SW17LS

Not sure why you have such a vendetta against Chrysler lol.

I've had two modern Chryslers, one of them had some issues, but the other was great. As far as dealers, in my experience Chrysler dealers are a lot more willing to own up to and go out on a limb for their customers than Lexus dealers lol. Lexus dealers have gotten REALLY tight with warranty work, trying to explain away anything and everything as normal, etc etc. Even with multiple issues with my 2011 Grand Cherokee the dealer was never once dismissive, and never once even hinted at trying to not cover some sort of repair. Any issue I had = immediate replacement no questions asked. Not at all the case for Lexus. Case in point, EXACT same problem on my 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee and my 2015 Lexus LS460. One of the little pop out prongs in the cupholder broke and fell into the console. Jeep...immediate warranty replacement repair no questions asked. Lexus...not our fault you're on your own, we'll be happy to sell you a new cupholder assembly for $2,300. I've had 6 Lexus vehicles over 19 years and all have been serviced at this dealer, that was my first Chrysler product and the dealer had changed my oil twice and done some other warranty work.

Would I buy another Chrysler? For sure and I very well may. Would I buy a first run model one? No. But second model year on and so forth, sure. Thats why I got a 2014 Grand Cherokee after my 2011 was problematic, because the vehicle was such an awesome vehicle that I literally could find nothing I liked as much within $20,000 in price. So...I have no intention of buying a Pacifica Hybrid, but I would buy a gas Pacifica right now.

If you're a car person theres more to a car than just reliability. These Jeep products and many Chrysler products including the Pacifica feel special, they feel like somebody put some effort into making it a great vehicle that you'll enjoy owning. A Toyota? There is not one out there that I would *want* to own as a vehicle, more reliable or not.

mmarshall

With some people, it may (?) be the low image that FCA gets in Consumer Reports and J.D. Power. I myself rely on CR and Power for reliability data, but, for the overall competence of a vehicle, generally make up my own mind, in my own vehicle-reviews. I myself don't have a vendetta, but there are some things about FCA I don't like. Their vehicles, though, for the most part, have shown a great deal of improvement in the last several years....but some of them, such as the Compass, Patriot, Dart, and Renegade, are rather tinny. I found the Renegade, Fiat 500L, and Compass especially disappointing.


I was at the Fitz Chrysler shop in Maryland not long ago, shopping with someone on the no-hagle deal, and the then-service-manager told us (and I think he was being honest) that dealing with FCA's warranty re-imbursement system (for them, when they make repairs at the dealership) is like pulling teeth. Their attitude, at the corporate level, was basically sell-'em and forget 'em.

(My friend, BTW, ended up back at the Fitz Hyundai shop in Rockville, and took home a new Sonata)

Even with Buick's good reliability record, I may (?) end up doing that on the Lacrosse...avoiding the first-year run.

S2000toIS350

My dad was a nice guy but not a car guy, and I grew up with nothing but used cry slur ****boxes parked in front of the house.

What I saw between the cars themselves and the clowns at some of the dealerships pointed me as far away as possible from these folks.

I don't care what anyone says, when I see a neon, dart, avenger, whatever the name on it and the dumb stuff cryslur drivers do on the road, I say driving a cryslur lowers mental acuity and why would anyone want that.

mmarshall

I can't say I totally agree with you, but you do have some points. I won't say which one, but, at the last test-drive I took at a big local Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler dealership (a review I was doing by specific request from a CL member), when the sales-guy went to hunt for the key, he brought out a cardboard box and simply dumped the contents on the floor, right there in the showroom. In the box were all of the dealership's keys for the vehicles in stock....marked with number-tags, of course. So, there was the salesman, down on his hands and knees, shuffling through a big pile of keys on the floor, looking for the one for my vehicle (to save time, I helped him look). He found it, gave it to me, got a dealer-plate, and I was off. I didn't take a video or camera-phone shot of this nonsense, because, out of simple courtesy, I didn't want to be rude or insult them....I tend to be a nice guy by nature. I asked him if that was the way they always ran their key-storing system, and he said Yep.......since Day One, when the dealership first opened. After they found my key, they simply scooped up all of the others, tossed them right back into the same box, and took the box back behind the counter. I didn't say anything else out loud, but I thought to myself..."Good Golly, if this is the way they treat the security of their new vehicles, I shudder to think what their service is like". I didn't even go look at their service or parts department......afraid of what I might (?) find. Most dealerships, of course, regardless of brand, keep the key/fobs on a rack, in a closet or door-compartment, with a lock and/or electronic access-code.

