Convince me not to buy a Dodge Magnum

In reply to Stefan (Forum Supporter) :

I haven't priced tubas, but the wife has saxophones that eclipse most daily drivers I drive.

She priced a bari sax once......a decent one was 10k ish

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

Top quality tubas are scary expensive.  The tuba makers buy straight tubing and bend it to make crooks.  Then they hand hammer the metal so that the inside and outside of the crook have the same thickness of metal.  The most famous of these is nicknamed the Chicago-York or a Yorkbrunner.  It was used by the tubist of the Chicago symphony for many years.  This is the cheap Chinese knockoff: https://wessex-tubas.com/products/cc-6-4-front-piston-tuba-chicago-york-tc695

Here is me trying out an Alexander tenor tuba that is only used for Bydlo from Pictures at an Exhibition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2pGHAmd-6w. I would love to have one of these but I think I am going to buy a Dodge Magnum instead.

I had a V6 Magnum as a rental once back in the day. I thought it looked cool, but was not fun to drive, had limited cargo space for its size and generally was disappointing to me. 
 

I still like how they look. 

1988RedT2 said:

STM317:  I have never considered the possibility, but I don't hate that either!

It's fairly common to switch the frond ends between the 300, Magnum and Charger from that era. I think they're all interchangeable. I cheated a little with the pic because that specific one in that picture is actually factory. Chrysler sold them in Europe as the '300 Touring'. Even available in SRT form (as pictured). No idea how many they sold, but they're probably not too common based on the tax structure in many European countries, and the fact that it's an enormous, heavy, "American" wagon.

In reply to STM317 :

I saw them occasionally as taxis in Dresden. I have a photo of one, but it's on my Instagram. 

Lame, but here it is:

In reply to Jordan Rimpela (Forum Unterstützer) :

Neat! But that cream/off white color is rough. I think all of the ones I've ever seen pics of had the "V8" 300 nose and not the "V6" nose/headlights. I wonder if that means they were all V8s, or if Chrysler just put the V8 sheetmetal on all of them regardless of powertrain.

Dude, its a Dodge.  Nuff said.  

Every other thread I've seen on  this era Mopar V8s dives into the intricacies of catastrophic engine failure surrounded by random part failure and malaise era interior design.

Easy Button?  Buy my 6MT Manual Wagon (Golf Alltrack).  It even has a warranty~!

I have always liked these, but the ones I see for sale are always clapped out. 

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) :

A Magnum is one of the few wagon options where I'd select the Allroad over it. 

Well guys, it's been a hell of a thread suggesting a long list of things that are worse than an SRT Magnum the OP already likes. 

Since gas is still cheap I'll just throw in the SRT-10 Quad Cab Ram.  It's not a wagon but it's MORE not a 150hp fwd  VW? 

03Panther said:

In reply to stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) :

That’s the first time I’ve heard of a V8 magnum doing better than low to mid teens!!! Maybe nobody else could baby one enough?

Well to be fair, this was before any mods, on flat ground and at a relaxed highway speed. I drove it east from Tampa to Titusville to watch the second to last shuttle launch. It was all highway; about half was 60-65mph state highways. The only cargo was my buddy and a cooler full of drinks.

It was the only time I broke 20mpg LOL. Average MPG was 15-16mpg. Disabling MDS had no discernible effect on gas mileage.

CyberEric said:

I have always liked these, but the ones I see for sale are always clapped out. 

When I moved back to Florida in 2018, I found another 2005 RT at a "Buy Here Pay Here" lot. It was beat up, had ugly 24" chrome wheels, the interior was cut up to install speakers and screens (which were no longer present) and the car had 150k+ miles. They wanted $5500. I couldn't run fast enough.

It sucks because there is no middle ground between the beat to death base 2.7 cars and the garage queen SRT-8s. If I could find a decent R/T for a good price, I'd probably buy it.

$10k would also buy a sweet V70R. Reliability is similarly questionable but they have heaps more cargo room and the option of three pedals.

