Photo: Hoovies Garage | YouTube
This guy is used to buying cars at auctions, fixing them up, and selling them. It's what he does for a living. But when he laid eyes on this 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, he thought he'd fix it up and keep it for himself. He thought he'd hit the jackpot, but then there were so many red flags. The infamous HEMI “tick” being one of them.
A one-owner car with only about 70,000 miles (112,654 kilometers) on the odometer and a clean title. Doesn't that sound like a million bucks? What could possibly go wrong? Well, those questions are optimistic, to say the least.
Tyler Hoover of Hoovies Garage paid $26,000 for the 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and thought it was a winner. He’d been dreaming of owning one for eight years, ever since he saw Doug DeMuro review and nearly crash one.
So, this was definitely the unicorn she was waiting for. She checked the Carfax report and saw that all four of the accidents she was involved in were minor. But the damage from the last one left the car with a prayer-hanging bumper cracked on the right, and a torn off front splitter. The hood is slightly curved back, which could hide other issues, and the satin black finish is peeling off.
In the previous episode, Tyler Hoover of Hoovies Garage pitted the Challenger SRT Hellcat against his Ferrari 599, which had been tuned to produce over 700 horsepower from its stock 612 horsepower.
Photo: Hoovies Garage | YouTube
The 707-horsepower Dodge lost, but there are definitely reasons for that run. On a better day, it certainly could have done better. But there's a long road to that better day that Tyler is now dreaming of.
As his mechanic opens the door of the Challenger SRT Hellcat, he can't believe his eyes. He manages to fit his hand into the holes where the speakers used to be in the door panels. The Dodge has been sitting at an auction for quite some time, so someone probably needed them and dislocated them at some point.
The mechanic also finds that the glove compartment cannot be opened because it is blocked by the speaker covers. But this can be “fixed” if he opens the passenger side door.
The fact that the car is beeping continuously is a warning bell. And the list is just beginning. The good news is that there are no warning lights on the dashboard.
Photo: Hoovies Garage | YouTube
And then there's what buyers feared the most: the infamous HEMI ticking. It starts at over 65 mph (107 km/h) and continues indefinitely. However, the tires are bald, with little to no tread. So, it would be best to drive slowly or not at all.
Once the car is in the air, the mechanic shows him that the tires are actually worse than he thought. This explains the shaking steering wheel.
The mechanic is not worried about the frame, but the oil filter is also leaking. He believes there is fluid in the engine mounts. The brake pads and rotors need to be changed as soon as possible. The starter motor has become old and should be replaced.
You could tell from miles away that a Dodge Challenger owner had seriously mistreated the car. He had forgotten to perform basic maintenance or simply ignored the manual's recommendations.
The mechanic says the most expensive thing to fix is the HEMI tick. Tyler hopes there are ways to salvage the supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V8, which sends 707 horsepower (717 metric horsepower) to the ground through the rear wheels, with the help of a six-speed transmission.
The mechanic warns the new owner that if the lifter problem turns out to be serious, it will cost him about $8,000 in the worst case. This should help him get rid of the annoying HEMI ticking.
Photo: Hoovies Garage | YouTube
However, Dodge continued to insist that HEMI engines could develop a completely normal and harmless ticking noise. However, the forums are full of people complaining about it and claiming that it could be caused by a cam/filter failure, for example.
There are even experts who have gone online to say that they have checked the engines by making the annoying tapping sound while they are running, but they have not been able to find anything wrong. However, driving that way and ignoring the sound can lead to serious engine problems.
Everything else should be a piece of cake. Even the big brake pads and rotors aren't cheap. Something will also have to be done about those awful door panels and all the paint chips. It's definitely going to take more than a little TLC to get it looking and running like the day it rolled off the assembly line in 2016.