SW17LS

That was a lifetime ago. If you let old perceptions of a brand color your image of it now, you're missing out on a lot of good cars. My dad had a Chrysler Fifth Avenue in the 80s, that vehicle and what I had in my Jeeps are just entirely different calibers of vehicle.

Hell, look at what Kia was making, and my Sedona is one of the better built cars I've ever had.

Fizzboy7

All one needs to do is look at the Chrysler pages in Consumer Reports. For decades, they've ranked horrible. Today they still rank horrible. I see no reason why the trend would change anytime soon. It's easy to look at a fancy new model and think, "well, this is a nice car, they must have improved the reliability also..." But that's just buyer's getting caught up in what they are looking at (along with the price and rebates) and trying to make a (wishful) case for a purchase.

I'd not recommend any Chrysler product to anyone. Even with a warranty, no one likes the hassles of breaking down or having to stop a busy schedule to take a broken car in (over and over).

SW17LS

That fine, the products are good enough though I'll take my chances.

Wandl

While only time will tell on the Pacifica, I am one of those "no thanks to FCA" guys but the Pacifica does stand out, even amongst its first-year-issues, as a vehicle very worthy of consideration. It has gotten great reviews (comparing it against the GC/Town & Country is one thing, but the Pacifica holds its own against the Sienna/Odyssey/Sedona's of the world) and I do sense FCA is at least investing in the Pacifica line-up. Though I realize Chrysler literally only has 2 vehicles in its stable (fleet-magnet 300 and the Pacifica) so it may be like trying to choose which child you love best =). Would be curious after first-year-run issues (i.e. is the 9 speed tranny going to hold up well when even the Honda Pilot is having issues with them) how the Pacifica holds up in the long run but signs are promising for once.

That said, if FCA comes ouit with a 707hp Hellcat variant of the Pacifica, I'm in....

mmarshall

700 HP in a FWD vehicle? Come on.

If it didn't yank the steering wheel right out of your hands with torque-steer, it would probably shred the transmission parts. FWD transmissions are generally not as robust as RWD ones.

However, even with Chrysler's questionable build-quality, I agree that the Pacifica may not be getting the credit it deserves. After all, one must remember who invented the FWD minivan in the first place, back in 1984....and came up with some of its most ingenious features. Yes, VW had the popular Microbus/Vanagon since the late 40s, which was popular with the Counterculture-types, but that was RWD and air-cooled.

SW17LS

He's joking! Good lord

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

relatives of mine have an around 2010 dodge caravan and besides it being noisy (poor sound insulation) it's been a tank. they probably have over 100k mi. on it and have driven from toronto, canada to the florida keys every winter since owning it, and tons more trips besides. it's never let them down or had any issues.

but i know, they suck and fall apart...

mmarshall

Well, for years, Caravans went through automatic transmissions faster than Hillary through E-mail, but that was more a problem with the older four-speed UltraDrive units. Later models, with different transmissions, have been somewhat more reliable.

SW17LS

My aunt also had a 96 (I believe it was a 96) Town & Country that was also a tank. It had been wrecked and put back together too and they literally drove it until it was an eyesore in the neighborhood lol. I know LOTS of people with Jeeps, Ram trucks, 300s are used a lot in livery applications and they are reliable. This whole "a Chrysler will be a terribly unreliable car" is overplayed...

hypervish

Oh yeah, that 41TE was a real pile of...

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

I had a Dodge Caravan R/T rental for a road trip and it wasn't bad. My main complaint was that I just couldn't get the seat to stay comfortable for more than 30 minute at a time so I was constantly adjusting it. All things considered it got good gas mileage too