I have been so irritated with the glare caused by the poorly designed instrument cluster and dash of my 06 Toyota Sienna that I would have dumped it but the trade-in value is too low. :shades:
Every car manufacturer that makes minivans with power doors has had issues with them at one time or another. Take the time to read the Odyssey, Grand Caravan, T&C, Sienna, Freestar, etc. It's the nature of the beast.
Only covers "defective workmanship and materials".
So what that means is normal drivetrain wear will not be covered. I think if your engine burns oil in 100,000 miles, you aren't getting a new engine. This is going to be dicey to interpret.
The 5-year inspection is MANDATORY and must be done at a Chrysler dealer and done with 60 days of your date of service anniversary. (at no charge to you).
As we stated, the warranty is not transferable.
So what do you all make of this after reading the complete warranty?
So, your transmission starts slipping between gears at 100,000 miles. Certainly not a result of defective workmanship or materials, just normal wear on a high mileage car.
And, what do they do during that mandatory inspection? If probems are found, are the owners required to have those items fixed to keep the warranty in effect?
Yes, this will be dicey, especially if it's oversold.
Oh that's a good question. Is a rebuilt transmission put under the lifetime warranty or the usual rebuilt component warranty?
So if you keep getting drivetrain parts rebuilt because they wore out, are you in effect decreasing your own lifetime warranty on each rebuilt item, each time you do that?
I don't see how ANY part can be found "defective" if it lasts the length of the standard warranty. So they have successfully turned the "lifetime warranty" into a completely useless piece of paper. ugh!
i like my 70k mile warranty from them MUCH better.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Does any one here have a good place to buy the factory extended warranty on all the other items not covered by the life time drive train warranty. It seems that dodge raised all their other policies to help with their drive train warranty
I recall how Hondota owners bashed Chrysler for the power liftgate...but now Toyota brags about having a power liftgate on the most expensive Siennas. :shades:
Did Honda ever make the power liftgate an option on the Odyssey? :confuse:
Even if they cover worn out engines and transmissions, there won't be that many because of the original owner clause, the private owner clause (no businesses), the fact that people tire of their cars (particularly those with enough money/credit to buy new), and only the power train is covered. Yes, the latter are expensive, but generally tough if taken care of. :shades:
the power liftgate is one of those things that you just don't understand the benefit till you have one.
We have it on our Pac. Didn't really specifically go for it, but it was on the car. Now that we've lived with it, we love it. I never really thought about "what if my arms are full of 80-lbs of stuff?" Used to be I had to set that stuff down, then open the door. Now I just gotta carry that key in my hand while my arms are loaded down and hit that little button. Same when I've got my son in one arm and a bag or whatever in the other. I just need one little free finger to move a fraction of a fraction of an inch to gain access to the car. Sure, its not like its a miraculous time saver or anything like that, but its nice. Definitely more important to me now than dual (or triple) climate control.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
My thoughts exactly. The more gadgets the better extended warranty (factory) looks. Some of those extra features could get real expensive if you have to fix them out of pocket. My last Chrysler (actually Jeep GCL) was so good repair wise that I made sure I had it gone before the 4 year 75K mile extended ran out :-).
That's the way I feel. Even with a lifetime powertrain warranty, there are so many non-powertrain gadgets that can absolutely kill you, that there's no security here.
Paying to fix say a burned out dashboard display + broken power tail gate + 4 new tires + brakes on a 7 year old van? You might as well junk it.
So, someeone thinking.." I'll buy that Chrysler for the lifetime powertrain warranty and keep it forever" will probably end up dumping it when all of the other troubleprone stuff starts breaking.
"That's the way I feel. Even with a lifetime powertrain warranty, there are so many non-powertrain gadgets that can absolutely kill you, that there's no security here.
Paying to fix say a burned out dashboard display + broken power tail gate + 4 new tires + brakes on a 7 year old van? You might as well junk it."
