The problem is you can NOT get one for $38K. More like $55 to $60K and its a cutup charger, which I hate I might add..[:@]

 

I wish I could believe that, but given that production of '08 & '09 Challengers is actually only about 3 months apart I doubt there'll be any changes for model year 2009. Maybe by 2010.

The interior is very important to me, but I'm not asking for the moon. I only want two things from the Challenger interior:

1) I don't want to have to get out of the car and look back to see that I'm not driving a Charger. The Charger interior is fine for the Charger, but I'd like the Challenger to have something to distinguish itself. Something with a sportier edge.

2) I want interior to be of quality I can be comfortable in and proud of. I'm not asking for $60K car interior. My wife's Acura TL has a carbon fiber / aluminum looking interior with leather seats. That's just fine with me and it cost about $35K. Something of that quality in my fully loaded R/T would suit me.

 

Dodge doesn't enjoy anything close the profit margins Acura does. If they popped in an upgraded semi-sporty/semi-luxury interior, the car would cost about $4K more, putting it well out of the range of the Mustang buyers. But I agree, they should do some slight modifications to give it some uniqueness, some sporty comfort...they got to be able to do at least that for $500 more [&:]!!

 

Mac's got a point, if the Germans can do it, we should be able to figure out a nice interior w/o busting price points.

 

The Germans have always understood quality, luxury and safety.

 

Yeah, they were just a little wacky with the whole conquest thing....

 

OK, so if the Acura has a higher profit margin, then the cost of materials as a percentage of MSRP should be higher in the Challenger, right?

Yeah, I know I'm over-simplifying.

Anyways, I'm with you. I'd spend an extra $500 for better interior. Some cars charge extra for particular paint colors so why not an upcharge for interior material upgrades? Seems like that happened back-in-the-day. Nowadays it seems the only interior upgrade is to leather or not to leather.

 

I just want to add another two cents worth - I apologize in advance and certainly don't mean to offend any MOPAR enthusiasts here, but as I have stated all along, I've only owned Blue Oval in my car buying career. I can't wait to change that next year, truth be told.

Anyway, my understanding has always been that Dodge has had an infamous reputation when it comes to the interior quality (or lack thereof) and reliability in most, if not all, of their models. It might not be true and I'm sure there will be numerous examples to follow trying to convince me otherwise. But this is what I have always heard and been lead to believe. Not that Ford is the best or anything like that, trust me! However, that infamous reputation has played a large part in me never buying one. I, as much as the next guy, truly hope they hit a homerun with the Challenger. I honestly believe they can and they will.

For me or anybody else to feel like the interior of a 425 horsepower muscle car should be in the same league as a Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, Lincoln, Acura, etc. is simply foolish. It should be comfortable; it should be sporty; it should be unique...I completely agree. But, I just hope we're not all setting the bar too high. I think our expectations are pretty high in general for this bad boy, but they shouldn't be unreasonable. If the interior is the primary reason you're buying this car, then you're probably in for a huge let down. If you want a beautiful car that will provide all the attention-getting you want and be able to run with just about anything out on the road, then the Challenger is for you. That's all I got....

 

Dodge, Ford, Chevy. . . all of them I feel have been put down about equally as far as reliability and interior quality goes. Anyway, I had a 94 Dodge intrepid for a few years. It had about 60k miles on it when I got it and ran pretty much fine. Only major problems was the air conditioning going out, which I still hear about happening on Dodges. That was the only mechanical problem that went wrong. The other issue was electrical. By the time I got traded it in you had to adjust the steering wheel down, start the car, and then readjust it. Why? I have no idea lol. But the car despite the pretty low mileage, was 12 years old when I got rid of it.