In your opinion is it the dealers or Chrysler products that have created problems for Chrysler?

Question

Do you think Chrysler would be wise to give their dealers a kick in the pants or do you think its Chryslers Fault for not making more fuel efficient cars.

Answer 1

some of the dealers are causing some of the problems for Chrysler,by not honoring the warranty,s as good as they should,i do some warranty work,and most people like their vehicles ,but not their dealers where they bought their vehicle at,this seems to be a problem all over the place right now,and they could produce more fuel efficient cars ,they have the technology ,they just need to use it,perhaps in time they,ll catch on ,but for now things will remain like they are,good luck.

Answer 2

I spent 23 years as a Chrysler dealer. Most of those years were very frustrating. It always seemed like Chrysler was a day late and a dollar short on where the market was moving. When SUV's started becoming popular in the mid 90's, it took until 98 for Dodge to finally get a SUV, the Durango. But when they brought that out it was only available as a 4x4 in the first year. Why do that? What about all of those folks that don't need 4WD.

Then SUV's and trucks become less popular and the demand for more fuel efficient vehicles rises. But Chrysler has nothing in the pipeline to meet this demand. I know it takes 3 years or so to develop new products but we never heard anything about something coming as far back as 2002 or so. A lot of that had to do with Daimler. When they took over in 1998, they let a lot of Chrysler best and brightest engineers and developers leave. It's never been the same since. Daimler was very pig headed and didn't listen to their dealers on what they needed and what their customers wanted. They just thought they could force feed products into the market regardless if it was a good idea or not.

Good example was when we knew we were losing our best fuel efficient model, the Neon. They knew they needed to replace this model with a modern, more fuel efficient vehicle. That would have been a huge kick in the pants to help their bottom line. But what do we get instead, the Caliber. A bloated, overweight, half sedan-half wagon that gets worse fuel economy than the vehicle it was replacing and gets terrible reviews from the critics. If that wasn't bad enough they push a Caliber clone on us called Jeep Compass. Hideously ugly and doesn't deserve to wear the Jeep name. The list goes on and on with bad ideas. Chrysler Aspen, the design of the 2007 Sebring, the Magnum.

But to me another problem was that they did not listen to us on giving feedback on vehicle problems. We could see first hand that there were problems developing on certain models. But when we approached our district managers about it, they denied there was a problem and it went no further. So most of the time our hands were tied. The proper approach is to get the dealers involved with the factory to correct the problems that the dealers are seeing. I don't know how Honda, Toyota, and other makers work but that is the way I would do it.

Answer 3

I think Daimler has made alot of the problems for Chrysler. Before them Chrysler was doing very well, selling cars had lots of cash in the bank coming out with new and good ideas. Now Daimler has spent all the money on other companies, fired all the engineers and put these ugly cars that no one wants on the road. eg the new jap 08 caravan that drives poorly at best with the console shifter on the dash and Yokohama tires. The crossfire, caliber and compass. They are also a big part of the problem at the dealer repair level. The time they pay to do repairs under warranty are retarded. Who tests, removes, rebuilds and reinstall a transmission in 3 hours. Tests power steering rack replace and do a alignment in 2 hours. If they don't pay to do a job wright how can they think it will get done wright. I also have worked for Chrysler as a tech for 11 years and been sent to Chrysler training only 3 times.I still think it is much easier to get warranty from us than a Japanese auto maker, they look for every way not to do a warranty repair and don't put out recalls In tell the government says they must.

Answer 4

I side with JD. First of all, unless everyone has forgotten, Chrysler isn't the only one with financial problems. GM was really in dire straights a year or two ago when there was talk of them going belly up or actually being bought out and Ford hasn't been much better either. Bad engines? What planet have you folks been living on? In the early 80's the 2.2 would go through head gaskets IF you didn't change coolant every couple of years. Electrolysis was the culprit. Use a digital volt meter, ground one probe and stick the other in the coolant and if there was any more than .2 volts, time to change it. Electrolysis isn't anything uncommon; I've seen Caterpillar wet sleeves 1/2" thick eaten through by it. I have a Dodge van with the 3.3 engine that has 260,000+ miles on it and has NEVER been overhauled. The 318 is a good engine whether in a truck or as an industrial engine ...I have both. Styling and innovation? Apparently everyone has forgotten who came out with the first mini-van. V-10 in a truck or the sporty Viper? Retro PT Cruiser? A real manly looking pickup that first Ford then GM copied? Diesel in light duty pickups (the Mitsubishi in '78)? Electronic ignition? Disc brakes in '72? Only Studebaker beat them in that category in '63. Domestically produced transverse engine front wheel drive economy car? The Horizon was a close copy to the VW Rabbit and even had a VW engine block but it was still light years ahead of the Pinto, Chevette and Vega. Don't think I'm totally biased, I also drive a Chevy pickup and a Ford car. If anything, I believe some of you folks are, have selective memory or at least are too young to remember much.

