The Chrysler from Hell is at the dealer....

[Eshaver]

First, let me express my un dieing thanks to Dodge , uh Bill Mr. Patterson , Jello and everyone else that took the time to try and help. Yes its the alarm. Problem is , it's 1400.00 to fix it . Well since a comparible vehicle is going to cost every bit of 3500.00, I guess I'll have to go to the savings and the guy I contract to and take out a loan this afternoon. You knoe the real problem with this picture is this, the Van would only bring around 900.00. Ed Shaver

[Nick F40]

That's Dodge/Chrysler for you! parts break and they cost alot of money.

[CAL]

I owned a Dodge once.... never again!

I don't know how they can sell such a wretched POS and stay in business.

Horrible doesn't even begin to discribe my expereince with Dodge/Chrysler.

Edited July 8, 2008 by CAL

[Nick F40]

I owned a Dodge once.... never again!

I don't know how they can sell such a wretched POS and stay in business.

Horrible doesn't even begin to discribe my expereince with Dodge/Chrysler.

aaahaha

[Brendan]

Sorry to hear about the car.

Most manufacturers build in a "shelf life" on parts so right when your warranty runs out, you end up paying a lot to get things fixed. Most of the time the part that needs fixing costs more to repair than the value of the car. That way they basically have you so you need to buy a newer car.

[CAL]

aaahaha

It's true!

The only other Dodge I drove on a daily basis was a brand new company Dodge Ram with Cummings Diesel, and that was just as bad. Spent more time at the dealer than on the road.

In 30,000 miles

It wore out 8 tires.

Was in 4 times for front end alignment, and not from hitting anything.

Was in 5 times for tranny noise, was rebuilt once, and completely went out again and replaced new.

2 sets of rotors and 3 sets of brake pads replaced under warr.

1 set of drums and shoes.

Was in 3 times for rear end leak, then 2 for rear end noise and finally the center section was replaced.

Then back again for a drive shaft balance problem.

A/C stopped working 3 times and they replaced a compressor, condensor.

It was also in a number of times for a squealing AC belt, they tightened and tightened and tightened the belt, dressed it, the whole engine bay was black with belt dress eventually.

The tried replacing the belt, but that never stopped the belt from squealing when the AC compress engaged. I suspect tightening the belt so much may have did the compressor in, but they took care of it.

All the lights stopped working on the rear and they replaced the wire harness cab back.

Ck engine light came on and needed reset on a regular basis without any said cause.

Was in many times for continually decreasing mileage, which was fair for the first 15k, but dropped off significantly and was getting worse and worse the second 15k.

They replaces all the injectors, fuel pump, filters, module, I don’t even remember what all else. ###### near the whole fuel system.

And had 3 recall/service bulletins to bring it in for immediate saftey repairs.

I know it had some other issues including some interior trim that either broke or fell off.

I’d drive it down the road and it always sounded like parts were falling off the ###### thing.

Now I know some of you probably think, okay, I was hauling a big trailer and no wonder stuff was wearing out left, but I never towed anything with it. It was, however, towed 4 or 5 times.

It was just a horrible truck.

Dont even get me going on the Dodge I was unfortunate enough to own.

Edited July 8, 2008 by CAL

[lordairgtar]

Can't you just have someone bypass the alarm circuit? Seems like a lot of money for something that you can get on the aftermarket for less. You could just buy an HHR. They're better IMHO. I have owned one for exactly one year and I have had NO trouble with it.

Edited July 8, 2008 by lordairgtar

[Guest zebm1]

Only problem I've ever had with my '98 Dakota Sport Magnum is the paint peeling off.....still a tight lil truck.

[Peter Lombardo]

Ok guys, you don’t know me from a “hole in the wallâ€. Maybe I’m full of “it†maybe not. But I have some insight into the car business that you may not know. I spent just over 30 years in the car business. Over those 30 years I worked at or ran just about every franchise there is. High end luxury imports, blue collar domestics and everything in between. Near the end of my run in the “businessâ€, I ran a Chrysler Dodge Jeep store, a Mazda store and an Infiniti dealership all on the same property and under two roofs.

Right there is a great cross section of the automobile business. The Chrysler Dodge Jeep store was a “breakthrough†dealership. That meant that we were in the top 50 Chrysler Brand dealerships in the U.S. Representatives (usually the dealer principle, though I was the Controller/General Manager of our store) would meet about every 7 months in another location somewhere to “benchmark†a well run dealership or two and a related business in that market. We would have access to the factory key guys and we got to see everything coming down the pike before the other dealers and we got to express our worries and concerns right to the guys who, if they wanted to, could “make things happenâ€.

