Hi all, just wanted to throw this out there because my usual car guy (my dad) passed away two months ago and I have no one else to discuss this with. I am looking to get a 2004 Chrysler Crossfire coupe, because my dad worked for Chrysler my whole life and I remember growing up and going to the dealership with him and thinking that the Crossfire's were the coolest cars I had ever seen, and I just don't know if there will be a better time to get one -- I'm young and single, and don't need more than two seats in a car. I recently found one for sale in my state of California, and it has less than 41k miles on it, a clean CarFax, a decent price, and amazing upkeep inside. My last car was a 2016 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk, with all the bells and whistles and drove super smooth. I know that it'll be a huge change to something older, but I just wanted to some reassurance that this would be a good idea. I'm stuck in Canada right now, where my parents lived, and might even need to initiate a sale from here because they won't take a deposit to hold it for me, in case I get back to California as late as April. That is a huge risk to me--not being able to drive it before buying it. But I just can't shake this infatuation with the car. Would I be a complete idiot initiating a purchase of this car without seeing it in person first? And I'm a little skeptic because everyone seemed to hate the Crossfire's when they were introduced/reviewed, but I don't really agree with how some people find them visually unappealing, and I'm not mad at the simple interior, I would even consider upgrading the stereo, but I don't care about any of that. I would just love some input on how it runs and if it would be a bad financial decision in the long run to buy something as old as an '04. Besides synthetic oil and premium gas, is there anything else I should be leery about before buying this? Appreciate any and all insight!!!!

 

I've bought two Crossfires that were not local. One was 475 miles away, but I'd seen the car at the Dragon a few years earlier and a forum member personally knew the car.

Another was 2200 miles away, I had a forum member who lived near it look it over, he called me while test driving it.

In both cases, I committed to buy the car unseen, then flew one way to buy it and drive it home. If the owner is not a member of this forum OR one of our Facebook pages, I'd tread carefully. If they are a member, have someone local go look it over and go from there.

Idiot is too weak a word. Perhaps I'd loan you my avatar.

 

Hmm the seller in this case is a dealership�bought out someone who owned it in Nevada�I�m going to try and head back to Cali soon and maybe fly up to test it out first. It�s about ~400 miles away from me, but if it can sit on the lot for another month, I can figure all that out. I know the sales guy obviously is going to say it drives well, with the except that it is an �04. But I don�t know anyone on this forum or Facebook in Sacramento, maybe I can try and find someone there to test it before I get it.

Thanks

 

click on the link to find info and references when considering the purchase of a Crossfire: crossfire purchase

 

ptoor, my sons are just a few years older than you. I can tell you how very much I enjoy talking cars, and working on cars with them together. I'm sorry to hear you lost your father so early, and not being able to do that with him anymore. My oldest son actually bought a Crossfire years ago after I bought my first one.

Some common problems we handled on his car were a bad Relay Control Module which can be repaired by a forum member, or costs around $110 for a new one. Sticking ignition lock repair done for free, but was a pain to remove while it's stuck. Cleaned leaves/debris plugging water drain in the windshield cowl vent area. Replaced the power seat relay $30. Almost forgot the headliner fabric coming loose is a common issue. We removed the rigid headliner and had an upholdstery shop professional replace the fabric for $150. We then put it back in ourselves. Many forum members have glued the new fabric on themselves.

All the information you need to know about Crossfires is on this forum. If you can do what pizzaguy did that will likely work out well for you. It's very risky to buy a car without seeing it in person or having someone do that for you. I think many forum members would be willing to check out a car if it is near them.

These cars are not money pits. They are very reliable and easy to work on. Replacement keys cost a lot so check if the car you are purchasing has two keys.

 

Fortunately for you these cars sell relatively slowly. Unless the car lot has a real low price it will likely wait for you in April. As far as the tip about keys I purchased 2 for my car for less than $300 from needswings.com so that does not seem like a real problem to me. Replacing the worn brakes, bent wheels, worn tires, spark plugs, cats, and a leaky gasket were far more expensive but worth every dollar.

 

You got those keys in July 2018,the prices rose after that.

 

It being a dealer means little to me.

1) Dealers don't know anything about the Crosfire.
2) Even if they want to stand behind it, they cant, as they know nothing about the car.
3) It sounds like they don't know the previous owner at all, again, not encouraging.


Additionally, being a mod here, I TRY to read every new post - therefore, I tend to read fast. I'd missed that your dad died, mine slipped into eternity when I was 36 and it was very hard to deal with. It had to have been worse at your age. My condolences.

 

You are correct on the timing of the Key purchase so I assume you are correct on the price! Thanks for clarifying as I would not want to mislead anyone.

 

Thank you so much! This has calmed a lot of my nervousness about how expensive it might be to repair anything that comes up on the Crossfire. I appreciate the input so much, I definitely think I won't jump the gun and purchase without seeing the car myself. I've pushed up my flight up a bit, and might be able to check it out mid March, but I'm really hoping I can take a one way flight from LA to Sacramento and drive it home. It really is probably the nicest condition of a crossfire, for the price range and mileage, interior looks pristine, headlights will need a little restoring and I think I see a small golf ball sized dent on the passenger side door, all super reasonable repairs.

So glad I found this forum, its fantastic how many people still love this car, I can't wait to join the community.

 

Thanks for the link to needswings.com! Looks like an awesome site with affordable parts for the crossfire.

 

Definitely get the vibe that the dealers know nothing about this car, just keep saying it "drives like an '04." Definitely listening to your advice and not purchasing this without seeing it, I'm glad the market isn't huge for them so hoping that its still there by the time I get to see it. I may try and post in another thread on this forum about anyone who may be in the Sacramento area, if they could check it out for me.

Thanks for the condolences, it's nice to know that there is still a lot of good people who know a lot about these Chrysler cars, my dad would've loved a Crossfire!