Let's see, the dashboard going out is less than $400 on most vehicles, even if you don't have the money to fix the power doors / tailgate, it still works fine manually (Try that on the Hondas), 4 new tires (less than $600 for good ones), and brakes would be less than a couple hundred, oh yeah let's total it! Come on, all vehicles have normal wear and tear, ie tires and brakes!. I had a 1997 F150 and kept it to 260000 miles, and now my 2002 Durango has 200,000 miles. Things wear out, and you replace them, it's still cheaper than buying a new vehicle. And the $7000 savings on my 2007 T&C compared to my BIL's Odyssey will more than make up if my pwr doors and hatch fail. Of course, if his transmission goes out, let's see if he can move the van manually.
Basic repairs are one thing. I was thinking more about NAV, DVD entertainment system, power window and sunroof motors, 4 to 6 speed auto transmissions, all the included computers and other non basic stuff. Power seats, etc, etc, etc. If it was not built in, would you pay $500 to repair or replace your 4 year old DVD or NAV?
16" tires are not too bad, $500-600 would do. Try replacing a set of 18" or 19" tires...looking at Sam's for 18" & 19" tires that would fit the GMC Acadia, you are looking at $800-$1200 to replace those.
If you can get a burned-out dashboard replaced on a modern car for $400, I'd be glad to eat it on national television. :P
Sure we drive our old cars without dash lights, and raise our power gate manually, and buy cheap tires and Chinese brake rotors. That's not the point. The point is to RESTORE the car to be the same car you bought 7 years prior is not going to be cheap.
If you invest $3,000 in a car with 100K miles, you may not get another 10K out of the car before something ELSE goes wrong.
As the car ages, the risk factor builds up accordingly.
If you can get a burned-out dashboard replaced on a modern car for $400, I'd be glad to eat it on national television.
One of the night instrument bulbs for my wife's jeep is burned out and has been for six months. I could tear the whole dash apart to replace one stinking bulb and waste an entire Sunday or pay one of our techs a couple hundred bucks to do the same thing.
I am just living with the center part of the dash blacked out. It is right between the Speedo and Tach so it is not really hurting anything. It has been a good jeep but it has been going through bulbs like crazy lately. I think I have replaced every exterior bulb in the past year and now the interior ones are going. I guess a 10 year lifespan on bulbs is about right though.
in warrentee why bother with them at all? There has to be some reason for Hyundia's 10 year warrentee.. Even a 3/36 must have some worth? But then now even Honda has a recall of 1000s of Civics. Were the wheels falling off even covered in a 3/36 warrentee? I agree VWs were not dependable when they had 24 month warrentee and they aren't any better with a longer warrentee but at least they have to fix them for an extra 12 months. To a lot of automotive skeptics on a car site this seems like a shell game. To the general buying public who knows? But if it did noting else other than make other manufacturers extend their warrentee I say it is a good deal.
"Basic repairs are one thing. I was thinking more about NAV, DVD entertainment system, power window and sunroof motors, 4 to 6 speed auto transmissions, all the included computers and other non basic stuff. Power seats, etc, etc, etc. If it was not built in, would you pay $500 to repair or replace your 4 year old DVD or NAV?
16" tires are not too bad, $500-600 would do. Try replacing a set of 18" or 19" tires...looking at Sam's for 18" & 19" tires that would fit the GMC Acadia, you are looking at $800-$1200 to replace those."
I was just able to get a bulb replaced on my 02 Durango for under $200. The Odyssey has the nice lighting, my 07 T&C does not. The T&C's have 16 inch wheels. Don't buy the in dash nav, buy an aftermarket one. Same thing with the DVD, if you use one. My girls are entertained the old fashioned way, they look at scenery. And again, the transmissions tend to be more reliable in the T&C.
I don't know if that was ever true (Odyssey transmission problems appear to be limited to second generation models) but Honda sure as hell takes better care of its customers than Chrysler does. Who but Honda has ever extended a factory transmission warranty for owners to 100K?
I'm not sure I understood your post but I will say this about recalls.
The majority of recalls are "much ado about nothing". In todays world full of trial lawyers, ALL car companies have to over-react to every possibility.
