Chrysler makes me want to puke

[M1Accord]

My friend stopped by a Chrysler dealership to test drive a Challenger with the Hemi engine. Being a Bob, I asked what was required of me to keep the life time warranty. The salesman, a term I use very loosely for the idiot working there, indicated that lifetime warranty is longer offered. His exact response was "We don't do it anymore. You were paying for it anyway." My friend and I exchanged a disgusted gesture. Let's say he's not buying a Chrysler product anytime soon. He did test drive the car, which is extremely weak with an automatic. The whole car is as uninteresting as one can get with a new car. Everything felt cheap. The only thing nice about it is the way it looks on the outside, from a distance. Of course, it is not something they come up with recently so they can't claim credit for the good look.

Unfortunately, this parent company also own my favorite brand, Jeep.

The way we were treated was strange. First we were ignored even though we showed up in a BMW 740i. A quick search in their database would show that my friend just bought a brand new, top of the line, Dodge Caliber during the CFC program for his daughter. Everyone there seems extremely lazy and slow. They lost a sale to someone who is an extremely impulse buyer going through mid-life crisis.

 

[Ike_Clanton]

Maybe the salesman was able to tell you two were just a couple of uppity tire kickers who thought they were special for arriving in a $7500 BMW.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Their loss, Chrysler is bringing the Fiat 500, the hottest car in Europe.

 

[strongt]

Their warranty now is 5 years/100,000 miles on the powertrain. And 3 year/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper.

 

[daves87rs]

Interesting....

 

[Nick R]

Complete opposite of how I've been treated at the local Chrysler dealer. They KNEW I wasn't buying a car, but they still helped and let me look at them, and would have let me test drive them if I had the time.

 

[Vizzy]

It all depends on how the independent franchise is being managed, and unfortunately the quality of that management is from outright nearly criminal to nearly flawless. It is a real [censored] shoot.

 

[Mr Nice]

I'm surprised they didn't do everything to try and sell a car.

Chrysler will NOT be missed when they eventually go out of business.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
I'm surprised they didn't do everything to try and sell a car.

Chrysler will NOT be missed when they eventually go out of business.


Maybe by YOU, but I personally will. I like alot of chrysler cars. Styling, if nothing else. The new GC looks like it might be excellent. And once they replace all of their old, outdated V6s with the new Pentastar, well....

 

[dishdude]

Daimler ran that company into the ground, now that they are away from them, I think we'll see things improve. I would be very shocked if we see Chrysler go out of business, but anything is possible.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Daimler ran that company into the ground, now that they are away from them, I think we'll see things improve. I would be very shocked if we see Chrysler go out of business, but anything is possible.


What they REALLY need is new product. Daimler gutted them, and didn't give them anything to develop new, good products. The new grand cherokee so far looks like they put alot of thought it, and if a brand new SUV/CUV is what it takes to get people considering them, then so be it. I personally would love to see Chrysler competetive again.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Maybe the salesmen work on a salary instead of commission. They're government workers now, right?

 

[MarkC]

Originally Posted By: strongt
Their warranty now is 5 years/100,000 miles on the powertrain. And 3 year/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper.


Good thing I bought my new Jeep in 2009, I have the lifetime powertrain warranty.

 

[02SE]

I don't know about Daimler ruining them. I had a '95 Ram V-10 4x4 club cab dually (pre-Daimler). That thing was one of the worst vehicles I've ever had the misfortune to own.

Some friends bought Chrysler vehicles manufactured under Daimler's ownership. I noticed a big improvement in reliability and quality in those vehicles.

I'd say Daimler was a huge asset in improving the product line.

 

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: Ike_Clanton
Maybe the salesman was able to tell you two were just a couple of uppity tire kickers who thought they were special for arriving in a $7500 BMW.


It's a 2008 BMW 7 Series. My friend also bought a new car for his daughter. Unlike me, he likes buying cars and when you've worked hard all your life you can justify buying new cars all the time.

If they suspect we're tire kickers, why let us take out a brand new Challenger Hemi with only 2 miles on it? The guy didn't care and neither was his manager. We came back from the test drive, return the key and expected that they'll trying to deal. Nope. The salesman was too busy checking college basketball news on his I-Phone. The worst part was that we didn't get a business card. This guy didn't know anything about the products on the lot.

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: 02SE
I don't know about Daimler ruining them. I had a '95 Ram V-10 4x4 club cab dually (pre-Daimler). That thing was one of the worst vehicles I've ever had the misfortune to own.

Some friends bought Chrysler vehicles manufactured under Daimler's ownership. I noticed a big improvement in reliability and quality in those vehicles.

I'd say Daimler was a huge asset in improving the product line.


