Hey everyone,

I am new here obviously. I have loved the "look" of the magnums since they first were introduced. It just has a sexy look to it. The car checks a lot of boxes for my needs.

Looking at an R/T awd but the awd isn't a necessity. I was pretty much sold on the vehicle till I read this craiglist post. Claims the hemi's all fail at 80-100k miles.

I would love to here from anyone offering advice. I am not new to cars and know my way around vehicles but this will be my first Hemi.

What are some warning signs?
Is this craiglist poster wrong?
Pros and Cons of AWD.
What year to buy and what year to avoid?

Anything else I should know?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Be prepared to get *** raped on price by everyone who has one and thinks just because they don't make them anymore they're worth a mint with 150k+ miles and cosmetic issues lol.
It's not a guarantee unless you decide to overheat it. Valve seats were known to drop at that point or shortly thereafter. Problem was that the seats were not pinned, just pressed; this was combined with a 203° thermostat. Aluminum heats/expands at a different rate than steel. One of the first smart upgrades with original heads is a 180° thermostat. I will tell you however, that have an 03 Ram with 5.7 and 160k+ on original heads, an 05 Magnum R/T with 140k+ on its original heads and had an 06 Charger R/T that had 180k+ on its original heads when it got smushed. Just based on the wheels on that car I'd say the poster is a retard.
Pros of AWD - well, all wheel drive, duh lol......better for inclement weather obviously, much better at launching
Cons - this version is kinda complicated, nothing can be changed/upgraded (it's weak) so you can't really do power mods and expect the transfer case to live long, can't really upgrade the brakes/suspension because of how different it is compared to the RWD, wheels are unique to the platform and have a very specific (and odd) offset, so you're stuck with stock ones or custom ordered wheels; no using factory RWD wheels.
Anything you can do to any other LX (Charger, 300) you can do to a Magnum.

 

The price jumps around for sure but I am in no hurry so I will wait for the right one at the right price.

Ha...I figured the AWD would handle better but you answered some of what I was curious about. I am not expecting to add a lot of power so the added handling would be a plus.

How much is the MPG drop for AWD? Any expensive maintenance on the AWD vs the RWD.

Is this something that "should" be upgraded because stock is subpar or something that you do to upgrade?

What do mean by "odd offset" because looking at pics on the net I cannot see a difference.

 

The AWD handles a bit worse because it sits higher. By upgrade I mean you can't really lower it or put stiffer springs in it, etc. Bout the only real upgrade is larger sway bars. Up until about 6yrs ago or so there wasn't a brake upgrade (like SRT Brembos) until the police BR9 brakes; they are designed for both RWD and FWD and just need minor work to fit an earlier LX. The wheels have a different offset because of where the hub is located in relation to the rest of the suspension. Google stock OEM wheel sizes between RWD and FWD and you'll see dramatic offset differences.