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Comments
For peace of mind, I am have been pricing extended warranties. One dealer has quoted me $1425 for 4yr/48k (w/$100 deductible)"High Tech" warranty (says it covered the electronics in addition to the "mechanical" warranty.
Can anyone tell me if this is a reasonable price?
Also, what problems have "you" experienced (mechanic/transmission/electric)with the 300M?
(FASTDRIVER - I have seen your comments.......post a picture of your car when you have a chance. What is "Zaino"?)
Can anyone recommend a product to use for cleaning/shining chome wheels?
My 99 has 12,600 on it. I've had no problems at all.
Zaino is a polymer "wax" that's easy to use and shines pretty well. You can check the Zaino topic in this forum, or you can go to www.zainobros.com for more info.
I use Zaino on my chrome wheels. Nothing seems to stick to them, and they clean very easily. You just have to make sure that you dry them, lest they waterspot.
Enjoy your 300M...it's lots of fun!
It would really be sad if a large number of people are having to get their trannies rebuilt simply because someone used the wrong ATF.
It would be really sick if even the Dodge dealer was using the wrong transmission fluid. I can't discount it happening, but the problem is that I can't prove anything either.
Problem is, with 72K miles, you're going to have difficulty getting anyone to help out. In the continuing game of lowering expectations, I've had people tell me that having an automatic transmission last 100,000 miles or more is "unusual." Yeah, right, but only if everyone owns DC products.
Good luck.
Incidentally, if you decide there's no hope of getting DC to "participate" in the rebuild expense, consider going to a private rebuilder (NOT AAMCO or any of those chains). We ended up going with an outfit here in Phoenix that rebuilds a lot of commercial stuff (police cars, etc.), and they claim to put in a number of improved parts. Time will tell. We've got a '94 Caravan that we'll probably own long enough to see if the rebuild is an improvement over the original equipment. If you do think you can get DC to pony up part of the expense (which I frankly doubt), they'll only work with their own dealers, not with private service organizations.
Check out the NHTSA database for 1990-1998 Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable, and Ford Windstar tranny problems. Happy reading.
Might help explain why the car I drive doesn't have anyone's automatic transmission in it.
time. I bought a 97 Town and Country Van in June
of
1998 with 5,000 miles on it. I am listed as the
original owner and it came with a new car
warranty.
I was told that the dealership owner's wife drove
it during the period prior to my buying it.
I (David) am presently suing Chrysler (Goliath)
for Breach of Warranty and under the Virginia
Lemon
Law. The trial date is set for January 2001.
Chrysler has refused to do anything productive up
to now. I took the car in to the Chrysler Dealer
that I bought the car from within about five
months
of buying it when the symptoms were in the infant
stage. I have had the car in two different
Chrysler
shops and one independent shop for a total of 56
days. It is presently back at a Chrysler shop (at
my expense - including a rental car).
When I took the car in to the Chrysler Dealer I
bought it from shortly after the purchase I gave
them detailed notes of the myriad of strange
happenings. The details of the complaints are
recorded on the initial Work Order of Shelor
Chrysler the Dealership I bought the car from.
This is a direct quote from the Work Order of the
shop - "Customer states when cutting the
headlights
on all dash lights go off, the driver's seat will
move on its own even with the key out of the
switch, battery has been replaced because the
vehicle seemed it wouldn't start - still seem like
it don't want to start even with the new battery -
something wrong with the electrical system" and
"Cust states overhead indicator went out while
driving came back on later when vehilce was
restarted" I was not given this Invoice at the
time of the service. The only way we got the
information was by Supoena.
The chief problem is with the Security System.
About every other day now we can go out to start
the vehicle. It will start and run about five
seconds and then shuts itself off. It must then
set for anywhere from two hours to three days and
suddenly it will start and run fine....until the
next time. My wife has been stranded five times,
once in Virginia on her way back to South Carolina
in the middle of the night no less. She now
drives
my car and I have the Van.
There are many other little weird things like the
windshield wipers suddenly making one or two
swipes
without provocation, the overhead console display
going off for varying time periods, all of the
instrument panel going out so that you have no
indication of the gear shift position, no RPM, no
gas register, no speedometer, nothing. Then it
will
suddenly recover and all is well. The Seat Module
has been unplugged for over a year because of the
real danger of being suddenly run up against the
steering wheel while driving. This has happened
twice while it was in the shop, once trapping the
technician under the front seat while he was
trying
to work on it and once trapping the girl that
brought the car around for me to pick up and
showing me how it was all fixed now.
