OK. I never said I was a Chrysler expert. I said I owned 2. One was total junk- it actually made an MG that I owned seem very reliable in comparison. The other was OK until it hit 90,000 miles and then it was like a bomb went off- literally nearly everything went wrong. It barely made it to the dealership to be traded in. (And not on another Chrysler product, either.)
I did watch my late brother buy them over and over and over again and have more than an average share of problems. He tended to trade cars every 18-24 months. The trades he made made zero sense. Trade a Chrysler something or other that had yet another problem (his wife's Town and Country minivan in this case.) The "squeaky" slider door that was checked by the dealership multiple times with "no problem found" comments on the work orders actually fell off the van and landed on their driveway. She was so over it by then, she left it there for him to deal with. He put it in the back of the van, went back to the dealer and bought another one!!!! As my original post said, I just don't get it.
We all learned to drive on Chrysler products (my siblings on a '66 Plymouth Fury with a 318, me on a '75 Dodge Dart with a 225) and we all bought Chrysler products when we bought cars. The rest of us left Chrysler (my siblings for Toyotas, my sister had a BMW and currently has a Sienna minivan and a Saab- I've had a variety of brands in the driveway.) Even my mother left Chrysler after nearly a lifetime. She had 2 Hondas before she passed and loved them both. My oldest bother would stray (Chevy, Nissan, and Honda) and have little or no trouble, and then return, only to complain of the same old problems.
No matter the brand, sometimes owner loyalty just doesn't make sense, If I had or saw the same issues with another brand, my comments would be directed towards that brand, but saw it with Chrysler.
And to make things clear, I wasn't using a car magazine as proof of any Hyundai "superiority." I did say they rated very well at JD Powers (who surveys actual owners of the vehicles.) No agenda there. I realize the car mags are biased. As far as the 2011 Sonata (which isn't what we own) if you haven't looked at one yet, you don't know what you are talking about. This thing oozes quality.
One last thought. Another poster said that the Chrysler merger with Fiat made sense because Chrysler knows trucks and Fiat knows cars. I'll agree. I work with a lady that tows horses constantly (her family shows them.) She bought her Dodge 2500 used a few years back with 100K on the clock-it has 180K now and it has been nearly trouble free. OK, so Chrysler knows trucks. This means they have been making cars since 1925 and still don't know them, they have to merge with Fiat to show them how to do it?? Sad, and scary.
Chrysler's problem isn't their cars- it is consumer perception of their cars. Unreliable, boring, "grandpa" cars. OK the Challenger is HOT- I'll agree on that. But here is the big issue- Chrysler could literally build the beast car in the worls (when pigs fly) and I wouldn't buy it- because I won't believe it. We have Hyundai's now. Hyundai built total junk- it is arguable which was worse between an Excel and a Yugo. The front suspensions of some models 10 years or so ago rotted out. But they learned and their quality has steadily improved since. Chrysler seems to cost along on owner loyalty that I just don't get,
I did watch my late brother buy them over and over and over again and have more than an average share of problems. He tended to trade cars every 18-24 months. The trades he made made zero sense. Trade a Chrysler something or other that had yet another problem (his wife's Town and Country minivan in this case.) The "squeaky" slider door that was checked by the dealership multiple times with "no problem found" comments on the work orders actually fell off the van and landed on their driveway. She was so over it by then, she left it there for him to deal with. He put it in the back of the van, went back to the dealer and bought another one!!!! As my original post said, I just don't get it.
We all learned to drive on Chrysler products (my siblings on a '66 Plymouth Fury with a 318, me on a '75 Dodge Dart with a 225) and we all bought Chrysler products when we bought cars. The rest of us left Chrysler (my siblings for Toyotas, my sister had a BMW and currently has a Sienna minivan and a Saab- I've had a variety of brands in the driveway.) Even my mother left Chrysler after nearly a lifetime. She had 2 Hondas before she passed and loved them both. My oldest bother would stray (Chevy, Nissan, and Honda) and have little or no trouble, and then return, only to complain of the same old problems.
No matter the brand, sometimes owner loyalty just doesn't make sense, If I had or saw the same issues with another brand, my comments would be directed towards that brand, but saw it with Chrysler.
And to make things clear, I wasn't using a car magazine as proof of any Hyundai "superiority." I did say they rated very well at JD Powers (who surveys actual owners of the vehicles.) No agenda there. I realize the car mags are biased. As far as the 2011 Sonata (which isn't what we own) if you haven't looked at one yet, you don't know what you are talking about. This thing oozes quality.
One last thought. Another poster said that the Chrysler merger with Fiat made sense because Chrysler knows trucks and Fiat knows cars. I'll agree. I work with a lady that tows horses constantly (her family shows them.) She bought her Dodge 2500 used a few years back with 100K on the clock-it has 180K now and it has been nearly trouble free. OK, so Chrysler knows trucks. This means they have been making cars since 1925 and still don't know them, they have to merge with Fiat to show them how to do it?? Sad, and scary.
Chrysler's problem isn't their cars- it is consumer perception of their cars. Unreliable, boring, "grandpa" cars. OK the Challenger is HOT- I'll agree on that. But here is the big issue- Chrysler could literally build the beast car in the worls (when pigs fly) and I wouldn't buy it- because I won't believe it. We have Hyundai's now. Hyundai built total junk- it is arguable which was worse between an Excel and a Yugo. The front suspensions of some models 10 years or so ago rotted out. But they learned and their quality has steadily improved since. Chrysler seems to cost along on owner loyalty that I just don't get,
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