Chrysler is not on the list of good guys

[Big_Daddy_T]

Im reading this and its a virtual whos who of foreign auto makers. Mostly japanese. Toyota has made high quality vehicles for years. If you notice chrysler is conspicuously missing. I have a theory that they made lower quality vehicles, than the others ,for so long that depreciation still eats em up to this day. I bought this truck with foreknowledge that it was going to cost more to maintain than the competition. Thats not a good thing just a choice I had to make.

 

[dpuckett]

Originally posted by Big_Daddy_T

... I bought this truck with foreknowledge that it was going to cost more to maintain than the competition. Thats not a good thing just a choice I had to make... .

Actually, if you MAINTAIN it, it will cost less than a Ford or GM diesel, because it will outlast it 3 to 1. And with the newer trucks, the driveline has been upgraded to withstand the additional torque. Just compare the NV5600 to the Getrag 360 or the 48RE to the old 727/518. Look at it this way- for everyone else who buys another brand, it makes the value of our CTDs go down a few pennies ( by the law of supply and demand. ) Enough people add up to a substantial savings, especially on used trucks. Then WE can enjoy the superiority of our I6 torque monsters, at a good savings.



But I do agree that the cars were inferior to the others (esp imports) for a few years (80s -early 90s), and that could affect the value of them. But they are also inefficient gassers to boot, so I aint interested.



Daniel

 

[Steve M]

The only car I ever lemon lawed was a Toyota. My mom had an '86 Honda Accord. In 74,000 miles it had a transmission rebuilt, both half shafts, two alternators, an a/c evaporator, a rear electric door lock motor, and finally the head cracked. It was maintained by the Honda dealership. She now has a '95 Dodge Neon Sport Coupe. It's had an a/c evaporator and a fan relay. It's got 84,000 on it. I guess we're not "in vogue". I was really worried about suggesting that she go for a Neon thinking it might turn out to be a bigger pile of crap than the Honda was. She's a 65 year old teenager in the Neon and loves every mile she puts on it.

 

[FFutch]

You also got to watch who's"who whoing" . I notice consumer reports,car and driver and some others bash anything thats not "made in yapan"or a product of deutchland. Not that the krauts don't know what they are doing,and D. C. is now half German. But my family has always ran the crap out of Mopars of all kinds and they hold up dam good for 200+k,G. M. front wheel drives have also served us well. As far as Dodge trucks not holding up,to each his own,but TOY or the other yaps don't make a real truck to do any kind of work with... . Doug

 

[merryman]

The anti American attitude of the '60s, led many to denigrate anything american and glorify anything European or Japanese. It is my firm opinion that this attitude hangs on yet--especially amongst those who grew up during the protest and anti America time, and is very largely responsible for the ongoing attitude that we see in these surveys.

One who has this bias is often, even if subconsiously,going to over report the good qualities of their chosen foreign vehicle and over report the problems with their US made.



I am 68 years old and have owned one or more vehicles at all times since I turned 16---often owning three or four vehicles at a time--I now own three. Thats a lot of vehicles in 52 years.

Of all those vehicles, I have had significant problems with only three-----a Mercedes which had MANY mechanical problems; I gave up on it when it needed a new engine at 90K miles (transmission was completly trashed at 50K--)and traded it in on what was always held out as the height of quality, a VOLVO. Before it had 50K miles, it had required 5 cam shafts, a transmission rebuild and a differential rebuild---it lived at the garage.

The first foreign car,( I hate to admit that I was dumb enough to buy a French car) was 1958 Simca----it was just worn out by 25K miles--a complete piece of junk--you know the kind where its "fill the oil and check the fuel".



The ONE and only American vehicle that ever gave me more than minor incidental problems, was my 84 Ford truck.



I had one good foreign car-- a SAAB----but then we only kept it two years, it was a three cylinder two stroke. It called for one quart of motor oil in the fuel tank for each eight gallons of gas. --it was a pain as the tank only held ten gallonns. It was real easy to over oil it and it fouled plugs like crazy. I had to pull the plugs and clean them a couple times a week and since it was my wifes driver, she *****ed at me a lot about the way she would smoke up the town when she fueled too soon and put in a quart of oil only to find she could only take five gallons of gas.



Give me Made in the USA anytime!!!

Vaughn

 

[duaneparks]

I happen to think that domestic vehicle manufacturers and dealerships bring some of this on too.



Case in point, I brought my truck to the Dodge dealership where I bought it, Archer Dodge in Stafford, TX, to have a few items fixed under warranty. The driver's rear door sticks shut, the driver's front door isn't aligned properly, and I have the black plastic turning milky white problem. Small items, yes, but they're covered under warranty, so I though what the heck. They wanted the truck for 2 days + to be able to fix it. This is my daily driver and I don't have a spare vehicle just sitting around to drive to work. And work, incidentally, is out of their courtesy shuttle range.



In contrast, my g/f has a '98 Nissan Maxima that goes to Sterling McCall Nissan, *right across the street* from Archer Dodge. They took her car in one day when she had a busted CV joint boot and a problem with the ventilation fan speed control. They replaced a half-shaft to correct the CV joint boot problem (and ensure that she has an undamaged CV joint under there) and replaced the fan motor in, get this, 1. 5 hours. I picked her up from the dealership, took her to lunch, and she got a call from her service advisor that her car was ready before we had our check at the restaurant. This on a vehicle with 84K miles on it.



As far as quality of product goes, my parents own a '96 Suburban that has gone through 2 alternators, a water pump, 3 batteries, a wiper motor, a transmission rebuild and subsequent transmission replacement, and most recently a throttle problem, all in 70K miles. This vehicle has not towed anything, nor has it been abused, but rather it has been meticulously maintained by my dad and I, and driven mainly by my mom who knows how to treat a vehicle.



If the Dodge (and Ford and Chevy for that matter) dealership service departments treated their customers like this particular Nissan dealership service department does, I would think their reputation would be better. American products have come a long way since the QC/QA nightmares from the 70's and 80's, but I believe they still have a way to go to match that of some of their competition.



YMMV, of course. Incidentally, I still love my truck, but I didn't buy it because it was a Dodge, I bought it because it was a Cummins... the Dodge part was just thrown in.



Duane