Normally the Dodge pickups are good, especially ones from that era, but I think only like 1% of RAM buyers actually got the V10. I'm sure that had something to do with reliability. I would've gone with the 5.9L, which is tough as nails.

 

[strongt]

IMO with Daimler's ownership their quality went down really bad.

I own a 1995 Dodge Intrepid with the 3.5L and it's got 170,000 miles on it. With nothing more the changeing normal wear items like plugs, tires, belts and ect.

I also have a 2004 Jeep GC. with 115,000 mile's on it. But from around 40,000 mile's on it's been one one part going bad after another in about 10K intervals. From small $200 items to $1,000's in drivetrain work.

All Daimler did was turn a good auto company into junk.

 

[ms21043]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
My friend stopped by a Chrysler dealership to test drive a Challenger with the Hemi engine. Being a Bob, I asked what was required of me to keep the life time warranty. The salesman, a term I use very loosely for the idiot working there, indicated that lifetime warranty is longer offered. His exact response was "We don't do it anymore. You were paying for it anyway." My friend and I exchanged a disgusted gesture. Let's say he's not buying a Chrysler product anytime soon. He did test drive the car, which is extremely weak with an automatic. The whole car is as uninteresting as one can get with a new car. Everything felt cheap. The only thing nice about it is the way it looks on the outside, from a distance. Of course, it is not something they come up with recently so they can't claim credit for the good look.

Unfortunately, this parent company also own my favorite brand, Jeep.

The way we were treated was strange. First we were ignored even though we showed up in a BMW 740i. A quick search in their database would show that my friend just bought a brand new, top of the line, Dodge Caliber during the CFC program for his daughter. Everyone there seems extremely lazy and slow. They lost a sale to someone who is an extremely impulse buyer going through mid-life crisis.


Doesn't this car have 375 horsepower? You say it was extremely weak. What car in your opinion would be extremely strong? I'm pretty sure with 375 horsepower it can get out of it's own way..

 

[SteveSRT8]

wow, it would certainly put the beemer on a trailer!

How about a low thirteen stock with a competent driver? The new Eagle 5.7 with VVT is a fantastic engine with a table flat torque curve and excellent fuel economy.

Sounds like a Stealership issue. And shows the complete unreliability of the "Butt Dyno"!!!

I can't speak for others but my car has track days at road courses all over the country, about a hundred strip passes, 3 sets of tires chewed up, etc. In 50,000 miles I have not made a single repair. Still as tight as any car I've ever owned in 40 years of hi-po cars, and definitely the most reliable of them all!

Everybody makes a [censored] car, every single mfgr.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
My friend stopped by a Chrysler dealership to test drive a Challenger with the Hemi engine. Being a Bob, I asked what was required of me to keep the life time warranty. The salesman, a term I use very loosely for the idiot working there, indicated that lifetime warranty is longer offered. His exact response was "We don't do it anymore. You were paying for it anyway." My friend and I exchanged a disgusted gesture. Let's say he's not buying a Chrysler product anytime soon. He did test drive the car, which is extremely weak with an automatic. The whole car is as uninteresting as one can get with a new car. Everything felt cheap. The only thing nice about it is the way it looks on the outside, from a distance. Of course, it is not something they come up with recently so they can't claim credit for the good look.

Unfortunately, this parent company also own my favorite brand, Jeep.

The way we were treated was strange. First we were ignored even though we showed up in a BMW 740i. A quick search in their database would show that my friend just bought a brand new, top of the line, Dodge Caliber during the CFC program for his daughter. Everyone there seems extremely lazy and slow. They lost a sale to someone who is an extremely impulse buyer going through mid-life crisis.


1st of all Chrysler is not at fault because a dealership salesman treated you poorly. Complain to the owner not us and don't lay it on Chrysler. Maybe your friend should have mentioned he just bought a Caliber rather than expecting the salesman to be a mind reader. Just a thought.

2nd your continued claims that the new Challenger is a dawg are such bull it isn't funny. The new Challenger is very fast. Are you sure you didn't drive a 3.5L V6 Challenger? The new Challenger with the 5.7L( never mind the SRT8 w/ 6.1L )is not going to take a back seat to many new(er) stock vehicles on the road. To say things as you did in another thread that a Civic or Fit is faster are ludicrous.

As to it being cheap inside well I would say that is just your personal opinion. I have got in a couple and IMO they did a good job. It isn't a $100K+ luxury car interior but for the reasonable( by today's standards )price range for the new Challenger I think the interior is fine. Also, keep in mind, this is a retro vehicle built to mimick the old Challenger of the 70's. It isn't supposed to have a new fancy, hi-tech, interior.