Easy fix: Garage it, don't drive in wet weather, and get a cheap beater for the wet and cold stuff! Rust problem solved!!

 

Oh, the car is never driven in winter or wet and always under a car cover.

I've got less than 7k miles on the Crossfire. Daily car is the 300C AWD and Pacifica Limited AWD.

 

@#$%, i just got my '05 (registered in 10/04) earlier this month. my drivers side butt warmer doesn't work. passinger side works butt and back. i'm 2-3 months out of warranty - is there anything i can do? i hate it when something doesn't work - no matter how small - it just eats at me. is there something i should look at like maybe a loose or broken wire?

 

I'm starting to think my seat warmers don't work, funny you guys mention it's a common problem.

To the OP - if you think this car isn't going to squeak and rattle, you're in for a rude awakening. All Karmann cars do, it's just a matter of when not if.

I would watch out for relay control modules on cars over 40k miles. None of the dealers know about it and they certainly can't figure the problem out either since it doesn't throw any codes. But it will leave you stranded or even worse the car can die while driving.

 

Simple. If you buy a Crossfire you need to be aware that if the SKREEM unit fails you will have an inoperable car until you can get anew one, which Chrysler seems unable or unwilling to provide. My car has been sitting since last year as I try to get one of these "vehicle specific units" from them. You can't buy one from MB, even though they have them in inventory, because their parts system will not accept a Chrysler VIN. You can't take a used one and reprogram it - wish you could. The part can go out at any time, and you could instantly have a car that will not start, run, etc. Other than that, they are nice cars that run well and have motors that run seemingly forever, at least in the MB SLK models. If Chrysler - now FCA - would supply and program the part, then I would say its a damn nice car, with most mechanical parts (which are MB) readily available in OEM and aftermarket versions. Because the car was (only) produced for a few years - just 75,000 sold worldwide - crash body parts and some interior parts may have to be gathered from scrappers, but generally the mechanical parts are readily available, and in my years of ownership I had no failures. Parts are normal in price, except for a few critical ones that you need. The SKREEM unit from MB was $270. when I tried to buy one - Chrysler asked $550 for the same part - and doesn't have any - they claim.

There may be aftermarket parts available for some Crossfire parts - I haven't needed any. Just for a comparison. My 2001 Sebring Limited convert - my second one - was suffering from foggy headlights. Rather than fool around with $40 bucks of cleaning supplies that may or may not work well, I bought two new aftermarket assemblies online. Got 'em in a couple days, shipped to the garage where I fix things, $80 bucks delivered, with bulbs, sockets and connectors. I think new ones from Chrysler would be hundreds more.

I've restored several cars - including old Porsches, a '56 Nash with a Packard motor, and a French Citroen DS. When I did that I knew and anticipated having a slow go to get parts, but that was for restoration, and I knew what I was getting into. I bought my Crossfire to drive, not just look at. I would be driving it daily in summer if I had the SKREEM to fix it with, but I can't get one.

 

So it seems that the problem of the SKREEM being unavailable hasn't improved any since 2015. If it is an unreliable part and prone to failing, why bother even owning a Crossfire? The risk of being stranded or having essentially a junk car sitting inoperable in your garage indefinitely waiting for a part of questionable quality makes ownership of a Crossfire a bad decision. I have owned one since Sept 2017 and it is currently sitting idle at a Chrysler dealership awaiting a SKREEM.
I think if it ever gets repaired, I am trading it in immediately on a 'Vette.

 

A solution to the SKREEM issue was developed by MDP in Florida after much work. They can repair your SKREEM module and get your car back on the road in short order. They repair your SKREEM module so you don't need a new one. They did mine quickly and for less money than Chrysler (FCA) wants for the part, which they still don't have. Look at the Sticky thread and contact MDP and they will tell you what you need to send them. My car was down 13 months because of this SKREEM snafu. It was fixed and remains so - drove it yesterday - by MDP.

The module itself is made by SIEMENS and was/is used in a lot of MBs. It is in stock in the MB parts computer, and if you have an MB SLK with this problem any MB dealer can get the part (allegedly) programmed with your vehicle specific code. How that happens AND WHERE IT COMES FROM seems to be a bit of a mystery - one MB parts manager said it gets coded in Stuttgart, which I doubt but of course, with them, anything is possible. SIEMENS makes the part for them at some factory of theirs in Central Europe, perhaps Hungary. Since the lawyers got involved in this it's hard to get accurate, definitive info about anything. The Dr. Strangelove types treat the whole issue as a Secret of State.

Just for the record, I'm still delving into this fiasco, and it seems that MB is the problem, more so than Chrysler (FCA). I'm going back to FCA this week and will post any info I get from them, but I think, unless something changes, the way to go is with the MDP fix.

 

Taking a Crossfire to a dealer would make anyone want to sell it.
There are two companies that fix the SKREEM for less than half the cost that a new one will cost at the dealer and you can simply put it in yourself. You can expect an invoice costing half the value of the car with the exorbitant labor charges.
Enjoy the ‘vette.

 

New member here w/ a really nice black 06 base coupe purchased last fall . Also a lifetime motor head still building , buying , selling mostly street rods @ 81 .
Not being aware of the info in this great site , I feel lucky having found the well cared for 06 w/ 43k w/ so far no problems as now considering an SRT , even spending big bucks for a low mile car , you can still be subject any of the drop dead problems . So finding a good tangible used one I feel is the way to go --- not easy for the average person , maybe it's Crossfire roulette ?
Of the several DIY problem preventative efforts mentioned here I did , the one that obviously gave more starting RPMS was adding an additional batt ground strap to the bell housing as the existing one underneath was badly corroded which I cleaned up . Driving home from purchase , the rear end seemed to whine slightly & changing the gear oil seemed to help it . Being such a beautifully sculpted low qty manufactured vehicle , I feel at some time it will be very collectable . My two grown boys are now drooling over mine & the rest of the road lookers try to get close enough to read the name on the deck :0)

 

I've never had seat heaters that work on a car more than ten years old.

 

carparts.com will have almost any part for the crossfire

 

carparts.com

 

I hate to jump on a new member, but please do not do this. You replied to a post made 16 years ago:






If you click on the name of the person, you can even see when they last checked in, in this case, the member left the site 12 years ago:



I know the thread was bumped by someone recently, so it appeared in the current feed - but please LOOK AT DATES before responding.