at where the dealer is. If he's in a town that prefers trucks to cars then maybe he made a mistake signing up for the Crossfire and now realizes the error and is just trying to get the cars off the lot so he doesn't have to keep paying the floor plan charges
Willie
Alabaster 6 spd

 

After reading these last post's I feel like a fool.I paid two thou over sticker for the car I've been dreaming about I saw the protype in 2001.I travel a lot down in south Florida and some of the dealers are starting to drop the price close to sticker,but they still have a few sticks that they can't move at sticker.They ran an ad in the local paper here for one day for two weeks and that was It went out this weekend to Everglade City and ran the back roads and I swear that someone put glue on the road I had It up to 115 thru some curves and It held the road.Stopped to get gas and about 6-8 people came up to me and asked me what kind of car It was when they saw the emblem on It they cuold not beleive it most said they never heard of it.We got a little folded post card in the mail from the local dealer here saying they were getting the cars in early June and are we still interested.Time will tell say three months If they start to drop the price.Like most of the guys here I love that car and I plan on having It for a long time

 

Hindsite is great, I paid MSRP for mine only because the Dealer didn't ask oversticker, I probably would have paid more had I been asked too. At the time the Dealer I purchased from Dealer was only getting 2 for the year - both 6 Speeds. I wanted an automatic, initally tuned the down the 6 speed. But then I looked at an automatic in Jacksonville Fl for 5 Grand over. I called the Dealer back and said I'll take it that day. Love the car, didn't like the shifting so I traded the 6 Speed for an automatic. Paid my car and 2 Grand for the automatic. Still love it.

One big problem for many folks is not being able to oder what you want. I wanted an automatic, I wasn't happy with what I got so I traded. Wasn't easy I had to work to get a Dealer who would trade basically straight up. Also had the hassle of shipping my car to the Dealer and going over 500 miles to pick up the automatic. I really enjoyed the drive home though. Some folks will just forget it. I still don't have the car I want, would prefer a SSB, automatic with Cedar interior. Wasn't available so I took what I could get. I'll keep the Alabaster automatic.

Another problem appears to be Dealer Fear. There are a lot of X-fires in the "secondary market." They hit the market very fast, so I believe many Dealers were afraid to hold on to the car. The fact that my Dealer was only getting 2 and sold both at MSRP seems to indicate he either was afraid he would get stuck with the car or, from what I've heard, the fact that initally Crysler wouldn't ship a Dealer a Crossfire until the Dealer had sold what he had.

I saw a lot of Pacifica's on Dealer lots. Many Chrysler Dealers are low volume. Some are owned by mega stores, but most are still mon & pop small business. Chrysler has been trying to change it's image for 30 years, but their cars a mostly family oriented, their meat and potatoes so to speak, come from Mini vans and "New Yorkers" not Vipers and Crossfires. It's hard to get people (their Owner/Operator) to change.

I also believe when people see a Crossfire sitting on a local Dealers lot they wonder: why is it there? Did someone buy the car and not like it ? Is the Used car salesman trying to make a killing. These tend to put buyers off.

Finally, auto sales in general were off. The market for another twoseater isn't that big to begin with.

My bottom line is I loved the looks of the Crossfire, didn't want to wait to get one, and don't reallty care what the market does. But it would be nice to have a car I think is geat and is hard to get too.

 

Try mounting a rifle holder with a couple of .22 longs between the seats and the cargo area, that should make those Southern truck loving drivers a second look :P

 

For those still looking. My dealer in Elizabethtown, KY [40 miles south of L-ville] still has the red automatic which has been there for 2 months. Not sure if he has come off the $3K over sticker, but I did see a "no reasonable offer" refused on one of his weekend newspaper ads.

 

The local KIA Dealer has an SSB on his lot don't know if its automatic or stick. No a good sign. :cry:

 

I wouldn't be too quick to assume that things are not going good. In fact, I'm getting the exact opposite here in Southern California. I had to go back to the dealer yesterday to drop off some paperwork and they had just added $4,000 to the MSRP, whew! They were allocated 5 Crossfires, with one of them being SSB (I got that one).

If history repeats itself, this may end up in the same category as the Prowler. Buy at MSRP and then auction at twice MSRP to someone who really wants one but cannot get one. If there are dealers out there with excess Crossfires on their lots, they won't be there long. Those dealers that are sold out will be pulling from other dealers inventories so I don't think you'll see those Crossfires sitting out there much longer.

Its all about location. After reading many of the press articles about the Crossfire, it looks like Chrysler wanted to focus on areas like Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, etc. Any major cities where image is everything as this is definitely an image car.

I'll tell you what, the 215hp is much stronger than I anticipated. I had no idea you could get that much pull from 215hp. I like it a whole lot more than my 2001 Audi TT Quattro which goes back to the dealer this week.

 

Just didn't like my X-fire parked next to a KIA Sidonea or what ever it was.

I haven't driven the TT, but I have driven many Sports Cars over the years from MG, Austin Helaey, Jaguar, the Crossfire feels and Drives like a real sports car. It's a fun ride, you gotta hang on.