I started a topic yesterday about "Five Star" service that is nowhere to be found. I don't care that it isn't there, but if there's a censoring guideline I'd like to know so I don't take the time to post something that's going right into the trash.

 

Yo krusty,

It might have been a system error. I don't think there's any censorship going on, "mighty's" pretty laid back unless things get way out of control. Sounds like a good topic.

You know the drill... repost please. :wink: :wink: :wink:

(Having problems up in Scotsdale are you???)

 

Well I'll try to remember it as best I can. Anyway, just to preface: The Crossfire is the early stages of DCX trying to take the Chrysler brand upscale. In my opinion, their efforts will fail miserably for one reason: Chrysler's "Five Star" fraudulent service promise. Now I know that some will say "My dealer's great" and that may very well be true, but the Five Star network will not satisfy the upscale car buyer. I know this from my years of 300m ownership, there is simply no consistency and a total lack of commitment. When you see that sign at your Five Star dealer that says "It's different here", trust me it isn't. Here's the latest gaffe:

I order my replacement radio, get a call a couple of weeks ago from the service advisor that it's in and they'll hold it for 30 days. Fine, no problem. I decide to get the oil changed yesterday and call to see if I can roll the radio switch out into the job. Sure, no problem, says the service advisor. So I get there at 745 yesterday morning. "Give us an hour, maybe an hour and a half." I assume my position in the lobby with my array of newspapers and magazines. Well guess what, it's 10 AM, I've exhausted my supply of reading material and I know the news can't be good. Sure enough, here comes the service manager: "The tool Chrysler sent us to install the radio doesn't work," and some more mumbo jumbo about tabs and such. "I'll have to call Chrysler first thing Monday morning and get to the bottom of it." Very polite, very courteous, very apologetic, but the bottom line remains: the job didn't get done. I spent 2.5 hours there for a lousy oil change. Quite simply a crock.

This scene is repeated day after day at "Five Star" dealers across the country. I've been to no less than 4 Five Star dealers in the greater Phoenix area and the experience is the same: Total satisfaction one time, total exasperation the next. If this is as upscale as Chrysler is going to take it, they should announce the next generation of Sebrings and Neons and toss the Crossfire, Pacifica, 300c hemi and whatever else they have on tap for the upscale buyer on the trash heap.

 

Don't know what happened to your topic. I didn't do anything to it.

 

I'm not going to defend the dealer.They either didn't have the radio keys..lost them or had an incompetent lube monkey working on the radio.The keys must face a certain direction...slide them in and pull out radio...that easy!It's hard to get good people in this business and chrysler and the dealers are to blame.We lose quality people and have no quality replacements coming in.It's a tough business at times...chrysler doesn't want to pay for anything...the dealer doesn't want to pay for anything and the customer doesn't want to pay for anything...the tech is stuck in the middle sometimes.

 

I'm sure you're right, and Chrysler is to blame. One thing I didn't mention is that it is inexcusable to not have someone on DCX staff available on weekends. I would bet dollars to donuts that Chrysler encourages all of its dealers to be open on weekends. If Chrysler tech support is part of the dealer relationship, they owe it to the dealer to have someone on staff on weekends to troubleshoot crap like this.

In the final analysis, I look at it this way: When I read article after article quoting Dieter Zietsche talking about taking the brand upscale, I will just chuckle. I've had my "boots on the ground" too long in the Five Star world to believe otherwise. And by all appearances Chrysler has simply chosen to hope against hope that it will suddenly be all better rather than put any real focus on the problem.

If you don't mind I would like to take personal exception to your "customer doesn't want to pay" comment. I will always pay for good service. In fact that's why I go to the dealer, I don't want to monkey around with some goobers at the corner shop who don't even know how to read the code reader they have. Manufactuers sell their dealers as "having it all" as far as service goes, so the expectations are high. All of that said, no doubt you encounter tightwads every day who want to step over a dollar to save a dime.

 

I bought a '97 Chrysler Cirrus in '97 and the service I recieved was great. The car was a piece of crap after 70k miles, but the dealer was fantastic. It was the Chrysler product that chased me into a Ford dealer and my Explorer, not the service I got from the dealer. The dealer tried to turn a turd into a gold brick.

It took the blend of MB and Chrysler to get me back into something with a Chrysler badge. I would have gone back to the dealer where I bought the Cirrus, but I have moved 40 miles away to Va. Breach so I went to my closest dealer (Hall)... They have treated me like I own the place every time I come in.

You'll find no complaints from me for the 5 Star dealers I've dealt with.

 

I've had similar experience.

Years ago bought a new Plymouth Voyager, back when they were having the trans. problems. Had 3 trans in it in its first 6 months. The dealer did their level best to make the best of a bad situation.

We've had great service from another Chrysler dealer on the 3 Jeep Wranglers my kids have owned.

