2007 Chrysler Crossfire

A Chrysler Crossfire is the cheapest way to own a Mercedes Benz CLK roadster. The Chrysler Crossfire is more-or-less a badge engineered Mercedes Benz CLK, and that’s a good thing. The Crossfire benefits from Mercedes Benz engineering while also having what I consider to be far more attractive Chrysler styling. The first time I saw a Crossfire I was taken back by this great looking coup, then I found out that it had Mercedes Benz mechanicals I figured it was a home run.

If you are looking at a used crossfire, do all the usual checks you should do while looking at a used car. I always stress to folks who are used car shopping to get receipts for any and all maintenance/repairs done to the car since this in the ONLY way you will get an idea what shape to expect the car to be in. With a European car, I stress that a little more. Generally speaking, European cars are more costly to maintain and repair so you really want to know what’s been done to it as far as routine maintenance as this will generally impact your first year or so of ownership.

Now, as far as “problems” with this car, I would say there are none really. Sure there are Technical Service Bulletins (TSB’s) for the Chrysler Crossfire, but every car out there has some. While looking over the TSB’s I have for this car, none stood out as either terribly common or terribly severe. Most were with interior trim bits that may squeak or rattle. There were a few instances of having a computer re-flashed (re-programmed) but that’s about $100 and is not very common. The convertible top could give problems. I had to replace some pivots on two of them, but one was covered under warranty and the other was neither expensive nor difficult.

If you are looking at a Crossfire, you could be looking at a car built 5 years ago. I wouldn’t expect any real problems with a 5 year old car but in the next few years you could start to run into replacement costs. I’ll run through some of them here for you: A/C Compressor - $1600 Alternator - $800 Automatic Transmission - $4800 Timing Belt - $1000 Constant Velocity Joints (axle shafts) - $2700

Now, these are all based on dealership pricing so they are rather, uh, inflated. The Chrysler Crossfire is a fine car that should provide years of trouble-free service and a very unique driving experience.