That's why they are called 'snap' rings.
Seriously, I've seen it happen, but I wouldn't call it that common.
Was it on your Compounder clutch assembly?
It used to be a fairly common issue on the early 41TE about 20-25 years ago. Some of the hardened snap rings are directional and must only be installed with a particular orientation (flat side down). A paint dab was used to identify thickness.
Was this under warranty I hope?

 

I don't think it's very common, certainly not to the extent that the 41TE experienced, but there have been a few failures here and there. It's basically a 41TE with an underdrive compounder attached, and that compounder seems to be what goes out the most frequently with early ones the most affected. The 4 speed part of it seems at least as reliable as the newer 41TE to me, and they were pretty decent transmissions after 2001 or so.

Dad's 2008 Caravan had a pretty catastrophic failure at 140k kms that I figure came down to either the compounder or differential, but once it got a replacement 2010 model transmission from a boneyard it was fine. That van has 410k kms now and is still going. I actually really like this transmission... wish my 2004 Pacifica had it.

 

It is just out of warranty. Cost is $4300 to fix. Sadly I won't be buying another Chrysler. Snap ring was associated with the Torque converter.

 

It did its job........made it through the warranty period.

 

If by losing a customer because of crappy reliability, then yes they did do there job. And lost money in the process.

 

You would be surprised at how much money goes into design to get a part to make it through the warranty period.
And that part that failed might of been supplied to Chrysler from another company.

 

A broken snap ring may not be the primary failure, but the result of another failure. A sudden unexpected mechanical force from something else failing nearby may exceed the strength limits of the snap ring and cause it to fracture.
Many times the snap ring over-stress is from the failure of an adjacent part.

 

I agree with imperial crown , I have seen these vehicles with many miles and no failures.they are mechanical things and can break.the last dealer I worked for was also a Honda dealership,they had transmissions that failed at 10 miles and problems just like any other car.there are millions of engines and trans built some of them will fail