2023 Dodge Challenger pre-purchase inspection checklist

The 8th VIN digit is the engine on a 2023 Challenger, and reading it correctly tells you — before you turn a key — whether you are buying into this car’s most expensive known failure. ‘G’ is the 3.6L Pentastar V6 (305 hp), ‘T’ is the 5.7L HEMI (375 hp), ‘J’ is the 6.4L HEMI 392 (485 hp), and ‘9’ is the 6.2L supercharged Hellcat V8. The consequence: the 5.7 and the 6.4 both run MDS cylinder deactivation and carry the collapsed-lifter risk this checklist covers in detail, and a failed lifter usually takes the camshaft with it — a cam-and-lifter job on a HEMI commonly quotes $4,000–$7,000, more if debris circulated through the engine. The Pentastar V6 has no MDS and no lifter exposure at all. So an 8th digit of ‘G’ takes the headline risk off the table, while ‘T’ or ‘J’ means the lifter inspection is not optional. WATCH FOR A COMMON DECODING TRAP HERE: circulating decoder tables list ‘Z’ as the supercharged Hellcat engine code, and there genuinely is a ‘Z’ in a Hellcat VIN — but it sits in the 6th position, where it belongs to the series and trim group, not to the engine field. On a real 2023 SRT Hellcat VIN the 6th character is ‘Z’ and the 8th is ‘9’. Miscounting those two positions is how a buyer talks themselves into believing a 5.7 car is something rarer than it is, or waves off a genuine Hellcat as mislabeled. Count to the 8th character deliberately and confirm the decode at autovetting.com/decode rather than trusting a badge — this is one of the most-cloned body styles of the last twenty years.

Planning the upkeep this car will need? Our step-by-step guides cover oil changes, brake pads & rotors, battery replacement, transmission fluid, coolant flushes, and spark plugs — each with the tools, parts, torque specs, and common mistakes that matter. Browse all repair guides →

2018 Challenger · 2018 Charger · 2018 Durango