Hello all! My name is Mark and I'm an alcoho...oops, wrong group!

Rather, I'm a new Crossfire owner. It's a 2004 Crossfire Coupe. Bought it used, but it only has 7,000 miles on it and a year of warranty left! I'm guessing it was a weekend-only car, kept in the garage and driven by a little old lady...but a really cool little old lady. (Me thinks I've heard that somewhere...) And I got it for a song! (Okay, I had to also throw in a tap dance routine, which I was asked to stop doing by the dealer...I was excited, okay?!)

Found this forum today, and while I plan on reading through as many posts as I can over the next few weeks, I hope y'all will indulge me by allowing me to post a few "newbie" questions here. If there is an existing post with the answers I'm looking for, please let me know.

So with many thanks in advance, here we go:

1. Cigarette Lighter/Power Port - It's the only issue I've found with the car, in that there doesn't seem to be any power to the outlet. The lighter itself just depresses and stays there, never getting hot. And when I plugged in a car vacuum, it wouldn't turn on (yet works fine in my wife's vehicle.) Any ideas? Would this be something that is covered under the standard warranty? And given the opinions I've seen so far on warranty work by Chrysler, should I even try going through my local dealer?

2. Oil Gauge - I read through the PDF manual for the car, but found it a bit confusing on how to get the oil level to display on the instrument panel. Or will it? Is it only when the oil is low? If I have to push the button (I'm assuming the left one), when and how? After the car has been running? Before? During? When Mars is in line with Jupiter? Help?

3. Extra Key - As is inevitable when buying a used car, it only came with one key. I'm scared to actually ask my local dealer (not the one I bought the car from) how much a second key would cost, but I have a feeling it might be less than if I lost my current one altogether. Any advice here? Is there an Internet source for such a service, or because of security, can only be handled through a Chrysler dealer?

4. De-badging - I had never heard about this until reading it here. Is it difficult to do? I'm an IT Geek, and ironically mechanically inept. I admit it: the underneath of the hood is an area I stay away from, mostly out of fear and awe...and slightly out of embarrassment. (My brother has never let me live down the time he lifted the hood on a car and I commented, "Ah! That's where the 'vroom' comes from, right?" I still have the bruise on my upper arm...and that was 15 years ago...) So with all that in mind, is it something I could tackle and not leave my car looking like most of the model kits I tried to build when I was a kid?

5. Sound System - I would like to eventually replace the stereo with an in-dash DVD system (possibly with GPS/Navigation). In particular, I'm looking for a good solid system that the screen slides in and out automatically, and offers MP3/iPod connectivity, CD-RW, MP3 on CDR, etc. Any suggestions that won't break the bank? I'll save up the money to get quality, but the little bit of research I've done hasn't given me a lot of hope for such a solution, and the one car audio store I stopped by had concerns about the depth of the console and the need of a specialized wiring harness.

6. Car number - I noticed a few posters here have mentioned or show the number of their car (for example, the 400th produced, etc.) How would I find that out? Is there a tag somewhere, or a database I can check?

Well, that's it to start. I'm sure I'll have lots more questions, and I hope I can contribute as well in the future. Really glad I found this forum! Many, many thanks is advance for any help.

 

Welcome to the group, I'm normally the one that is sarcastic and of no help what-so-ever but since your part of the IT family I'll lend a helping hand on what I can.

1. The light may have a blown fuse, if not I would take it to the dealer. I can't imagine how they would screw that up.

2. I don't know about an oil level, but if you tap the left stick in twice it will tell you roughly how many miles until service, oh and the moon, mars, sun, and the planet formally known as pluto must be lined up.

3. Extra keys are only found at the dealer and will take about two weeks to come in. A little more than $250 I believe.

4. I don't debadge my vehicles but I believe heat loosens the glue and then you take them off from there. Don't take my instructions on it There are plenty of people on this forum who would be glad to help.

5. I hardly use mine, so no comment. Again look in the Audio section of this forum you might find something there.

6. Car number is the last 6 digits of your VIN # Tells the order in which your vehicle was built.

Again welcome to the forum, and enjoy your new crossfire.