I don't think any wheels have fallen off.
I suppose it's better to over-react than not react at all like manufactures used to do.
If you are going to throw out such a definitive scientific statement, please be prepared to back it up. Where is the proof?
I have no proof of the inverse, but my own anecdotal evidence suggests just the opposite of what you state. I have NEVER personally known an Odyssey owner with tranny troubles, yet EVERY chrysler minivan owner I personally know has had their trannys go bad. I will admit, however, my one friend's Voyager went to 140k miles on the original tranny. That was the longest interval I had witnessed.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
had head gasket leakage at 40K and auto tranny failure at 60K.
Of course, it also had AC failure at 37K, parking break failure, windshield failure, wind seals/window seals failure, alternator/serpentine belt failures (prematurely), Timing Belt burning (from failed A/C), starter cables and wires failure, battery terminal corrosion when it was still relatively brand new, rattles galore, rickety, rackety, O2 sensor failures, fuel pump failures, O-ring seal gas tank leakage failures, and many more that I probably can't remember right now.
What's funny, is that I only had it for 65K miles.
On the other hand, Honda paid for any and all repairs for up to 65K miles (that were needed, which were few and far between). Chrysler/Dodge never offered or agreed to pay for anything after year 3 day 0.
'21 BMW X3 M40i, '15 Audi S4, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Well, with Chrysler "normal" wear and tear breaks down the car at about 3 years and 36,000 miles, which is obviosly how they were engineered and designed to fall apart at that point.
So the lifetime warranty is really the same old 3/36K warranty by a different name. The Dodge dealer told me "parts just break down" when I asked him why my car kept breaking down. So it's normal to have tranny failures and head gasket issues between 36K and 60K for Chrysler vehicles. :mad:
'21 BMW X3 M40i, '15 Audi S4, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
So it's normal to have tranny failures and head gasket issues between 36K and 60K for Chrysler vehicles.
I guess that I must be the luckiest fleet manager in the world. With the "normal transmission failures by 60k", all thirty Chrysler vehicles in my fleet have had no transmission or head gasket failures.
For the record, I am no Chrysler fan ... nor am I a fan of hyperbole.
Amen to that. What really ticks people off is when problems not just crop up, but don’t get and stay fixed.
My mom’s tempo with its repeated failures of the air conditioning comes to mind. It is the reason that despite loving the way the Focus looks I bought a Versa. I simply could not sleep well at night buying a car with such a bad start from a company that treated my mom badly on more than one occasion and made a piece of junk. I roasted once too many times in that car and wondered one too many times if this thing would make it back to the garage cause something failed again.
I am impressed with Nissan and the Versa I bought. I luckily didn’t have any problems. And in general the sedan which came out 6-8 months sfter the hacth back is issuse free.
I am not impressed with Nissan’s ability to create a defect free product. I think Toyota is better at that. Nissan probably has build quality issues at times(i.e. If it is put together right everything is fine but you run a slightly higher chance of getting something not put together right compared to some other manufacturers.)
The Versa has two minor recalls neither of which would leave you stranded somewhere. One for a brake fluid reservoir cap missing a required warning and one for miss installed passenger seat belts on cars made in like a 1 month period. The most serious problem was quickly contained.
What impressed me was how fast Nissan corrected problems as they came up. There was a problem with the low tire pressure light coming on. It was fixed in like 6 months or less. Every problem that I have read that comes up tends to get and stay fixed.
That was what impressed me. I know that if my luck goes bad and something should break that Nissan will attempt to correct it. That is something I am sure Ford never did to the tempo. The repeated breaking of the air conditioner lead to a class action lawsuit!
I am not sure If Chrysler ever behaved like Ford, but if they did they will have one tough road to travel and the only thing that will impress is a bumper to bumper warranty. A real warranty Not a Gimmicky power train one.
"...People who own chryslers shouldn't talk about transmission problems..."
I've owned several Chrysler cars over the years and I never had any serious transmission problems.