With the Crossfire, the dealer admits to feeling their way along with the car as well. If they're unsure of how to handle something, they manage my expectations up front and we work through it together. Sure, I wish DC had been able to better prepare the dealer to handle the car, but this is not unlike Ford/DeTomaso asking Ford dealers, back in the '70's, to service the Pantera.

When I contacted my dealer about the radio, they chose to play it by the book. They said the policy was for me to come in and they had to actually examine the radio. I did. They approved the order. THey were also smart enough at that time to check to see if they had the tool needed to do the swap, and realizing they didn't, they ordered it at the same time as the radio.

You can break some pretty bad news to a customer, and get him or her to accept it, if you do a good job of communicating and managing expectations.

I feel bad for you guys having bad DC dealer experiences, but so far, with several different dealers with several different cars, I've found the service to be above average, if that status exists at all among any car dealers.

 

[quote="kusheen"]

You can break some pretty bad news to a customer, and get him or her to accept it, if you do a good job of communicating and managing expectations.

quote]

You are 100% correct. The statement "give us an hour, maybe an hour and a half", sets the expectation.

 

again, to echo wmichaels...

"You'll find no complaints from me for the 5 Star dealers I've dealt with"

same here, have owned chrysler's for 20 yrs (and the true poster child who waited until they built something close to a 'real' sports car...saw this one as a prototype in someone's mind a few years ago...and knew a white one would be mine!) my dealer never forgot that...

they are the best, as far as service is concerned, and everyone should buy their car's at a little know place called 'mac & sam's chrysler' in delaware county pennsylvania!

they know no limits where customer satisfaction is concerned...and they truly treat you as if you were family. they've certainly earned their 5 stars as far as i'm (and my family) is concerned.

hope diamler chrysler holds all the other dealers out there to the same standards.

 

Krusty..We do get alot of customers that don't spend a dime on their cars. But we also get alot of good paying customers like yourself.If you deal with a service writer or tech that gives you good service ask for those people when you bring in your car the next time.As far as the radio keys they come in the crossfire tool box.Most radio install places have them and tool suppliers sell them.

 

With all due respect Krusty you seem to be a man with an axe to grind. What I want to know is if you have had nothing but problems with chrysler why did you purchase another one? Being that dissatisfied with the brand than going out and purchasing another of their products kind of shoots holes in your own complaint. :? Makes no sense at all to me why you would leave yourself wide open for what you claim is lousey service, inept techs and a total lack of commitment on the part of chrysler. What was your reason for buying from them again? I am confused!! :?

 

Flathead... Did you ever see the boring junk GM and Ford sell? Krusty had no choice. :lol:

 

Crossfiretech, what dealer do you work out of? I am in Pa. just this side of the river. You seem to know your cars and if you are not too far away I would consider bringing my car to you for service.

 

Actually you're completely wrong, I have no axe to grind. Just pointing out simple facts. I am a professional, and whatever I promise my customers I deliver. It's that simple. The "Five Star" service experience is just words, no action.

Your question about why I bought another one is fair. A little background first: I thought Chrysler built the crappiest crap that money could buy and wouldn't even think of buying one. Then, suddenly, the LH cars come out and I get the hots for the Eagle Vision TSi. I buy one and like it, warts and all. Essentially it was a lot of car for a super competitive price relative to the competition. Then the 300m comes out and I decide to get one of those. All the while, I am experiencing this spotty "Five Star" stuff. So I hope you can understand the cumulative effect of all of this. Now I had no plans to even buy another car when the Crossfire CD crossed my desk. I saw it and decided I had to have it.

At this point I view my relationship with Chrysler as what a parent has with a talented but underachieving child. Achievement here and there, tons of potential but never quite putting out the effort to get to the next level. Bottom line is I have liked my cars performance wise, but I don't like my time wasted with unprepared / uncaring / unfocused service. If the banner at the dealer said "We'll get it right most of the time" I'd be OK with that.

The saddest part? My 300m has about 65K miles on it and the engine performance has been nothing short of flawless. The problems I've had to negotiate Five Star Land with? Two power door lock actuators, power window motor, door seals coming loose. Little stuff, which makes it all the more irritating to deal with.

I don't know, maybe my expectations are set too high in a world that in my opinion is getting relentlessly dumbed down. I'm my own worst critic so I guess I don't feel guilty about expecting performance from what Chrysler tells me is a "Five Star Dealer".

Let me end it with this: Do you think it was reasonable of me to expect the radio to get fixed yesterday?

 

You are correct.... I want to make it perfectly clear that I have been generally happy with my Chrysler stuff. I think Ford is total garbage, every Ford I ride in has something broken in it and they just look and feel cheap. GM just looks and feels bland to me. Chrysler is the only American car company I would consider buying from. Pre-Crossfire I was starting to sniff at the Lexus / Infiniti / Acura lineup. The Crossfire is a true classic, I went from no car buying plans to owning one in a matter of weeks.