Oh, the negativity!
The high level of negativity of Chrysler owners has been commented on, and I think it comes down to Chrysler doing a 180 yet again and leaving the people who liked its old lineup in the dust while it pursues newer pastures.
Those of us who liked the LH and Neon are looking at a totally different lineup. Plymouth (with its 265,000 sales/year) was jettisoned as well.
It seems every year Chrysler finds a new group of people to offend. I wonder if that’s a large part of the negativity… not unlike all those people who turned against Chrysler when the company dropped all of its rear-drive vehicles and strutted around bragging of its front wheel drive K-cars. (I noticed that while they pointed out the advantages of their new Neons, LH, etc., they never actually put down the K-cars in that particular transition, though.)
Then there’s the continued insult of DAIMLERchrysler: the signs in front of every Chrysler Group factory say DaimlerChrysler, while Mercedes is always kept separate and above. The DaimlerChrysler web site treats Chrysler as though it’s smaller than Smart or Maybach. And if you want to get to the Chrysler media site, you have to go to the DaimlerChrysler media site - for all brands except Chrysler Group - and then click through to a new page for Chrysler Group. That’s true even if you respond to the links in their mailing list! The acquisition is done and over with; perhaps it’s time to stop rubbing our noses in it.
(This was originally posted in our forums. Here are some comments people made to follow through:)
Patrick Lynch:
I agree with this. I was especially distressed when Chrysler ran the ad where someone was trying to fix an old fast-top C-body and putting it down while extolling the virtues of turbo four cylinders. At the time, I was driving a fast-top C-body that was running just fine.
I have been struggling with trying to be positive about current DCX products. When gas hit the three dollar a gallon mark, fuel economy became a big issue with me in a way that it hadn’t before. With the demise of the Neon as well as the Stratus Coupe, I don’t see a comparable new DCX product for replacing the LeBaron I have now. In that respect I feel left behind as the LeBaron will be my last coupe. If I were to replace my St. Regis with a comparable product, a Charger would be in my garage and that’s an easy choice if I never had to worry about keeping a full tank of gas in the beast. I got the LeBaron to put my bigger older car into a nice semi retirement and not rely on it for the daily grind. I’m trying to find a way to stay with Mopar, so it looks like its going to be another used car for me. After that, we’ll see.
hawk added:
- Mediocre to middling reviews on most of the new Chrysler cars (LX excluded). Outside of the LX vehicles, we don’t have a vehicle that is universally considered a benchmark in its class. After the LXes got so much media praise, the Caliber gets comments like it is 7/8ths ready, half-baked, and what’s the point of buying it. Haven’t read any in depth reviews of the Sebring, but most of what I read is that it is an average car. I want to read something like, “You would be stupid to buy a Camry or Accord over this car cause it is that good”.
- Still have interiors behind the competition. Even GM gets it.
- Each vehicle is still overwieght.
- All the positive momentum we had with the LXes was killed with the huge inventory problem this year. Now even LX cars have rebates, whereas the demand on them was so high that on average you paid MSRP. We are lumped with Ford and GM because we are doing as bad as them.
- The Chrysler was caught with its pants down when it had too many SUVs and not enough cars when gas was $3.00/gallon
- Little was done to convince the American car buying public that it is safe to buy a Chrysler product because our quality compares with Toyota, which is why a better warranty should be given. Instead of a warranty, CG seems to use gimmicks like a cooled/heated cupholders, built in coolers, and such.
In fairness, there have been many improvements, the negative stuff always gets the press.
I have to agree with you, in a way. I can understand them moving on and, internally, thinking ‘well, we’ve been there done that, so let’s completely put a new spin on the vehicles’. After all, there were a *lot* of people in this nation of 300 million that didn’t particularly dig the last generation of Chrysler products. But I do definitely sense a feeling of ‘if it’s not part of the new design theme then it’s outdated and doesn’t matter and we don’t really need to respect it’.
Maybe it’s me, but the whole David Spade/Neon thing does rather reinforce the sentiment. I guess really old Mopars are okay, but anything within the last 20 years? I dunno.
I’d love to see them introduce the next generation of minivans with a commercial featuing a wide shot of a member of each preceding generation, and a tag line along the lines of ‘The latest in a long line of leaders’. Since the T & C debuted at the tail end of the first generation, this would work for both Chrysler and Dodge.
I will say Jeep doesn’t shy away from their heritage; as an example the 2006 brochures have images of classic Jeeps all the way back to the original Willys. But then, that’s a simpler, more direct lineage and the relationship is apparent. Over on the car end, they’ve flipped and flopped and flipped again so often that the lines are blurred.
