Buying a Concorde LXi

[bruno4]

I'm looking to buy a 2004 LXi or possibly a Limited within the next 6 months. I'd be grateful for the following opinions and advice.

Is the standard servicing easy? E.G. Oil and filter, air filter, disc pads? In other words, are they easy for a guy to work on in his garage?

Does the 3.5 engine have a rubber timing belt or chain? If the former, how often should they be changed and what is the cost?

I'm English and have lived in Kansas City for 2 years. A lot of people in the motor trade have not spoken too kindly about Chryslers reliability and construction. They say this is refelcted in their low resale price. Is this a fair comment? To me Japanese and German cars are well overpriced. I can buy a 2004 Concorde LXi here for the same price as a 2004 Civic or Corolla!

I currently drive a 2000 Taurus SES Duratec and am pleased with it. But Fords dealerships and Detroit customer service are a joke, just like the U.K. How do you find Chryslers back up service to its dealers?

Any other comments will be appreciated.

Thanks and happy new year to you all.

Ian

[AWP9521]

I can only speak about the 1st generation (93-97) vehicles from my experiences with them, anybody with a 2nd generation (98-04) one can tell you more. But from owning a 94 LHS (Currently)
and previously having a 95 Concorde, my experiences have been pretty good, both have the 3.5 engine. I personally like the 3.5, it has pretty decent torque off the line and really comes on very strong in the higher RPM's, if driven sanely the return is a nice and comfortable ride and excellent gas mileage for such a large car, I personally have seen anywhere between 28-32 MPG on the highway but they are a little thirsty in the stop and go of city driving. I really enjoy mine on long trips.

Really the only faults I have found was the Intake Manifold Gaskets go bad in them after about 60K+ miles and require changing, again not sure if the 2nd generation High Output Aluminum Block Engines suffer the same malady. Changing really isn't that bad, just the removal of the things in the way is a little time consuming and the gasket sets are relatively cheap at the parts stores.

The Oil Filter is on the Drivers side just above the Engine Cradle Crossmember, it can be removed with a normal filter wrench but be careful with the Oil Pressure Sender that is right next to it as you can damage it trying to remove the Filter, consequentially the old oil will land on the cradle and spread a little so use a pretty good size pan to catch it all. If you get one of those sockets that slide over the end of the Filter and use a ratchet wrench to turn it would be a better solution to removing the Oil Filter. Draining the pan is no problem and is unobstructed, just make sure you have a big enough catch pan to hold 6 qts of oil or more as the engine holds about 5 1/2 qts.

Air Filter is easy, remove the hose going to the Engine, loosen about 3 or 4 screws and the cover comes right off exposing the element, remove the old one and drop in the new one and button it back up.

The 3.5 Engine has a Timing Belt that not only drives both cams but also the water pump, Chrysler recommends changing the belt at around 105K miles, It is also advisable to change the water pump at that time while your in there for a little cheap insurance cause if the pump goes it will take out the belt in the process, also a good inspection of the tensioner pully is in order, if it has a little slop or the sealed bearings are leaking on the pully then it should be replaced too. The parts cost around $200 total for the above mentioned items with the tensioner being the most expensive which is only available at the dealer, the pump and belt should be readily available at just about any parts store. Look at a pretty good part of a day changing them items but if your buying the car new then that will be a while down the road.

As far as value, I don't know what to say other than I really liked mine and havn't really had any major troubles with either of them. I feel that the value of the vehicle is kind of a raw deal IMO but what are you going to do there, people tend to think the car is worth more when they like them. As far as comfort and room, the Concorde will beat the Corolla and Civic hands down in that department.

Hope that helps you out in your decision.

[wafrederick]

First,stay away from one with a 2.7(piece of junk).Find one with a 3.2,very good engine and more power than a 2.7.Very easy to service.The 3.2 has has a timing belt.

[bruno4]

Thanks for taking the time to reply to you both. It is really appreciated