Chrysler's New Lifetime Drivetrain Warranty

hansienna

Ha Ha. I have owned Volkswagen and Chrysler vehicles and will NEVER own another Volkswagen but will probably buy a Chrysler T&C as my next new vehicle.

Volkswagen is the German word for "JUNK" :lemon:

andres3

Chrysler's warranty is too riddled with fine print and exclusionary clauses that to call it "unlimited" is downright fraudulant in my book.

I appreciate Chrysler's sign of faith in extending their warranties on powertrain (but conveniently in essence saying our cars are junk so the bumper to bumper is only 3 years or 36K). They should not have left the bumper to bumper warranty unattended to.

Also, ask Chrysler whether the lifetime warranty is the life of the car or the life of the company?

andres3

Features of a car include things like HP, amount of gears, gas mileage, handling characteristics, interior comfort and room, gadgets and bells and whistles. you could include braking prowess and tire grip, quietness of cabin while cruising, and engine smoothness even at 7K RPM.

The warranty isn't a feature technically, but it definitely is an attribute that you have to factor in with the price.

For any domestic vehicle, I'd factor in (being optimistic) an extended warranty cost, 10 rental car day costs, 4 tow truck costs, and about 24 hours of my own wasted time expense into keeping one for 7 years or 100,000 miles. So I'd have to add all those costs to the baseline out the door cost a dealer will sell for.

With a Honda or Toyota, I already get an extended warranty via reputation and quality, without having to pay for it (other than in the baseline price already). So they generally have a price advantage in my mind and book. I don't have to worry about tons of wasted time, energy, costs, tow trucks, and such.

Also, a vehicle is worth $0.00 exactly, when it is not running, and you need it to run. Absolutely worthless. The 0-60 time of a car that is broken down is infinity, which is quite slow! Well... maybe if you had a big steep hill to push it down......you could pull a 0-60 in 25 seconds or so....

I know some of you will say and argue that certain companies are now stepping up to offer free loaner vehicles and roadside assistance, but do you really want to deal with all of the hassle?

isellhondas

Well, mark your calendar because for once I agree with you.

When it comes to reliability, I'll take a Chrysler over a Volkswagen hands down. You can include Audi and Volvo in that too!

dtownfb

I wrote on here early on that the warranty is nice but nothing more then marketing. My point is there is no car or truck in the Chrysler lineup that is even remotely desirable to me. I attended a car show last January and sat in all of Chrysler offerings and was absolutely amazed that none appealed to me. Never liked the styling of the 500, the Sebring is a joke and I want to like the Caliber butt.... If Chrysler made cars that were appealing and desirable, there would be no need for this warranty. It is being used to pick up sales. It has nothing to do with trust in their vehicles and improved reliability. It's about selling cars. If it works, good for them. But don't expect me to buy it.

joel0622

For any domestic vehicle, I'd factor in (being optimistic) an extended warranty cost, 10 rental car day costs, 4 tow truck costs, and about 24 hours of my own wasted time expense into keeping one for 7 years or 100,000 miles. So I'd have to add all those costs to the baseline out the door cost a dealer will sell for.

Oh please, get out of the 80's.

Do all you people really think that the only reason Honda has a service department is to change the oil, and you can just drop Toyota out of your myth to, they have them stacked up like cord wood trying to get all there recalls done, they are just another domestic now that sends the majority of there profits to japan.

I admit Honda makes a fine car, and one of the reasons is that they have kept there line up to a manageable size and don't try to cater to everyone, they have picked a segment out and doing well concentrating on that segment, hence the reason for the higher quality. Toyota left that idea to try to be #1 in the world and there perceived quality has dropped big time. The more ya sell the more that break, its pure numbers.

isellhondas

Perhaps, but some break a lot more than others do.

andres3

Oh please, get out of the 80's.

I can be asked to get out of the 90's when it comes to domestic trash/cars/trash, but not out of the eighties!!!

My family, my friends, nor I owned any 80's domestic vehicles that I can remember.

It was a 95 model, but that was enough for the rest of my life.

Dodge gets an F-.
Honda gets an A-
Audi gets an A- (thus far; 25K miles)

for my own personal vehicles.

My parents' '95 Camry I drove around for 2 years of college; well, that get's an A. I'm a tough grader.

My friends 94 Geo Prism (which was a Corolla) gets an A+.

My parents/brothers 4 Runner gets an A+.
The VW Jetta 87 model year I believe gets a C+.

All of the above grades are for reliability/dependability only.

lemko

Geeze, I owned new domestic cars in the 1980s and none of those things were necessary even then. I had a 1985 Chrysler Fifth Avenue I sold to my brother over 13 years ago and he's still driving it.

joel0622

Oh OK I apologize, I did not realize it was a Dodge.

grbeck

isellhondas: Perhaps, but some break a lot more than others do.

