I had kind of a neat thing happen today. I just recently bought my Crossfire Limited Roadster from a local Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge dealer and while I was "dealing" on it, I found out that it had been traded in on a new car by a local owner. Since I knew the salesman at the dealership, I asked him if he could tell me who the previous owner was. As expected, he said that it was illegal to disclose that information, but since he was the one who took the car in on trade, he would contact the previous owner and see if that person would agree to receive an email from me to discuss the car. Well, he did that and I got the email address1
I then wrote to this person, introducing myself and then asking some things about the car. Boy, did I hit the jackpot. It turns out that this guy was the ORIGINAL owner of the car and had a ton of information about it. When he bought the car, he was "dreaming" about buying a new, 2007 Dodge Viper and went to the dealership to look at one. While there, he noticed 2 Chrysler Crossfires sitting there and thought they were interesting. He inquired about them and found that both of them had been on the lot for almost a year and were currently on sale for $10,000 off the MSRP! He tried one out and bought it the next day. He then used it as a local driver until last fall with absolutely NO problems except complaints about the cost of service/maintenance. He loved the car and really had to do some soul searching to trade it in on a new car.
The interesting part of this is that I did not know that Chrysler had such a tough time selling these cars when they were new. I thought they were fairly good selling cars. But $10K off the MSRP just to move them off lots? He also told me about every "event" he had with the car which basically was none...no accidents or maintenance problems, no sticky keys, no RCM problems, really not much of anything. What really got my attention was that he told me that he had just (2 weeks ago) cleaned out his files and threw away the original window sticker, sales contract, and all maintenance records for the car, thinking that he would never meet the new owner. What a bummer....I would have loved to have that documentation!
Anyway, in my experience, it is very unusual to actually be able to contact the previous owner, especially when that owner was the original owner. Now that I know him and have an open invitation to chat with him, I have really stumbled onto a valuable asset. Maybe this isn't all that rare given the relative newness of the car, but I was sure surprised to find this guy, and to find that this car has never had any mods made to it at all. It really is a pristine original!

 

Ok, so here is what I read in that above: "I now know my car has not had the sticky key mod done, and I'm going to do it tonight, before I am sorry".
That is, unless, the car is an 07/08, those, it is said, were built with the mod "already done".

Yes, it IS cool what happened. With my Red Roadster, the registration of the former owner was still in the car when I drove it home (because I did not TECHNICALLY buy the car from the dealer, they were selling it for the original owner - long story, but fact is, he bought a car a year from them...) I never contacted the guy, but had I kept the car longer, I bet I would have.

And, yes, these cars sold VERY poorly. Others here can fill you in better, but even mine, an '05 that listed for $42000 (the car I speak of above) was sold for a great discount as well. I know not how much of a discount, but I do know the car had sat in the showroom for almost a year as well. In fact, it never sat outside at Hayes, at the first owner's or while in my possession - except for evenings at the Dragon!

 

I've now read at least two of the "sticky key" how to articles, and have come away shaking my head. Maybe the whole thing is easier than it sounds, but it would seem that the amount of disassembly and the complication of the mod itself has me trembling in fear. The key in the car currently works perfectly....if it gets sticky or freezes, I will HAVE to deal with it then! For now, I will live dangerously. (lol)

 

If it locks up, you are gonna hate yourself. The repair is way worse if it's all locked up (see the thing about drilling the pin out, if it is done before lockup, there is no drilling).

I am not very mechanical, I did mine in 90 minutes and could do it again in an hour. IF you have a shop or local car guy you trust, print the instructions out and go get them to do it for you! Should cost you no more than two hours labor - maybe $200 max in most areas. A local car nut may only charge you a six pack of beer.

 

I had the same good fortune to contact the previous owner of mine even though I bought it in 2007 from a car dealer.
The previous owners registration card was under the seat and I was able to look him up on the white pages online and gave him a call.
Turns out he was also the original owner and had the car 3 years and lived only 50 miles away.
He had 2 children while he owned the car and was in need of a family friendly vehicle.
He traded it for a mini van and it broke his heart to let it go
He said the only thing it needed was the sticky key ignition fix and that was done at the dealer under warranty in 2005.
He had only put 17000 miles on it and had purchased it new in 2004.
I said someday I might drive to his house and let him take it for a ride for old time sake.
To this day almost 7 years later I never have gone to his house but I plan to go there this summer.
I just hope he still lives at the address he was at when we spoke years ago

 

Great story carjock! I too was surprised when I learned how slow these cars sold. From the first time I saw one I was hooked and wanted one. I figured their price was out of my price range. Plus, I didn't want a two-seater for a daily driver. But when I found the price was affordable as a second car, it was a no-brainer. I thought buying mine "new" at nearly 1/2 off the sticker was a great deal. And even though the prices have continued to fall, I am still happy with my purchase.

