Chrysler's financial crunch

"Chrysler LLC has slipped into a serious financial crunch just four
months after Cerberus Capital Management LP swept in to save the auto
maker.

"At a meeting earlier this month, Chief Executive Robert Nardelli told
employees the company is headed for a substantial loss this year and is
scrambling to sell assets to raise cash..."

Wall Street Journal article: http://301url.com/Chrysler

 

"Riding the Sebring convertible, "I found the wind noise
totally unacceptable and bordering on offensive at speeds
of 80 mph," he wrote in a terse email to Chrysler's top
designer, Trevor Creed."

Creed is the designer responsible for the Tonka-Toy 300C.

"Griping about the cheap plastic of its interior, he added,
"I sure hope that as we go forward, we don't punish the
customer by thrifting the interior to meet a cost target."

You stupid dumb fucks.

What do you think the crappy Mercedes parts is costing you that you're
stuffing inside those 300 sedans?

And what do you think you're buying those German parts with? It ain't
el-cheapo US greenbacks.

Kill the LX platform already and bring back the LH and build the 300N
concept car from 8 years ago.

Let Mercedes find some other car to stuff their old e-class left over
parts in.

"On three models -- the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Crossfire
and Dodge Magnum -- the company lost money for every one sold."

Heh. The Crossfire isin't even made by Chrysler. It's based on a
Merc and customized in Germany.

Why are no auto journalists pointing that out?

Chrysler is in a bad position because of the high content of German
parts in it's cars, and because the Euro is actually worth something
while the US dollar is worth squat.

"He told the engineers, "We need to generate cash to keep this
machine running."

Then stop building god-damn stupid minivans and start building 2 and
4-door sedans that appeal to 30 - 50 year old men. And do it quick -
my '00 300m isin't going to last forever.

"We need to generate cash to keep this machine running."

Ok Nardelli - I'll buy that '00 300N convertible concept car that
Daimler forced you to sweep under the carpet.

How much do you want for it?

 

Hey hold on there. Re-read the article:

"...Mr. Bernhard was in line for the chairman's post, but he backed out when
he learned that Mr. Nardelli, an automotive novice, would be CEO..."

"...Mr. Nardelli took the job Aug. 6 and quickly began driving different
models home every few days to familiarize himself with Chrysler's vehicles.
He would sometimes meet in the mornings in the parking garage with
engineers, who tutored him on how to evaluate a car's ride and other fine
points, people familiar with the matter said..."

Now on one hand, we had a "car guy" from the same mold that ran the
automaker into the ground.

On the other hand we have a non-car-guy who freely admits he's a
non-car-guy, and actually goes
to the people who know what the **** they are doing, for training.

Who do you think will be a better CEO? My vote so far goes to Nardelli.

From the article:

"...On three models -- the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Crossfire and Dodge
Magnum -- the
company lost money for every one sold...."

"...Messrs. Nardelli and Press agreed to stop making the money-losing cars
...."

Translation: Those 3 models are dead.

Because the auto journalists are "car guys" who were probably all
salivating over the Pacifica, Crossfire and Magnum when they were
first released, and are absolutely stunned that someone would have
the nerve to actually look at whether the models are profitable.

These "journalists" are the same people who were lauding GM's
dumping another billion into Saturn - despite that Saturn has never
made money.

"...Mr. Campi has pushed to buy more parts from Asia, people familiar with
the matter said, including car and truck batteries from India. Chrysler
executives warned that the batteries are difficult to ship and apt to lose
their charge in transport, but he is pushing ahead with the effort, these
people said...."

OK, now I go down to the local sporting good store that has a rack
of car batteries. Some of the batteries on the shelf there have dates as
old as 6 months from date of manufacture. Yet, people are buying them
and using them with no ill effects. Why? Because the sulfation that occurs
on a 6 month old battery might reduce it's total lifespan from 7 years to 5
years. The average person doesen't know this, of course, and 5 years
later when his battery craps out again, he figures he got his money out of
it.

Campi knows bullcrap when he sees it. These unnamed Chrysler execs
are pissed off that Campi has come in and is wrecking existing relationships
with suppliers. So they are scratching around looking for examples to cite
to harm his credibility, and the best they can come up with is this? Give
me
a break.

If the Indian battery has sat around and lost some charge it's still going
to start the
car. When the car arrives at the dealer, the dealer is going to give the
battery
a nice long charge. The battery will probably by then be sulfated enough
that
it will last maybe 2 years then crap out. In which case it's not Chryslers
problem
because the battery is a consumable and not under warranty.

There's a right and a wrong way to cut costs. The right way is to cheapen
the expendable and easily-replaceable parts that are not under warranty.
The wrong way is to cheapen the stuff that's fundamental to the car - like
the sound deadener in the interior. It seems to me that Chrysler has been
cheapening up the fundamentals, not the expendables. Perhaps Nardelli and
company really do know what they are doing.