The only Chrysler transmission that ever failed on me was on a 1969 Plymouth. As a young hellion I liked to impress my friends by reving it up to about 7000 rpms (not really sure, no tach) in neutral and then dropping it into drive.
After about 110,000 miles of that, third gear blew out. I drove it on two gears for a few weeks until I saved up the $189 to rebuild it.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
yea, here are a list of my vehicles, and no major problems (including transmission) 1998 Dodge Caravan 128k 2001 Dodge Intrepid 96k 2002 Town and Country 134k 2002 Dodge Durango 199k (current, used it to tow about 20k of miles) 2004 Town and Country 75k 2007 Town and Country 1k (current)
isellhondas - I know Honda's are held in high esteem, but one thing I don't understand is their supporters having a blind eye to the well-known Honda transmission problem. My brother had - he just traded it in because of all of the problems it was causing him - a 2002 Honda Odyssey. He had two transmission replacements in the first 80K miles! He is fastidious on preventive maintenance, and is a very conservative driver. On the other hand, my 1994 Grand Caravan ES with the earlier designed, and trouble-prone, 4-speed ECT transmission is currently at 168K miles on the ORIGINAL transmission.
Yes, some Odysseys had transmission problems but the actual percentage was quite small. People aren't used to Hondas having problems so this REALLY got overblown in forums like this one. Still, this was very un-Honda like and Honda stepped up to the plate and took care of the bad ones.
MOST Chryslers don't have transmission problems etiher but the percentage of those that do were a lot higher than Honda experienced.
In your example, I think your brother was very unlucky and I think that you have been lucky as well.
You called them "trouble prone" and any transmission shop would agree with you.
It is NOT normal for Chrysler vehicles to break down any quicker than for Hondas to have problems immediately after delivery.
My neighbor's new Honda Accord had electrical problems from the day she bought it. Conclusion: ALL HONDA ACCORDS have electrical problems.
Now that is not a fair argument. Do you really think I based my entire opinion of Dodge/Chrysler on the one vehicle they sold to me in 1994?
Try this. Read the 1995 Honda Accord MSN Auto User reviews and see how many report electrical problems. Now review and read the 1995 Dodge Neon MSN Auto user reviews (there are more than 200), and start counting how many mention head gasket and transmission issues. You can also look at the 1995 Plymouth Neon for similar results.
Without doing a count myself (I simply obtained an impression by browsing the 200 user reviews; reading several of them) that I can safely offer to bet you 25,000 dollars that the Dodge or Plymouth complaints far outnumber the Honda Accord complaints.
Care to wager?
'21 BMW X3 M40i, '15 Audi S4, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
I am not sure If Chrysler ever behaved like Ford, but if they did they will have one tough road to travel and the only thing that will impress is a bumper to bumper warranty. A real warranty Not a Gimmicky power train one.
Yes, I 100% agree with you. Chrysler needs to come out with a 7 year/100K warranty that is bumper to bumper and reads "Everything will work for 7 years or 100,000 miles or more the way it is supposed to or we'll replace/fix it."
None of this "defects in workmanship and materials" crap. Heck, I'd argue every single indivdual part on a Chrysler is defective in terms of sophistication of design and engineering, and I'm sure the dealer would argue 60,000 miles is plenty good for an auto transmission. I don't want to get into arguments, I'll keep buying well built autos, thank you very much.
And yes, Honda stepped up and fixed the tranny problem I had after warranty was technically expired. Honda dealer personnel acted seemingly embarrassed and surprised I was having problems...... the Dodge dealers acted as if it was common, normal, and standard business and operating procedures to profit from all of the problems I was having.
'21 BMW X3 M40i, '15 Audi S4, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
IF Honda and Toyota are half as reliable as CR would mislead us into believing, WHY don't they offer the 7 year 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty?
WHY do people think Chrysler, Ford, or GM should offer something that Honda and Toyota are not capable of offering?
Simple. I don't think Honda or Toyota has to do that. The product speaks for itself apparently. A longer warranty is meant to boost consumer confidence, but if one's product is already the highest in the industry, what is the point?