My personal nits about the ‘new’ generations would be largely addressed if they ditched that washed out gray they’re so in love with, and returned to the previous door frames that ‘rolled’ into the roof. The former is, obviously, quite a bit more feasible than the latter, but the latter would at least reduce the appearance of the narrow greenhouse.
I suppose that’s the new style though, and maybe it’s just a sign of time moving forward, and some of us can just add another item to the list of things they don’t make like they used to anymore…..
I suppose many of us are so frustrated because we see Chrysler has so much potential, but so much of it has been wasted. We’re frustrated Chrysler does not seem like it has learned from the past; we can see Chrysler is mismanaged by the very-shortsighted Daimler leadership.
We are disgusted about the German-American Dr Z ads. We are disappointed by DCX running roughshod over Chrysler’s heritage.
And we’ve seen countless missteps in recent years:
Instead of building on the initial enthusiasm for the Neon by improving quality and staying with bold styling, Chrysler dulled the styling and eventaully let it die. It had so much potential. Now they are failing to use that outstanding platform for a new small car, which they could get to market quickly; instead they are looking to a Chinese-sourced car.
DCX does not seem to care what its loyal customers want.
Same story with the PT Cruiser–it has sold well. It’s in a class by itself. Now I hear they are going to make it bigger, abandon the retro styling, share it with Dodge. Give up everything that has worked in the past. (I fear they will do the same to the 08 minivan–the’ve already lost sales when they killed the Plymouth Voyager. I hope they aren’t goingto ape Honda so much that they forget everything that made the minivan successful in the first place). Why not reinvent the PT in the same way as Porsche reinvents the 911? It gets newer, better, but does not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
They let the 01 generation Sebring stay on the market without updating it: what started as a great, competitive design, after six years was totally outclassed by the competition. One can only guess how many sales Chrysler could have won had it a more convincing mid-sized car these past three years.
That brings me to the new 07 Sebring: Chrysler failed to apply the lessons of the 300–bold styling. Instead they got locked into this Crossfire styling. Mechanically, the Sebring is excellent. If they had incorporated some Chronos / D’Elegance styling elements it would have split the midsize car market wide open. They have not learned–styling is Chrysler’s key
to breaking through in a tough market(e.g., 1957’s, LH’s, Ram, Neon, 300)
What really bothers me is DCX leadership saying that Chrysler was never a luxury brand while Walter P. Chrysler was alive. They apparantly never saw the Imperials that were made in the 20’s and 30’s, that were second-to-none in terms of luxury or performance.
I want to stay with Mopars, but I’m concerned about what they will be selling in the future. I don’t want to buy a decontented Mercedes or a Chinese-made Dodge. I don’t want to look elsewhere for my next car: I don’t want to have to buy a Ford Five Hundred or an Impala or a Camry in order to get a mid-sized car with a decent interior and a trunk big enough to hold my luggage; I don’t want to have to buy a Mazda 5 in order to get a minivan that is not too big or expensive. And I don’t want to have to buy an Infinti FX to get a sporty crossover.
Good comments……As a son of a Chrysler retiree I feel obligated to continually support and buy Chrysler products for the rest of my life. However, it has become increasingly difficult. My 2001 Pt Cruiser’s auto transmission went out this summer and I had to get a new car. What were my choices? Get another PT or a brand new Caliber. I drove the Caliber and really disliked the CVT and the new “world engine.” It was noisy,dog slow off the line, and had mediocre gas milege. It was a huge disappointment- I would have thought that the pressure from Honda and Toyota would have encouraged Chrysler to develope a lot better 4 cylinder than that. I ended up getting another PT Cruiser, which is a bit more refined but I am suffering from really poor gas mileage at the expense of refineness and acceleration. If I didn’t get an employee discount from my father and didn’t feel I should support a company that supported my father and our family all these years I would have definelty been buying a Honda Civic right now. Chrysler has really good niche cars but it looka like they totally missed the boat on the cars everyone will be driving- I was hoping for a lot more from them.
With gas prices high, Chrysler really doesn’t have much to offer. Their new 4 cylinder “world engines” stink- plain and simple. I would have thought that the pressure from Toyota and Honda would have forced them to design a lot more refined, powerful engine with better gas mileage. It didn’t. The Caliber is a dog and I have read the Sebring is just as bad even thought it is using a standard 4 speed auto instead of the CVT in the Caliber.
If you liked the Civic, you should have driven a Corolla… the Corolla engines are incredible and the ride is much nicer. That said, the four cylinder world engines are probably not as much of the problem as the weight of the Caliber. I wonder how they’d do if retrofitted to a Neon.
