I hope this does not turn into a bashing.. but heres a little insight on the automotive industry that I have witnessed:

Firstly- I have worked at an independant shop years back and currently have worked for a DC dealer for 6 years.
Secondly- I have two roomates... Both Technicians.
1st roomate- Toyota Master Tech... Has worked for Toyo/Lexus 5 years
2nd roomate- VW Master Tech... VW master for 3 years... Volvo tech before that... has also limited experience with BMW in the same shop.

We all have high regard for our individual brands of choosing. We playfully pass stories of why our particular car line is the best. We also know what really happens to the cars on a daily basis. Now that said...

A lot of bashing of Chrysler has been put forth... I know what quality Chrysler has had.. And I know the quality of our current cars. This company- make no mistake- is not kidding when they say improving quality is at the fore front of goals! This includes weeding out the trash dealers and personnel! And yes.. it is happening.. Its not overnight, but is occuring.

Now keep this in mind. All vehicle lines have inherant problems.. Some particular vehicles worse than others (thus Lemon Laws)
For example- Toyota/Lexus has had a horrible run of engines oil sludging very early in life.. This means whole new engine! Not a little rattle, or delay in parts.. The car needs its heart replaced. And it has been common on certain Toyota/Lexus engine families.

VWs are notorius for widows falling out.. The new Taureg (sp) is having a heck of a time keeping parts available! (First year run!!!! and its a 35-45K auto!) Again- very common problem on a good automobile!

My personal car- A BMW... I belong to a forum for my model. It has its inherant problems too! People pass stories about window regulators breaking.. Bad Airbag parts.. Thermostat failures.. etc And this on a BMW.

I guess my point is... I have owned 11 cars in the past ten years. American, Japanese, German.. They have all had little idiosynchrosies.. They have all had failures.. Anyone can build a car that does not break! 35K won't buy that car! In fact- none of us on this board could afford that car.. Then again- even expensive cars break... Hmm.. I guess man really should sit back and realize that he does not rule this world.. We simply live in it. If you like the car and it pleases you- enjoy it! If you don't- then maybe your next car will bring you better experiences.

 

No bashing from me, Jamikest. This was very well stated and I agree with you 1000%.

 

I think that is what some of us have been trying to say, just not as well.....

Glad you are on this forum!

 

Couldn't agree more Jamikest. While sometimes I might sound down, I >DO< really love this car. As I've said, everyone can pick nits about any car... the 'perfect' car just doesn't exist. It SHOULD exist though. I've seen NSX's, Viper's, AMG's, Ferarri's, etc., all HIGH END cars that were bought for top dollar, that had little nits to pick. I've seen $8k Saturn's that had nits to pick. It's just the state of the automotive industry, but it IS massively better than things were 20-30 years ago.

After all... it IS just a car... there ARE a lot more important things in life. Sometimes I think some of the people complaining forget that.

 

Well I am certainly not shy about bashing the Five Star experience, because it is frustrating and annoying at times. So your words that the slackers will be getting weeded out is welcome news. Frankly, it is mandatory if Chrysler is to succeed at taking the brand upscale.

Now, on to Chrysler quality. My 300m is/was baby steps away from almost being the perfect vehicle. It has 62K miles on it now, and the engine performance has been completely flawless. However, it has had a number of nagging "little things", like two power door locks, power window, nonfunctioning AM radio (at delivery no less), and door seals coming "unglued" at all four doors. All somewhat minor, ticky tack type stuff that wasted a LOT of my time doing the Five Star Dance. So the way I see it Chrysler is "oh so close" to getting there if they fix the 1) inconsistent Five Star network and 2) refine the production process to weed out the ticky tack stuff that can drive you nuts. It seems to me the engines are already there. If they fix those things, then the hard part would come: Matching the market perception with the reality. Chrysler builds some cool cars, has IMO since the LH introduction. It would be a shame if someone turned away because some details were ignored.

 

I was just cruising through some older posts and found this one...

The key to vehicle quality is to understand that it breaks down to statistics. For example, Consumer Reports did a study in 2000 on 3 year old cars and if they have had any major repairs done. They ranked the car makers by number of cars with problems per 100 cars, basically giving you the % of 3 year old cars that needed repairs. To me, this tells me the odds of having a major problem for a given manufacturer. It doesn't necessarily mean that the car will have a problem. For example, I had a toyota and around the 3 year mark, an ignition coil went bad, incapacitating the car and costing $1000 in repairs. Statistically, Toyota is #2 in reliability, with Acura in the #1 spot (Consumer Reports). But, even though I bought from the #2 company in reliability, I crapped out when I rolled the dice.
There are certainly some models of cars that are much more prone to problems than others. I do tend to believe that the quality of Chrysler vehicles will continue to increase (and it has).
I was very aware when I bought my Crossfire that in 3 years, I'd probably have to spend $1000 to get something fixed. When I bought my Toyota, I thought I would never have a problem with it. It's all in the roll of the dice.

Here are some links:
http://autos.yahoo.com/consumerrepor...s_hold_up.html
http://autos.yahoo.com/consumerrepor...olding_up.html

 

Think about it... Jamikest is right

A car has thousands of parts.
Not all parts are perfect
Therefore not all cars can be perfect

Kinda like a computer...
It's a very complicated piece of machinery
Sometimes it doesn't work well either.

Perhaps the real issue is no man is perfect...
therefore no machine can be perfect.

One man's opinion.