G_Body_Man (Forum Supporter) said:

$10k would also buy a sweet V70R. Reliability is similarly questionable but they have heaps more cargo room and the option of three pedals.

V70R would be a good choice. They are very durable. The interior is very hard wearing and they don't rust. They can sound great and they drive better than any Magnum. But I wouldn't bother with the third pedal. This are more highway-cruisers. Actually, I would get a 2005-2006 with the 6 speed auto. These should even be bordering on reliable.

stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) said:

03Panther said:

In reply to stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) :

That’s the first time I’ve heard of a V8 magnum doing better than low to mid teens!!! Maybe nobody else could baby one enough?

Well to be fair, this was before any mods, on flat ground and at a relaxed highway speed. I drove it east from Tampa to Titusville to watch the second to last shuttle launch. It was all highway; about half was 60-65mph state highways. The only cargo was my buddy and a cooler full of drinks.

It was the only time I broke 20mpg LOL. Average MPG was 15-16mpg. Disabling MDS had no discernible effect on gas mileage.

That makes perfect sense. And no surprise when ya think about it. My Merc. is getting 21.1 MPG combo hwy. and local... But that's working hard at it driving it for mpg. Drive it "normal" and 19 - 20. Not really worth it, but I'm having fun doing it!

Vigo (Forum Supporter) said:

Well guys, it's been a hell of a thread suggesting a long list of things that are worse than an SRT Magnum the OP already likes. 

Since gas is still cheap I'll just throw in the SRT-10 Quad Cab Ram.  It's not a wagon but it's MORE not a 150hp fwd  VW? 

 

You're reading my thoughts!!!

stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) said:

CyberEric said:

I have always liked these, but the ones I see for sale are always clapped out. 

When I moved back to Florida in 2018, I found another 2005 RT at a "Buy Here Pay Here" lot. It was beat up, had ugly 24" chrome wheels, the interior was cut up to install speakers and screens (which were no longer present) and the car had 150k+ miles. They wanted $5500. I couldn't run fast enough.

It sucks because there is no middle ground between the beat to death base 2.7 cars and the garage queen SRT-8s. If I could find a decent R/T for a good price, I'd probably buy it.

Seen the same!

G_Body_Man (Forum Supporter) said:

$10k would also buy a sweet V70R. Reliability is similarly questionable but they have heaps more cargo room and the option of three pedals.

Short term Reliability the Mag. would prolly win. But dealing with the stuff that fails yourself... the Volvo wins hand's down. MANY more riduculously hi mile Volvo's around!. Sadly I myself still prefer RWD wagons...

A slightly sketchy deal has managed to convince me not to buy the Dodge Magnum I was looking at.  It has a lien on it and the USAA credit union has no branches in Florida.  I couldn't figure out how to buy the car that didn't put either party at risk.  If someone has a USAA account and can do a loan transfer there, I know of a 130K mile 2006 Magnum at about $5K below the market average.

Oh Berk.

I'm in Florida and bank with USAA. I have half-heartedly been on the look out for a Magnum.

I feel your thread tags are speaking to me.

Tell me more about this 06 Magnum 

In reply to stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) :

PM sent.  If you decide to look at it, I am curious what you think.  It is a little outside of my comfort zone of crappy old BMWs so I am not exactly sure how to judge the car.

In reply to ojannen :

PM received.

I'll have to mull it over for a bit. The car is about 2.5 hours north of me. It seems decent but from what you saw, it seems overpriced a bit. I'll have to do some more research. It sucks because these were rare when new and they only made 4100 in total. These are getting hard to find.

Thanks for the PM 

I don't know if this will convince you are not, but you can definitely do some interesting things with a Magnum...

While I LOVED the Magnum when it was new, I feel that it didn't age too well. The Hemi and drivetrain are fine, but everything else around it is the problem. I sat in one once, and I felt like I was in the rubber tote aisle at Target. Everything was hard plastic, huge, and unforgiving. Maybe a SRT8 would be better, but the regular one I sat in did nothing for me. I do wish they continued these in wagon form after the 2011 refresh when everything got significantly better inside and out on the Charger.