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Buying a Used Hellcat Can Be Russian Roulette

16K views 40 replies 18 participants last post by  Tape 
#1 ·
Simply because you don't know what the previous owners abuse level was, as people don't really buy Hellcats as grocery getters, they buy them to drive the heck out of them. Some have bought brand new Hellcats and took them back to the dealership and traded them for a less powerful model, simply because they almost totally lost control of it. Now if you could actually run across one of those it would be a great find but otherwise, it is not only an expensive car to purchase it is expensive to fix.

My dealership wants Black Beauty and I've been asked what will it take to get you to sell us your Challenger and to shut them up I tell them, what I paid for it plus the cost of all the upgrades? Well I have been looking for a Hellcat around 2015 when it was first released and they have a 2015 Pitch Black manual, but I want a Pitch Black A8 with the same Crimson/Black interior.

After watching this You Tube Video from R/T Life, I'm not so sure about getting a 2015 anymore, I seriously lucked up when I bought my 2015 R/T and with all of it's upgrades it is a keeper in my mind and heart, and with everything being shut down now the various dealership offers out there are looking really good?



This lady had to replace her Hellcat engine at 18,000 miles, thus the Russian Roulette in the title? Ry
 
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#3 ·
when I was looking, I had started almost a year before. pluses and minuses for different auto makers. test drove three challengers( widebody, a 1320 and a redeye- that was the car dealership managers car) almost bought the redeye, like thiiiiiiis close, old age kicked in and I remembered one of the older kids on the block when I was young say that the little old lady from Pasadena doesn't but a big block Chevelle just to drive to church on sunday. now, to me that made no sense because I lived in Brooklyn, but I understood the big block and church. so I passed on it, went to another dealership and got this scat pack. I agree that there are unicorn hellcats/demon/redeyes out there. but you don't think that the service manager or the dealership manager will put that baby away and only call his most favorite customer? dealership already has contacted the mrs about selling our scat pack. mrs told him that he would have to speak with me, but that I don't negotiate and that it would have to be a big pile of cash. the car is special to me, and that is worth money in my eyes. otherwise, go buy someone elses.
 
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#4 ·
I looked at them when I got my SRT, and between the cost to buy and insure, plus the unknown factor.... I stuck with the SRT 392.

I also would have had to go with a color combo (interior & exterior) I didn't love.

In the long run, assuming no major repairs, the hellcat would have cost 2x as much with insurance, cost, and loan interest.
 
#6 ·
I bought my 2016 SRT and a few weeks later I had to replace the 392 because of excessively worn bearing journals on the cam shaft. Luckily, my car was still under the powertrain warranty so Dodge gave me a brand new engine and not a reman.
 
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#7 ·
I bought my 2016 SRT and a few weeks later I had to replace the 392 because of excessively worn bearing journals on the cam shaft. Luckily, my car was still under the powertrain warranty so Dodge gave me a brand new engine not a reman.

What gave the problem away ??
 
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#10 ·
Simply because you don't know what the previous owners abuse level was, as people don't really buy Hellcats as grocery getters, they buy them to drive the heck out of them.
You make a good point. Someday I’ll get a hellcat WB used. I’ll look for that garage queen. Still, even garage queens have problems sometimes. Forest Gump said it best, “Buying a used hellcat is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.”

Now a used gt350 would be an even bigger gamble in my opinion. If those aren’t properly broken in, or warm when the previous owner wound it out, the bearings could be worn, or the oil pump gear chewed up.
 
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#14 ·
To all of you Hellcat owners that have taken great care of yours, KUDOs to All of You, but you all know full well, not all do! Ry
 
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#16 ·
My 2015 R/T 5.7 still smells great inside, but that is irrelevant to how it has been driven, I drive the hell out of mine sometimes, but that's exactly why I bought a Challenger. I did not buy mine to display it in a show room, or drive it like a baby carriage, and I am older, 67 years to be exact, and sometimes I drive it like I stole it. None of us know how much longer we have to live on this earth, the reason for the thread in the first place was to caution buying something that the owner got rid of probably 100% knowing there was trouble with it. If a dealer accepted it, they should have thoroughly gone over it first, most dealerships do that, some do not, and that could end really bad for a new owner, just like the lady in the video!

Some of you may have Hellcats completely stock with low mileage, but sometimes low mileage can be a bad thing, these cars are designed to be driven not tucked away like a matchbox car on a shelf. Some of you may actually be afraid of your Hellcats getting away from you, I have talked to one that admitted it scared him every time he drove it.
Honestly it is in the same class as a gun, it will kill you if you do not use it responsibly. I is hard to imagine a Hellcat owner that does not know the cars limitations, after all it is not a Cadillac, because it does have limitations. Ry
 
#17 · (Edited)
I've seen videos of Hellcat owners that got off from totally destroying a set of tires, from brand new to blowing the tire.
To me that is the stupidest thing to possibly do, because they are not just destroying the tires they are also wearing out the drive train, putting years of driving into one stupid idiotic time of showing off.



