Much like the Buick brand, the once-mighty Chrysler has scaled back its production of vehicles to a pair of remaining options. Luxury brands of the past seem to be losing their veneer with the masses, but Chrysler still has a few excellent vehicles that can be your good fortune when you buy them Certified Pre-Owned (CPO). Chrysler’s history of building big-engined, luxurious sedans continues with the 300, and the Pacifica remains a top seller among minivans. Since Stellantis purchased Chrysler, no one is really sure how the brand will move forward as all auto manufacturing moves toward electric platforms, but the hybrid minivan is still a popular choice. For now, you can still visit a Certified Pre-Owned Chrysler dealer and get yourself a good deal on a comfortable, powerful vehicle that will prove practical as a daily driver.
Three Chrysler models can be found as CPO options, and each has its strengths to serve as a family or even commuter car. For families, Chrysler offers the popular Pacifica, which is packed with features that make driving with kids much simpler. Then again, you could go old school for the family and buy a large sedan like the Chrysler 300 that has a voluminous trunk and cavernous legroom while you enjoy the sensible style of a very agreeable ride. If you’re looking for a good commuter car, you can’t go wrong with a compact car like the Chrysler 200, which will have much better back support and a more enjoyable driving experience than most other midsize sedans you can find Certified Pre-Owned. Let’s dive into the features you might find in each of these vehicles to decide which one might be a good fit.
The Chrysler Pacifica
When the Pacifica came onto the scene in 2017, this minivan took the market by storm. The first to offer a hybrid minivan, Chrysler created the Pacifica to be an effortless choice in terms of practicality for fuel savings, but it also has features you won’t want to live without once you have them. Imagine, for instance, that your kids do what kids do so well in the back seat on a long trip: make a huge mess. Snacks and crumbs litter the floor and crevices, dirt is tracked onto the carpet, and you aren’t even sure what that strange green substance ground into the seat might be. If you bought yourself a Pacifica with the built-in vacuum, you don’t have to look for the nearest car wash or try to get your dustbuster to handle the job. Nope, you can just grab the nozzle and go to work whenever you please. Easy.
Room for seven or eight passengers means you have plenty of room for the kids and their friends for play dates, and you could have a rear-seat entertainment system Chrysler called the Uconnect Theater to keep them busy. Features like keyless entry and push button start, tri-zone climate control, Stow ‘n’ Go seats, and even driver-assist safety features like Blind-Spot Monitoring are found even on the earliest models. If you tend to use the minivan for short trips regularly, you have up to 33 miles of range on battery power in the hybrid models, which means you don’t have to put more gas in the tank at all as long as you stick close to home. Other features like all-wheel drive, heated exterior mirrors, and powered sliding side doors are just a few of the simple pleasures that will make owning this minivan a daily joy.
Chrysler 200
Though the Chrysler 200 was discontinued in 2017, you can still find one sold as a CPO beauty. As a midsize sedan, the 200 has room for five if you plan to ferry only kids in the back seat. Truly, this is a vehicle better suited to commuting, but it will make your commute a lot more fun than a bargain-basement clown car. You’ll have the option of Chrysler’s excellent Pentastar V6 engine under the hood to provide all the power you need for passing on the highway, and remarkable handling for a sedan, thanks to the nimble platform on which the 200 is seated. For driving in adverse weather, the 200 can come equipped with all-wheel drive, a pragmatic feature for a luxury sedan. As an added bonus, the all-wheel drive electronically shuts down to save on fuel when the system senses it isn’t needed for extra traction.
On the inside, the Chrysler 200 gleams with wood finishes and subtle lighting that speaks to the finer things in life. While you might be thinking this sort of vehicle is wasted as a commuter, consider that spending long hours in your vehicle every day should mean you get to look at a lovely dash and sit in plush seats that won’t give you a backache. Remember, such a vehicle can be yours for an affordable price when you buy Certified Pre-Owned, and the money you save on visits to the chiropractor is well worth the investment. Because this is considered a luxury vehicle, you will find standard features like USB ports, keyless entry and push-button start, and an electronic parking brake. Additional features like Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop and Go or Blind Spot Monitoring will make highway driving a breeze.
Chrysler 300
Finally, we arrive at the full-sized Chrysler 300 sedan, a true marvel of automotive manufacturing. Few things in life are so delicious as driving a luxury sedan with so much power and capability. Instantly recognizable due to its prominent grille, its body shaping speaks to its sporting heart. The standard engine starts with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6, powerful in its own right, but the option of a Hemi V8 could be a gem you discover while you shop. Don’t let the luxury of the 300 fool you into believing this is a car for old retired geezers polishing the hood in the driveway. This is a car for people who love to drive, with a richly satisfying rumble when you hit the gas and a responsive suspension that only gets better with the sport models.
If you were to buy this as a family car, you would never have to worry about how much luggage you stuff in the trunk or whether or not you can make it up any hills when you pack it with passengers. Once again, all-wheel drive is an option that you might gain with the right model, and even 2017 models could have safety features like Forward Collision Warning or Blind Spot Monitoring. Features like heated leather seats and dual-zone climate control make this an easy choice for comfort, and the option for sensible features like heated and cooled beverage holders makes one wonder why that isn’t standard on every vehicle. Audiophiles can rejoice in the models equipped with any one of the audio systems from Beats, Harman Kardon, or Alpine, or you could just be ecstatic that the trunk is big enough to take antique shopping, thanks to the folding rear seats.
Buying a Chrysler CPO
A CPO purchase is an excellent way to save on the price of a new vehicle while still enjoying many of the benefits of buying new. Chrysler CPO models must be five years old or less and have fewer than 75,000 miles on the clock to even qualify for the program. After that, they must pass a strict 125-point inspection and possess a clean title. After being fully reconditioned with any necessary repairs, a vehicle can be certified and sold. Buyers will enjoy the benefits of the seven-year or 100,000-mile Limited Powertrain Warranty and three-month or 3,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty Chrysler calls Maximum Care Coverage. In addition, you get roadside assistance and car rental coverage as well as a SiriusXM satellite radio trial. On top of owning a gorgeous vehicle that will drive like a dream, you get coverage that protects your investment.
