Chrysler cuts powertrain warranty to 5 years

CUTS?????

Chrysler cuts powertrain warranty to 5 years
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-08-19-chrysler-cuts-powertrain-waranty_N.htm

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Chrysler Group said Wednesday that it is
dropping its lifetime powertrain warranty in favor of a 5-year,
100,000-mile guarantee.

Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau said the decision was driven by market
research that showed consumers prefer warranties with a fixed time
period. Powertrain warranties typically cover repair or replacement of
transmission and engine parts.

"Basically, the assumption of a lifetime warranty just wasn't that big a
deal to consumers," Deneau said.

The 5-year, 100,000-mile warranties will be transferable to new owners
if the vehicles are sold before they run out, he said. The previous
lifetime warranties were not transferable.

The new warranty program also includes the automaker's SRT and Viper
models, which were excluded from the lifetime warranty. But the Sprinter
van and the diesel version of the Ram pickup remain excluded, Deneau said.

The change is effective with the start of the 2010 model year.

 

Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau said the decision was driven by
market research that showed consumers prefer warranties with a fixed
time period. Powertrain warranties typically cover repair or replacement
of transmission and engine parts.

"Basically, the assumption of a lifetime warranty just wasn't that big a
deal to consumers," Deneau said.
Sounds like B.S. to me..
They probably gave a panel an offer of 5 years free or lifetime for $xxx
and everyone jumped at 5 years for free.
The details are lacking. I don't think anyone would blow off free
lifetime drive train coverage.

 

I think this reduction in warranty is a reflection of the fact that
people will hang on to their vehicles indefinately during a recession.
The MEDIAN age of cars and light trucks on US roads has increased
significantly over the past 5 to 10 years. The average age of passenger
cars in use during 2008 was 9.4 years based on a Polk survey conducted
from July 1 2007 to June 30 2008. The average age for light trucks was
7.5 years.

In 1990, the median age of cars operating in the US was 6.5 years, in
1969 it was 5.1 years.

What would you choose:

a) drivetrain coverage (I'm assuming parts and labor for stuff other
than oil, filters, spark plugs, etc) but is not transferable if the car
is sold, or

b) 5 year coverage for the same items, but is transferable to any owner
of the car.

BTW, when exactly did Chrysler come out with this lifetime power train
warranty? And was it just in the US? My CDN 300m had (I think) only a
3-year, 60k powertrain warranty back in the fall of 1999, and my CDN
2001 Ram had (I think) a 5 year, 100k warranty.

They seem to want to exclude vehicles that will see commercial use. I
guess that means they think that people don't buy Ram's with diesel's
for personal / home use.

What is the US drivetrain warranty on new Honda, Toyota and Nissan
passenger cars these days?

 

Toyota
http://www.toyota.com/tundra/warranty.html

Honda
http://www.automotive.com/new-cars/warranty/01/honda/index.html

Nissan
http://www.nissanusa.com/owning/faqs/warranty.html

Hyundai
http://www.hyundaiusa.com/global/warranty/warranty.aspx

Kia
http://www.kia.com/#/warranty

 

In the 1960's they touted their 5 yr/50,000 mile powertrain warranty.
It was the same when I bought my Dodge Caravan in 1986. When I bought
my 1990 Dodge Spirit, it was raised to 7yr/70,000.

It was 3yr/36,000 when I bought my Stratus. I think they got burned
with all the 41TE claims in the early 1990's, so they lowered it.

Lighter users like myself, will most likely hit the 5 years first.

-KM

 

That they significantly lowered the warranty does not bode well for
their confidence in the product they are peddling (and all that the word
"peddling" implies).

 

Jim Higgins full-quoted:

To play the devil's advocate, why be critical of Chrysler when they are
simply matching the powertrain warranty offered by Toyota, Honda and
Nissan?

 

I think that Chrysler, and GM, have much more to prove. They need to
have a very, very good warranty to move people to take a chance on their
products. Many people, especially now, just do not have the resources to
gamble on Chrysler or GM and take a real chance on coming up Snake Eyes.
Perhaps a stellar warranty might move them to take such a chance.

 

If the worry here is that GM and Chrysler might still dissolve in a few
years, then having a longer warranty now for a new car will be
irrelavent.

And I don't know what you think they need to prove. My 300m is almost
10 years old and 90k miles and it's been extremely reliable and
durable. Talk about maintenence free. Besides 2 or 3 oil changes a
year and a few sets of tires and brake pads, it's required practically
no maintenence. I'm still on the original battery and coolant. AC
still works perfectly, and I've only changed one tail light bulb (even
the headlights are still original). Only this year do I start to see
some surface rust on the bottom of the front doors.

 

There are legions of former Chrysler and GM customers with very long
memories of being repeatedly screwed by said companies. Chrysler/GM will
have to do a lot to get those customers back, if they ever do. If those
companies fail in that endeavor then they die due to their own failings
and can blame no one other than themselves.