Answer 5

I think the blame lays closer to the designers and upper management that makes the final design decisions than the fault of the dealers.

Problems with gas mileage go back to the system design teams for the fuel delivery and emissions control teams. The mileage problem is also effected by size and weight of the vehicles that are being produced. Dealers have no say in how the car is designed.

When coming out with models like the Charger, the upper management team made decisions that directly conflicted with what the mopar muscle generations of the 60's thought should be done with the car. As such, I know many people who refuse to even think about buying a 4-door Charger. By all rights, it should be called a Coronet, or in the least, they should have modified the body class to accomodate a 2-door version of the car. Dealers had no say here either.

Anyhow. I cant fault the dealers for much, unless it is just pushing the most gas-guzzling versions of the cars, and falling back on the more-efficient versions only when a customer asks.

Answer 6

I know Chrysler has some cars (like the Chrysler 300) that are selling really well, however the other cars must not be doing that great. I think that it's a little bit both the dealers fault for not presenting the car well, and the company for not designing their cars well enough (and having less fuel efficient cars doesn't help either).

Answer 7

How many fuel efficient cars does one company need to make? Chrysler actually now makes quite a number of fuel efficient vehicles: Caliber/Compass/Patriot, PT Cruiser, Sebring, 300, Avenger, Charger, Caravan, depending on the model, they all get good mileage. I dont think its the dealers or the company, its changing peoples perceptions, which is not easy to do.

Answer 8

No doubt the servicing dealer can cause it's share of problems, but Chrysler's problems are deep rooted and only increased with the help of other "Chiefs" if you get my drift. How does the dealership get dinged for fuel mileage, Look around, every one makes a LEV edition, I love some of Chrysler's ideas, and hate some too, My question is who makes there marketing decisions? They were shooting at there own toes!!

Answer 9

poor america. we must have been asleep at the wheel. chrysler in the 80s was not the best thing out there....at all. that lean burn crap is marginal at best. but anyway...todays dodge/chrysler/jeep is a different animal. for all those that say there are no fuel efficent DCJ vehicles let me introduce you to my little friend... www.fueleconomy.gov. weird that my dakota gets 22 mpg even with 136k on the clock, and my neon gets 33 mpg with wide 17s on it, and my caliber gets 29 mpg.
its all perception. for all that think honda and toyota is the answer to everything i suggest you look beyond those foggy glasses you seem to have on. compare apples to apples. you think that the nissan titan with a v8 is knocking down 30 mpg? try more like 12 mpg....guess that hemi at 13 mpg doesnt sound all that out of line huh?
what about a civic si vs a neon srt4? civic 29 mpg, neon 29 mpg. but wait!!! too bad the neon lays down like 50 more horsepower to the wheels.
imports are not the shining star...
i guess my 4 american made vehicles will just have to do.

Answer 10

Dear Amy M,
What happened was simple. The fat cats with the multi million dolors a year salaries that were supposed to be behind the desks in the corner offices, got it into there heads that we the public need to listen to them and get a BIG ”sport utility truck” SUV, and then headed off to play golf.
Japan on the other hand called it perfectly. They read the notes in the complaint box and built smaller, fuel efficient, reliable. After all a car is NOT about getting the checks to give you some. It’s about getting from point A to point B
LETS ALL TELL THE TRUTH HERE SHAL WE?Detroit has only a hand full of men to blame for the collapse of the economy. The men in the corner offices that called it wrong… took there golden parasite and ran for there 3 million dolor homes on the north side of Troy.
La Penster