LIFETIME POWERTRAIN WARRANTY on new Chrysler and Dodge!

I can see this as "the last of the worst mistakes" that helps sink the North American car industry. It will help sales and shine a bright glowing light on these manufacturers but it will be a fake light until the quality improves all around.

People will be lured in assuming they wouldn't offer this if their cars were crap. A drivetrain is pretty much reliable on every car, other than a few issues here and there.

Why don't the come out with a warranty for motors or transmissions? Or interior parts that break or wear out extremely fast?

Also who says when something is "worn out"? You can have a bad vibration in your steering wheel and the problem can still be within specs.. So now what?

This isn't going to make the cars any more reliable or keep them on the road any longer.

It's all my opinion but what has happened since last week to make these cars any better?

 

no kidding, thats great. would be nice for benz to have it. They probably did that in order to compete with gm's 100,000 mile warrenty, all whats left is ford to do a bigger warrenty.

 

It all depends on what their definition of "lifetime" is. If it's like the "lifetime" fluids found in BMW's diff/trannies - I'd be a bit skeptical.

 

There's a difference though.

The BMW "lifetime Limited Warranty" on that fluid is only covered under the existing warranty of the car. They aren't responsible for your tranny 7 years down the road if the oil turns to sludge.

My understanding of this warranty from the article is lifetime of the first owner, thereby 95% of these cars wouldn't be covered anyway since no one hangs onto their cars any more. Once the title is transfered, the warranty evaporates.

They will spend money on fixing a few issues but sooo many non-first owners will be stuck with the same crap as always.

So the warranty isn't so much for the car as it is for the person who buys it brand new off the lot, as he is the only one covered.

And try to claim a motor or a tranny from that manufacturer... I like long court battles.

 

It's probably not a bad idea. Not many original owners drive their car into the ground.

 

sweet!
I bought my 04 Ram with the intention of it lasting atleast 10-15 years and running it into the ground......maybe Ill trade it in for a 07. But for most people that ditch their cars in 3-5 years this is useless reasuance.

would plowing and trailer towing void the warranty??

 

Considering the miles I put on my daily driver this might be something to look into. I usually trade every 2 1/2 to 3 years when I reach 100,000 miles. If I have a lifetme warranty I would definitely keep it past 100,000.

 

That's correct. That's why I mentioned what exactly is their definition of lifetime is.

Claim a motor or tranny??!!! Ha!! They won't even step up to the plate about their window regulators/door seals.

 

What's ironic is that all of a year ago, Ford started the new domestic trend by introducing 5 yr/60,000 mile powertrain warranty (if I recall the numbers). Then a month later, GM comes out with their 5 yr/100,000 mile warranty, now Chrysler (nice to type that instead of DCX!) comes out with this...... "thing". I won't call it a joke, but it feels like a lot more hype than valuable buyer benefit. No good on diesels (and SRT), right?

 

True enough!

I talked to a fairly knowledgeable guy at BMW Canada a year ago and asked him about the "life time" fluids and he said "Life time = length of the warranty on the car."

 

The fine print and the exclusions will be longer than War and Peace.

I predict the warranty will only be of use if printed on toilet paper.

 

No matter what the warranty, it is still a Chrysler. The absolute worst last gasp of the Detroit union almost made piece of garbage poorly made junk in America. I do not have time to take a car into the shop on a regular basis-no matter who pays the bill. My bad memories of taking my Porsche into the shop incessantly, even at their cost, was enough!

 

*FREE INSPECTION? Yeah, right. I bet dollar to doughnuts they ask you to leave you car for a few days for the FREE inspection. So...you get to go RENT a car to get a FREE inspection. So your FREE inspection ends up costing you $300+.

*The fine print will screw you anyways so it makes no difference.

*All your oil changes and inspections probably have to be done by the dealer at inflated costs with slow service.

* I still would not buy a Chrysler.

*Chrysler sucks.

 

Wow the negativity!
Beyond belief!
I suppose most of you are customers that will NEVER come back to domestics, huh?

