Give up on Crysler

September last year we bought a 2002 Concord. Within a month, the
check engine light came on! The dealer looked at the codes and said it
was a sensor so don't worry. After about 3500 miles, 1 out of 5 time I
pulled out of my drive the car would go into neutral and the shifter
had no effect. I would ease up on the gas tap it a couple of times and
it would engage. The dealer after look things over again said there
was a code that indicated one of the transmission pumps we losing its
prime. No problem it was at 4000 miles and under warranty. Then the
story line went:
1-2 weeks to get the parts.
2-Part on back order 2 more weeks.
3-4 days later: having problems getting it together since it's Friday
call Monday
4-Monday the mechanic ordered the wrong seals we will have them
tomorrow.
5-Tuesday the Mechanic had to leave for a personal problem we don't
assign work once started to another mechanic.
6-Rest of week no progress.
7-Monday again, they put it back in but now it won't even go into
gear.
8-Tuesaday, we request a new transmission or if we could get it
serviced at another dealer. We would have to pay so couldn't afford
the tow.
9-Friday week 4 On Monday we were to be told new transmission, or work
would be sent to outside shop. When called on Monday afternoon told
that they had another mechanic on it and needed to do another test for
corporate??
10-Tuesday It seems it took 8 hours for the test and it wasn't done.
Still no know action and they still have the car.
This disaster is still in progress. More to come.

One must wonder what we will have if and when those certified
mechanics get it quickly back together. We use to get 200,000-300,000
miles on the old Chryslers this one might even give us another 500! My
Dad got this one as the retirement car since he's 77. Know it will be
a bill around his neck and a dread to drive just waiting for the lemon
to go out again.

After 6 Chryslers over 49 years this family has to say don't buy one
in Washington state Kitsap County from Premier Chrysler. I believe
part of the problem is that all the various franchise in the area,
Chrysler, Ford, Dodge, etc. are owned by one outfit no competition. I
notice that Chrysler WebPages has no input for problems with dealers.
We seem to be left on our own once Corporate have the car sold.
TomB

 

That is an awful experience you have had. Have you
contacted the Chrysler Regional Office for your area? You
may get some action there.

 

I wonder if the Lemon Law applies here? Did you contact Chrysler Zone
manager or the corporate office?

Sorry to hear about the problem and good luck.

Ken.

 

Sounds more like the dealer you are dealing with than the car.
Chryslers are good cars just to bad some dealerships dont really care.

Have a Nice Day

 

I agree - GIVE UP ON THE DEALER - not Chrysler

 

I agree - GIVE UP ON THE DEALER - not Chrysler
Your right. But with only 1 dealer in the county they are the same. I
was disappointed when I went to the Chrysler web page in that they had
no way to contact anyone to find out where to go for assistance. For
this dealer problem or any other one. It seems they are set up only to
sell and not support from their online view. It's a shame they don't
collect fed back for corporate metrics. They might find out why their
losing customers.

TomB

 

I live in WA, The Chrysler dealer that i use is Brewer
Chrysler(1800-990-5550), In auburn. their web page is,
http://www.brewerchrysler.com/ I have nothnig but good luck. They Have a
96%(last time i was in there) customer approval rating. The Number that i
have for chrysler customer service is 1800-922-1997, I have only called to
give glowing rewviews of Brewer.
Hope this helps. Good luck. with your car.

 

I have a 99 300M and 2001 Avalon. The Avalon is a piece of junk and I
cannot wait to get rid of it. It is a rattle box, and has an
incredible number of quirks. If you want to see detail, search for my
posts using www.google.com


My 300M has been extremely reliable. He should check the back of his
manual under lemon laws and arbitration. The dealer may be
incompetent. If he goes into arbitration the arbitrator will probably
give the dealer one more shot and then he'll get a new car or his
money back with a deduction for mileage.

 

Check your manual for the 800 number to call. Also the lemon laws in
your state and how to start arbitration for a new car.

But ignore the advice to buy an Avalon. I own a 99 Chrysler 300M and
a 2001 Toyota Avalon. The Avalon is junk.

