Chrysler finally gets a compliment from Consumer Reports

Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your husband. One of the four-horsemen of the apocalypse has officially arrived. Consumer Reports has gone and paid Chrysler a compliment by saying that the 2011 Durango and Charger are the company's most-improved models and, on the whole, the automaker's cars are getting better. CR even awarded both the V6 and V8-powered Dodge Durango a "Very Good" road test score, putting it in contention with the likes of the 2011 Ford Explorer. The 2011 Dodge Charger Rallye also nabbed a "Very Good" rating, which is comparable to the 2011 Ford Taurus and 2011 Buick Lacrosse.

Even the 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan walked away with the honor of a "Very Good" designation, but things aren't all lollipops and rainbows. Consumer Reports says that its testers were unimpressed with models like the 200, Avenger, Compass, Journey and Patriot, calling the vehicles mediocre.

Ouch.

The report says that poor reliability hasn't helped the Chrysler cause. Over the past three years, the organization has only recommended one of the automaker's vehicles – the Dodge Ram 1500.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/21/c...sumer-reports/

 

I'm pretty sure that their alliance with Italian automaker FIAT will make their reliability better...

 

Glad to see American car manufacturers are stepping up their game.

Gives me better cars to look at while i drive my IS around

 

Chrysler isn't even American. They were owned by the Germans for 10 years and now well on their way to being 100% Italian owned. People ***** that Toyota is foreign and that the Big "3" should be supported. Chrysler's no more American than Toyota or Honda at this point.

And as far as I'm concerned, Chrysler is trash trash trash. They should've died in '79 and AGAIN in '09. Maybe in 2039 three times will be the charm.

 

Although I agree with you about Chrysler being trash, there's a general understanding that when enthusiasts speak of "American" and "foreign" cars, they are referring to the nameplate. It is generally understood that when we say "American", we are speaking of Ford, Chrysler, and GM.

 

Engineering is still (mostly) American. So is design.

But build/manufacturing can be anywhere. For example, most American flags are made in China. That doesn't make one flag more or less patriotic than the other...

 

Amazing how long trash last, living in GA the roads are full of trash seriously, but the newer American Cars especially the redesigned updated ones are nice, I have no doubts about the Chrysler V8 making it to 100k plus, now to see if this new 3.6 is much improved over the boat anchor 3.5 and 2.7, which should be gone or on the way out

Looking forward to a bright future for Chrysler

 

I agree that the Compass and Patriot are unimpressive (and the older ones bordered on being a POS), but, having just reviewed a new Journey last week, I don't totally agree. The latest 2011 Journey has a much more impressive interior than before, and has refinement and nice road manners to boot. Its long-term reliability, though, remains unproven.....and the reliability of previous 2009 and 2010 models didn't inspire much confidence.

 

Have you gone to Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealerships and actually looked at or driven their very latest 2011 models?

When some automakers finally get around to putting their their minds to it, it sometimes doesn't take long to show some real results, like with Hyundai/Kia after 2000 and Ford after 2005. GM, today, is also doing far better interiors than just a few years ago, though the reliabilty of their products is somewhat mixed.

 

I won't pretend to speak for everyone but, personally, I have no interest in ever buying a car from a company whose slogan seems to be...

"Chrysler - Look, we know we've made crappy cars for years, and years, and years. Some of the most unreliable, poorly-made cars on the planet - no arguing there. But, this time, they're good...promise!"

 

That Durango in the picture looks pretty cool.

Maybe this is a sign of Chrysler making better cars. The majority of their stuff sucks, but I like the new Charger and 300. The Ram and Challenger are also pretty cool too.

 

It may be that their cars/trucks/SUV's might appear to be quite nice on the inside and out. They may even drive quite well, but what good is it when the garbage falls apart from the first day you drive it home, which is already being reported on one of their finest vehicles, the Grand Cherokee. No Chrysler for me, ever.

 

it is not easy to make this really better really fast... quality perception is one thing and reliability is another.

 

I have a new 200 I recently picked up. Touring package with the 283hp V6.

It is not an overly impressive package, though it is substantially better than the outgoing Sebring which was pure junk. I won't provide a review of the car as it is not worth it but here are a few points:

PROS
1) V6 with 283hp -con below
2) 6 speed trans-con below
3) Not a bad interior at all though buttons on radio could be spaced better
4) Handling is decent for what it is. Went 35 miles through my familiar mountain and it did OK.
5) Standard satellite with 1yr.
6) Decent audio with changer.

CONS
1) Does not feel like 283hp and I have been driving the hell out of it to learn my driving style
2) Transmission is SLOW to shift, very slow and it is not getting any better
3) Ugly, though subjective.
4) No standard bluetooth though built in, Chrysler charges to activate
5) Brakes so far are not impressive, however, they might not be completely broken in yet.

There are many other points, but the overwhelming feeling about Chrysler is how horrible their service dept is. Graduates from School of Ineptness sums it up. My last Chrysler was not a very reliable car, though better than my past Fusion. Dealer service and repeated trips for same thing gets old. The last time around I told them I was going to drop it off at the Toyota dealer to have the work done right. Now you want to talk about some pissed off people........................................

 

just wondering, why did you buy it since you don't seem to like it very much?