For those of you that are familiar with my story, after numerous attempts to get my car fixed, I ended up starting the process of filing a Lemon Law claim. By law, I have to give them one last shot of fixing my problem and they are supposed to respond within 10 days of receiving my notice for doing just that.

Well, here's where I have to laugh... I notified Chrysler of my intent back on June 5 and I got my return receipt showing they signed for my notice on June 12. Well, last night - 15 days later - I finally get a call from someone in Customer Service, not management, to let me know they received my notice and would be forwarding it on the Area Manager. And the number they left me? The standard toll free number that goes to Customer Service - not to someone that would be assisting me. Gees, makes me wonder how long will it take for the Area Manager to call me next?

So can we say that Chrysler SUCKS at customer service?

All I wanted from the moment this problem came up and had to be worked on 4 times was to talk to someone at Chrysler! But it seems that is next to impossible... which is what a lot of you have said many times over... and now I'm dealing with it myself.

 

Hummm... I take it the process is under way after the 10 days? I believe in Texas it would make a judge very upset and the hearing would be set.

 

Part of the form requires me to place a date of when they did call me and what the resolution was... and won't that look pretty... "Left message and no resolution".

Shame, shame, shame...

All I want is my car to be fixed... and since they have no yellow two-tone Crossfires anymore, I don't want another car... plus, a replacement car would be a car made in my year and well, I don't want that...

Keep your fingers crossed for me...

 

I went through the same thing & you still have a few hurdles to go. You can do a search for Lemon Law related topics & look for my name "GoodEnough". There, I describe in detail how I went though the entire process & actually came out ahead. The system does work but usually not as fast as we'd like. Good luck.

 

Based on what I read online, I'm not expecting a cake walk... and I am aware that will take time... and patience... and well, more patience...

Thanks for your comments and I will check you out... and its nice to hear that something good came out of something that was bad... not what any of us want to have to deal with when we buy a new car!

 

A lot of the issues you may be running up against revolves around the technicians trained (or not so much) to repair the Crossfires. So, it actually may not be the Crossfire itself. Not too many reports of the ECU going bad seem to be located here, so it could be a combination of effects, which would take some time to fix (which it has). Being a rather sophisticated vehicle even though it's built on an older platform, you might (if the current dealership can't) try taking it elsewhere... With 2 simultaneous issues, the symptoms should at least change... (either the ECU or the transmission). But first find a shop/dealership that will do warranty work on the Xfire, and get some references of past Xfire customers that were there if they will release names/numbers. The dealership where we bought our Xfire has only ONE technician that is trained on the Xfire. Luckily, he must have been paying attention in class... It still took a long time to get the right parts (from Germany, and large parts distribution centers are only located in a couple of places in the States that may stockpile the part). But, they did do a good job and fix it right the first time. And this was just the E-19 recall for the fan control module and some paint touch up from plastic that had melted on the kick panel (sitting on the lot with plastic for 400 days is not good for the plastic kick panel).
It's certainly not fun to be without your car for an extended time, and at least it's under warranty still... If you still go for the lemon filing, make sure to get plenty of documentation on the fixes... The Chrysler folks may just decide to blame the person who worked on your car. Going to 2 separate dealerships replacing parts with no resolve may eliminate the "technician" side of the story and really get to the meat of the matter, the car and /or parts themselves.

 

My heart goes out to you. I would be so sad if my darling car wasn't working or running like it should. I just want this to be resolved and for you to have the car that you were meant to have.

I love your color combo and it's absolutely understandable that you want to either have your car repaired correctly or get a new one just like the one you now have. I will keep you in my thoughts as the "run around" from the company is ridiculous!!!

 

Found this for you:

http://www.autoweb.com/content/buy/l...ch/Connecticut

 

And this:

http://www.autoweb.com/content/buy/l...2826/year_si/2

 

 

In the past there have been a few DChrysler marketing rep's lurking in the background, I wonder what happened to them?

Here is her contact info:

Robin T.
Chrysler Information Center Marketing Representative
www.chrysler.com
chryslerforum@bbdodetroit.com
1-800-CHRYSLER (1-800-247-9753)

 

Hi Sharon...I bought my car used with 9,000 miles on it. The history which you can get from the VIN number had the car as a re-po...so, someone wasn't able to make the payments and it was returned to the dealer. It was then sold on consignment by another dealer and I got a great price for it. It was in pristine condition with just a few minor signs that it had been driver. (a minor scratch on the rims).

I know that it would not make any sense for you to buy a new car...obviously, you want your car to be fixed and that's what you should have done. I hope DC comes through for you and that your car is running as beautifully as you look driving it!!!

