Is The Chrysler 300 A Reliable Car? This Is What Owners Say

In 2024, Chrysler pulled the plug on its 300 model after 17 years of production, which saw the time-tested American automaker remove sedans from its lineup altogether. Now, Chrysler's range consists only of the Pacifica and Voyager minivans, so it should come as little surprise that owners of the 300 model are keeping hold of them, rather than trading them in for something newer.

We wanted to establish how reliable the now-discontinued 300 was turning out to be, and instead of relying on data from the likes of Consumer Reports or J.D. Power — both rightfully respected outfits — we were more interested in what owners themselves had to say on the matter. So, we took to sources such as CarSurvey and Edmunds to see what reviews customers had left, in addition to looking at customers complaints left with the NHTSA. This enabled us to build up an accurate picture of what real owners though about the Chrysler 300's reliability, and fortunately, for any prospective buyers, the outlook is largely positive.

We can't say that all Chrysler 300 owners were smitten by their purchase. Taking a quick look on CarSurvey, across all iterations, we can see that 63% of 300 owners would gladly shop from within the Chrysler range again, while 24% would not. We can only assume the remaining 13% weren't too sure. Of that 24%, some might not be willing to shop at Chrysler again because they find the current range uninspiring, although some will undoubtedly have made the decision based on poor reliability from their 300.

However, the vast majority had nothing but good things to say, calling it "reliable and comfortable," and that not only had it "proven to be very reliable," but also "cheap to run," too. The 300 even attracted glowing reviews from non-domestic markets too, namely from the UK, with owners dubbing it "a mean looking gangster ride" — not exactly reliability based, but still a glowing review in the 300's favor.

Similar messages were conveyed on Edmunds, with one owner of a 2021 example stating there is simply no better car for sale for the price. Others were impressed with both the manufacturing quality and reliability on offer, giving the 300 a rating of 4.6 out of 5 for that particular model year. Other years were very similarly rated. In order to be fair, we must also look at some of the less-satisfied comments, specfically from owners who have endured some of the Chrysler 300's more common problems.

The Chrysler 300 isn't a particularly unreliable car, but that doesn't mean that some owners didn't have some issues. Looking at data collected by the NHTSA, we can see that earlier cars appear to be more troublesome, and in particular the 2005 and 2006 model years, with each of them racking up over 1,000 customer complaints. Many of the common complaints from owners of this platform center around transmission issues and annoying electrical woes — the latter not particularly surprising on a Stellantis product from this era.

Transmission issues are the main concern for most, with symptoms including rough shifting and slipping gears. These are common signs that your transmission needs some attention, and while a fluid change may be all it needs, it may need further work, such as replacing the electrical portion of the 300's valve body. Certain cars fitted with the NAG1 transmission suffered from a failing O-ring, so that's worth watching out for too.

While transmission issues and electrical gremlins make the Chrysler 300 sound like a reliability nightmare, the truth is that some of these cars are now 20 years old, so mechanical and electrical failures are to be expected. However, there is a lively and supportive community surrounding the model, plus a wealth of information online from owners who have all been there before with any and every issue you can think of, so keeping even the oldest of Chrysler 300 models alive shouldn't be difficult.