The "Service Engine Soon" Display stays off until
the engine is serviced, and then it comes on and
stays on for a few days. It never comes on when
the
car is due to be serviced. The display goes off
and on with such frequency that I have stopped
even
noting it in my Log. I started the Log right after
taking the van in for the first time and they kept
it for twenty days and fixed nothing. The Work
Order simply states, "Vehicle operating properly
at
this time as designed".
I cannot believe I am the only one in the world
with a Chrysler product so possessed. Somebody out
there may have identified the problem and fixed it
or perhaps could give me advice on how to proceed.
The legal fees are mounting and the car is in the
shop at God knows what expense to me including $35
per day for a rental car.
I tried to find a Priest to play the "Exorcist"
but none had the courage to take on the job.
Thanks. Any help most appreciated
Still remain undecided on purchasing an extended warranty - may just decide to take the "risk" of paying for repairs as they come up.
Iowaegian
Good luck.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
The Chevy dealer on the other hand, fixed everything promptly and at NO charge to me...even after the warranty expired the dealer (where I did NOT buy the Citation) rebuilt the 4 speed transmission when the synchronizers of 2nd gear of 4 speed manual quit working.
I have been impressed with the prompt, courteous routine service at the Dodge dealer. We have had zero problems with our 99 GC SE that now has 20,030 miles.
Since she liked the VW Bus very much and it looked to be mint condition, she got it. I called
her a few months later to inquire how it was and she said she had to once more replace all 4 fuel injectors, etc...even though the good VW dealership had completely cleaned the gas tank when the injectors, air flow control box, cylinder
head temperature sensor, etc. had been replaced.
A LEMON is simply a lemon...and can be found in any brand. Get rid of the lemon and avoid a long, miserable experience. Tell others of the shoddy treatment you received at the dealership to reduce similar rotten experiences.
I drive EXTREMEly high mileage and have had good luck with Chryslers. 3 of which went ~200k virtually trouble free. The 2.5 litre with the 3 speed automatic is indestructible. They not a race horse, it's super reliable. But since that's not what you have, good luck and let us know how you make out.
On the negative side I had;
Brake rotors turned 3 times to get rid of vibrations
Left me stranded 2 times for electrical problems
Had to replace plug harness
Water pump froze, got hot and went out of timing, left me stranded
Radio burnt out
AC problems with iceing the coils
I have 2 recalls pending
Hate the plastic fenders, one side has a depression since new, try a suction cup to pull it out, to no avail
Black trim around doors starting to peel
The thing that hurts is that it has been kept in the garage always and looks like new and after 7 years only has 45,000 miles, I think I worked the bugs out (paid) warranty expired by time for most of the problems.
I would like to sell it, but I dont think I would get much money. On the other hand the mercedes is such a pleasure to drive, I hope chrysler is not going to break Daymler, seems like a lot of recalls are being made on past chrysler products.
Things are only getting worse!
http://www.detnews.com/2000/autos/0009/27/b01-125690.htm
fastdriver
Like a bad apple ruins the others, I hope the quality of Mercedes does not go down, the thing about Chrysler is that their engineering is good, just use better materials and put it together better = quality goes up = more sales = less recalls = profits.
But I am willing to bet on it, the top management will not think on those terms or will consider them or will not occur to them, instead they will come up with short terms gimicks, cut corners, shut down plants, find even cheaper sources, flashier designs, more gizmos, more advertising etc, to show an immediate profit, same old crap that is everywhere including goverment.
I hear you! Take a look at this-
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/000926/daimlerchr_2.html - looks like they're starting to panic! Sales are way down. Demand for the 2001 models is NOT there. Deja Vu all over again ala 1980's! Stay tuned!
fastdriver
Now let's see how it goes on Nov 7.
Just heard at CNN news, the shareholders of D/C agreed to give the top executives of Chrysler a gigantic amount of shares valued at millions, as an incentive to turn a profit soon.
Just like I predicted, in turn they will come up with nothing but gimmicks.
How can one tell this people !!! QUALITY!!! improve the QUALITY and rest improves by itself.
