After months in the dealer all together, #000317 is going to become a lemon. To any of you that have gone through this with your crossfire, did you have to pay anything out of pocket?

My chrysler rep is telling me i'm going to have to pay around $2,300 to get my car replaced due to the mileage at the first few problems with my car which was 7,400 miles. To me this sounds ridiculous because during the first week that I had my car in July, I noticed a knocking noise in the engine which ended up being that one of the engine mounts was missing! and another was loose. That happened while my car was less than 1000 miles. After a couple weeks in the shop to get the engine bolts, I got my car back. Since then, my car has had several other problems. The next problem was with the traction control system. Occasionally, while driving in a turn, the traction control will engage for seemingly no reason ( no other car has done that to me at those locations ). Neither of the two dealers that I took the car to have been able to find a problem. However, to my surprise and bad luck it has happened more than 3 times almost causing me to have an accident. The latest problem with my crossfire has been that the rear hatch was leaking water through one of the wiring harnesses. My car was in the shop for more than 30 days just this time and most of the time they spent getting the parts from germany. My dealer has been awful and they have wasted a bunch of my time. At one time they told me my car was ready to pick up and I get to the dealer and my car was all taken apart, ready for me to take. I immediately rejected it and asked them to call me when it was ready. Since then, I have gotten my car back twice and it is still not fixed completely. Now that I actually have my car... my dealer apparently broke the rear hatch lock because now it makes a nasty little noise when I lock/unlock the doors.

-robby

 

You should look up the lemon law. I don't think you have to pay anything for a replacement.

 

Robby:

I did a google search for lemon law. Here is a site that has everything listed:

http://www.carlemon.com/lemonstat.html

From what I read, there is an amount payable based on how many miles were on the car at the time you FIRST made the complaint of the problem.

Using your number of 7,400 miles, here is the calclulation. Where they came up with the 120,000 number I have no idea....

7,400 / 120000 = 0.06166666

if you paid sticker price of $35,500 for the car, then

35500 * 0.06166666 = $2,189.17

So the dealer's claim of $2,300 is pretty close, assuming that you made no complaint about the problem until there were 7,400 miles on the car.

read everything on the site, and there is a lot...

Good luck.

 

Robby: If the materials with your owner's manual, warranty book, etc. are like mine, there should be a white and blue pamphlet in there titled "Owner's Rights Under State Lemon Laws." It's a D/C pamphlet that sets out many states' lemon laws, or pertinent parts of them. (Curiously enough, they have omitted Arizona from the pamphlet, but the pamphlet is in my materials). Hopefully, there are consumer websites for CA that explain the law in plain English since it looks like it would otherwise take a lawyer to make some practical sense out of it.

Just skimming through it, it looks like they do have a limited right to charge you for the usage you got out of the vehicle notwithstanding the problems and aggravation. That seems to be the mileage at the time you first took it in for the problem that is causing you to give it back. Have they told you how they arrived at $2300 if they are trying to use 7400 miles? On my lease, D/C charges $.20 a mile if I go over the total milage. Using their own figure for mileage, it would be $1480 under those circumstances. If you can figure out your rights under the CA statute, and there is a lot more in it than I allude to above, and they continue to jerk you around, you can represent yourself in court or arbitration while they pay their lawyer. Hopefully, you can figure it out without having to hire one. It also looks like there are some time limits in the statute you will want to focus on.

If you can't find that pamphlet, the CA law cited in it is California Civil Code, Section 1793, etc.

Good luck and sorry you are having these problems.

 

That is correct - for those of you who have read so many of my replies to people complaining - I have said time and time again - EMAIL CHRYSLER IMMEDIATELY - DON'T WAIT!! It is so important that they know of a problem the minute you have one - get it documented.

Suggestion: Even though you MIGHT have to pay the $2,300, I have a suggestion. If you did NOT pay for the 7/70,000 extended warranty, let the dealer know you do not feel comfortable with the car right now and want it "thrown in" for free. That will, at least, pay for some of it. Depending upon your state, don't forget to ask for DMV reimbursement also.

One more thing, if you are completely turned off by having to pay $2300, you can always tell them that you just want the $ that they are offering. Then, go to another dealer if necessary, and make your best deal possible on another Crossfire.

Now I'll get off my soapbox and wish you all the luck Robby. No fun having to pay for something that isn't your fault.

Keep us posted :wink:

Too bad I'm not in charge of lemon law rules :roll:

 

he made a complaint becuase of the engine with under 1000 miles on it problem

 

Gailwrath - I agree with you 1,000%!! But...I do believe that there is something in the lemon law that says you have to notify the manufacturer, not just the dealer. That is why I said what I said. I don't think it is fair, I feel that if the dealer knows about the problem then "Chrysler" knows about the problem.

