Greg55_99
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2011
- Messages
- 331
- Reaction score
- 78
My quest has FINALLY come to an end! I’ll tell you about it.
I’ve been in the hunt for an AWD Hemi Charger Pursuit for nearly a year. Searched Autotrader, Cars.com, CarGuru, you name it. I found more than a few with low mileages but also a few with suspicious backgrounds. Only one was ever near me. I live in Massachusetts. Last October, I contacted a dealer in New Jersey that had a 2017 Pursuit. Via email they assured me the car was available. I drove down the next day and when I get there, the salesman informed me the car had been sold the week before. Strike one..
I also had multiple conversations with a dealer in Indiana for a Pursuit they had listed in the Used Car section of their website. I stayed in contact with them nearly a month. To get to them, I’d have to book a flight to get there. However, just before I was going to pull the trigger on that endeavor, I called the sales dept to make sure the car was available. Salesman said it was, but then I heard a voice in the background yell “Hey, we can’t sell that one. It’s a cop car!” Apparently sales never talked to the Fleet manager about the car. Dealer can’t sell you a cop car straight from Chrysler. I knew that but the sales guy didn’t know that. Strike two…
An ad popped up for a 2018 Pursuit in Missouri for a good price with 12,000 miles on it. I immediately contacted the seller. We kept in touch and I was, again, going to make arrangements to fly there to look and maybe buy the car. I texted the guy several times but he suddenly went silent. Bad sign. He got back to me after a day or two to tell me the car had sold. Strike three… Almost…
At this point I started checking out Charger SXT’s locally. My 2010 Challenger has 346,000 miles on it (that’s not a misprint) but she’s, as we say in the business, EOL (End of Life). As frustrated as I was, I still had the Pursuit in the back of my mind. But, I needed a car. A few days passed after the guy in Missouri had contacted me when I got another text message from him. He had a 2019 AWD Hemi Charger Pursuit, Silver with 11,000 miles on it ready to be “de-commisioned”. Would I be interested? YOU GOT WHAT??
Well, we talked, he held the car for me. Didn’t advertise it. Cost me $25,000 even. The guy is the Fleet manager for a private security company and they’re moving out the Charger’s and switching to Ford Explorers. Granted, 25K is probably close to what they paid for it new, but, at least I got a car with a full service history and most important, a full remaining factory warranty. So I flew out, checked out the car, paid him and drove it home.
Needless to say, a Pursuit is really an acquired taste. Make sure you test drive one over bumpy roads to see if this is REALLY what you want. Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I’ve had the car three whole days and put nearly 1400 miles on it. Yes, that’s a lot in a very short period of time. After I bought it, I drove if from Missouri to Cleveland, spent the weekend with family, then pressed on from Cleveland to Massachusetts. For anyone contemplating buying a Pursuit for a daily driver, be warned. This car is a big, stinky brutal brahma bull of a machine that wants to take a dump in your garage and dare you to clean it up!
It’s not really a car in the sense you’d expect. Think about it. A car, you slide into every day, load up the kids for activities, take Aunt Masie to get groceries. That’s normal stuff. A Pursuit? You load up a small child in a baby seat and hit a patch of bad road, that poor thing might get whiplash after a couple of miles. The thing that makes this car so GOOD also conspires to make it so BAD. The suspension is super stiff. You can throw the Pursuit around corners at speed (I’ve done it!) and with the Hemi and AWD, she sticks to the road. Hit an on or off ramp REAL fast, the tires screech but she’ll hold the line safe, flat and steady. Love it! Push on the gas and the Hemi jumps. Yee haw!
But, for every up, there’s a down… Listen to me.
When this jewel hits a rough patch of road, you’re going to wonder just why the Hell you bought this thing. Every bump, tramline, ripple, pothole, expansion joint or crack, you’re going to feel it. The Pursuit suspension doesn’t so much soak up bumps as transmit them to your lower spine though the seat. If the road is REALLY bad, your head and shoulders are going to be thrown around with some measure of violence! That’s no joke. Be grateful you’re strapped in. After my first drive with my wife yesterday, she announced she hates it. I’ve since dubbed my car “The Boobshaker”. Use your imagination.
Now, I’m comparing my 2019 Pursuit to my 2010 Challenger SE. Same basic chassis but with a different suspension. It’s a whole different animal. Soaks up bumps, semi-sedate and well mannered. I’m sure the new Charger SXT’s are similar. But then, those are CARS. Real cars. A Pursuit is not a REAL car. I think it’s like a Home Depot axe being compared to a surgical scapel. They both cut but each cuts in a different way. YOU just have to decide how you want to cut. After all, this is a police PURSUIT vehicle. What did you expect?
It so happens, I can live with it. It’s the only way a Hemi is paired up with AWD these days. That’s what I really wanted. Well, I got it. No center console, I can get one. Sound system needs help, I can get new speakers. No Sirius XM, get one. Front seats need support, junkyard set. No fold down back seat, ditto. Rear spoiler, ditto. Road wheels, swap those off of my Challenger. Bonus, the Challenger 3.5L V6 never got better than 25 MPG over the course of it's life. The Hemi Pursuit is getting 26.5 MPG so far! Nine years between models has brought much improved technology.
So the Pursuit is like a blank canvas. Go big, or leave it alone.
My two cents. You've been warned.
Oh, before I forget. My car has a spotlight. Be prepared for people to do WEIRD things when they pull out to pass you on the highway. More than a few times, someone would pull out to pass, come up even with me, see the spotlight and suddenly slow down and drop back. That happened a LOT.