Good luck.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
Hopefully they intend to address the quality issues,
Kinda wishful thinking as proven by history to date.
http://www.autointell.com/news-2000-2/Oktober-2000/October-10-00-p2.htm
I thought most DC transmission problems were in front wheel drive - like mini vans?
Luckally, one can order a manual xmission in most of the above vehicles.
All of the 604-derived units (the 604, 41TE and 42LE used in front-drive cars and minivans have terrible reputations for reliability). Blame gets placed on various factors - fluid, etc., but the bottom line is that none of these are world-class units - they all have problems.
Must be a company wide problem.
The service man assumed the car was in an accident, which is not the case. My father asked if a pot-hole could have bent the frame. The technician said it would be one heck of a pot-hole, certainly one you would remember.
My father took it back to the dealer. Both the manager and the service manager knew what the problem was right away, something they called an "eccentric". They never said anything about the frame being bent, which the original service man indicated was the problem.
My question is has anyone had a similar problem? We think the frame is bent (or just built out of alignment). My father is a retired mechanical engineer who worked in manufacturing all of his career. He believes that it is possible that they built his Intrepid this way.
If you haven't had this problem, where could I look to see if anyone else has reported a similar problem? I'd appreciate any help/guidance that you could give me.
srau1
A good frame shop should be able to verify the integrity of the frame using these documents.
HOWEVER... I suspect that the original problem is just one of the adjustment eccentrics that needed to be replaced with a superceeded part.
Perhaps the "original" shop was assuming that the eccentric was the proper one thus came to the conclusion that the frame must be bent.
59000 miles for an Acura. Rather I gave it away.
Just a short history. At 26,000 miles transmission rebuild. At 37,000 miles motor rebuild. At 50,000 miles waterpump seized and
destroyed timing belt. At 59,000 again transmission rebuild. This was too much. All
repairs were under warranty. I took the dealers
loaner, which they always graciously provided me,
and went new car shopping. I bought a new Acura
RL, my first Japaneese car and I am retirement age. It was still a beautiful car but I became
tired of waiting on the tow truck. If you have
any similar stories on the Acura RL, let me down
slowly.
The "old Chrysler" will be a thing of the past, GOOD RIDDANCE!!
http://www.auto.com/industry/iwirj19_20001219.htm
Chrysler is making the vendors cut parts prices by 20 per cent over 2 years.
That ought to kick quality in the skins.
that acura rl is another honda. honda has a good reputation for solid cars. I wouldn't touch a chrslyer product if they paid me, but I drive a mitsubishi mirage, but the thing that worries me is that chrysler had a deal with mitsubishi to build economy cars for them. So I'm hoping there are not chrysler parts in my 92 mitsubishi.
I am so bummed! Up until now, I have loved this car.
ANY ADVICE??? Should I continue to work on this relationship or get now while I am under 25K miles????
take my advice,get rid of it now,when i decided to do the same, the resale was negligible.
Specific problems: Now running 3rd transmission. First replacement supplied by Chrysler. Failed in less than a year. Second was a repair job done by dealer service man who said, "You've got nothing to lose. Factory reubuilts are junk, and I'll wind up re building whatever they send." Steering went out at 25k miles. Air conditioned compressor went out at 30k. Wipers turn off and on when the spirit moves them. Brakes squealed so badly at 10k miles people on street were startled when I applied them. Vibration in front end when turning left or right was blamed on poor original equipment tires. Replaced tires. Vibration soon started again. Alarm system failed repeatedly. Finally disarmed. Cooling system leaks on three ocassions. Engine shut down while underway. Bad detonation sensor. Plastic hood trim fell off of the car. Calls and letters to factory people have been a waste of time. Dealer in Mountain Home, AR is a gem. Fixed everything. He fought with factory for repair approvals beyond warranty. Still have minor problems at 63k miles, but in spite of it all, the T&C is a great car to drive and I'm reluctant to replace for fear of starting a new round of repair problems. This goes for Ford and GM vans as well as Chrysler. None of them seem to be free of defect. My car is now worth approx. $10k. New one is $36k. Cabs are cheaper and they take care of their own maintenance. Wife says we should all be thankful Chryler doesn't make airplanes.
Chrysler did own Gulfstream (business jet manufacturer), and manufactured rockets (Saturn 1) for NASA in the 1960s and 1970s.
I read in TH of reliability problems with DC products, but none of my friends have had any problems? Do my friends drive more responsibly than most people or is high altitude less detrimental to vehicle wear?