 

Our '02 300M has just over 90K miles and had a transmission coolant
radiator replaced under the extended warranty (which was a freebie to
help move the '02 models to make way for the '03 models -- although our
car was built to order anyway because there wasn't already one with the
combination of options we wanted). The extended warranty also covered a
major problem with the transmission (problem covered by a TSB, but it
took them a long time to fix, including waiting for parts), even though
it was past the 70K miles that I understood that the warranty covered.
$100 deductible in each case.

I did get the coolant changed, but ours is still on the original battery
too.

Did all existing powertrain warranties get extended to lifetime
automatically? That would explain why our transmission problem was
covered beyond the 70K miles.

Perce

 

Neither.

I drive cars till they are ready for the bone yard.

I'd prefer a flat 100k miles drive train warranty irregardless of car age.

 

MoPar Man wrote:They seem to want to exclude vehicles that will see
commercial use. I
guess that means they think that people don't buy Ram's with diesel's for
personal / home use.


Many trucks owners in Louisiana buy the diesel truck for personal use.

 

MoPar Man: Nice to hear of your very good 300M experiences.
I've only had my 2004 300M for a year and it's been faultless.
Whoops I did have to replace the center brake light, not an easy task.

Two of my neighbors have the 300M yr2000 and yr2001, they also have been
basically faultless.

IMO most people buying a new car only need a 5 yr warranty, they'll
trade it in before then.

As for Chrysler I really don't care, they've had nothing since 2004 that
interests me. Now I'm set for 5+ years.

 

Because Chrysler has for many years had a better warranty than most that
sets them above the rest. Now they're just one of the same. That
causes some of their appeal to be lost.

My trouble is the fact that Chrysler won't offer a decent warranty on
their diesels or performance cars such as the SRT's. My 2008 SRT4 only
has a 3yr/36K warranty. My 2007 Diesel Ram only has a 3yr/36K warranty
(A few parts of cummins engine are longer). Their more expensive top of
the line products have the lowest warranties.

 

Many new prospective auto customers have no idea what the warranty terms
were in the past or how they've changed historically for any
manufacturer. Yes, a few of us Chrysler junkies know it, but not the
average car buyer.

But perhaps Chrysler's "lifetime" warranty was unwarranted, unworkable,
or unrealistic? What other consumer product can you point to that has
ever had such a warranty?

They clearly anticipate that those vehicles will be driven harder and
experience more potential for heavy, abnormal or even irresponsible
useage.

If I bought (or were seriously looking) at such a vehicle, I would be
pissed off at the reduction in warranty period. But I have no intention
to ever buy an SRT or diesel vehicle (from Chrysler or anyone else).

In that regard, how do the German and Japanese warranties compare for
similar vehicles?

I know someone that bought a BMW M3 a few years ago, and within 6 months
he blew the motor at a track. It was covered by BMW - but they weren't
happy about it. It's that kind of nonesense that I can see Chrysler
protecting itself against.

 

There are many former GM, Ford, and some Chrysler customers who got
excellent service from their vehicles yet due to the irrational media
love for imports they traded in their 200K mi "domestics" for imports
costing thousands more. Fleet users actually know which vehicles are
cost effective and most fleets buy a lot of domestics. Our fleet is
about 95% domestic and we just don't have any problems with them
anymore then we do with the occasional "import". If someone has a
domestic and a bulb burns out they act like it's the end of the world.
Someone who has an import and their transmission goes out just shrugs
it off they have been so brainwashed. For some reason "hate America"
is in vogue when it comes to cars.

 

All the recent cars (last 20 years) I've had were just getting broken
in at 100K. I liked the Chrysler lifetime power train warranty. It
was a second level factor in my last buying decision and I did wind up
buying a Chrysler product partly because of the warranty.

 

With very good reason.

 

Sears Diehard batteries of yesteryear had lifetime warranties. Turns
out that Sears had to honor the warranty more than it planned and thus
canceled it.

Well sure they do but people pay a premium price for those vehicles
because they're designed for heavy work. A weak warranty tells me the
Dodge Ram built tough slogan may not be so true.

I bought a leftover old stock 2008 Caliber SRT4 last March. Bought new
for about $8000 off sticker. For the money it is one heck of a fun fast
car and gets great mpg. Also have a 2007 Ram Diesel. It pulls my
trailer with ease. No gasser could perform as well.

Not sure for performance vehicles but neither make full sized diesel
trucks sold in the USA.

Their warranty specifies that racing and other abusive driving would
void portions of the warranty. But its not easy to prove such abuse.

Trouble I have is that manufactures advertising raves about a sports
cars performance. They show them driven in an abusive manner touting
their capabilities but then won't warrant them for people who buy and
drive them just as advertised.