Nardelli may be disliked because of his stint at Home Depot. And in
truth, there's a lot of crap at Home Depot that I wouldn't buy. But, mixed
in with the crap is the good stuff. And sometimes, all the job really calls
for is a piece of crap.

Ted

 

Hey hold on there. Re-read the article:

"...Mr. Bernhard was in line for the chairman's post, but he backed out when
he learned that Mr. Nardelli, an automotive novice, would be CEO..."

"...Mr. Nardelli took the job Aug. 6 and quickly began driving different
models home every few days to familiarize himself with Chrysler's vehicles.
He would sometimes meet in the mornings in the parking garage with
engineers, who tutored him on how to evaluate a car's ride and other fine
points, people familiar with the matter said..."

Now on one hand, we had a "car guy" from the same mold that ran the
automaker into the ground.

On the other hand we have a non-car-guy who freely admits he's a
non-car-guy, and actually goes
to the people who know what the **** they are doing, for training.

Who do you think will be a better CEO? My vote so far goes to Nardelli.

From the article:

"...On three models -- the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Crossfire and Dodge
Magnum -- the
company lost money for every one sold...."

"...Messrs. Nardelli and Press agreed to stop making the money-losing cars
...."

Translation: Those 3 models are dead.

Because the auto journalists are "car guys" who were probably all
salivating over the Pacifica, Crossfire and Magnum when they were
first released, and are absolutely stunned that someone would have
the nerve to actually look at whether the models are profitable.

These "journalists" are the same people who were lauding GM's
dumping another billion into Saturn - despite that Saturn has never
made money.

"...Mr. Campi has pushed to buy more parts from Asia, people familiar with
the matter said, including car and truck batteries from India. Chrysler
executives warned that the batteries are difficult to ship and apt to lose
their charge in transport, but he is pushing ahead with the effort, these
people said...."

OK, now I go down to the local sporting good store that has a rack
of car batteries. Some of the batteries on the shelf there have dates as
old as 6 months from date of manufacture. Yet, people are buying them
and using them with no ill effects. Why? Because the sulfation that occurs
on a 6 month old battery might reduce it's total lifespan from 7 years to 5
years. The average person doesen't know this, of course, and 5 years
later when his battery craps out again, he figures he got his money out of
it.

Campi knows bullcrap when he sees it. These unnamed Chrysler execs
are pissed off that Campi has come in and is wrecking existing relationships
with suppliers. So they are scratching around looking for examples to cite
to harm his credibility, and the best they can come up with is this? Give
me
a break.

If the Indian battery has sat around and lost some charge it's still going
to start the
car. When the car arrives at the dealer, the dealer is going to give the
battery
a nice long charge. The battery will probably by then be sulfated enough
that
it will last maybe 2 years then crap out. In which case it's not Chryslers
problem
because the battery is a consumable and not under warranty.

There's a right and a wrong way to cut costs. The right way is to cheapen
the expendable and easily-replaceable parts that are not under warranty.
The wrong way is to cheapen the stuff that's fundamental to the car - like
the sound deadener in the interior. It seems to me that Chrysler has been
cheapening up the fundamentals, not the expendables. Perhaps Nardelli and
company really do know what they are doing.

Nardelli may be disliked because of his stint at Home Depot. And in
truth, there's a lot of crap at Home Depot that I wouldn't buy. But, mixed
in with the crap is the good stuff. And sometimes, all the job really calls
for is a piece of crap.

Ted

 

This doesn't surprise me as it's only been 4 months since Cerberus took
over Chrysler. They haven't had time to make any product changes, other
than cancel a few obvious losers.
For my possible next Chrysler I'm not looking for an LH to replace my
still running very well '95 LH, no am I looking for a better 300, as a
heavy RWD vehicle is not what I want.

I'm looking for a Sebring sized or slightly smaller SW, with very good
fuel mileage, but more driver and front passenger foot space than the
2001 Sebring.
The Compass form factor pleases me, but the Jeep front and plastic
interior is not to my liking, so I haven't even bothered driving one.
The coming Journey I'll be looking at and will comment when I give it a
going over.

Hopefully my LH continues OK, after about 3 more years I'll give up on
Chrysler, until Chrysler comes out with what I want to buy.
If the LH doesn't last long enough I'll be buying elsewhere, after over
25 years of buying Chrysler FWD cars.

 

How many miles on your 300M? Our '02 300M has just passed the 70K mile
mark, and the only significant expense has been a new set of tires just
a couple weeks ago. In contrast, our '96 Stratus ES became a money pit
at a far lower mileage; it now has about 85K on it, and I've thought of
unloading it and buying a second 300M, a good used one. Or... is there
something cheaper that's as reliable? How much does the Intrepid, for
example, have in common with the 300M?