 

Well, well, well... I have more news...

I got a call this morning from the local DC rep, so it could be that there might be some more details to share... I called her back and just got VM, so its phone tag time but now I at least have a local name and number so I feel somewhat better.

But I will tell you that my next step is to demand a different dealer look at my car and go over it with a fine tooth comb. A few of you have told me I need to do that but this time I want DC to tell me which dealer she needs to go. While it still could have been that I had an inexperienced TECH (from what a few of you have said, its very likely), I need to feel assured that my car is 100% operational...

The good news is that I have not experienced anything that resembles my problem, so it 'seems' that it was fixed - but she needs to be inspected before I feel 100% comfortable taking her on a long road trip.

 

Sharon, that's good news...and i'm happy to hear that your car has not experienced the problems that you had earlier. Maybe they did get it worked out, but I am in agreement that it needs to be seen for a second or third opinion. is that something you need permission to do? I would think the DC people would be most appreciative if you had it inspected by several technicians to give your call a clean bill of health...

Just my $.02!

 

I swear, I jinxed myself by putting in that last para!!! Dang it! While coming back from lunch today, guess what? The car is doing what it did when I first brought it in!!! Ok, this call with the DC rep is not going to be a pretty call now...

Time to make an appointment for my girl to go back in... but why does this always seem to happen right around long week-ends is all I want to know!

GG - part of the process with my lemon law claim is that once I let DC know of what I am doing, they need to tell me where I have to take the car in an attempt to fix the problem... And to tell you the truth, at this point, I do not want to have to talk to another dealer about all the problems I've been experiencing... So my thought is - when DC tells me where to take the car, they should be very much aware of the problem and then be able to look at it without me having to say too much...

Sharon

 

Are we having fun yet? Here's a better update!!

I just got off the phone with the DC rep and interestingly enough, its going to be an easy process from today forward, as Chrysler has accepted liability for my car. They are going to fly down a Chrysler plant tech on 7/18 (its the first appointment they have) and he'll keep my car as long as necessary until my car is deemed fixed. I'll then drive my car for 6-7 days and then I'll need to let her know if I think the car is fine. If I tell her yes, then she will "close" the ticket. BUT (good news here) if the same problem happens again, Chrysler will offer me a refund or replacement vehicle. So the fact that I now have someone that I can talk to direct about this problem is a nice feeling - they are working with me.

*sigh* I feel better now... there is a light at the end of the tunnel and its not a train coming at me... or another Crossfire that runs perfect!

 

If it's usually a relatively low speed issue, it may be the electrical kit in the transmission. Mercedes has a few issues with the 5 speed autos shifting erratically (RPM goes up or down strangely) from time to time.
There is an electronics package in the transmissions that sends strange signals to the computer and it shifts just like it's being told. Unfortunately, it's being told wrong.

A variant of this transmission is used in our cars so I would not be surprised to see this problem overlap.

They may be looking in the wrong place and treating the symptoms instead of the real problem. If they're new at it, I can't blame them for only working with what the computer is telling them.

Hope it helps.

 

That is good news! You will have your personal "techy" with you, and if the car misbehaves. it's time to start over or get your $$ back. I hope they have a Classic Yellow Roadster sitting around with your name on it, huh? I am so sorry that you've had these issues. Not fair, I say...but, your darling car doesn't know better..just has a bad computer chip or something...hopefully, it will be fixed perfectly for you!

I ordered the Sills today. I'm so excited. Told my husband he can get these for me for our anniversary! He got off easy, huh? Of course, if he wants to stop by the jewelry store on his way from the dealer, I'm good with that, too!

 

Feets - thanks for that transmission info... Quite interesting indeed - I'll definitely keep that in mind when I meet my "personal techy" as GG calls him! *grin*

I love the knowledge and information that comes from everyone on this site - thanks to everyone that has been sharing information with me!!! I don't know where I'd be if it were not for you guys.

And I'd like to think that no matter what happens, I'll have a yellow Crossfire - I don't care what has to happen... if they have to ship me one from the other coast, then so be it... I just hope my "personal techy" finds the problem(s) and is able to fix my girl...

So hopefully there will be no more notes from me about any problems... and I'll let everyone know what happens come 7/18. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

I spoke with our senior transmission guy (30 years on MB transmissions) and our MB SPOM (factory warranty rep). They both said it sounds more like a valve body issue than anything else.
The MB guy suggested that your tech rep contact the Mercedes tech reps in Montvale, NJ. We've been using that transmission for years and have it sorted out pretty well. It's still somewhat new to the Chrysler guys and communication between the two companies is spotty.