? Patriotism? Your kidding right? Damiler / benz has done good..... a lot of good for Chrysler??? really...Your kidding right???

In 1998 Chrysler was the most profitable car company on the planet, even more so than Toyota has been of late. ....."Net profits in the third quarter of 1998 were a whopping $2.74 billion - compared with the already high $1.95 billion profits in January-September 1997. 1998 was shaping up to be a record year. The company claimed $7.85 billion worth of cash, cash-equivalents, and marketable securities; not to mention $2 billion in prepaid benefits, taxes, and expenses, $13.5 billion in finance receivables, and numerous other assets totally $60.4 billion, with liabilities of $49 billion. Inventories, including raw materials, parts, and vehicles held for short-term lease, totalled $6 billion. Chrysler still appeared to be the auto industry’s fastest-rising star."...from all par.

Daimler only purchased Chrysler because they were in distress and didn't have the money to continue operations, while Chrysler had over 12 billion in reserves and credit available.
Daimler did nothing good for Chrysler, except kill the its winning products, quality, and company moral. Damiler was the absolute worst thing for Chrysler.

Also....I can tell you I've NEVER had RUST issues like I have with my crossfires on any other "chrysler" products. I guess that Daimler planned to not have the Chrysler versions last very long....? Who knows?

Also i've had over 5 Chrysler products with over 150,000 trouble free miles.
1986 Dodge GLH turbo with over 150,000 miles when I sold it.
1987 turbo LeBaron Coupe with 187,000 miles. then I gave it to my dad.
1985 Dodge minivan with 2.2 stick and over 160,000 miles...sold it for 500 bucks.
1993 plymouth minivan with currently 155,000 miles and still driving it.
2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee with over 70,000 trouble free miles.....so far.

hopefully my 2 Crossfires last that long..........If they don't fall apart from the rust!... that is.
Anyway..............I still love my crossfires, and there's not a better looking car anywhere!

 

Chrysler will still make the PT cruiser...not the convertible version..

 

I dont know where the numbers you quoted come from. Fact is that Chrysler had absolutely outdated techology in their programm.
I have one other Chrysler product I need for my other hobby. And it is the sloppiest built car and the biggest gas guzzler I have ever owned.

HjM

 

I am sorry but you are a little mistaken Daimler was never "in distress and didn't have the money to continue operations" that just isn't correct, Daimler was and is one of the largest and most successful companies in the world.
As for killing its winning products the inclusion of MB technology resulted in the best cars and trucks Chrysler ever produced, period.
On the rust issue first I have had my XF for over three years and do not have any rust problems and other than a issue on the underside of the door some have reported I am unaware of any other rust problems BUT keep this in mind a Daimler employee did not design the body panels an American Chrysler engineer did.

I am not putting down Chrysler or taking up for Daimler, what is just is. Daimler did not destroy Chrysler, GM or Ford. Who or what did.. well that is the question.

 

The response is classic "template" response. When I worked for Verizon Wireless I was PM in charge of a team and liaizon between this team and our legal dept. to clean up, update etc., their E-mail response team's templates.

This is a template that has blank spots for the agent to add items from your e-mail to make it personal. Sorry.

Most likely this agent will send it to a marketing box where it will not have much attention. Unless it makes big news, like "you are supporting Akon who molested a girl on stage" kind of thing....

I recently had my Jeep at the dealership for repair. I talked to the GM there about my XFire. He said he hadn't had an XFire on the lot in 3 years because Chrysler's decision about it.

 

Interesting discussion, but Chrysler (and GM, Ford) has bigger problems than sustaining the Crossfire. It's fighting for it's life in a market that is plunging from 16mm to less than 12mm vehicle sales per year. They are facing the triple challenge of higher priced gasoline (don't let the recent price drops fool you), the need to invest in hybrid/electric technology, and the introduction of dirt cheap cars from China and India. And while their pension structure is not as brutal as GMs, it's still significant compared to the transnationals who set up factories down south. And don't think the Koreans, Chinese, or Indians give a rat's behind about the environment, worker health and safety, and pension plans.

Fact is, this was a 70k run of niche vehicles that probably used up the old SLK320 chassis and drivetrain without having to do a lot of r&d investment. It was doomed from the failure to effectively market these wonderful vehicles.

So enjoy your unique, beautiful, and fun car. Keep in mind that even on this forum, there are only a few hundred fanatics representing less than a thousand Crossfires. The rest are just cars that are being driven, abused, wrecked, etc. In 10 years we'll be sharing ideas on where to get replacement parts whether Chrysler is still alive or not. But I'd rather be driving my Crossfires for the next decade than a Camry or Accord.

 

Not even close. The Pacifica predates the R-Class by two years - the Pacifica was introduced as a 2004 model year vehicle and the R-Class didn't arrive until the 2006 model year. The Pacifica is more closely related to the Plymouth Voyager than it is to the R-Class, but not by much. It is, howver, built in the same Windsor Assembly Plant alongside the long wheelbase minivans. The rear suspension is a huge improvement over the minivans, however, as it's derived from the 5-link setup in the previous E-Class. It's a very unique animal. The R-Class is built in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Mexico City.

If that isn't enough to convince you, consider this: the Pacifica is a FWD vehicle with an AWD option and a transverse mounted engine, the R-Class is RWD with an AWD option and a longitudinally mounted engine.

