I can't believe how underappreciated the XFire is. Not sure why people never bought many of them. It is a stunning, unique vehicle. It looks like a concept car that went right from the show floor to the street. The SRT6 especially is an extremely exotic and powerful performer. I just don't get it. This car will look good 10 years from now due to the art-deco/classy/sporty/futuristic/exotic styling. It has it all! I see people breaking their necks to turn and look at the car. I had at least 4 people today come and tell me what a nice car it is and ask questions about it as if they've never seen one before. Honestly, I'm a car fanatic and traded in an '05 G35 Coupe 6MT that I waited 3 months to get from the factory for this car. This car makes the G seem common and quite frankly, boring. I just don't get it. Chrysler/Daimler did an excellent job on this car and I almost feel sorry for the designers and engineers that worked on it because it should have been a wild success.

Signed,
Confused

 

believe it to be the vehicles eccentricity mixed with the wrong brand on the hood for that kid of behavior...

no spare tire, no back seats, staggered wheels, exotic looks, and a chrysler badge... no normal chrysler customer would be able to consider it and the snobs that could look at brand bragging rights too much to consider it...

so who bought them ? a even mix of true car enthusiasts and regulars who think its a gorgeous machine therefore they can put up with the inconvenience it can pose at times...

my favorite part of running into a fellow crossfire owner is you can generally assume they are neither practical nor rich ...

anyhow, enjoy yours...

 

If they had priced the car originally at under $30K, and marketed it more heavily, they would be selling along the lines of the RX8, 350Z, and last gen Audi TT, which were its closest logical competitors. The fact is the strength of the market for 2 door sport coupes, ANY 2 door sport group, ebbs and flows frequently.

At original MSRP of mid $30K, while the looks are stunning at the end of the day its performance overall being a tick behind its competitors sealed the deal, I think. Yes, it can handle better than the other cars, but to the average driver who at best gets 6 or 7 tenths out of his or her car on a good day, the edge in handling is nominal. And somewhat offset by the number 'feel' that results from the circulating ball steering.

I think the Crossfire was SO close to being a truly great sports car, but cutting corners with the steering rack, using an outdated engine, and not quite getting the interior right hurt it. The SRT6 IS a great underappreciated performance car. But they came out priced WAY to high to begin with, and can be low mileage bargains now.

When it came out it was the most expensive car sold by Chrysler. Chrysler has not been seen as a premium car builder. So ditto the stigma of the wrong brand on the hood.

If Saturn decides to come out with a $65K mid engined sports car to compete with the Lotus, Porsche, or Vette, it would have the very same problems.

Around here, Xfire's are a whole lot more common. See a dozen or more on the road every day, local dealer has maybe 30 on the lot, all but 2 are roadsters.

In the last month I saw two different transports loaded with 'new' Xfires. Don't know if they're shuffling around leftovers or shipping new.

 

The Crossfire is very much a hit or miss vehicle - two seater, recirc steering, hand me down parts, handling, engine, styling, etc. But where it hits, it hits exceptionally well. I would say that us Crossfire enthusiasts overlook the bad simply because the good makes up for it and then some.

I think the question is, what exactly is the Crossfire? Is it a sports car? Grand tourer? Styling statement? Halo car? Luxury car? All of these? Did it try to much to be a little bit of everything and missed the bullseye more often than not? Should it have been marketed as a Dodge? Is it it's own unique vehicle that no one has really experienced before, and therefore don't know how to approach it? We know what our cars are like and for myself I can say that in spite of the problems I have had, I have never had a car as entertaining to drive as the Crossfire.

I believe the Crossfire will ultimately gain a classic status of sorts and garner the same attention as a Shelby Mustang, 300ZX twin turbo, or Stingray Corvette do today (at least among car buffs).

One final thought - contrary to the ongoing refrain, the Crossfire is not a flop. The tens of thousands sold do not make it a failure. The car was overproduced, yes, and fell short of sales expectations, but that does not make it a flop.