I wonder with all the negative comments regarding the Caliber why it is selling so well. A 6-month backlog for European orders and they are selling very well here. I don’t totally disagree with everyone here but all the American manufacturers let their cars go on too long without updates. The biggest mistake Chrysler has made is in not replacing the Neon with a another car based model. The Caliber is fine but Chrysler did design a small car to replace the Neon but decided on going with the Caliber only. Not a smart move. Yet today in Automotive News one of the lead articles was how people with large trucks and suv’s are replacing them with the same size or larger versions of that class of vehicles. Go figure.
Chrysler is usually too far ahead of its time: when the 1998 Concorde first came out, they ran ads touting its best-in-class fuel economy of 19 city / 31 hwy mpg. No one else was even talking about gas mileage at the time. They also had the fuel-efficient Neon at that point. Then, when gas gets to $3.00 a gallon, Chrysler is sorely lacking in high-mileage vehicles, and Honda and Toyota are able cash in on that weakness.
Chrysler has the right idea with flexible manufacturing: hopefully they can parlay that flexibility into an ability to more quickly adapt to changes in the market like high gas prices. The Neon platform should be used in the same role the K platform served in the 80’s and 90’s: providing a cheap foundation for a host of fuel-efficient front drive vehicles. Think of the strong position DCX would be in now if we had the Hornet coming on line for Dodge, a new sedan for Plymouth, a new PT for Plymouth/ Chrysler and a Dodge version of the PT (orginally this was to be the Sequoia and I think it could still work if it had unique styling and perhaps a longer wheelbase to distinguish it from the Plymouth, just as the Dart once had a longer wheelbase than Valiant).
Finally, I wish DCX had paired the 3.7 V-6 with the hybrid drive system rather than the Hemi, both to acheive a more marked fuel-ecomony advantage, AND to maintain the true place of the Hemi–Hemi’s are efficient, but they are not economy car motors; they need to be somewhat more exclusive, just as they were in the old days.
I could go all night ranting and raving about the former Chrysler Corporation and its consistant failures and bad decisions, but I won’t. I read these comments and wonder why people are so loyal. If they are not producing anything you like, maybe you might find what you like somewhere else. It doesn’t hurt to buy from other car companies. It isn’t hard to leave MoPar. I did and I’m not coming back. I feel like the automotive world has opened up for me and I am free to choose whatever make and model I can afford. It is a liberating experience after having been loyal to Chrysler for 20+ years of my life. If it wasn’t for the bone headed decision in 1998, I’d probably still be driving a Chrysler product.
It amazes me that my family spent almost 70 years buying, selling, servicing, and recommending MoPars, and I become the first one in my family to buy a brand new car from another company. It was a jolt throughout the family, but I don’t regret it. Since Chrysler didn’t want to be loyal, I saw no reason to return the favor. We put too much loyalty and faith into Chrysler even during the crappy k-cars era and low quality products of the 90s to be kicked around in 1998. That pretty much was the last straw.
On top of all this, they don’t even make a vehicle I would even want to buy - except the Viper - but I can’t afford that. So really, they already have two strikes on them in my opinion. This crap they pulled with the stupid, insulting Dr. Z campaign was pretty much strike 3 in my book. Their poor, poor treatment of the dealers during this sales bank fiasco is just another thing to add to the list - and the list is very long!
My dad has been driving, selling, servicing MoPars for his entire life, but I was surprised to hear him state a few weeks ago that he wouldn’t mind if Chrysler (Group) went and joined AMC in automotive heaven. It would make it easier for him to buy a Chevy or Ford if Chrysler (Group) was not around any more.
Oh, the negativity! is right. Oh well, it is time to move on. Really, it isn’t that hard to give up on Chrysler (Group). They did that to us 8 years ago!
chrysler need another desoto imperial/z28..mine runs great and the flathead gets 30+ mpg
Well, here’s a new reason for the negativity, right from Detroit News:
“With the Chrysler Group once again sapping DaimlerChrysler AG, the company has assigned teams including top Mercedes-Benz managers to find ways to increase efficiency and cut costs by $1,000 per vehicle at the Auburn Hills automaker.”
Here’s hoping it’s not more of the decontenting that lost them the minivan lead.
I wonder if any of those greate comments will ever get to DCX ears, listening to loyal and unloyal costumers is the key to keep them, ignoreing US, will be their DOOM.