 

Congrats & Welcome to the Forum!!!

As Far as the lighter goes check the fuse or have someone check it for you. If its not the fuse take it to the Dealer, my lighter did not work from day one.

 

As far as the debadging goes it usually comes off real easy using fishing line. Just pull it up and down between the letter and the car and pull to the side. Mine popped off within 2-3 minutes BUT my car was pretty new at the time. If they give you any trouble coming off than use the blow dryer to soften the glue and repeat the above procedure. You'll need to clean it up with a bug and tar cleaner or a light polish or wax. Best of luck on the new car, you'll love it.

 

As far as the lighter goes it only works when the car is on or running.

 

Get a spare key!!!
If you lose it, it will cost well over $1,000 to get two new keys and ignition module.
That makes $200 ish seem cheap.
Enjoy the ride!!

 

Thank you everyone for the advice.

In regards to the Lighter/Power port, I checked the owner's manual and saw that the fuse for the lighter is also the same for the light in the glove box...there's a light in the glove box??? It was out - I never even knew there was one in there.

I really thought changing the fuse would solve the problem. I opened the box under the hood, found the right fuse, pulled it out (I don't know much about fuses, but the bar on the top looked fine...) and grabbed the sole 15-amp (blue) spare set there in the box. I inserted it and went back inside the car. I turned the key all the way on (short of starting the car) and opened the glove box...no light. Rats.

So it looks like it's not just a simple fuse issue, and that means a warranty visit. Sigh. If anyone has any other ideas, love to hear 'em.

 

I've been scouting around for a similar set up myself and the Pioneer AVH-P5700dvd is looking like the way to go for me. All of the features I want and can be found for a very nice price. I think crutchfield.com is selling the unit for only $599. It might be worth looking into to see if it's in your taste.

 

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in regards to your dvd/stereo, you may want to PM 'Analogfight' - I met up with him a few weeks ago, and he has a setup in his Crossfire that sounds like what you are looking for - it works great, had navigation and a good size screen - the only drawback was the screen blocked access to the heat/cooling controls -

What part of Northern California are you in? I'll be traveling to Sacramento with our SRT6 around May 9th - should be a fun ride!!

Welcome to the forum - Enjoy your Crossfire!

 

Hi Troy! The second part of my forum name belies my location. Lodi is a small town located about 45 minutes south of Sacramento, nestled snuggly between I-5 and Hwy 99 (closer to the latter than the former.)

Crossfirekid, thanks for the heads up on the Pioneer system. I will check it out. Also looking into the Kenwood KVT-617DVD with a possible later addition of the KNA-G510 Navigation module, though I'll have to talk to whichever dealer I get to do the install if it would make more sense from a labor cost standpoint to wait and save and pay for both units and install at one time, as opposed to two installation.

Which actually brings me to a second question. As snug as things are in the car, where would/could they install the nav unit where it would be out of the way/hidden from few, yet accessible for the SD Card updates?

Hi AMGLover. Nope, I don't know for sure the bulb isn't out. It just seemed coinky-dink that the fuse handles both the lighter and the glove box light, and neither works right now. Granted, when I swapped the fuse, I did not check the lighter. So what I will do before going any further is try a few combinations - new fuse: check lighter and glove box, new fuse not in box (in case previous owner swapped it out without taking it out): check both, check bulb in glove box, etc.

Funny thing when you mentioned "slammer"; I try to be very careful closing doors. My last "fun car" was a 1997 Mustang Cobra Convertible. It was a dream to drive, and I just about killed anyone if they slammed a door or trunk or whatever hard. Which is why when we first got the Crossfire, we noticed that the driver's side door makes a different sound when being closed. The passenger side door sounds solid when closed, but the driver's side sounds metallic and hollow, with a tinny thunk noise (hard to describe in words). My wife noticed it as well, as did the kids. Nothing seems to be wrong that I can tell. Window rolls fine and quiet, no scraping marks on the glass, door sealed tight. Just a different sound. Is this indicative of the Crossfire itself, or has anyone experienced anything similar?