First, I can assure you that there is no planed obsolesce built into to any part of a vehicle. The manufactures, all manufactures, want every vehicle to be problem free because they understand that your experience, total experience will determine whether or not you will buy another vehicle of that brand. Back in the day, guys were strongly loyal to a make. My dad was a Ford guy that is all he ever owned. One of my best friends, while growing up was a devoted Mopar guy; another friend’s dad was a Chevy guy. Today, most buyers are not brand loyal, they are payment loyal. So manufactures can’t afford to burn out customers with poorly built or designed products.

When you look at a Ford for instance, you most likely think it is all Ford engineering that you are looking at. That is really not the case. True, Ford designed the vehicle. They choose the platform, the size, the market it is directed at and the price points they want to hit, but that, other than final assembly, is usually it. As much as 80 to 90% of the vehicle is supplied by sub contracted vendors that produce the parts to the spec’s that the factory asks for. These vendors work very closely with the factory on the design and implantation of the components in question. Once designed and built, the parts are sent to the factory for final assembly by the vendors. You might be surprised to know that the same vendors make parts for competing brands.

So much of the design of the parts is controlled by the cost of the part. The bean counters have a very tight control on the development costs that go into a new vehicle. The factory dictates to the engineering staff the cost structure they must work within and then it is up to the engineers, working with the supplier to find a way to get the best component for the cost. It is critical to the factory that the vehicle hits the cost structure that they plan so that the vehicle can be competitive in the marketplace. For instance, a Chevy Malibu and a Ford Fusion must be priced in the same ballpark if the two are going to compete with each other. The factory knows the labor costs, the factory overhead, the health care and pension costs per vehicle, so in order to fit into a price point, the variable is the design and parts cost. The target is set, and the supplier must fit his piece into the puzzle that makes up the car.

So what makes up the difference in vehicles and reliability? Why does a part work great on manufactures vehicle and fail on another when they are sourced from the same supplier? One day we were in a meeting (this was a Ford meeting, we had 30 brands at our dealership group) with a rep. from a supplier for high pressure lines and fittings on engines and transmissions. My service manager was with me and he was very well versed in both Ford and Chrysler products having been a service manager for both brands. He saw that this supplier made the same components for both Ford and Chrysler engines. He also knew that these parts worked great on the Ford truck engines, but failed quite often on Dodge truck engines, so he asked the rep. The rep laughed and quietly said that he knew that and it was because the design spec’s provided by the factories, for the same kind of lines and fittings were set to different standards and costs. The Ford parts cost more, therefore, they were stronger and held up to the stresses applied in daily use. The Dodge engineers had less money available for that part in order to hit the cost target, so that was the best they could do.

I also ran an Infiniti store right next to the Chrysler Dodge Jeep and Mazda operation. Infiniti makes a great product. When I left the retail side of the Auto Business, I brought an Infiniti because they just are well made vehicles that hold up in day to day running. I drove Chrysler products, Mazda products and Infiniti products as demos over the years, and when it came time to lay out my hard earned dollars, I was getting an Infiniti, Period. In 5 years the car has been a blast to drive and totally bulletproof. Gas, oil changes, brakes and tires…that is it. My wife had a Mazda, now a Nissan, same thing, nothing more than the same things. But, for the most part, the vehicles cost more. They have a higher target price to meet so the components can cost more. And even though they cost more, the lease residual percentage is higher, a lot higher (the banks trust that the car will last and hold its value) so because with a higher residual offsetting the higher initial cost, the lease payment is competitive with the cheaper domestic vehicle. Also, there is an inherent cultural difference between American companies and Japanese and European manufactures. Non American manufactures seem to take more pride in getting it right.

Every final assembly factory, regardless of the brand has a room at the end of the line. This is where they bring the vehicles that just don’t meet the standards on the final inspection. This is where they get the things fixed that the assembly line did not get right the first time. I have toured many automobile factories and I can tell you that the “Import†brands have far less vehicles in the “repair†room on any given day. Lexus gets the car right the first time, and they forced Mercedes to clean up their act because they had many sloppy cars come off the line in the old days, and then a technician would “Fix†it. That got just too expensive in today’s market so they changed their ways .

It is like everything else in this world….you get what you pay for. A Lexus or BMW will outperform a Ford or Chevy when you consider strictly reliability. Just like a Historic Racing Miniatures Cobra Coupe will blow the doors off an AMT “whatever†when you consider detail and quality. But, $180.00 is much more than $14.95….you get what you pay for.

[Ken]

One of the best cars I ever owned was a 73 Dodge Dart with a 318 2 barrel. I beat the snot out of that car and it continued to run. I later sold it and the only thing the next owners replaced was the carb. My 69 dart with a 273 was just as good. My grandmothers both had Dodge/Plymouth products and they ran like tops. One was a 70 Duster 340 and the other one was a Fury 3 four door with a 440 and torqueflite. I just thing that newer cars aren't built as well. My company car, a 2004 tahoe has had numerous problems. The biggest is the dash cluster going. We have had to replace the dash clusters in every Tahoe the company has bought. I think we are up to 25 dashes. GM will not do snot to help out. The Blazer I had before the Tahoe was just as bad. I had less than 3000 miles on it, it was only two months old and all the bolts on the water pump pulley gave way... at 2AM!!!! in the bad part of town.