Even if the vast majority of consumers are totally deluded and have been tricked into thinking Toyota has the best reliability---it's still real to them at the moment, right?
I'm one of the suckers. I believed it when I bought my Toyota. And my buddy believed in a Big Three company when he bought his car. Can you guess how it turned out for each of us? He got a car that was in many ways superior to mine in performance, room and comfort, and I got the better car. He's going to need the 7/100 apparently, and I'm glad he has it, too.
To be fair, so far they did fix most of his problems, so he's not miserably unhappy...but he was.
We've heard the same story from Detroit for 25 years - they've learned, they'll do better. So they come out with new products that are, intitally, lauded in the automotive press. Time passes and, surprise, surprise, it turns out to be the same old story.
Is it any wonder that their market share continues its downward slide?
Honda and Toyota are so proven to me and my family, including friends, that I would buy them if they had a 1 year 15K warranty. I don't care if they have a warranty or not because I won't need it.
Secondly, I wouldn't buy a domestic vehicle without a super warranty, and I'm afraid even the new GM and Chrysler warranties fall short, but the Hyundai warranty is good (at least for the original owner).
'21 BMW X3 M40i, '15 Audi S4, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
"Secondly, I wouldn't buy a domestic vehicle without a super warranty, and I'm afraid even the new GM and Chrysler warranties fall short, but the Hyundai warranty is good (at least for the original owner). "
This doesn't make any since, since GM and Ford match the miles on the warranty and Chrysler is Unlimited. It all comes down to your preference, and also, why is everyone all over Chrysler for doing this? Isn't it a good thing when they offer a warranty like this? So, it doesn't cover everything, but you have a bumper to bumper warranty for the first 3 years. Just take care of your car, and you should be in good shape, even if it is a VW.
Unfortunately, EVEN if it is a VW is far better than even if it is a Chrysler.
VW may be low on the totem pole, but Chrysler is 500' below ground below the foundation of that pole.
Hyundai's warranty is twice as long as GM's as far as time/years are concerned when it comes to powertrain. Since most people don't drive over 15K a year, GM's effective warranty is only for 75K miles, vs. Hyundai's 100K.
'21 BMW X3 M40i, '15 Audi S4, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
"VW may be low on the totem pole, but Chrysler is 500' below ground below the foundation of that pole. "
Here we go again. I guess their warranty is beter also. Sheesh, again, why bash a company that offers a warranty that's unlimited? Some people just have to complain about American made cars.
Comments
http://www.mouseprint.org/wp-content/avert/chryslerlifewarr.pdf
And the fine print says?
Only covers "defective workmanship and materials".
So what that means is normal drivetrain wear will not be covered. I think if your engine burns oil in 100,000 miles, you aren't getting a new engine. This is going to be dicey to interpret.
The 5-year inspection is MANDATORY and must be done at a Chrysler dealer and done with 60 days of your date of service anniversary. (at no charge to you).
As we stated, the warranty is not transferable.
So what do you all make of this after reading the complete warranty?
So, your transmission starts slipping between gears at 100,000 miles. Certainly not a result of defective workmanship or materials, just normal wear on a high mileage car.
And, what do they do during that mandatory inspection? If probems are found, are the owners required to have those items fixed to keep the warranty in effect?
Yes, this will be dicey, especially if it's oversold.
So if you keep getting drivetrain parts rebuilt because they wore out, are you in effect decreasing your own lifetime warranty on each rebuilt item, each time you do that?
i like my 70k mile warranty from them MUCH better.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Did Honda ever make the power liftgate an option on the Odyssey? :confuse:
I don't remember any "bashing". I do remember someone, maybe myself saying they couldn't see much benefit to a power hatch. I still feel that way.
Just shows, what is important to some is of no importance to others. Seperate driver and passenger temp. controls is a great example of this.