In a way I agree with ex-mopar fan
1.ranting and raving about the former Chrysler Corporation and its consistant failures and bad decisions, 2. I read comments and wonder why everyone has all this negativity - but it doesn’t affect my judgement.
and 3. If Chrysler will not produce anything I like, I might find what I like somewhere else. Not GM or Ford as they aren’t producing anything I like either.
I’ve bought and driven only Chrysler products since my first in May 1969. My older brother has switched to Honda, my sister to Toyota, my younger brother & I still stick with Chrysler. But like I keep saying here and there, why can this car company offer this and why can’t Chrysler do the same.
Their customer service sucks,They need to look back in their books and see who the loyal customers were and treat them like one !
Well, well, well, here’s something to stoke the fires. Hows about that new Nitro ad where they blow up a Dodge Spirit? What kind of lunacy is this?
Wait….wait…..yes….I hear Toyota laughing….heck, even Ford is laughing.
Chrysler: Where we care about our customers, as long as they’re under warranty. Sometimes.
Drove a Caliber in March. It’s OK for what it is, but the gas mileage isn’t as good as the Neon and I’ll bet the five-speed versions are as hard to find as stick-shift first-gen JA sedans.
Sat in an ‘07 Sebring a couple weeks ago. It’s reasonably comfortable, price and EPA numbers are both better than the ‘06, but the rear end looks like a Corolla and that stubby rear deck may turn people away before they get a chance to see the big trunk it conceals.
I’m still not seeing anything that I’d dump my ‘00 Stratus or my ‘91 Daytona for, though, not since the Neon went away. I gotta have that 30+ highway mileage rating and I really, really, really want a manual-transmission option.
I miss being able to go look at new cars and be reasonably certain that I could get one exactly the way I wanted it…Now, it’s all “Sorry, automatic only,” “Sorry, power windows only,” “Sorry, we only have silver, gray and black,” “Sorry, you can’t get that tire-wheel package unless you go to the next model.” It’s frustrating. Say what you will about the ’80s lineup, but I was able to go out and buy a base-model ‘86 Charger with a stick, and sport suspension, and a tire-wheel upgrade and it didn’t take that much hunting to find a dealer with one in stock that was equipped that way.
I too am beginning to lose my loyalty to Chrysler. My family has owned a Chrysler dealership since 1978. Chrysler has just lost their way and refuses to change, or so it seems. I do like some of the newer models. Caliber is ok but just like everybody else has said before, it needed to have a lot better fuel economy. I think Compass wasn’t needed and now Chrysler might be finding that out. It now has $500 Chrysler Financial bonus. Aspen isn’t needed. I like the Sebring but I don’t think it will catch on because of Chrysler’s poor quality record. The new Wrangler is nice and is getting off to a good start (IF WE COULD ONLY GET SOME IN STOCK!!!) The Mega-Cab was a mistake. Nobody was beating down the doors demanding a bigger cab.
I agree with a previous comment that said the dealers got screwed during the sales bank fiasco. We did get screwed on that one. First it was “just take these few cars this once and we won’t ask again”. Well three or four times later they were still begging us to take vehicles. We will probably have some of this crap this time next year. If we’re still around next year.
For a long time I defended Chrysler against those people that said our vehicles were no good. Well you know something? Turns out they were right. I kept thinking to myself “just wait until (fill in Chrysler vehicle} comes out, it surely will be better”. Well that never happend. We just keep having trouble with these vehicles. You see trends developing with service problems, try to tell Chrysler about it, and they totally ignore you. It seems they have a new recall or recalls every week. Now they’re doing a recall on a previous recall (Liberty ball joints)
If I were buying a vehicle nowadays (which I might have to do soon) I would not look at a Chrysler product because I know their history. I didn’t abandon Chrysler, Chrysler abandoned me.
I am a truck guy, always have been and always will. So I am not familiar with the point of views many of you have expressed about the smaller cars. But I will say this, after owning a 2004 F150 (complete lemon) and test driving a Nissan Titan, Toyota Tundra, and Silverado, I made the right choice with my Hemi Ram. 30,000 miles and no problems whatsoever. I - for one - will never buy a Ford or Chevy.
My problem with DCX revolves around the lack of aftermarket tunability associated with the company. When Ford or Chevy introduces a new engine, cams, custom tunes, etc., are available within a few months. However, us Ram guys have to waitn for almost a year for a handheld programmer to be released. Why? Because of the restrictive PCM implanted in our vehicles. If you walk into a Chevy part department, they’ll see you a motor any performance parts you want. However, DCX places 6.1L cams on restriction (popular swap for 5.7 Hemi owners). Oh, and if you want a 6.1L Hemi for your hotrod, keep wishing because the only way you can get one is from a totaled vehicle or as a direct replacement.
