new Citadel - first impressions
#1
08-10-2011, 06:23 AM
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new Citadel - first impressions
Hi All,
Having already learnt a lot from this forum, and in the spirit of sharing knowledge, here are my first impressions.
First, for those who have not read my other posts, I live in Switzerland, i.e. permanently above 370M altitude with a couple of "hills" and also have a Corvette C6 Z06.
Having driven from New York all the the way down to the Florida Keys last year in a Yukon loaded with 7 people and baggage - I wanted a similar but slightly smaller 7 seater for hauling horses and people plus stuff for over here.
I owned a Jeep Commander which was great at hauling, especially out of mud, but the ride was awful and made my wife and daughter sick every time we did more than 10 km....
The Citadel ticked all of the boxes for size, comfort and hauling capacity in Hemi form. (I am hauling this weekend and will do a couple of photos..)
My first impressions after just 900KM:
Wow! GREAT ride, smooth power delivery and precise turn in, especially compared with the Jeep Commander. The engine is still tight but getting good high way milage, in the region of 13l/100L KM in town this goes unto about 18l/100 KM. Way better than the Jeep V8 which was 18 and 22l/100 KM
Interior is superb at this price, really good, and I am quite happy with the plastic chrome, as it is one less thing to worry about damage/cost wise. I have the grey "wood" finish on the doors, and it would be nice to have had that on the dash. The black shows marks and dust - but heck that is a detail.
The chrome clad wheels are a bit "bling" but nice looking and again quite happy with the cost reduction here as with horse box hauling and such they could easily be damaged and thus less expensive to replace.
Access to the rear seats and life in there is really good for a car this size, comfortable and plenty of room.
As for the electronic gadgets, getting used to them, I am not used to so much "radar" assistance, and feel somewhat like some body is popping missiles at me with all the pings and flashing lights, but so far have managed to avoid some scraps already, including a child on a bike that popped into vision while reversing. here basically I needed to stop going "Huh, what sat" and just stamp on the brakes!
I noticed some over spray, i.e. roughish finish on the paint and had to detail that out. Now the finish is fine.
All in I am happy with the Citadel, I am still trying to get the home link to work, but I guess it is set up for the US not Europe and I will contact them to find out how to change these frequencies.
One aspect I have not come across before is the Automatic High beam - well it works very well, we have many unlit country roads, with the occasional street light through villages and dangerous road areas, the headlights dim perfectly and relight up in good time. On-coming cars have not flashed me yet, so I guess it works fine. A much appreciated gadget as on and offing the high beams gets annoying sometimes and I usually do not bother.
The ventilated seats, auto start and automatic comfort settings have helped my wife prevent a burned butt on a couple of occasions, her pet hate with leather seats! Speaking of which; have wonderful adjustment for my poor old back, and for once to have the same adjustment on the passenger side is frankly "heaven".
The Dodge Durango is not imported officially into Switzerland. Warranty and servicing over here is a little more complicated, but any Chrysler Garage will do the work, (Jeep concessions) and the car is covered by a private, Swiss warranty firm. This means that TSB updates might be a problem, but I will look into that.
All in all very happy, a great car at a great price, the "equivalent" Merc ML goes for somewhere around $120'000!! A friend of mine is seriously thinking of trading a Merc for the Citadel!
I will post some pictures over the weekend of hauling to show it off a bit, but as most of you already have one..... but I will be interested to see how it all works off road on grass/mud.
Just my acts worth - happy rolling!
Having already learnt a lot from this forum, and in the spirit of sharing knowledge, here are my first impressions.
First, for those who have not read my other posts, I live in Switzerland, i.e. permanently above 370M altitude with a couple of "hills" and also have a Corvette C6 Z06.
Having driven from New York all the the way down to the Florida Keys last year in a Yukon loaded with 7 people and baggage - I wanted a similar but slightly smaller 7 seater for hauling horses and people plus stuff for over here.
I owned a Jeep Commander which was great at hauling, especially out of mud, but the ride was awful and made my wife and daughter sick every time we did more than 10 km....
The Citadel ticked all of the boxes for size, comfort and hauling capacity in Hemi form. (I am hauling this weekend and will do a couple of photos..)
My first impressions after just 900KM:
Wow! GREAT ride, smooth power delivery and precise turn in, especially compared with the Jeep Commander. The engine is still tight but getting good high way milage, in the region of 13l/100L KM in town this goes unto about 18l/100 KM. Way better than the Jeep V8 which was 18 and 22l/100 KM
Interior is superb at this price, really good, and I am quite happy with the plastic chrome, as it is one less thing to worry about damage/cost wise. I have the grey "wood" finish on the doors, and it would be nice to have had that on the dash. The black shows marks and dust - but heck that is a detail.