 

There's probably a lot of reasons that these cars were not a big sales success when new, but in my opinion the biggest factor was the misunderstood Mercedes/Chrysler "hybrid" nature of the car. To me, the Crossfire was the best looking car of it's type on the market at the time (meaning small, 2-seaters like the Miata, BMW X3, Mercedes SLK, etc) and should have been a great sales success......but for some reason it was not and some folks got one heck of a bargain on new ones.
But, in my opinion, the cars have probably bottomed out now in their depreciation cycle, and their good looks, uniqueness, rarity, and strange pedigree will probably turn them into a future collectable....especially nice, original, well maintained examples! I think that grabbing one of these at this time is a great move, probably with the SRT's leading the pack. But even if they remain an obscure, orphan vehicle, they will always have a cult-like following!

 

As of a few years ago, here in Ohio, it is the law that the dealer must provide name and contact information of the previous owner if requested. I seldom buy a car from a dealer, but when I do, I always call the previous owners and usually get some good information. It usually proves that the dealer is lying about some of the facts.

 

Well, $50,000 for a two seat car that says "Chrysler" on it doesn't make sense in this, or any other universe.

 

I don't know about that. Look at the Viper and the Prowler. Both were/are very high priced, unique vehicles that appeal to a very limited group of buyers. The Prowler was an especially perplexing car, made with "knock-out" hot rod looks, but a very low end powerplant. It would appear that they sold on looks only despite their high price and questionable marketability. BUT, a lot of folks (me included) would still love to have one, especially in one of the more radical colors they offered. Maybe the XF's were overpriced, but with their good looks and Mercedes underpinnings, I'm surprised that they did not sell better.

 

I really think we have a marketing flop here.
But I sure admit I don't understand it, either.

 

I don't remember ever seeing a single tv commercial for this car. Was there one/any?

 

I never saw one, only see them NOW, on YouTube!

That is part of what I was getting at when I said, "Marketing Flop". A $42,000 two seat Chrysler product is only gonna sell if you work at it.

 

The 50k price tag was a big factor. Marketing effort by most assesments was a joke. The biggiest factor in my opinion was that for a few k more you could get the 3 pointed star or a corvette. I bought my 05 SRT coupe new with 40 miles on the clock in 07 for an offer of 27k. I have heard others did better in the low 20k's. Never regreted it and enjoy it each time I drive it. Bought the SRT roadster used 30k on the clock from a dealer in Texas paid 18k. Never located the previous owner.
.

 

DODGE carries a little better than Chrysler... The car was never marketed. I didn't even know there was an SRT version until I stumbled upon it on the internet. MB didn't want it to compete against their over priced sports cars. God forbid you get an AMG for under 50K... All the sports writers put it down as out dated parts car... So, the car didn't stand a chance. I am glad I looked into it and did my shopping. I have been in contact with both previous owners of my 2. They were both well taken care of. They are still babied today. I can't stand a nick in the paint... and keep them spotless.

 

OK, so I talked to the original owner today and asked him if the key had ever been difficult to turn in the ignition. He said that early on he had some problems with that but it just kind of went away. So I guess the Pizza Man is right....I should probably take some time and do the "sticky key" mod soon since it seems to have been proven that the problem is materializing. Boy I hate taking dashes apart!
Also. if I wanted to buy an "RCM", what would I call it in a computer search or when asking a dealer about it? Will they recognize that acronym? Does anybody have a photo of one of them so I know what I am looking for? (Maybe the photo is in the how to section). But I guess I still don't understand why an item like this needs to be re-soldered.....was the original item defective? Seems like a weird repair.
And I just ordered one of the Bosch crank position sensors that the Pizza guy posted a link to. I hope he is happy now! (lol)

 

All you could ever want to know about your RCM

How to Repair Relay Control Module (RCM) - (Mystery no Start)