Found this gem of a 2000 Chrysler Concorde on Cars.com last weekend. Sure is nice, isn't it? I must say that back in the day, whomever penned this, or whatever team did it, they had it going on and I have to rattle my memory banks to remember why my wife and I bought a Ford Taurus back then and not one of these beauties. Well, probably because for what we dropped on that fully loaded Taurus we couldn't touch a lofty Chrysler Concorde. Especially one equipped the way I would want one. That and the fact that back then Chrysler's didn't have the best reputation.
After the seemingly endless K-Car derivatives that stabbed us in our eyes repeatedly throughout the 1980's, Chrysler had some great looking sedans in the 1990's based off their "LH" platform that debuted in 1993. That platform, incidentally, had DNA in it going back to, are you ready? AMC. AMC originally developed the platform in the 1980's with Renault. Chrysler bought AMC in 1987 and along with Jeep, they bought the chassis and running gear that underpinned the Renault 21 and 25. Just like that, in addition to a small truck division, Chrysler had the replacement for the blasted K-Car. They sold those boxy and fairly odd looking cars as the Eagle Premier and Medallion and Dodge Monaco before the ugly ducklings became the LH's.
Chrysler updated the entire LH lineup for 1998 and of course, as is seemingly typical in the auto industry, the cars got bigger. The Concorde, which was, in my worthless opinion, the least attractive of the LH's, was stretched out nearly seven inches to a whopping 210 inches plus. While that's not '75 Chrysler Newport big, that's still ginormous. Like just shy of '65 Chevy Impala huge. However, the new bigger cars were somewhat lighter than their predecessors and the bump in length also came along with a longer wheel base which made for one cavernous rear seat area. The bigger canvas also allowed stylists and engineers to design a roof that despite a coupe like rake, had more than ample head room for rear seat passengers.
Such a pretty silhouette...and if you use your imagination a little, you can see that it may have inspired some later GM designs like the 2006-2011 Buick Lucerne. Wouldn't have been the first time a Chrysler design was cribbed by GM scribes. You just don't see cars like this today then again, you don't see many new cars these days because fewer and fewer of them are being made. These cars may have been the best looking front wheel drive, "three box" sedans ever made. Subjective? Oh, you betcha. Seriously, compare these side by side to a Taurus or Impala of the same vintage and it's not even close. Problem was, again, reliability. They just didn't stay bolted, screwed or glued together very well and Chrysler cheaped out on the details too. They did have a great warranty back then - then again, they needed one to help sell the cars.
I wish I could take full credit for that snarky warranty remark but a rep for GM once said that to me with regards to Hyundai's crazy ten year warranty.
When I was working briefly for CarMax back in Dallas years ago, a customer bought one of these with the full, additional power train warranty that they offered years ago. It was an unusually comprehensive warranty that while expensive, dealerships make a ton off extended warranties, did cover anything that could go wrong with a car's engine or transmission. Sure enough, on that particular Concorde, which had Chrysler's at the time top of the line, two hundred fifty three horsepower, single over head cam, 3.5 liter V-6, another derivative of the AMC/Renault alliance from the '80's, the engine failed and CarMax' warranty picked up the entire tab to the tune of more than seven grand. There are some price points that warranty companies wince at and that was one of them.
I'm a sucker for a pretty face and a sexy bod just as much as anyone, especially one that wraps what is a relatively strong performing automobile as well. As long as the vehicle is running. These cars, and this one is in exceptional shape for being as old as it is, are best appreciated for being state-of-the-art 1990's automobile architecture and nothing more. This car has just over 34,000 miles on it and has an asking price of $4,900 and I love how Cars.com says it's a great deal. Well, it is on paper but there's no way you're going to get paper on it that's an extended warranty. Here's the listing. You've been warned.
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