The chrome clad wheels are a bit "bling" but nice looking and again quite happy with the cost reduction here as with horse box hauling and such they could easily be damaged and thus less expensive to replace.
Access to the rear seats and life in there is really good for a car this size, comfortable and plenty of room.
As for the electronic gadgets, getting used to them, I am not used to so much "radar" assistance, and feel somewhat like some body is popping missiles at me with all the pings and flashing lights, but so far have managed to avoid some scraps already, including a child on a bike that popped into vision while reversing. here basically I needed to stop going "Huh, what sat" and just stamp on the brakes!
I noticed some over spray, i.e. roughish finish on the paint and had to detail that out. Now the finish is fine.
All in I am happy with the Citadel, I am still trying to get the home link to work, but I guess it is set up for the US not Europe and I will contact them to find out how to change these frequencies.
One aspect I have not come across before is the Automatic High beam - well it works very well, we have many unlit country roads, with the occasional street light through villages and dangerous road areas, the headlights dim perfectly and relight up in good time. On-coming cars have not flashed me yet, so I guess it works fine. A much appreciated gadget as on and offing the high beams gets annoying sometimes and I usually do not bother.
The ventilated seats, auto start and automatic comfort settings have helped my wife prevent a burned butt on a couple of occasions, her pet hate with leather seats! Speaking of which; have wonderful adjustment for my poor old back, and for once to have the same adjustment on the passenger side is frankly "heaven".
The Dodge Durango is not imported officially into Switzerland. Warranty and servicing over here is a little more complicated, but any Chrysler Garage will do the work, (Jeep concessions) and the car is covered by a private, Swiss warranty firm. This means that TSB updates might be a problem, but I will look into that.
All in all very happy, a great car at a great price, the "equivalent" Merc ML goes for somewhere around $120'000!! A friend of mine is seriously thinking of trading a Merc for the Citadel!
I will post some pictures over the weekend of hauling to show it off a bit, but as most of you already have one..... but I will be interested to see how it all works off road on grass/mud.
Just my acts worth - happy rolling!
Last edited by Leman; 08-10-2011 at 06:32 AM.
#4
08-10-2011, 12:24 PM
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#5
08-10-2011, 05:08 PM
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Switzerland
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(1 L = 0.264172GALUS) so what would that be, $2.80- $3.00 a gallon?
But all those dictators insist on keeping their gold here, LOL
Last edited by Leman; 08-10-2011 at 05:12 PM.
#6
08-11-2011, 09:51 AM
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(1 gal = 3.79 liters) gas prices here is currently $3.43 - $3.52/gal
so your petrol is quite expensive down there. I was stationed in Germany back in the late 80's...luv driving in the autobahn, had one of the new Audi A8 that just came out in the market for a rental made a run from Zweibrucken to Frankfurt averaging speed of 130 - 140 mph but that car sucks some gas and used up all my AAFES fuel ration card.
#7
08-11-2011, 01:30 PM
Gallon is a bigger measurement than liter, it should be...
(1 gal = 3.79 liters) gas prices here is currently $3.43 - $3.52/gal
so your petrol is quite expensive down there. I was stationed in Germany back in the late 80's...luv driving in the autobahn, had one of the new Audi A8 that just came out in the market for a rental made a run from Zweibrucken to Frankfurt averaging speed of 130 - 140 mph but that car sucks some gas and used up all my AAFES fuel ration card.
(1 gal = 3.79 liters) gas prices here is currently $3.43 - $3.52/gal
so your petrol is quite expensive down there. I was stationed in Germany back in the late 80's...luv driving in the autobahn, had one of the new Audi A8 that just came out in the market for a rental made a run from Zweibrucken to Frankfurt averaging speed of 130 - 140 mph but that car sucks some gas and used up all my AAFES fuel ration card.
And yes, at that kind of speed your mpg (or mpl) goes WAY down. Even between 70 and 75 I notice an appreciable drop.
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#8
08-11-2011, 01:40 PM
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#9
08-12-2011, 12:17 PM
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All things are relative, salaries are quite different and our taxes on purchases just 8%. Geneva remains the most expensive place to live, like 5th or 6th in Europe at least maybe higher.
There again with the price of the Citadel, some 20'000$ cheaper than the listed price of a Jeep Grand Cheroke, I still will need a lot of fill ups to make up the difference.....
The Citadel is a grey import over here, hence the price difference from the normally imported Jeep. Some what a scam, especially with current exchange rates.
One gripe with the Citadel, why no front parking assist! I need to find out how the forward collision/cruise works to retro fit something to stop me banging into all those tiny Fiat tin pots over here!