I’ve been in the hunt for an AWD Hemi Charger Pursuit for nearly a year. Searched Autotrader, Cars.com, CarGuru, you name it. I found more than a few with low mileages but also a few with suspicious backgrounds. Only one was ever near me. I live in Massachusetts. Last October, I contacted a dealer in New Jersey that had a 2017 Pursuit. Via email they assured me the car was available. I drove down the next day and when I get there, the salesman informed me the car had been sold the week before. Strike one..
I also had multiple conversations with a dealer in Indiana for a Pursuit they had listed in the Used Car section of their website. I stayed in contact with them nearly a month. To get to them, I’d have to book a flight to get there. However, just before I was going to pull the trigger on that endeavor, I called the sales dept to make sure the car was available. Salesman said it was, but then I heard a voice in the background yell “Hey, we can’t sell that one. It’s a cop car!” Apparently sales never talked to the Fleet manager about the car. Dealer can’t sell you a cop car straight from Chrysler. I knew that but the sales guy didn’t know that. Strike two…
An ad popped up for a 2018 Pursuit in Missouri for a good price with 12,000 miles on it. I immediately contacted the seller. We kept in touch and I was, again, going to make arrangements to fly there to look and maybe buy the car. I texted the guy several times but he suddenly went silent. Bad sign. He got back to me after a day or two to tell me the car had sold. Strike three… Almost…
At this point I started checking out Charger SXT’s locally. My 2010 Challenger has 346,000 miles on it (that’s not a misprint) but she’s, as we say in the business, EOL (End of Life). As frustrated as I was, I still had the Pursuit in the back of my mind. But, I needed a car. A few days passed after the guy in Missouri had contacted me when I got another text message from him. He had a 2019 AWD Hemi Charger Pursuit, Silver with 11,000 miles on it ready to be “de-commisioned”. Would I be interested? YOU GOT WHAT??
Well, we talked, he held the car for me. Didn’t advertise it. Cost me $25,000 even. The guy is the Fleet manager for a private security company and they’re moving out the Charger’s and switching to Ford Explorers. Granted, 25K is probably close to what they paid for it new, but, at least I got a car with a full service history and most important, a full remaining factory warranty. So I flew out, checked out the car, paid him and drove it home.
Needless to say, a Pursuit is really an acquired taste. Make sure you test drive one over bumpy roads to see if this is REALLY what you want. Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I’ve had the car three whole days and put nearly 1400 miles on it. Yes, that’s a lot in a very short period of time. After I bought it, I drove if from Missouri to Cleveland, spent the weekend with family, then pressed on from Cleveland to Massachusetts. For anyone contemplating buying a Pursuit for a daily driver, be warned. This car is a big, stinky brutal brahma bull of a machine that wants to take a dump in your garage and dare you to clean it up!
It’s not really a car in the sense you’d expect. Think about it. A car, you slide into every day, load up the kids for activities, take Aunt Masie to get groceries. That’s normal stuff. A Pursuit? You load up a small child in a baby seat and hit a patch of bad road, that poor thing might get whiplash after a couple of miles. The thing that makes this car so GOOD also conspires to make it so BAD. The suspension is super stiff. You can throw the Pursuit around corners at speed (I’ve done it!) and with the Hemi and AWD, she sticks to the road. Hit an on or off ramp REAL fast, the tires screech but she’ll hold the line safe, flat and steady. Love it! Push on the gas and the Hemi jumps. Yee haw!
But, for every up, there’s a down… Listen to me.
When this jewel hits a rough patch of road, you’re going to wonder just why the Hell you bought this thing. Every bump, tramline, ripple, pothole, expansion joint or crack, you’re going to feel it. The Pursuit suspension doesn’t so much soak up bumps as transmit them to your lower spine though the seat. If the road is REALLY bad, your head and shoulders are going to be thrown around with some measure of violence! That’s no joke. Be grateful you’re strapped in. After my first drive with my wife yesterday, she announced she hates it. I’ve since dubbed my car “The Boobshaker”. Use your imagination.
Now, I’m comparing my 2019 Pursuit to my 2010 Challenger SE. Same basic chassis but with a different suspension. It’s a whole different animal. Soaks up bumps, semi-sedate and well mannered. I’m sure the new Charger SXT’s are similar. But then, those are CARS. Real cars. A Pursuit is not a REAL car. I think it’s like a Home Depot axe being compared to a surgical scapel. They both cut but each cuts in a different way. YOU just have to decide how you want to cut. After all, this is a police PURSUIT vehicle. What did you expect?
It so happens, I can live with it. It’s the only way a Hemi is paired up with AWD these days. That’s what I really wanted. Well, I got it. No center console, I can get one. Sound system needs help, I can get new speakers. No Sirius XM, get one. Front seats need support, junkyard set. No fold down back seat, ditto. Rear spoiler, ditto. Road wheels, swap those off of my Challenger. Bonus, the Challenger 3.5L V6 never got better than 25 MPG over the course of it's life. The Hemi Pursuit is getting 26.5 MPG so far! Nine years between models has brought much improved technology.
So the Pursuit is like a blank canvas. Go big, or leave it alone.
My two cents. You've been warned.
Oh, before I forget. My car has a spotlight. Be prepared for people to do WEIRD things when they pull out to pass you on the highway. More than a few times, someone would pull out to pass, come up even with me, see the spotlight and suddenly slow down and drop back. That happened a LOT.