Has anyone heard that Chrysler has pulled the oil filters for the Crossfire from the dealer and they are all being replaced. The new filter is in the $60 range vs. the $10. Something about a defect.

Has anyone heard about this, know what the problem is?

It's getting close to oil change time and I don't want to put a bad part in my car.

 

I don't know what is going on with the oil filters.

The original paper filter sold for $9.50 or so. About six months ago they changed to a newer "fleece" filter which is $18.50. I read the other day that they have once again changed the filter and it carried a $60.00 price tag. Yesterday I called the parts department at my dealership and they confirmed they have a new style filter "on order" that will replace the current filters. It will sell for $50.00 + tax. When I asked why the change, they said DC did not give them a reason... yeah, right.

Something fishy is going on. Monday I will call a MB dealer and see what filter they are using for the SLK 320 and see whatever else I can find out.

If there is a problem with the fleece filters, DC owes us an explanation about the problem and the seriousness of the issue. My first guess would be... MB has started having some kind of problem that has surfaced with their older cars that have been on the road for awhile.

 

BEN47 i am ready for another oil change... this past thursday i went to 2 local dealers here in NY and they said they didn't have any filters! I talked to 1 of the service managers as i was walking back to my car and he said they had some old ones in but are waiting for the newly designed filters to come in this week! i asked him... so they won't sell off the old ones? he responded that he got a memo to put a hold on the old ones!?!?!?

Does anyone know what MB uses for the SLK when they go in for a routine oil change?
j.

 

If they get too expensive at Chrysler get them from your local MB parts store not the MB dealer but a Euro parts store that sells MB parts. This is gonna make this car a CRAZILY EXPENSIVE proposition for service. As it is now they are charging $124 for an oil change and if you do it yourself its about $70. So I can just imagine now Chrysler service asking $170 for an oil change; that's ABSURD.

 

bullfrog... if there isn't any operational problems with the fleece filter...perhaps this is chryslers way of making profits off their servicing because this is a low production car for them. each time i go to the dealer, they seem a bit reserved with knowledge or inspiration when addressing the XF... its like the XF has become a rare but annoying pain in the butt to them... the dealers i deal with in NY don't sell enough XF to keep at least one knowledgeable employee on the lot to satisfy my questions let alone the needs of the XF. if they are selling that filter at $50-70. they must be paying 40% of that... so $30-50 extra profit makes it more lucrative for them... crazzzy.
j.

 

2 of the last 3 filters I've put on my Crossfire came from MB. They were fleece. I think around $21. Now if Chrysler is suddenly coming up with a new way to "Fleece" its customers by changing the price of its filters, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if MB doesn't suddenly start charging more too.
Just one more reason to DIY.
I seriously doubt if there is anything wrong with the filters that MB has been using for years.

 

Well I'll let you know what MB says about my next oil change with my Mercedes CLK 320. I've been using the same fleece in my Benz for 6 years and no problems. So if its due to a recall or something of that nature I would highly question it since I haven't had any problems with the filter in either the Benz or both XFire's.

Yeah I agree that it's DC's way of probably trying to make up for the huge discounts they are giving to get the car's off the lot in the first place.

 

I dunno. Bumping the cost of an oil filter by $30 seems like a pretty lame way to make back lost profit. I think they would roll it into the cost of their other new car sales first. It would make back the money a whole lot faster.

Lets see what one of the new filters looks like and what DC's official reason for making the change is. Also, let's see if this same filter shows up at MB dealers as well.

 

bobs... i am looking at $30-50 more to appeal to the dealer... not to DC. mannn these dealers are getting huge incentives... or supplemental credit from DC to get these XFs sold. when a dealer sells a New XF leftover or not for under $23,000... the dealer gets a kickback from DC to supplement the sale of an underpriced car. no joke.

so what i was projecting, the $30-50 more per oil change, the dealer will benefit from it solely... because they have to deal with the complaining customers the hassle of the labor and the 8.5 qts of oil and the rarity of the car...etc.

my experience with 3 dealers is that i had to wait for the XF repairs until a qualified tech/mech could work on it... and if they were out sick i/we had to wait until they came back to work...because each of these dealers only had 1 qualified XFtechie under their employ. and the managers seem to grimace when they see an XF come in for service.

you're right about rolling the losses over to newer models... and i guarantee you that DCHQ has been phasing out the XF since '05... there is a 50/50 chance of seeing '07s.
which falls short of the '08 contractractual obligation with khaman.

good luck with the call... thanks

josh

 

sorry bobs... when i said at the end... good luck with the call... i meant that for...

ben47 who is calling!!!

...Ben47 good luck with the call & thanks.

josh

 

I'll post something tomorrow evening after I call a MB dealer. In the past, the filter in the Crossfire was the same exact one MB uses for the SLK 320... first the paper and then the fleece.

