I have 1 with 70k miles, 2006 3.5L V6 AWD.
Problems that have been fixed out of normal matainence
Jan 10 (previous owner)
Upper Intake Manifold Gasket (replace, might as well since he got the manifold off)
#4 ignition coil (problem part)
EGR seal (replaced, same reason as manifold gasket)
Upper manifold bolts replacement (broke one so had to drill it out and buy 7 new ones for uniformity)
Changed Spark plugs (same reason as above EGR seal)
Jan 11 (previous owner)
New spark plugs again (Went Mopar OEM, Bosch Platinum Plus 4003 + 3.5 motor make very bad partners for some reason)
Aug 29th (dealership)
Replaced front brakes and rotors (warped rotors)
I found out that the car was owned by a guy that works in my unit after buying it from the dealership (wife divorce, took car, sold it type of thing) and he told me, most of that work was just, "well since the manifold is off might as well replace it anyways thing". Nothing wrong with it, but hey might as well replace wear items before anything happens.
The reason he took all that off was to get to the coil pack and replace it. Everything else was fine.
It's a good car, roomy, the interior I think is nice, the 2006 have the silver console trim versus black for 2005 which adds some nice color, but it's not a big deal. Drives very well, reminds me of my last car a 2006 W211 Mercedes E500 4matic in almost everything including the ride, and controls (shifter, cruise, turn signals, transmission, etc are all the exact same components that my Mercedes used). It rides composed, the interior is nice with the soft touch surfaces and good seats. Controls make sense and are easy to use (except the damn Mercedes turn signal stalk, with the 2 position lane change/turn settings).
What I don't like, bad ice traction. Car came with Toyo Observe G-02 Plus. which are supposed to be very good studless snow tires. I have some issues with ice traction which is a 6 months a year issue up here. VSC and ABS does help, and I've now adjusted my driving style for up here (came from Virginia, quite an adjustment) but taking turns at 15mph on fresh ice will cause oversteer. ABS still kicks in a lot for me though when I'm on ice, but I don't oversteer anymore due to much lower entry speeds.
Fuel economy is also abysmal. I drive fairly conservatively, rarely going over 2250 to 2500 rpms and I got about 14.7mpg on my last tank. I am chalking it up to the temperature and extended warm up time for now, but I'll see what happens when it warms up and the ice melts in around May. I do only do short trips though, a couple miles here, maybe 12 miles there sort of thing, which probably has a huge impact on the numbers. For comparison the E500 4matic (same drivetrain sans engine) got about 17mpg in city, though truthfully speed limits are higher in the civilian world (average 45mph v.s. 25mph on a military base), it was more aerodynamic (sedans tend to have more laminar flow and less rear turbulence than a non kamm-back wagon) and much warmer with no warm up time in Virginia.
Speaking of the engine, 250hp seems inadequate IMO. With my Mercedes, I'd do in town driving comfortably at under 2000rpm from 1st to 5th gear. In this car, I have to have it at 2500 in 1st and then 2000 or so shift points from 2-5 to accelerate at a pace that is comfortable. I'd say 300hp and 330lb/ft is the minimum I'd want for relaxed cruising at 4200lbs so the R/T is a better choice than the SXT (I believe the R/T also gets better EPA gas mileage IIRC, but don't quote me on it).
The other thing I don't like is the brake pads the dealership used, fine in decent temperatures but noisy when cold, so probably semi metallic instead of ceramic. Pretty annoying IMO.
I paid a lot for mine, 14k a few months ago, but that includes the Fairbanks, Alaska cost of living adjustment to every car up here(for example a 2007 Mazda 3i with 38k miles is around 14k up here, maybe 11 down in the states) and I'm pretty happy with it.