We have it on our Pac. Didn't really specifically go for it, but it was on the car. Now that we've lived with it, we love it. I never really thought about "what if my arms are full of 80-lbs of stuff?" Used to be I had to set that stuff down, then open the door. Now I just gotta carry that key in my hand while my arms are loaded down and hit that little button. Same when I've got my son in one arm and a bag or whatever in the other. I just need one little free finger to move a fraction of a fraction of an inch to gain access to the car. Sure, its not like its a miraculous time saver or anything like that, but its nice. Definitely more important to me now than dual (or triple) climate control.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Paying to fix say a burned out dashboard display + broken power tail gate + 4 new tires + brakes on a 7 year old van? You might as well junk it.
So, someeone thinking.." I'll buy that Chrysler for the lifetime powertrain warranty and keep it forever" will probably end up dumping it when all of the other troubleprone stuff starts breaking.
When you have to head into the shop 4-5 times a year for a $400-500 repair, you start to wonder if it is time to buy a new vehicle.
It is usually the gadget motors or the "warning lights" that get to you after a while.
Paying to fix say a burned out dashboard display + broken power tail gate + 4 new tires + brakes on a 7 year old van? You might as well junk it."
Let's see, the dashboard going out is less than $400 on most vehicles, even if you don't have the money to fix the power doors / tailgate, it still works fine manually (Try that on the Hondas), 4 new tires (less than $600 for good ones), and brakes would be less than a couple hundred, oh yeah let's total it! Come on, all vehicles have normal wear and tear, ie tires and brakes!. I had a 1997 F150 and kept it to 260000 miles, and now my 2002 Durango has 200,000 miles. Things wear out, and you replace them, it's still cheaper than buying a new vehicle. And the $7000 savings on my 2007 T&C compared to my BIL's Odyssey will more than make up if my pwr doors and hatch fail. Of course, if his transmission goes out, let's see if he can move the van manually.
16" tires are not too bad, $500-600 would do. Try replacing a set of 18" or 19" tires...looking at Sam's for 18" & 19" tires that would fit the GMC Acadia, you are looking at $800-$1200 to replace those.
Sure we drive our old cars without dash lights, and raise our power gate manually, and buy cheap tires and Chinese brake rotors. That's not the point. The point is to RESTORE the car to be the same car you bought 7 years prior is not going to be cheap.
If you invest $3,000 in a car with 100K miles, you may not get another 10K out of the car before something ELSE goes wrong.
As the car ages, the risk factor builds up accordingly.
One of the night instrument bulbs for my wife's jeep is burned out and has been for six months. I could tear the whole dash apart to replace one stinking bulb and waste an entire Sunday or pay one of our techs a couple hundred bucks to do the same thing.
I am just living with the center part of the dash blacked out. It is right between the Speedo and Tach so it is not really hurting anything. It has been a good jeep but it has been going through bulbs like crazy lately. I think I have replaced every exterior bulb in the past year and now the interior ones are going. I guess a 10 year lifespan on bulbs is about right though.
16" tires are not too bad, $500-600 would do. Try replacing a set of 18" or 19" tires...looking at Sam's for 18" & 19" tires that would fit the GMC Acadia, you are looking at $800-$1200 to replace those."
I was just able to get a bulb replaced on my 02 Durango for under $200. The Odyssey has the nice lighting, my 07 T&C does not. The T&C's have 16 inch wheels. Don't buy the in dash nav, buy an aftermarket one. Same thing with the DVD, if you use one. My girls are entertained the old fashioned way, they look at scenery. And again, the transmissions tend to be more reliable in the T&C.
The majority of recalls are "much ado about nothing". In todays world full of trial lawyers, ALL car companies have to over-react to every possibility.
I don't think any wheels have fallen off.
I suppose it's better to over-react than not react at all like manufactures used to do.
It's a wonder we survived!
I have no proof of the inverse, but my own anecdotal evidence suggests just the opposite of what you state. I have NEVER personally known an Odyssey owner with tranny troubles, yet EVERY chrysler minivan owner I personally know has had their trannys go bad. I will admit, however, my one friend's Voyager went to 140k miles on the original tranny. That was the longest interval I had witnessed.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Of course, it also had AC failure at 37K, parking break failure, windshield failure, wind seals/window seals failure, alternator/serpentine belt failures (prematurely), Timing Belt burning (from failed A/C), starter cables and wires failure, battery terminal corrosion when it was still relatively brand new, rattles galore, rickety, rackety, O2 sensor failures, fuel pump failures, O-ring seal gas tank leakage failures, and many more that I probably can't remember right now.