 

If there's one thing I love about Chrysler it's the people that own them. I have not see another brand have more knowledgeable and faithful owners. Those of us that own other Chrysler vehicles other than a Crossfire know that what antonio says above is correct. I won't deny that DB helped with updating some of the Chrysler technology, but they milked them dry in the process and sold off of the scraps.

 

Couldn't agree more!

 

Kinda Funny, My Chrysler vehicles have very tight build specs and get very decent mileage.
My Jeep gets about 20 miles to the gallon, and my minivan with 150,000 miles still gets about 23 miles per gallon.

I guess its the way you drive them.

 

arado - the last thing I read was that Chrysler was seriously considering dumping the entire PT Cruiser lineup. I know about the convertible but this was the entire line. Sales are way down on them and the thought was they would be re tooled this year but due to the financial situation they are considering cancelling it altogether. Its a shame the PT is one of the best cars Chrysler ever made. I have a preference for the first few years.......after they started changing the dash etc it wasn't as appealing to me.

 

Considering the previous generation sebring was on the same chassis, though less developed...and that got decent reviews one should ponder...?

Also the current Sebring / avenger are not bad cars at all. They can be better, but bad...absolutely not!

Consider this:

The Dodge Journey gets great reviews in all the automotive publications. It's rated even better than the Ford Edge crossover.

And the Journey is on the same sebring / Avenger platform. Therefor The Sebring / Avenger is not a bad vehicle. They did have some recalls, and there's no excuse for that. Also the styling is horrible, especially on the sebring...which also makes people and reviewers a lower opinion of it.

I still say, those two cars are decent cars, but improvement is in the works.

 

My PT Cruiser has been one of the best vehicles I've ever had. Not a single issue with it and even after a 9 hour drive I'm totally relaxed and comfortable when arriving at my destination. Loads of cargo space, very configurable, and it runs low 14 second 1/4 miles. Plus it'll get 24mpg on the freeway at a steady 80mph.

My understanding is PT production is ending with the 2009MY (the convertible and GT models are already gone) and it really doesn't bother me that it's going away. It was somewhat quirky to begin with from a styling standpoint, but there's only so much you can do to update a retro design anyway. And I think they missed the mark with the 2006 freshening of the PT anyway.

 

I own a 2005 PT Rag-top turbo. It has more room than anyother convertible I've driven, and it's very comfortable. I'll be sorry to see the line go!

 

And THAT, America, is why our auto industry is in SHAMBLES. This how Ford murdered the Mustang. Why sell a million sports cars when you can sell ten million family sedans?

We can't have anything nice because we've all been trained to think like Wal-Mart.

(Not ******* on you, Bladecutter... just expressing my opinion about this train of thought.)

 

Well when I was reading the old sales numbers of the old Nissan 350Z in this months Motortrend ( or Car & Driver / road and track?) in a review of the new 370z.....I couldn't believe how low the sales are of the nissans.

When you compare crossfire sales to that....the Crossfire sells much better.

 

Nice to know I can still start a good debate!!!

I love Chrysler products, and have been buying them both new and used for much of my adult life. Funny this is the I was raised on GM, that's another story...

My wife wrote this letter lat week when Chrysler announce that they will stop manufacturing the PT (not just the convertible). She mentioned the Xfire unbenounced to me, so I was a bit supprised to hear that she did, she has not been a fan of the car, but I guess has grown to like it.

I don't expect that Chrysler will change their minds, but if there are whole forums like this for cars that are discontinued, that means that they at on time made the cars that would get them out of debit, and for those same reasons stopped making them.

I only got the xfire because it was used and under$20k, ortherwise I could not afford a car that costs twice that much. That does proove the other guy's point to some degree, but there are different buyers in different markets, even in bad times.

Unfortunately after speaking to a salesman at the dealer last week, theycan't give cars away right now, so thile the other guy said, it's a bad market to be making these decisions in.

 

nobody is selling cars now. But it would be nice to support Chrysler with purchases. They're working extremely hard right now to fix themselves. And after Cerberus is out of the picture, Chryslers future will be MUCH briter!

Also Someone stated that the pacificas suspension is "Far" superior to Chrysler's minivans suspension. ......I'd have to disagree on this. Although independent suspension is better in some circumstances, when your hauling heavy loads like I often do in my minivans the rear wheels go like this / \ . I don't feel comfortable traveling like that. Infact its quite unsafe. So i'll choose the current minivans suspension that looks like this l l instead!

Chrysler still has the BEST minivans on the road....even after 25 years!

 

Antonio where are you getting your info that Chrysler is "working hard to fix themeselves"? Cerebrus is working hard to unload them and they can't find a buyer. This deal made about as much sense as the EMI/Terra Firma deal. No Terra Firma can't run a record company either. The guy who almost ran Home Depot in the toilet has no business running a car company. This reminds me of the old Korvette department store days when they'd loose a manager/buyer in the music department they'd fill it with a guy from lady's wear, totally clue less and expected to hit the ground running. Sorry Antonio the ship is sinking and Nardelli just wants us to throw money at it.

 

In the context of the Pacifica, a well designed independent rear suspension is preferable to a solid beam - the Pacifica was never intended to be a cargo hauler like a minivan can be - evidence the removable rear seats of a minivan, the flat load floor, and the fact that it's available in true panel van form. The Pacifica was intended to be more of a semi-luxury people hauler. I'd take the independent rear suspension over the solid axle any day of the week for that application. The solid rear axle in the Mustang is often a point of contention when discussing that vehicles handling characteristics, especially when comparing it to it's new rivals, the Challenger and Camaro, both with IRS.