 

As a general rule its smart to not buy the car with the reputation of great quality AKA Toyota who has gotten soft and lazy. How are those Tundra camshafts? Right.

The car to buy is the underdog with the growing reputation or a quality product. Right now I see that as most of the GM family and Nissan.

Chrysler is doing the right thing here. Showing that they have faith in their cars.

 

If a product is crap, calling it crap isn't negative, it's the truth.

Selling crap for tens of thousands of dollars to people who don't know it's crap, is wrong.

 

So Toyota has one specific issue with one specific model and you want people to abandon Toyota. All the while saying, let's buy cars from Gm who haven't made a decent car {perhaps ever?, I haven't seen one} in a very long time.

Nice logic ya got there.

And by the way saying you have a good product doesn't mean you do. In fact it's the ones who constantly sell crap, that constantly say "we're getting better!".

What a joke.

 

Actually, here in the Motor City our news reports a lot (all?) of the significant recalls and Toyota's getting quite a few these days, dig around some and you'll find that even Toyota's concerned about their recent quality struggles. They've postponed several major launches recently (by something like 6 months!) to try & get their focus back. In the meantime, the domestics are all focusing a lot on quality, Ford's been taking top honors in a number of quality surveys lately, the last one shows Ford & Toyota in a statistical dead heat in initial quality.
So, you're one that'll never buy a domestic, right?

 

I agree that you are correct on Toyota getting lazy, however last I heard only 8 have had the camshafts crap out. For them its an utter embarrassment, for a domestic it would be a daily no biggie that gets swept under the rug till a few hundred end up dead and theirs a federal investigation and are backed into a reluctant recall.
The Tundra 6 spedd auto trannys are also having a bad summer with plenty going to hell. Again, unlike the domestics both the engines and trannys are being replaced with 10 year/100,000 miles warranties to make it right.......still an embarrasment to Toyota.

Once they get the bugs out of it and release the Tundra Heavy Duty version Im done with my Dodges, even though theyve always been reliable.....its only a matter or time

 

"domestics" are made in Mexico
Toyotas are being made in Indiana and Texas
theres Toyotas quality problems right there

and any Detroit or JT Power and Ass. reports arent even worth toilet paper to me

 

If I lived in Detroit I'd be singing your tune too. Buying a domestic will in most cases cost you more in the long run, regardless of warranty gimmicks. It's your money so buy what you want.

 

What about BMW, MB, Porsche, Audi, VW, Ford, GM, etc. ? They all have recalls and domestic cars aer by far are the worst when it comes to resale value. A 20,000 car plus 14% tax should not sell for 5 grand 5 years later.

How can the domestic companies "focus" on quality" when they still use the same cheap material in their vehicles? As for Ford being on Toyota quality. Wait 5 years and see how many 2008 models are still on the road between these two companies.
I didn't say I wouldn't buy a domestic ever, I sure as hell wouldn't buy one of their pieces of **** for 20 large. I would wait 3 years but it for half the price... maybe... if I was somehow desperate for a piece of **** car.And what statistics are you referring to? What companies are being the surveys? A million to one, says they're based in the US.... Now go look for out-of-US- stats... I'll wait.

 

Good point. Any car built in The US has more flaws on average than anywhere else.

The BMW's made in Mexico have 1/9 the issues of the cars poorly built in the US.

Eat that for "Domestic build quality".

 

I'll give you this, at least you hint at the notion that you'd buy a domestic unlike the typical fanboy. I'll go get on those European surveys of auto quality and see how those 400 Corvettes and 200 Vipers they sold in Europe have held up! LOL

You're a part of what's referred to as "the perception gap". It's well understood that many, like you, will continue to bash and discount the products in spite of the data for years to come. Just keep your eyes open when you hear results of a quality study! In the meantime, try & keep the bashing relevant to the cars of today (when the topic is new car warranties) instead of some 10 year old experience. We don't make that model anymore!