What's funny, is that I only had it for 65K miles.
On the other hand, Honda paid for any and all repairs for up to 65K miles (that were needed, which were few and far between). Chrysler/Dodge never offered or agreed to pay for anything after year 3 day 0.
So the lifetime warranty is really the same old 3/36K warranty by a different name. The Dodge dealer told me "parts just break down" when I asked him why my car kept breaking down. So it's normal to have tranny failures and head gasket issues between 36K and 60K for Chrysler vehicles. :mad:
I guess that I must be the luckiest fleet manager in the world. With the "normal transmission failures by 60k", all thirty Chrysler vehicles in my fleet have had no transmission or head gasket failures.
For the record, I am no Chrysler fan ... nor am I a fan of hyperbole.
My neighbor's new Honda Accord had electrical problems from the day she bought it. Conclusion: ALL HONDA ACCORDS have electrical problems. :lemon:
My mom’s tempo with its repeated failures of the air conditioning comes to mind. It is the reason that despite loving the way the Focus looks I bought a Versa. I simply could not sleep well at night buying a car with such a bad start from a company that treated my mom badly on more than one occasion and made a piece of junk. I roasted once too many times in that car and wondered one too many times if this thing would make it back to the garage cause something failed again.
I am impressed with Nissan and the Versa I bought. I luckily didn’t have any problems. And in general the sedan which came out 6-8 months sfter the hacth back is issuse free.
I am not impressed with Nissan’s ability to create a defect free product. I think Toyota is better at that. Nissan probably has build quality issues at times(i.e. If it is put together right everything is fine but you run a slightly higher chance of getting something not put together right compared to some other manufacturers.)
The Versa has two minor recalls neither of which would leave you stranded somewhere. One for a brake fluid reservoir cap missing a required warning and one for miss installed passenger seat belts on cars made in like a 1 month period. The most serious problem was quickly contained.
What impressed me was how fast Nissan corrected problems as they came up. There was a problem with the low tire pressure light coming on. It was fixed in like 6 months or less. Every problem that I have read that comes up tends to get and stay fixed.
That was what impressed me. I know that if my luck goes bad and something should break that Nissan will attempt to correct it. That is something I am sure Ford never did to the tempo. The repeated breaking of the air conditioner lead to a class action lawsuit!
I am not sure If Chrysler ever behaved like Ford, but if they did they will have one tough road to travel and the only thing that will impress is a bumper to bumper warranty. A real warranty Not a Gimmicky power train one.
I've owned several Chrysler cars over the years and I never had any serious transmission problems.
The only Chrysler transmission that ever failed on me was on a 1969 Plymouth. As a young hellion I liked to impress my friends by reving it up to about 7000 rpms (not really sure, no tach) in neutral and then dropping it into drive.
After about 110,000 miles of that, third gear blew out. I drove it on two gears for a few weeks until I saved up the $189 to rebuild it.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1998 Dodge Caravan 128k
2001 Dodge Intrepid 96k
2002 Town and Country 134k
2002 Dodge Durango 199k (current, used it to tow about 20k of miles)
2004 Town and Country 75k
2007 Town and Country 1k (current)
And I'm about to get another V8 Durango.
isellhondas - I know Honda's are held in high esteem, but one thing I don't understand is their supporters having a blind eye to the well-known Honda transmission problem. My brother had - he just traded it in because of all of the problems it was causing him - a 2002 Honda Odyssey. He had two transmission replacements in the first 80K miles! He is fastidious on preventive maintenance, and is a very conservative driver. On the other hand, my 1994 Grand Caravan ES with the earlier designed, and trouble-prone, 4-speed ECT transmission is currently at 168K miles on the ORIGINAL transmission.