And putting it on the internet, someone looking to buy a Hellcat, best hope he or she does not get one that's been abused like that!
 
#18 ·
Sounds like you’ve got the bug - just a matter of time now. lol. Buy used from a Dodge dealership and buy the extended warranty- then go enjoy the car. Certainly no need to do any performance mods on a Hellcat that would void the warranty. Just do cosmetic mods and have fun.

I’ve kicked around the idea of trading for a 392 or Hellcat as well - but my warranty just gave me a brand new engine in my R/T. Now I’ve got a 55k mile car with a brand new (actually 1200 miles now) engine. So I figure I might as well just make it a long-termer now since the new engine is “worth” more to me that it would be on a trade in or sale. I prefer the styling on the older models anyway so I’m just gonna keep this car a while. (So I say at the moment).
 
#21 ·
Sounds like you’ve got the bug - just a matter of time now. lol. Buy used from a Dodge dealership and buy the extended warranty- then go enjoy the car. Certainly no need to do any performance mods on a Hellcat that would void the warranty. Just do cosmetic mods and have fun.

I’ve kicked around the idea of trading for a 392 or Hellcat as well - but my warranty just gave me a brand new engine in my R/T. Now I’ve got a 55k mile car with a brand new (actually 1200 miles now) engine. So I figure I might as well just make it a long-termer now since the new engine is “worth” more to me that it would be on a trade in or sale. I prefer the styling on the older models anyway so I’m just gonna keep this car a while. (So I say at the moment).
Not really, when I was looking for my 5.7 I had some specific things I wanted, I did look at a black Scat, but it was easy to see it had been abused, rubber in the wheel wells and on the rims, kinda looked like a Horse ridden hard and put up wet. I was really surprised the dealer had not thoroughly cleaned the car before putting it on the lot, and also relieved he hadn't. The engine oil will smell cooked if it has been abused and it does not matter if they just changed it either, one of my first used car tests was to smell the engine and transmission fluids, but since Dodge now runs a sealed Transmission the have no dipstick to check.
 
#20 ·
I wonder how many of these are actually keeping and eye on their engine temperatures, especially the ones that use Line Lock and high RPMs. That's not a question by the way!
 
#23 ·
I think there are probably more hellcats owned by older guys that aren't driven much or that are taken care of than ones that have been beaten, that being said buying any car can be russian roulette, you could go to buy a 5 year old honda and the kid that owned it drove the absolute crap out of it or maybe had no maintenance, it's a used car thing more than a specific car thing.
 
#24 ·
Agree....I bought a 76 Firebird in 1981 that had a locked up engine cuz the spoiled guy who owned it never changed the oil......paid 450 bucks for it.

Then promptly inserted a 69 428 HO in it's place.....
 
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#29 ·
There must be more to the story. Why did the warranty not pay for the engine replacement? 5Y/100,000 drive train warranty on 2015s.
 
#35 ·
I found my HC on cargurus .. quite by chance... there were a few closer but just didn't seem right. The one I found had 4500 miles on it (2016)… I got a sweet deal on a service contract, a 5yr/60K bumper to bumper that started the moment I took delivery - so the age of the car and miles were not counted against me. I normally would not get an extended warranty but did so because I was not certain of how those first 4500 miles went. Over the next year I put 25K miles on it as a daily driver... So far so good and no regrets. During the first oil change I asked the tech to inspect the under carriage and he said it looked near spotless. I enjoy every mile and the car is a rock star for sure... some have been rode hard and put up wet, and some are true gems. Oh by the way... if you have a daily driver (I do now).. Hagerty has a plan specifically for Hellcats... I pay 90$ a month for full coverage, I do have a mileage restriction, but miles for cars shows/events do not count against the total...
 
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#37 ·
My local Dodge dealer just listed a 2019 Hellcat WB in Plum Crazy..get this..with only 255 miles on it. Asking $77K....hmmmm.
 
#39 ·
Update: They dropped the price to $70K...checked it out this morning..it is sweet looking. I'd jump on it but two vehicle payments has us maxed.

Tire Wheel Motor vehicle Blue Automotive design
 
#38 ·
It seems the values have gone up across the board in the last few months... mine has increased about $5K on most blue book estimators.... if I didn't drive it so much, it would be worth now what I paid for it 2 years ago.... but what fun would that be... lol....
 
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#40 ·
from what i have read, the hellcat/demons/redeyes are like all high horsepower cars, either you drive them to keep them lubricated, but then you don't know who drove it before you. old lady from pasadena and all that. or, its a garage queen, so everything needs to be replaced because the gas has now glazed over and the all the rubber needs to be replaced. personally, drive the snot out of the car. its yours, enjoy it.
 
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