Just to CYA - notify Chrysler right away - don't wait. If it gets fixed, great, all the better. If it does not get fixed ... you have fulfilled your obligation to let them know.

 

Briefly leafing through the Lemon Law booklet, almost every state requires you notify D/C in writing, which in most states is not consider to have happened if you just emailed. And a large number of the states require the in writing notification be made via certified mail, which completely eliminates email as a medium for notification.

 

Couldn't he still notify D/C with copies of his service records enclosed that show the mileage on them at that time? Or are there time frame requirements involved also?

Just a thought.....

 

I know that you have to notify Chrysler in writing and give them time to "fix whats broke". :shock:

As far as email goes, as long as you keep a copy of what you emailed them and they reply (and you keep a copy of their reply) - they have been notified in writing. I have not looked through the different lemon laws - maybe there is something that specifically says it must be Certified Mail - but if they get it in writing via email and respond to it - to me that is just the same. At least it is a start. But I guess to really CYA - ya gotta read the lemon law rules for your specific state - and do it the minute you think you might have a problem...just in case.

 

DCX says that I cannot use the mileage from the original problem with the engine mounts being missing because it was resolved. I had been dealing with DCX directly since the first week of having the problems. They had actually traced the problem to the assembly line at karman, they think someone fell asleep or left their post while making my car.

Now i'm wondering that if I was to accept the pay off what would happen with the payments that i've made and the 3000 i put down.

 

If I were you I'd go with a replacement Crossfire. You get a brand new car with nill miles on it, and it's a great car. You won't find a better one for the same price. If, however, you have a little bit of extra money lying around, then take the full refund of the purchase price and head over to the Infiniti or Porsche or BMW or Mercedes dealership and get a nice new, and different car. I know I would probably still have a bad taste in my mouth if I had a lemon, so I understand if you don't want to get the same car again. But it is a great car and no one else has had that kind of problem so it's unlikely that you'll have the same problem again. And with a new Crossfire a lot of the initial kinks have been worked out already.

 

Although I love my crossfire, I'm seriously thinking about the refund.... However, on the other hand I would still love to have a crossfire with out problems.

Regardless of what I choose, I just hope I don't get screwed in the process.

 

robby:

If you take the refund, you should be able to buy a new Crossfire for under $30K. If you paid the $35.5K for your car as most of us here did, you should be out about even.

Or you could wait a short while and get a 2004 model even cheaper when the 2005 models arrive.

Am I close, or are there other vaiables involved?

I guess it all depends on how much you still want to own a Crossfire.

 

I paid 37500!!

 

So then if you take the $37.5K - $2.3K = $35.2K refund, less some interest payments they will not give back to you, and you go buy a new car for $30K, it looks to me like a no brainer.

You may have to use a different dealer to get a $30K price.

 

I have had a lot of my customers get full reembersment under PA lemon law and what thay do is apply the factory MSRP of your lemon against the factory MSRP of another DC auto of your choice. The differance you pay if you choose a car of a higher value And vice versa. This way the factory prevents customers from taking advantage of any new incentives that may have incured after the lemon in question was purchased. IF the law ferm you choose accepts your case then you have won. All attorney fees will be paid by the manufacture you just sit back and wait about seven weeks and you'll have a new car in your drive way. Some cases are settled even sooner. The best lemon law firm in the country is Kimmel & silverman in Ambler PA 1-800-lemonlaw is there Ph# call them tommoro. The have a web site, though i'm not sure what it is.
i'm sure it won't be hard to find. This firm actually helped congress write legislation about lemon law so call them right away. And as far as what i would get after its all over. Well in about a month we have our first yellow crossfire roadster inbound. You talk about being the man. I would love to sport that bad mamajama down Chesnut st Phila. On saturday nite, **** you would make the 11 O'clock news and most likley **** allen Iverson off at the same time . 8) Bobby N Graphite 6sp#2515

 

Well some company called me yesterday on behalf of daimlerchrysler and had me fax my original contract and the my dmv registration. I think i'm going to get a full refund and just buy a new crossfire or wait for the convertible/srt6. The guy told me that it would be probably all finished within a week so I'm having my last few days with my baby. sad sad sad. The only problem now is that they want me to take it to the dealer that I purchased it at, which is 50 miles away, rather than my local dealer. Hopefully I'll be able to get home!

 

and IN a brand spankin' new Crossfire :!:

 

should I wait for convertible!?!?