 

Okay... I did some checking today. I called two 5-Star dealers and two MB dealers about the new and more expensive oil filters.

Both Chrysler dealers admit the "fleece" filters have been recalled and a newer version is replacing it. Neither dealer will say why this is happening other than they were told by Chrysler to do it.

My dealer is going to charge $50.00 + tax and the other dealer will be charging $66.15 + tax... go figure.

Both MB dealers I called knew nothing about a design change and a recall for oil filters on the SLK 320 motors. They both sell the identical fleece filters which are currently used on our cars for $18.50 + tax, which is what my dealer used to charge for them.

I asked my service manager if I continued to use the MB fleece filter instead of the newer Chrysler filter, if it would have an impact down the road should I have a warranty issue with my motor. His reply was, "not unless DC recalls and notifies owners of an issue with the fleece filter. While I am far from being a legal eagle, I tend to agree with his answer. After all, last year MB and Chrysler quietly replaced the paper filters using up their old stock first.

Until I get a good answer for the change, I plan on buying up a few of the MB filters. Screw Chrysler and their high prices. On my last oil change I brought my own oil that I bought for $4.95 a quart at WalMart. On my next oil change I'm bringing my own oil AND a MB filter. Screw their profit margin.

Something fishy is definitely going on with this filter issue. If someone has a contact within Chrysler, now is the time to get a hold of them. We deserve an answer as to why our filters have been replaced at three times the cost and MB continues on with no changes to their filters for the same motor.

IMO this whole Crossfire experience is turning into a real joke...

 

thanks ben47
stranger things have happened and i am ready to change my oil! i tend to change my oil every 3,000 miles... which works out to once a month, so that means i got to drop a buck fifty every time i hit 3,000? Strange and i thought MB parts were suppose to be more expensive than chrysler because of the name. like to see what MB will charge for filter if they go this route as well.

thanks again for the post.

j.

 

You're welcome.

I know this is going off topic and it has been talked about numerous times before... but why change every 3,000 miles? Use the synthetic Mobil 1 as called for and do your oil changes by what the FSS says. The system has been around for awhile in MB cars and there seems to be no engine problems associated with the FSS schedule and synthetic oil.

 

JUST A HABIT I'VE DONE FOR YEARS... AND WITH THE XF I KNOW IT SEEMS A BIT OVERKILL, BUT I DO PLACE 3,000 MILES ON THE xf PER MONTH... AND THEY ARE HARD MILES... BUT I AM GETTING MORE CONFIDENT WITH LETTING THE OIL CHANGE INTERVAL GO LONGER... THANKS TO THE INFO YOU/AND THIS FORUM PROVIDES ME.

JOSH

 

Josh, just a thought... If you change your oil by the FSS instead of every 3,000 miles you would probably wind up changing your oil every 2.5 - 3 months. At $100+ per oil change, that's a lot of beer (or Crossfire accessories) you're missing out on.

Also... Your car has a 70,000 mile powertrain warranty. So, if your engine blows up because of an oil related failure and you have been changing it according to the instructions, you're covered. Right? So stop listening to those Jiffy Lube commercials.


Don't worry. Be happy.

 

i change mine every 5k. some may go to 7.5k and still be just fine. this is one of the benefits of synthetic oil.

the harder you drive your car...the more often it should be changed.

 

BOBS/ANDREW... since buying this car, its hard not to be happy. ... it costs me more than $100 now for oil change... and now with the new filter... it'll be more. Plus i always tip ( ) well... so that's why i am looking at $150.

as far as synthetic oil is concerned i have been running synthetic or blends since 1982 (i learned of it when i used to race on the NASCAR northeast superstock and modified divisions) in every vehicle i have owned and been changing the oil often... not for viscosity loss but rather to cleanse the engine's inners.

actually i have been changing my own oil until recently when we bought a house without a garage (stupid me)! But i am in the process now to open up a little speed/accessory shop in the Bronx... so i will have a full fledged garage with lift for my XF... technically 7,000+ miles is fine for synthetic as i know people who run the synthetic up to 15,000 and these are Car fanatics as well.

thanks for the feedback/support.

j.

 

Stopped by the dealership yesterday to check out the new filter we've been talking about... they came down in price, back to the original $18.50. The parts guy said they have yet another filter coming to replace the newest one. I'm still wondering what's going on with them as MB still uses the same fleece filter we used to use.

 

WELL IF IT WASN'T THE CROSSFIRE... THEN I WOULD SAY THIS OIL FILTER FIASCO IS SCARY!

HOWEVER SINCE IT IS HAPPENING 2 THE XF I AM FINDING IT FUNNY.

J