In all fairness, the domestics - particularly Ford and GM - break down a lot less than they used to. Ford helped itself by getting rid of that awful 3.8 ohv V-6 used in the Mustang, Taurus/Sable and Windstar.

andres3

So all cars are much better today...... but why did it take so long. Why couldn't they get it right 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago?

joel0622

Good question. If we (the domestics) would have had a handle on QC 20 years ago there would not be the Domestic VS Import battle going on today. Honda and Toyota would still be here but not with the market share they have now.

We put ourselves in this position and now it is our job to take back what we once had.

jlawrence01

Personally, I think that the current battle is not solely about quality. Most of us "car people" (versus those buying trucks and SUVS) believe that the domestic producers have spent most of their attention on the monster vehicles over smaller vehicles.

Kirstie_H

This is not the foreign v domestic discussion, please. Stick to the topic in the discussion title - we can't keep having this foreign v domestic quality debate in every discussion. Thanks!

If you use the search box at the left and type in either "foreign" or "domestic," you'll get some discussions in which that conversation is on-topic.

asafonov

Mechanic’s Tale: Based on a True Story

A while ago, I read this essay written by Doug Fling, a mechanic-[non-permissible content removed]-journalist. To summarize, some early 90's Chrysler vehicles had faulty ABS designs, and, under pressure from NHTSA, Chrysler offered a lifetime warranty on the pump. The author quotes a Chrysler dealership's response to his repair request on a failed brake pump,

"No, Chrysler won't let us replace the pump unless we repair the whole system. So in order to get your lifetime warranty on the pump you'll have to buy $2500 to $3000 worth of additional parts and labor."

Chrysler's recall nowhere and in no way preconditions replacement of the anti-lock pump on the condition of the rest of the anti-lock brake system, or for that matter the rest of the brake system.

So why is Chrysler balking? My guess is they are tired of the liability of these vehicles being on the road, each one of them a potential financial settlement. They're tired of people like me trying to hold them to their promise.

It is true that Doug Flint generalizes from a single first-hand experience and things he heard. It is also true that the faulty design was from 90 to 93, 15+ years ago - still less than "lifetime". I hope things have changed at Chrysler, and it will not try to weasel out of the responsibilities it accepted when it issued this warranty.

dtownfb

Simple. they didn't have to. the Big 3 believed they could rely on patriotism and Americans "settling" for their cars. They instead invested in pickups and SUVs because they were more profitable. They also expanded in Europe and Asia and they sent their better products there to build market share. They never counted on gas prices going up so much so quickly. They never anticipated Toyota, Honda and to some degree Hyundai becoming so popular. Especially in small cars, they are playing catch up.

isellhondas

They didn't see the changes coming or the threats from Japan. They, instead built cars like the Vega nad Pinto.

The UAW sure didn't help either.

hansienna

Correction: USA Government policies blew it by rebuilding and providing military protection for Japan and Korea while taxing USA companies and citizens to pay for it.

GREEDY American CEO's and Union Bosses also helped create the dilemma of USA based companies.

tidester

You may want to check out the topics in Automotive News & Views for domestic vs. import vs. American vs. Japanese and so forth.

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

andres3

What about the greedy USA managers and auto workers that kept building, producing, and selling subpar product? Shouldn't they have quit, or fired themselves, or let their jobs disappear rather than producing and selling junk?

Where's the pride of workmanship?

andres3

I wouldn't like to continue my job if I had to manage the construction of subpar buildings.... that could either end up killing people with safety hazards, or make the owner/client end up hating me for high maintenance and repair costs.

70ss454_man

I haven't had much of a chance to look into Chrysler's new lifetime limited warranty, so I thought I'd ask a few questions here.
It is supposed that the warranty extends for the entire time you own the vehicle, but this brings to my attention that it is only a first-owner basis.
With a standard warranty, I could transfer the remaining time over to the second owner, should I decide to get rid of it sooner than the warranty period.
So, if someone were to buy a new Jeep from a first-hand owner that only owned the vehicle with this new warranty for, say, 3 months, would there be a secondary warranty or protection for that buyer? Or would they be pulled into buying a newer vehicle with no warranty?
I couldn't imagine someone on the ranks not thinking about this, so what should we expect?

hansienna

People have different opinions on superior or subpar products. Just read any forum in this CarSpace.

I was misled by CR (and other self annointed "EXPERTS") who claimed Toyota is a superior product. The very attractive interior caused me to be unaware of the very poorly designed dash with too many shiny surfaces that reflect sunlight.