MOST Chryslers don't have transmission problems etiher but the percentage of those that do were a lot higher than Honda experienced.
In your example, I think your brother was very unlucky and I think that you have been lucky as well.
You called them "trouble prone" and any transmission shop would agree with you.
Honda Transmissions
Ford Transmissions
Chrysler Transmissions
My neighbor's new Honda Accord had electrical problems from the day she bought it. Conclusion: ALL HONDA ACCORDS have electrical problems.
Now that is not a fair argument. Do you really think I based my entire opinion of Dodge/Chrysler on the one vehicle they sold to me in 1994?
Try this. Read the 1995 Honda Accord MSN Auto User reviews and see how many report electrical problems. Now review and read the 1995 Dodge Neon MSN Auto user reviews (there are more than 200), and start counting how many mention head gasket and transmission issues. You can also look at the 1995 Plymouth Neon for similar results.
Without doing a count myself (I simply obtained an impression by browsing the 200 user reviews; reading several of them) that I can safely offer to bet you 25,000 dollars that the Dodge or Plymouth complaints far outnumber the Honda Accord complaints.
Care to wager?
Yes, I 100% agree with you. Chrysler needs to come out with a 7 year/100K warranty that is bumper to bumper and reads "Everything will work for 7 years or 100,000 miles or more the way it is supposed to or we'll replace/fix it."
None of this "defects in workmanship and materials" crap. Heck, I'd argue every single indivdual part on a Chrysler is defective in terms of sophistication of design and engineering, and I'm sure the dealer would argue 60,000 miles is plenty good for an auto transmission. I don't want to get into arguments, I'll keep buying well built autos, thank you very much.
And yes, Honda stepped up and fixed the tranny problem I had after warranty was technically expired. Honda dealer personnel acted seemingly embarrassed and surprised I was having problems...... the Dodge dealers acted as if it was common, normal, and standard business and operating procedures to profit from all of the problems I was having.
WHY do people think Chrysler, Ford, or GM should offer something that Honda and Toyota are not capable of offering?
Even if the vast majority of consumers are totally deluded and have been tricked into thinking Toyota has the best reliability---it's still real to them at the moment, right?
I'm one of the suckers. I believed it when I bought my Toyota. And my buddy believed in a Big Three company when he bought his car. Can you guess how it turned out for each of us? He got a car that was in many ways superior to mine in performance, room and comfort, and I got the better car. He's going to need the 7/100 apparently, and I'm glad he has it, too.
To be fair, so far they did fix most of his problems, so he's not miserably unhappy...but he was.
We've heard the same story from Detroit for 25 years - they've learned, they'll do better. So they come out with new products that are, intitally, lauded in the automotive press. Time passes and, surprise, surprise, it turns out to be the same old story.
Is it any wonder that their market share continues its downward slide?
Honda and Toyota are so proven to me and my family, including friends, that I would buy them if they had a 1 year 15K warranty. I don't care if they have a warranty or not because I won't need it.
Secondly, I wouldn't buy a domestic vehicle without a super warranty, and I'm afraid even the new GM and Chrysler warranties fall short, but the Hyundai warranty is good (at least for the original owner).
This doesn't make any since, since GM and Ford match the miles on the warranty and Chrysler is Unlimited. It all comes down to your preference, and also, why is everyone all over Chrysler for doing this? Isn't it a good thing when they offer a warranty like this? So, it doesn't cover everything, but you have a bumper to bumper warranty for the first 3 years. Just take care of your car, and you should be in good shape, even if it is a VW.
VW may be low on the totem pole, but Chrysler is 500' below ground below the foundation of that pole.
Hyundai's warranty is twice as long as GM's as far as time/years are concerned when it comes to powertrain. Since most people don't drive over 15K a year, GM's effective warranty is only for 75K miles, vs. Hyundai's 100K.
Here we go again. I guess their warranty is beter also. Sheesh, again, why bash a company that offers a warranty that's unlimited? Some people just have to complain about American made cars.