orphaned mercedes technology in Chrysler/Dodge?

If DCX spins off Chrysler, will all the Mercedes technology become
orphaned?

More specifically, if I buy a Sprinter, which is really a Mercedes,
and then
Chrysler is sold off, will Dodge be able to maintain those Sprinters
already sold?

Will Chrysler have the Mercedes products pulled from the lineup -
meaning all the mercedes diesels?

..

 

We can only hope. I for one would love to see the return of simple,
rugged, reliable Chrysler engineering without a lot of needless Benz
mechanical masturbation thrown in for good measure.

"Dodge" doesn't maintain them now, mechanics do. Dealer mechanics will
still work on them, as will independents.

In all seriousness, most likely the "new" Chrysler group would continue
to purchase things like the 3.0 CRD engine from Benz, just like they
currently purchase the ISB from Cummins. But we could hope they might
find a better small common-rail diesel from a source like Cummins.

 

Car manufacturers are legally responsible to supply you with parts for
10 years after the car is made. So you should still be able to find
pasrts for the sprinter for at least ten years. the reality of it is,
Dodge isn't just going to stop stocking those parts in 10 years. There
is a market for them, so they will sell them, even if they do have to
buy them from mercedes, mark them up, and sell them. I wonder if
freightliner will still be selling the sprinters. I'm sure that
Freightliner dealers will still service and sell parts for them too.

Bill

 

Do you have a cite for that, other than emissions-related parts?

 

Your wrong on that count. Manufactures are not legally required to stock
parts for ten years. They are legally required to repair defects pertaining
to warranty problems for the life of the warranty claimed by the
manufacturer. And the manufacturer can obtain parts from any means,
including USED to repair those defects. I worked for DaimlerChrysler for 13
years and there is no LAW stating your bullshit!

 

I worked for DaimlerChrysler for 13

Before you get all huffy puffy and start cursing for no reason, calm
down. I admit that I could be mistaken, but I am not intentionally
feeding anyone BS. I was looking into buying an Oldsmobile years ago
when it was known that they were dissapearing, and the dealer told me
that GM was required to maintain parts for the cars for 10 years by
law, and could not just abandon their customers. Unless the law has
changed, or this guy was feeding me BS, I seriously think that there
is some basis to what I said.

And before you start attacking people. Think about what your
credentials say. So what, you worked for DaimlerChrysler. A company
that at the time had never shut down production. Does that mean that
you know the law for this scenario? Are you a lwayer for them? In
charge of distribution of spare parts? I'm an engineer with lots of
experience in cars and submarines. That doesn't mean that I can tell
you how everything on a car or submarine works, or the laws regarding
them. And I don't claim to, or tell people that they are full of bull
for saying anythign about them. So tone it down.

 

I just realized that I did say supply. That was not as specific as I
probably needed to be. I didn't mean that they need to stock them for
your use, but they have to have made enough to last for that long.
They could all sit in a warehouse and take three weeks to get ahold
of, and they woudl still be fine. At least that is what I had been
told. So take this with a grain of salt.

 

Uh.... they sold some?

 

GM promised continued parts and service for Oldsmobiles. I don't
recall the time period.

I recently was involved in repair of a car that was less than ten
years old and needed driver and passenger seatbelts. The manufacturer
could only furnish the driver's seat belt in one color, the
passenger's seat belt in another, and neither color matched the car
interior.

 

If you're really an engineer, the first thing you'd have asked yourself is
"why would I believe this without any evidence?" Are you really going
repeat and then defend something told to you by a car salesman? No further
inquiry?

You put those higher thinking skills to work on this and think about it.

 

But they still supplied both seat belts.

 

And now they don't have any. I didn't make that clear in the first
post.

 

I saw one on the road two days ago. This was the only one I ever recall
seeing.

 

He was either mistaken himself, or was feeding you a line. There is
no such law (it is, obviously, impossible to cite a non-law -- which
is why, in my original response, I asked you if you had a cite). A
company is required to support their warranty, and there is a required
warranty on emissions equipment. Beyond that, they've got no
obligation to ever sell parts. And they sell them for exactly as long
as they think they're making money by doing it.

I'm not a lawyer, and don't work for any car companies. My claim is
based on many people making the same statement I did over the years, a
general belief that the auto industry really ought to work the same as
all the others in the world, and nobody ever coming up with a cite
showing me where the "must sell parts for X years" law exists.

 

Also (to follow up my earlier claim that there is no law requiring a
company to sell parts for some lenght of time), that a company making
a pledge to do so would be a completely different matter.

 

With a Merc there should not be this problem.

But with Chrysler, if it's sold...?...

DAS

 

Still friggin' cross posting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Then I stand corrected! I now see that there is not an actual law, and
I am not going to try to defend it since it obviously doesn't exist. I
wasn't trying to pedal crap, I honestly believed that the law existed.
I was not put under the impression by a salesman. I know better than
to believe a salesman. I was put under the impression by the owner of
the dealership, who was a friend's brother. My friend is an honest
person, so I extended the belief of honesty to his brother. Oops. I
guess in reality he is the head salesman, but I would hold him a
little more accountable, thus hope more honest. As Edward Ohare stated
on here a few hours ago, he believes that GM did promise parts for the
oldsmobile. So apparently around the time that Olds was dissolving,
they were making some promises, which I can see how the owner may have
embelished by adding some legal claims to it.

I really don't want to argue about this any more. I've already said
that I was mistaken twice. If this is really supposed to be a forum
about helping people, why don't we get to that...

As I stated in my first posting, freightliner also sells the Sprinter.
I am not sure if that is gong to change after DC divorces, but I think
it would be a viable idea to check with a freightliner dealer to see
what they have as far as plans for parts. Even though the Sprinter
hasn't been a huge success on a small business or personal use level,
both UPS and DHL use them. Even though it is possible that these large
companies might have their own supliers, I would imagine that if one
tried hard enough, they could find a supplier for the parts well into
the future. Car companies stop making models all the time, and
continue to have parts for them.

I really don't think that finding parts is something worth worrying
about. If it does become a problem, I would imagine that some little
company would pop up to feed the market created by the shortage-
importing parts from Europe where Sprinters abound. It's the American
way.

Have a good day,
Bill

 

You're not looking closely. They've done decent business in fleet sales,
which is what the Sprinter is intended for. Its not really a replacement
for the B-series van- you won't see any luxury van conversions or
mini-RVs based on the Sprinter.

 

I thnk their sales in prior years were constrained by their
old assembly plant in North carolina - they could only bring in about
30000 per year. Their new assembly plant can do more and can be
expanded so the numbers should increase. Hopefully the supply will
increase to the point that
an extra long wheelbase cargo will go for much less than
the 38K MSRP.

..