My 06 Sienna is NOT as quiet nor as stable in cross winds nor is the stereo/radio as good as my 02 T&C LX.

Reliability? My daughter's 99 GC SE has 102,600 miles on it with VERY few problems. My youngest sister had an 86 Caravan that had 170,000 miles with no problems. Another sister has had more problems with her 01 Ody EX that now has 82,500 miles on it. My niece had automatic transmission failure on the Honda Accord she got NEW when it had about 80,000 miles on it.

Anecdotes? Perhaps but I trust people I can talk with face to face more than the drivel published by CR.

joel0622

CR should be called CIR, Consumer Import Reports. I have never seen such a bias publication in my life. But thats OK, all cars have problems regardless of the manufacture. The forums here are a testament to that.

If the individual consumer is feels they are getting value for there dollar then that is all that matters. I can have all the strong opinions about Ford as I want, but if a customer does not feel that is how they want to spend there money or has a strong disliking for Ford then my opinion does not matter.

Just like this warranty, it really makes no difference what allot of people say here because they would never buy a Chrysler product any how. The folks this warranty is important to is the folks who would consider a Chrysler, this may help them get off the fence and buy one.

hansienna

Thanks for your EXCELLENT summary.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm wondering if the "lifetime" warranty is a ploy to boost resale value?

Or the entire "concept" of value as perceived by the buying public?

Here's another way of looking at a carmaker's reputation:

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/01/17/207569.html

Once again, the Japanese seem to score the best (in most cases). I think that unless one could scientifically attack the statistical model, these types of awards really do affect the marketplace.

andres3

I don't think the lifetime warranty will help resale one bit due to the fact that the 2nd owner obtains zero benefit.

Mr_Shiftright

So really it's a "lifetime of the first owner's period of ownership" warranty, not a lifetime of the car warranty.

Very misleading wording, don't you think?

hansienna

NO, it is NOT misleading since Chrysler has stated all the time it was for the lifetime of the vehicle for the lifetime of the vehicle as long as it is owned by the first buyer. :shades:

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah but Chrysler doesn't always "state it".

It took us about 50 posts to figure it all out, I mean about the termination of the "lifetime" and the refusal to warranty "normal wear and tear" on the powertrain components.

So either we are dumber than most consumers or lots of other people are going to be mislead as well.

It sounds great but it all falls apart in one's hands, it seems, like sand through your fingers?

joel0622

Mr Shiftright, this horse is dead, please show some respect and quit beating it.

Mr_Shiftright

LOL! Okay, we'll give others a chance to beat it then!

jipster

I didn't think Chrysler's lifetime warranty was misleading. Non transferable to second owner was thrown out there in the very beginning. Any warranty on the market is going to have exclusions and limitations, that Chrysler has one on an expensive complicated piece of machinery is not a conspiracy... that Chrysler is out to "mislead" us.

benjaminh

As Shifty and others have said, it's often not the engine and transmission, but the other stuff that gets you down the road. In early 1998 we bought a 1988 Olds 98 with 68k miles. The powerful engine and smooth shifting transmission of that car have performed flawlessly for almost ten years now, and we're up to almost 130k miles.

But, during that decade, we spent over $8000 on maintenance and repairs. The good thing is that it was less than 1000 a year, but boy it really added up. Things like the air conditioning system (including the electronic digital display for it), some suspension components, the stereo system, etc. We also had a lot of oil changes, and normal wear items like tires, belts, radiators, etc., but I think that even if we had something like the Chrysler warranty, we wouldn't have been able to claim a dime. I think overall we've done pretty well with the car.

But it's a simple car compared to the one we're getting to replace it—a 2008 Accord EXL with Navigation. Things that are on this car that were not even found on the 88 Olds include, ABS, EBD, VSA, Navi, airbags galore, 5-disc CD changer, heated seats, etc., etc.

Honda makes good cars, but it's far from the time in the 70s when their slogan was "Honda! We make it siiiiimple!" It's now, "Honda! We make them dazzlingly complex with all the bells and whistles that you can get on a Cadillac or BMW or Mercedes!"

So, I'm going to get the longest extended warranty offered by Honda that I can on the new Accord. It happens that they offer an 8 year 120k warranty for only $940 for 4 cylinder models. It seems like a good deal to me. I very much doubt that we'll ever be able to keep the Accord to its 20th birthday like we did the Oldsmobile. It's so much more complex than the Olds that I imagine sometime after its 10th birthday it might start bleeding us to death, but maybe I'm wrong about that.

I have confidence in Honda's engines and transmissions, but it's the other stuff I'm worried about in the long run.

So, a warranty like Chrysler's, as others have said, seems to me like a gimmick.

But, perhaps for some it could be useful. If you drive 30k miles a year, and plan to keep your car for 15 years, you could well get an engine and/or transmission out of it!