 

Ah. Try the new models. Much better quality control.

Again, it's style and comfort and such - versus mechanical
indestructability. Toyota, like it or not, rates at the very
in reliability(Lexus as well, obviously). I just mentioned it
because a problem-free car that he can drive until he's too old
to drive anymore seems to be the goal.

If the Avalon is tinny in your opinion, there's always a Lexus
or something simmilar. My uncle has one and so far he's had
zero problems with it. He's shocked at how little he spends
on fixing it - and that's more important to him than a squeek
or fastener her or there. Those can be tightened and addressed,
while the sort of mechanical hijinx the O.P. was reporting can
only be solved by spending less time needing repairs.

 

Sorry to hear about your frustrating experience!
Thank you for including the dealers name and location! I live in the
Woodinville, Wa area, and from my one encounter with the Kirkland Chrysler
dealer, I've concluded that the dealer's techs there know little to nothing
about the transmissions.
This 4-speed trans is electronically controlled and the techs are apparently
mostly mechanical. The cable connections are overwhelming to
mechanical-types. From the posts, this trans has also been a real money
machine for rebuild or "special trans fluid" work when most of the time it's
just a connection or sensor issue.

Your situation sounds like a major cable / connection issue. It's possible
that the cable that runs under the front-lower area between the PCM and TCM,
was damaged during transport / delivery. Or maybe it has been driven on some
very muddy roads and the PCM to cable connector is heavily contaminated.

At the least, this should be declared a "lemon" and you should get a
replacement. And the dealer should work on his customer relations skills and
his technicians abilities or sell the dealership to someone who will.
Good luck with this!
- Bill

 

I've given up a Toyota service. Asked them to get the continous
clicks out of the dash..... their attempt was unsuccessful. Many
people have the same complaint.

Other problems are design defects that cannot be noticed during a test
drive and were not picked up by Consumer Reports:

1. Incredibly slow rear defroster. You'll be home before you can see
out the back.
2. In hot weather the brake pedal suddenly sinks as you are almost
stopped at the stop light. I guess the engine slows and vacuum
pressure goes down and the hydraulics in the brakes suddenly reduces
and the pedal sinks an inch or so. I'm told it is normal for this
piece of junk.
3. Heated seats take forever then overheat and turn off. But light
stays on so you might think they are doing something.
4. Storage bags behind front seats are so tight they won't fit
anything
5. Dashboards are often mounted crooked. Mine is about a half inch
off on one side
6. The ride deteriorates horribly by the time you have 10k miles on
the car
7. The car feels like it stretches when you hit the accelerator and
contracts when you brake. I'm told it is normal and due to the active
engine mount which lags at points in holding the engine in place.
8. The car relocks itself in 30 seconds after using the remote. So
expect to use it twice if loading stuff in the trunk takes more than
30 seconds.
9. No trunk open warning light on a $32k plus car. How cheap can you
get.

There are other annoyances but that is all I can come up with right
now.

 

Odd - though my 240DL is just as bad. OTOH, my dad's Buick is
like a minute and poof-clear. Go figure. Not mechanical relaibility,
in any case.

I'd suspect that this is a defect and they are lying to you.

Both of the above are not mechanical reliability issues, though.

Same. Seems you got a bit of a lemon. Sorry to hear that. OTOH,
I've seen 2003 Grand Cherokees with this sort of assembly problem and
other interesting quirks.

Stock struts are only good for that long. Replace with something
proper and watch the ride get better than it ever was new.

Same with tires. Stock struts and tires are like those
whoknowswhatitisSonic batteries that you get with remotes. Does it
say Duracell or Energizer on it? Most of us toss these and install
proper batteries. Cars are really no different nowadays.

Humm - I'd not worry too much about it, though. Better than feeling
the entire car flex sideways like they used to.