[Nick F40]

It's true!

I’d drive it down the road and it always sounded like parts were falling off the ###### thing.

Now I know some of you probably think, okay, I was hauling a big trailer and no wonder stuff was wearing out left, but I never towed anything with it. It was, however, towed 4 or 5 times.

Dont even get me going on the Dodge I was unfortunate enough to own.

the towing part is hilarious

oh and do tell!

newer cars just suck!

[evilone]

###### ill stick to the old school cars

the new cars are ment to last about 10 years

the old cars are ment to last forever

hell with the amount of money its costs to fix a new car i can go get me a mint condition 59 caddy hearse instead

[Nick F40]

that's because the older cars, no matter what it was really, were made out of ME TAL and had ME TAL parts!

none of this plastic skirts and panels or dent resistent "plastic".....

Edited July 9, 2008 by Nick F40

[CAL]

the towing part is hilarious

oh and do tell!

newer cars just suck!

All I can say is it was a Dodge Diplomat with like a 5 bhp slant six. Top speed 55mph for like 10 min after that 40-45 mph with your foot burried in the floor with a tailwind going down hill.

That stupid almost killed me. I was nearly taken out - luckly only ended up on the cement divider, because it didn't have enough power to get out of it's own way much less anyone elses.

It sounded like a space ship with a plugged cat.

Took the entire exhaust system off and it ran no better.

Edited July 9, 2008 by CAL

[Nick F40]

All I can say is it was a Dodge Diplomat with like a 5 bhp slant six. Top speed 55mph for like 10 min after that 40-45 mph with your foot burried in the floor with a tailwind going down hill.

That stupid almost killed me. I was nearly taken out - luckly only ended up on the cement divider, because it didn't have enough power to get out of it's own way much less anyone elses.

It sounded like a space ship with a plugged cat.

Took the entire exhaust system off and it ran no better.

so what you're saying is a VDub Bus could whoop you? Buried to the floor?

Slant sixes are supposed to be indestructible!

Well it's good your alive!

Edited July 9, 2008 by Nick F40

[evilone]

that's because the older cars, no matter what it was really, were made out of ME TAL and had ME TAL parts!

none of this plastic skirts and panels or dent resistent "plastic".....

wow are you seriouse i did not know this

you do know you are talking to a car fanatic right?

plus i do own two classics

so i think i know this already

shocking huh

[CAL]

that's because the older cars, no matter what it was really, were made out of ME TAL and had ME TAL parts!

none of this plastic skirts and panels or dent resistent "plastic".....

Now there just made of old budweiser cans.

[Nick F40]

wow are you seriouse i did not know this

you do know you are talking to a car fanatic right?

plus i do own two classics

so i think i know this already

shocking huh

know sarcasm much?

[evilone]

know sarcasm much?

maybe

[Nick F40]

Now there just made of old budweiser cans.

AMEN!

[CAL]

so what you're saying is a VDub Bus could whoop you? Buried to the floor?

Slant sixes are supposed to be indestructible!

Well it's good your alive!

it be a no contest with a 83bhp Vanagon the VW would win easy.

That is what I have been told. I was also told there wasn't anything wrong with the engine mechanically.

However, no one could explaine why it was such a powerless wonder.

I think it was because it weighed like 3 million pounds. It was a two door and I swear the driver door alone was a 1000 pounds.

I hit a cement wall! and only pushed the bumper over a bit.

[Nick F40]

I hit a cement wall! and only pushed the bumper over a bit.

ok, that's funny and cool!

doors and weight heavier than a Reatta's?

[evilone]

it be a no contest with a 83bhp Vanagon the VW would win easy.

That is what I have been told. I was also told there wasn't anything wrong with the engine mechanically.

However, no one could explaine why it was such a powerless wonder.

I think it was because it weighed like 3 million pounds. It was a two door and I swear the driver door alone was a 1000 pounds.

I hit a cement wall! and only pushed the bumper over a bit.

###### thats a car

hell scratch that its a tank

my car weights at 5700 lbs

so figuring if your doors are 1000 a piece

the doors + the engine+interior it would weight more then my hearse

[CAL]

ok, that's funny and cool!

doors and weight heavier than a Reatta's?

It putted around town okay. They highway... forgetaboutit.

Yeah it was like closing a bank vault.

Edited July 9, 2008 by CAL

[Nick F40]

Yeah it was like closing a bank vault.

aahaha

like a ship going out in waters sound or when a car flips

Edited July 9, 2008 by Nick F40