Working at a chrysler dealership is tuff. All the milage stickers are way off. The price of gas goes up and the crowd gets ugly. Every other customer complaining about the milage. Its time Chrysler stopped lying to the public. We cannot afford to continue this trend. Also Chrysler corporate needs to put a collar on the Chrysler financial divison. They tick off more customers because of lying about interest rates and payment amounts. I have had in the past month 4 customers complain about the way they were treated by the Chicago office of chrysler financial. They have said when they call to find out why the payments or intrest is off they are treated like trash. Come on DR Z lets get back to customer service before more dealers go under!!!!!!!!!!!
OK people, All I’m going to say is after 80+ years of chevy my family is switching to mopar. So stop your crying and move on.
You know, part of the reason for the negativity is the crappy attitude some people have towards anyone who disagrees with them. “Stop your crying,” like “stop your whining,” is an incredibly dismissing, ugly, and hostile way of saying what you have to say, and frankly, we can do without anyone who thinks and talks like that.
Well, lets see now. I’ve had Chrysler products from all the “different” versions of Chrysler. Never had any major problems with any of them. My latest is a Hemi Ram.
Gets good mileage and great quality. And,if I wanted one of the import light weight
tin cans that get 5 more miles per gallon well I guess their there to be bought.
There is a Toyota dealership here in San Jose that’s on a corner of a major intersection
and displays for what I consider the most butt ugly fleet of cars and trucks that metal
can be pressed into. There’s nothing special about any of the imports.
What the imports DO have is nicely outfitted compact cars and trucks. That’s really where they excel compared with the domestics. I am not impressed by Toyota trucks, but the Corolla is a really nice package that doesn’t feel like a “tin can” or “roller skate,” accelerates like a Charger V6, and gets a true 40 mpg on the highway (and a true over-30 around town). Likewise if you want a small pickup, forget the domestics; only the Ranger is out there now, as far as I know, and it’s old outdated rubbish compared with the Toyota, Mitsu, etc. versions. Then in small SUVs, again Toyota is leading the pack - there’s no real Jeep or Dodge competition unless you really stretch a point and bring out the Liberty or Caliber, neither of which is quite there. The Patriot may well be their answer, but it’s not available yet as far as I know.
Let me continue on my previous comment about “crying.” Those of us who haven’t run to Chevy or Mitsu or whoever are still, in our own way, trying to push Chrysler back to where it should be. Yes, I left the fold for a while after the takeover, when there wasn’t anything I wanted in the Dodge or Chrysler lines other than another Neon - and we already had one. (I like some variety.) I came back when the PT Cruiser got a turbo and a five-speed.
Is it whining or crying to be pointing out that a company has given up on shooting itself in the foot, and has moved to live grenades?
I just purchased a slightly used Dakota and love it! I looked for a 2007 but only found very high content trucks on the dealer lots.What’s up with 30K + sticker price? My local Mopar dealer STILL puts non negotiable price adjustments(under coating, free notary?). I think the whole dealers notion that DCX is the problem needs to look inside for a solution to the sales lag.When i owned a Toyota, when it needed service (which it did)my car was presented to me washed and vacuumed everytime!It’s the little things like that that make the pain of my failed tranny (on a Toyota?)seem better!
Oh by the way the new Nitro is a bargain!
Bob P, I don’t know what part of the country you live in but if your local Dodge dealer is like us, he didn’t ask for that 30K Dakota. We still have the three of them that they put on us back in January. Along with several dozen other vehicles that we didn’t want and can’t sell either because they are over equipped or under equipped.
Regarding Steve’s comment about Chrysler Financial: We obtained financing through the dealership not with Chrysler financial, but with a local bank. We had already prearranged financing, but they beat it. Have bought several cars from this dealer through the years, but I don’t think any were financed through Chrysler Financial.
Patrick Lynch:
“I agree with this. I was especially distressed when Chrysler ran the ad where someone was trying to fix an old fast-top C-body and putting it down while extolling the virtues of turbo four cylinders. At the time, I was driving a fast-top C-body that was running just fine.”
Yep, and they’ve done it again. There’s a new Nitro ad running which shows one jump-starting an AA-body, or rather, blowing it up. There’s a few people over on some of the FWD Mopar boards (myself included) more than a little upset over that one.
What kind of marketing geniuses come up with campaigns that insult a company’s current customers, by insinuating that a previous purchase decision FROM THAT COMPANY resulted in buying a piece of junk?