Mr_Shiftright

Okay let's agree to disagree on that one. I find the "lifetime" part not much more than hot air on a stick, once you carve away all the exclusions, exceptions, equivocations, fine print, asterisks and addendum.

To me anyway, the proper display/announcement of this warranty is:

"LIFETIME POWERTRAIN WARRANTY TO FIRST OWNERS!" *

*Subject to the following exclusions:

1. Original owners must submit to inspection of their vehicles every 5 years within 60 days of first date of service, or warranty is invalid.

2. Warranty does not cover normal wear and tear of components. Warranty covers only defects in materials and workmanship.

qbrozen

Ok, so this buddy of mine thinks he'll do great buying a couple of work trucks under this plan.

First, I told him about the "defect in materials" clause and he doesn't believe me. Says he has a copy of the contract and that's not on there. Second, the dealer told him the Rams are covered.

What about this statement in the link posted earlier in this thread?
Sprinter vehicles, diesel equipped vehicles, all Ram Cab/Chassis vehicles

Does that not mean Rams aren't covered? What I find odd in that document also, though, is if that is true and trucks aren't covered, what then would this statement apply to?
Parts Covered
Four-Wheel Drive (4X4): transfer case and all internal parts; transfer case control module and shift mode motor assembly; axle housing and all internal parts; axle shafts; axle shaft bearings; drive shafts assemblies (front and rear); drive shaft center bearings; universal joints and yokes; disconnect housing assembly; seals and gaskets for the listed components only.

Am I forgetting a vehicle aside from any "diesel, sprinter, or ram" that comes with a 4x4 transfer case?? (Note: AWD is a separate clause)

british_rover

I think Ram Cab is a particular type of commercial dodge truck. Trucks that have specialized beds for work use like dump bodies or flat beds.

andres3

I believe it to be misleading. Being as that information about first owner only being in the tiny fine print, well tucked away hidden in the depths of where many never look or see the light of day.

The BOLD BIG print says Lifetime warranty. This misleading advertising shouldn't be allowed.

british_rover

I keep seeing the lifetime warranty being advertised along side lease specials and this makes no sense to me.

If you are leasing the car then you aren't going to be keeping it for a lifetime. What happens if you lease the car and then buy out the lease? Technically the first owner is Chrysler Financial Corp or whoever is the holding company for Chrysler leases. When you buy out the lease you are the second owner.

andres3

maybe they have an "exception" that actually benefits 2nd owners if they had leased the vehicle originally.....

Doubtful... but I wouldn't put it past Chrysler to attempt to fool people into thinking they were getting a lifetime warranty when they aren't as 2nd owners from a lease.

titanstim

To answer your post I just bought a new 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan and was offered a lifetime bumper to bumper warranty as an add on. The offer ended on Sept 30th, it covers everything except normal wear items like belts and hoses.

andres3

How much extra in US dollars did they ask for the "real" lifetime warranty?

hansienna

The announced "powertrain warranty for the lifetime" is a "REAL" lifetime warranty.

I also would be interested in the price of the lifetime warranty for items in addition to the powertrain lifetime warranty. :shades:

Mr_Shiftright

it sure doesn't sound totally real to me, especially if they are selling another lifetime one as an add-on. Or is the second lifetime for when the car re-incarnates? :P

tsu670

Okay, I read the FAQ on Chrysler's website, but it doesn't really address the issue of towing. Well, there's Q15 that asks if towing is included, but that regards having your disabled vehicle towed to a garage.

What if you order the towing package that is rated to pull up to 3500 lbs, and you want to tow a boat/trailer rig that weighs well under the limit? Is the warranty still valid? Are there any "Gotcha"s?

Mr_Shiftright

Seems to me that if it is a factory added and approved towing package they couldn't possibly nail you for towing---unless they could prove you towed too large a load or didn't have a proper hook-up. If the tow package were some dealer add-on sourced locally, that could be trouble. I'm presuming a towing package would include a transmission oil cooler.

smithed

"I believe it to be misleading. Being as that information about first owner only being in the tiny fine print, well tucked away hidden in the depths of where many never look or see the light of day.

The BOLD BIG print says Lifetime warranty. This misleading advertising shouldn't be allowed."
Misleading fine print in car sales ads? Who ever heard of such a thing? LOL >

Mr_Shiftright

NEW VITAMIN GRANTS ETERNAL LIFE TO USERS **

** Your results may vary

joel0622

NEW VITAMIN GRANTS ETERNAL LIFE TO USERS **

** Your results may vary

Thats funny

Kind of like
New diet pill guarantees weight loss

Results will vary and pill only works with drastic diet change and a daily exercise program.