The Dodge Charger is in that phantom zone between model years right now. There are still plenty of 2023 Chargers to be had, but there won’t be a new model for a while. Rumors put the earliest release date for the new Charger sometime in the summer of 2025, but there’s no official word yet. So this leaves us with a couple questions: is the new Charger even worth waiting for, and, if not, is the 2023 edition worth a look?

To figure that out, we need to answer two questions: what do these new Chargers look like, and what’s a 2023 model going to cost us? Here’s what you need to know before you hit the lots.

This article aims to provide buyers with an overview of current and upcoming Dodge Charger models so as to make an informed purchasing decision.

Is The New Dodge Charger Worth Waiting For?

Here’s something you’ll want to know right up front: the new Dodge Charger will not be launching with a V8 engine option. In fact, the plan isn’t even to launch with an ICE-powered model right away. First we’re getting a couple of EVs, and then a Hurricane six-cylinder (“Sixpack”) with a pair of turbochargers. Production on the gas-powered models will start in early 2025, and the latest rumors suggest that technical difficulties will be pushing the EVs back a few months from the initially expected release window of May 2025.

So, if the EVs are delayed, and the ICEs are coming out sometime after the EVs, then our best guess for when the Sixpacks will even reach buyers is “not as soon as we’d hoped.” This still leaves the question of whether the new Chargers will be worth buying when they launch in the first place. Well, here’s what we know right now:

• The standard Sixpack ICE 2025 Dodge Charger is expected to generate 420 horsepower, while the High Output, or H/O, is expected to crank out 550 hp, which is 65 horses more powerful than the 2023 V8 Scat Pack Charger, with a 6.4-liter V8 delivering 485 hp.
• The electric Charger is expected to produce 670 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque, at the entry level.
• J.D. Power expects 2025 Dodge Charger pricing to start at around $45,000, about $10,000 more than the MSRP for a new entry-level 2023 Dodge Charger.
• The electric Chargers are expected to start at more than $55,000.

Frankly, the Sixpack Dodge Charger looks like a lot of fun, and it has more power than the latest top-spec V8 model. The only reason to turn your nose up at it is because you’re a V8 purist when it comes to Dodge Chargers, and we totally get that. The Charger hasn’t had a turbocharged production model since the 1980s, and, if you ask most gear heads, those are Chargers in name only.

It’s A Buyer’s Market For Seventh-Gen Dodge Chargers Right Now

Kelley Blue Book currently puts the fair purchase price of an entry-level 2023 Dodge Charger at a little over $33,000. The base MSRP of a 2023 Charger SXT in rear-wheel drive is just over $35,000 so, if you want to head out to the nearest dealership, you could be saving a couple grand on the sticker price without even having to haggle that much. Here’s what current fair-market prices look like, trim by trim, in comparison to MSRP.

If we’re not counting the Hellcat, then tallying all these numbers gives us an average price difference of $2,349. It stands to reason that a car is naturally going to sell for a little less than its sticker price a year or two after it first hits the market, but the fact remains that the current stock of 2023 Dodge Chargers are collecting dust right now.

As for the Hellcats, those were launched at a base MSRP of $82,670 for a 717-horse supercharged 6.2-liter V8, and Kelley Blue Book currently puts the fair purchase price at $76,264. This is a saving of more than $6k, so don’t be fooled by dealers charging in the low six figures for these cars. A used model goes for around $66,885, which is $10k of depreciation in just one year.

The tricky part is that dealers know Dodge Chargers are dream cars, so it’s not unusual to see a Hellcat with a layer of dust on the paint selling for a five-figure markup. Here’s the irony of the situation: even if you don’t want to wait for the Sixpack and the electric chargers to hit the lot, you’re still going to get a better price the longer you wait. Right now, these cars are just taking up space. In another six months, dealers may be desperate to get rid of them.

The Best And Worst Model Years For Used Seventh-Generation Dodge Chargers

Buying a 2023 Dodge Charger right now, or anytime in the next year, really, isn’t a bad idea. Fair purchase prices are on their way down, dealers need to offload their inventory, and no V8 model has been announced for 2025. This could literally be your last chance to buy an eight-cylinder Charger brand-new. Also not a bad idea is buying a slightly older used model at an even better price.

Generally speaking, the newer the Dodge Charger, the fewer problems you’re going to have with it. CarComplaints rates the 2011 model as the most problematic model year for the seventh generation, followed by the 2012 and 2014 models. Then, from 2017 to 2023, you’ve got a string of mostly problem-free models.

The 2019 model may be your best bet for price and reliability if you’re buying used. J.D. Power rates the 2019 Dodge Charger an 87/100 for Quality & Reliability, and Kelley Blue Book lists a fair purchase dealer price of just $16,581 for a used SXT, or $29,476 for a Scat Pack. CarComplaints only shows six reported problems for this year, mostly for interior accessories, although one driver reports issues with stability control alerts, and another reports a rattling in the suspension.

What you probably don’t want to do is buy anything from 2015, back when they were still working out the kinks. Kelley Blue Book lists an entry-level fair purchase dealer price of just $6,527, which sounds like a hot deal, but, according to CarComplaints, you’re looking at $600 alternator failures, $900 gas tank leaks, $1,000 engine stalls, just a long list of mechanical fixes that all add up to costing you a lot more than what you saved buying an older model.

Bottom line: the newer the better. You want low miles, and you want a late-gen model year so that it’s already been through all the growing pains a new generation goes through in its first few years, like when they had to recall ten thousand brand-new Police Chargers in 2012.

Sources:
CarComplaints,
J.D. Power
, Kelley Blue Book.