Annoying. OTOH, I think the trunk does stay open when raised

Don't even get me started on this. So far, only VW and a few other
makers seem to put quality interiors in cars anymore. Simulated
(plastic) wood trim, slots and storage spaces that seem designed by
an artist rather than anyone who actually tested them.(Ie - does it fit
a road atlas//Thomas Guide anywhere in the interior?). Cup holders that
are junk, plastic armrests(would $3 in velour or leather kill them?),
and engine layouts - well - take a look at a Mustang. Electircal tape
and zip-ties holding all the wiring together. Total design mess.

Here - I got one for you - $40K grand cherokee with all the options.
Manual rear glass. Huh???

I bet if you owned a Concord, you'd find just as many problems with it.

My recommendation - get a 1995/96(iirc) Mercedes. The ones before the
current series. They were the last old-world engineered Mercedes and
were built to last thirty years or more. The new ones are a joke by
comparison. I don't think anything is built as well today. Even Bentley
is getting cheap and cutting corners. Sheesh.

 

Art,

Try an experiment for me. Sit at a stop sign or stop light with the a/c
off. Hold the brake pedal down with your left foot and give the engine
a little gas (up to 1000 rpm or so) with your right foot. I'm betting
the pedal will sink just a tad. You should also get some extra pedal
movement if you drop the car into neutral.

It's a function of the power assist brakes, which get their assistance
from a vacuum created by the engine. When the engine speed increases
(or a load on the engine decreases), vacuum pressure increases, adding
assistance to the brake pedal. Since your left foot's pressure has not
changed during this experiment, and the assistance has increased, the
pressure required by your foot to depress the pedal decreases. Thus,
the pedal moves a little more toward the floor. None of this should
have any effect on the functionality of the brake calipers. It's just a
matter of the pedal being easier to move.

 

I don't disagree but I've never experienced it like it is on the
Avalon. Sure wakes you up when you have constant pressure on the
brake pedal, are slowing to a stop, and suddenly it sinks an inch or
2. According to Toyota techies it is the way it is. The car has anti
lock brakes and fancy stability control. Perhaps that has something
to do with it. Too many computers in 1 mediocre car.

I can't believe what Consumer Reports comes up with these days. Their
top rated SUV this month (a Nissan, I think) loses power assist in the
steering under extreme driving conditions. They still rated it great
and said that they thought the manufacturer should do something about
it but it would not effect people in normal driving and most extreme
maneuvers. Do you think they would have given Chrysler, Ford or GM a
walk on that?

 

Art, I read that too and couldn't believe it. Those idiots are so biased
that it's just stupid ! I bet they get a few letters to the editors about
it too.

Steve m..

 

Tom,

I can feel your pain, I just finished gettin a complete engine rebuild as a
result of getting my timing belt changed at the recommended interval! I
went to the Chrysler dealership that I bought my stratus from. It's taken
them 2 seperate sessions of having the car for a week at each time to get it
right! I should have listened to my father. In his words... I wouldn't
trust a dealership service to do anything but change fluids, and I'd watch
them at that!

A bit of back ground on my situation. I took the car in a 166K km to get
the timing belt, oil pan, and the head gasket (warranty item, they replaced
the headgasket when I bought the car as a recall item). It took them 3 days
to do this work. WhenI finally got the car back, I drove it for 2 days ,
then the oil pressure light came on and the engine stopped shortly there
after ( in the amount of time it took me to pull over, the engine died) So I
had it towed back to the dealer, They spent a week "diagnosing" and
reparing. (on their bill) At the end of the week, I got my car back and it
seemed fine. 4 days later, I went on a driving trip (300 km) to visit a
friend, 200km into the trip, the engine started making a clacking noise.
This time I had the car towed to the family mechanic. His diagnosis was a
ruined conencting rod and a rebuild was in order. So I tow it back to the
dealership for them to look at a again. They called me up and anounced that
they were going to replace the engine for me. ( does this sound a bit fishy
yet!)

I Picked the car up yesterday and drove it 10km and stopped at a McD's and
the hood was smoking, Back to the dealership (again) this time to find out
that the mechanic just spilled a bit of powersteering fluid on the back of
the engine and didn't get it all cleaned up. (Wheh!

Despite all this I have to give them credit for swallowing they pride and
fixing things without a fight!