Perce

 

With the exception of the body panels and interior/trim, with the 3.2 or
3.5L engine, pretty much everything. Mechanically and electrically, it
*is* the same car. Some things that are standard on the M (for example
Autostick) are options on the Intrepid. Almost the same can be said of
the 2nd gen. Concorde and LHS (for example, the Concorde did not come
with Autostick, but it can be very easily added if that's a "must
have"). Higher end wheels, audio packages, overhead information
centers, etc. are almost all common options and all are interchangeable
among the LH's.


Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

My '00 300m (bought new in Nov 1999) now has 76k miles (about 125k
km). The following work has been done to it so far:

- original air-filter replaced with K&N filter. I clean and oil
this same filter 7-year-old filter about twice a year.
- oil changes 3 times a year for the first 5 years, and 2.5 times
a year for the last 3 years (all done at dealership).
- transmission speed sensor failed a few months before the 3-year
warranty ended (work done at dealership)
- replaced front rotors and all brake pads (by me) about 4 years ago.
- replaced 1 burned out rear tail lamp (by me) 1 year ago. No other
lamps anywhere inside or outside the car has failed.
- replaced original Eagle LS tires after 2 or 3 years with Dunlop
SP-5000 summer tires and dedicated snow tires for the winter
- replaced Dunlops last spring with Yokahama Advan S4.
- serpentine belt and idler pulley replaced a year ago by dealer
(preventative maintainence)
- front swaybar end links and bushings replaced (by me) 2.5 years
ago (and needs to be done again). Can the bushings be replaced
without taking the end links apart?
- one ignition coil replaced (by me) a couple months ago
- original spark plugs replaced (by me) at same time as coil repair.
- removed front plastic air dam 2 years ago (was always scraping
against parking curbs)
- pretty sure it still has the original engine coolant.
- still has original factory battery.
- differential oil and power-steering fluid changed once (maybe 4
years ago) by dealer.
- I *think* I may have had the tranny fluid replaced, if so only
once. I don't think the tranny oil filter has ever been replaced.
- original windshield wiper blades replaced 4 or 5 years ago with
all-season or winter version (closed type).
- I live in rust belt (Detroit / Buffalo / Toronto climate) but no
visible rust on exterior of car (some small rust on inside seams
of lower portion of the doors).
- car was dealer rust-treated (sticky gold or honey-colored goo) at
time of purchase, was never rust treated again.
- windows were tinted by dealer, tint is dark - probably bearly legal.
- car is always garaged at night, garage is heated in winter, temp
never falls below 40f.
- emmissions test (required by law) when it was 3 years old, and
then every 2 years after that. Has always passed with great
results.

In general, all pretty boring. Car has never been in an accident, but
has a few scratches and small dents mostly from parking lot stuff.

Was the Intrepid still being made back when the 300m came out?

Seems to me the newer LH cars (1999 and newer) are more reliable than
the old ones.

Back when I bought my 300m, I was just starting to see them on the
road (they had only been out for a year at that point). Then for the
next 3 or 4 years, you couldn't swing a cat around here without
hitting a 300m. Then they started to disappear. I rarely see them
any more.

 

Well, they got Nardelli. 'Nuf said.

 

No reason to disconnect the end links to replace the sway bar bushings -
done it twice myself. However, I don't see any mention of your having
replace the end links - you might consider doing that. The symptoms of
bad end links are similar to those for bad sway bar bushings, and they
go bad about as often. I would be surprised if your end links didn't
need replacing by now.

Ooh - you're way overdue for that - your asking for problems. Be sure
to use only G-05 coolant and distilled water. G-05 - get from your
Chrysler or Ford dealer, or, in aftermarket, get Zerex (G-05 only -
there are several 'flavors' of Zerex - must say 'G-05' on the container
- *not* 'All Makes All Models'). Ford and Zerex G-05 is yellow;
Chrysler/Mopar G-05 is reddish orange.

Check the terminals - especially the positive one (located in passenger
side fender). They are known for serious corrosion. Ounce of
prevention with the baking soda...

Also - if, say, you have a wife that drives the car, it might be worth
replacing the battery pre-emptively so she doesn't get stranded
somewhere at the worst possible time. You're on borrowed time with the
battery.

Yes. 1st gen. LH cars (made thru '97 MY) did not include the M. New
design/2nd gen. LH cars (Concorde, Intrepid, LHS) came out in '98. M
was introduced mid-'98 production year as '99 model. LHS was dropped
after '01 MY (LHS and Concorde were blended into one vehicle bearing
Concorde name. Intrepid, Concorde, and M were made thru the '04 MY.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Oops - I do see that you in fact did replace your end links. But - no -
you do not have to disconnect end links to replace the bushings - just
jack up both sides of the front so there's no torsional stress on the
sway bar (which would create a problem for replacing the bushings with
end links connected). I would recommend removing both wheels and both
bushings, then re-installing bushings and wheels.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

The funky location on the 300 must do wonders for battery life. Down
here in hot hot Florida my Cadi goes through a battery about once a
year. I just replaced the factory battery in the 300 last weekend and
it was still starting the car but you could tell it was on its last
leg and since the driver gets off work at 11:30 at night I didn't want
to leave her stranded when it finally gave up the ghost.

Steve B.

 

|On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 18:47:13 -0500, Bill Putney <>
|wrote:
|
|

I have a 2000 3ooM with 20k miles with the original battery.

The battery does not seem to be ready to give up quite yet.

On another note when I purchased the car new I shelled out extra money
for an extended warranty.
It has never been back to the dealer for any sort of warranty work.

I bought a 2006 PT Cruiser new for my daughter.
I decided not to get an extended warranty on this car, partly because
of the 300M results and partly because of the warranty price, which was
more than twice the cost of the 300M extended warranty for less
coverage. In 2007 the dealership barraged me with offers to trade in my
PT Cruiser for a 2006 or 2007 model with the new 100,000 mile warranty.
I didn't go for it, thinking the 100k warranty must have alot of wiggle
room built into it to prevent the dealer and Chrysler from going broke.

Now that DCX is no more can we call them MOPAR again ???

Steve

 

20k miles?

 

Well I guess that's ok but honestly I wouldn't be surprised to here
that a Yugo didn't need to go back to the dealer for the first 20k
miles.

I agree. Even if the warranty was iron clad you would loose more on
depreciation that it would cost to fix anything that could go wrong in
the warranty period.

Steve B.

 

|
|> I have a 2000 3ooM with 20k miles with the original battery.
|
|20k miles?
|

20,000 miles

 

|Well I guess that's ok but honestly I wouldn't be surprised to here
|that a Yugo didn't need to go back to the dealer for the first 20k
|miles.


I know two people that bought Yugos. On one the heater core hoses
rotted out before 10,000 miles. Made the Vega look good.

 

Yeah, GM is converting to rwd, Ford is bringing in Australian rwd
cars, let Chrysler go back!

List all the e-class parts in an LX car.

I dare you to post the German content in Chrysler cars. Save for the
Crossfire, and the diesel, there's very little. But go ahead, I dare
you. It's on the window stickers.

You don't think they make money off minivans?

Oh yeah, there's a huge market for muscle cars! Huge, I tell ya!
With gas $3 a gallon and going up, there's gotta be a huge market!

 

What - do you only drive it on the weekends?

 

"The LX cars employ various parts from Mercedes E-class, such
as the 5-speed automatic gearbox, the rear differential, ESP
system, the double-wishbones front and 5-link rear suspensions."

http://www.autozine.org/html/Chrysler/300.html

"The LX platform is Chrysler's new full-size rear wheel drive
automobile platform for the mid part of the 2000s. The LX was
developed in America using components borrowed from the
Mercedes-Benz W220 S-class control arm front suspension,
Mercedes-Benz W210 E-Class the 5-link rear suspension, the
W5a580K 5-speed automatic, the rear differential, and the ESP
system."

http://www.answers.com/topic/chrysler-lx-platform


-----------
In 2005, the 3.5 was coupled to Chrysler's own four-speed automatic on
rear-drive models, and to the Mercedes five-speed automatic on
all-wheel-drive models.

Though Chrysler had already chosen rear wheel drive before the merger,
hooking up with Mercedes allowed (some say forced) the use of existing
technologies, including a low-end version of the Mercedes E-class
automatic transmission (the A580 electronic automatic), and versions
of Mercedes' stability control, steering, front suspensions,
electronics, rear suspensions, and seats. It is hard to tell how much
- if any - this has saved (or cost) in development, since
DaimlerChrysler worked hard to justify the takeover of Chrysler
Corporation in the face of stockholder lawsuits, and Chrysler
reportedly was paying steep royalties for their use of these
components (some of which were provided by outside suppliers in any
case)

The LX cars will use the Mercedes E class traction control, electronic
stability systems, axles, wire harnesses, automatic transmissions
(downgraded to five speeds from six so Chrysler won't go into Mercedes
turf - even as GM and Ford create a new six-speed automatic), steering
columns, and other major suspension components. 20% of the Magnum's
components are shared with Mercedes, according to Wolfgang Bernhard
(40% of the Crossfire is Mercedes so these figures are to be taken
lightly).

http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/
------------

See above.

The 300m isin't a muscle car, but it's a damn sight better looking
than the LX 300.

Building cars for adult males doesn't always mean muscle cars.