Thoughts on buying a new 2009 Caravan & full lifetime warranty option

My trusty 92 Caravan finally blew the transmission at 204k
miles...since rebuild costs match the vehicle's value, I'm pursuing
options...

There is someone I work with whose husband is a salesman at the local Dodge
dealership...so I went in to meet with him and have a closer look at the new
Caravan's. He met me and said he had spoken with the owner and was told to
offer me invoice cost...presumably as good as it gets...?

I took a close look at an SE with 3.3 v6 and otherwise basic setup. I also
looked at a beautiful teal-ish green SXT with the 3.8 v6 and 6-speed
transmission...as well as the daul-monitor DVD system and fancy touch-screen
radio with hard drive built in. I'm a computer tech, so those geek gadgets
tend to impress me... It also had the automatic doors and rear
hatch...which I would honestly just as soon not have. The 96-07 Caravans
are OK, but that styling has never really appealed to me...the new ones I
like.

Being that I *just* made the last payment on our 2002 Isuzu Trooper 2 months
ago, I'm not really looking forward to a payment again...but. The big
kicker that is making me think hard about it is the lifetime drivetrain
warranty. I keep thinking that if I had bought my 92 new with such a
warranty, I'd have another transmission in it by now, covered by the
warranty... The other very appealing part is the offer of a full lifetime
warranty covering nearly everything, which I'm told costs about $1800.
We're the sort of people that will buy a vehicle and run it till it
dies...and even then seriously consider repairing it. The other part
about buying new now is the promise of good deals by dealerships and
automakers desperate to sell vehicles. That likely won't be happening the
same if I wait a while to save up some more cash...

Has anyone else had any experience with this sort of warranty? The full
lifetime is espcially appealing considering all the goofy options and
gadgets that could break on such a well-equipped vehicle. But...is there
something I'm missing or have not heard about as far as the warranty goes
that I haven't considered?

Anybody else have one of the new Caravan's? What do you think of it so far?
I have no experience with Caravan's other than my old 92...

I know it's blasphemy to ask in this forum...but are there other minivans I
should look into? I dropped by the Honda dealership a few minutes today,
but was running out of time and didn't get to look real close or take one
for a drive. I've heard really good things about the Toyota Sienna too...I
just don't like the thought of dealing with the sleazy sales department at
my local dealership...

Anyway...sorry to ramble on so much...thanks for any advice.

Wesley

 

Would you qualify for the idiotic cash for clunkers program? I guess
the old vehicle has to be running for that to work though? Any chance
of bandaiding it on the cheap to qaulify? Mileage of the old and new
vehicle would have to fall within the guidelines too. Worth looking
into though.

 

My wife found that today and brought it to my attention. Sadly, no. For
the minivan category, the new one has to get 2mpg better than the old.
Amazingly enough, the old 92 (according to the gov't web site) has a
"combined" rating of 1mpg *better* than the new one (with 3.8 v6). I guess
it is a little bigger van with a bigger engine. I could quickly show them
my log (mileage/date/gallons) that I keep and prove that I would easily get
2mpg better (it hasn't done all that hot the last few years)...but I guess
the current "clunker-state" mpg doesn't count...they go by what it got new.

The other stipulation is tha it must be in running condition. After an
attempted repair, I'm not sure it would make it to the dealership on its
own... The other detail is that you must have had the "clunker" insured for
at least a year - to keep people from pulling stuff out of junkyards, etc.
I've had mine for 11.5 years, so I'm good there.

My wife suggested we could "trade in" the 94 Trooper that she regularly
drives. I just have trouble sending a perfectly good vehicle straight to
the scrap heap! Though if I had known it was about to blow a water pump and
need work (it's in the shop now), perhaps a better option than the repair
bill I'll be getting tomorrow.......

Thanks,

Wesley

 

You'll want to add in the cost of a third party warranty when considering
purchasing a Chrysler. Lifetime in this case means Chrysler's lifetime
which might be a year or less. They've received their last bailout, if
they can't make a go of it within 12 months they're gone for good.

 

This is absolute rubbish.

Chrysler is now out of bankruptcy and is now owned by Fiat, the UAW,
and the US Government.

Warranties on new vehicles are Fiat obligations. And if Fiat renigs,
the US Government will undoubtedly cover them with the Warranty
Support Program that's part of the US Treasury.

Covering warranties is very easy from a financial point of view. During
bankruptcy, future warranty claims are estimated - let's say, future
claims are estimated at 20 million.

The bankruptcy court then sets 20 million aside from the company
assets, puts it into an investment fund, that invests in conservative
holdings
(like, bank accounts or money markets)

If someone (like another automaker) agrees to assume the warranty
obligations, then anything if the claims don't total 20 million they keep
the extra money, plus any money the holding made from investments.
Not to mention once they have the warranty obligations they can
require the buyers to go to their dealerships for warranty work -
where they can pitch to them car sales.

This is common practice in corporate bankruptcies.

Ted

 

Not exactly - the dealers get incentives from the factory for car
sales so their invoice cost is higher than the total they pay the
factory for the vehicle. However, Chrysler permitted the closing
dealers to transfer their new unsold inventory to Chrysler dealers
that are remaining open, so your not going to find a dealer out there
who is going to offer you wholesale cost, since they would
rather transfer their unsold inventory to another dealer and take
wholesale than sell to an individual, even if they make the same
money or slightly more.

If Chrysler hadn't done that, then it would have been possible to
make some screaming deals.

It's possible your also looking at transfer vehicles that came
from another dealer, those would be less than invoice, of course.
Of course, the dealership has to make SOME money, that's why they
are in business!

However, the real value here isn't the sticker price, the real value
here is your friend's connection to a dealership. As long as your friend's
husband continues to work at the dealership then they will
make absolutely sure that your happy with your vehicle. You might
for example save a few grand now by buying from some other manufacturer,
but what happens if you do that and you get a lemon car?

If for example you have something break in the new Chrysler I would bet
that if you take it in for warranty, your "connection" would get you
a loaner car to drive out of their lot, while they are fixing yours.
Perks like this are really nice to have when you need them.

Don't worry about the automatic doors and rear hatch - that technology
is much less likely to break than the electronics, because it's much more
widely deployed.

Your most likely to see the DVD drive fail first, in my opinion. Not
the screens, the drive itself.

Your a little too late on this. The sweet time for buying was a few
weeks ago before the deadline for closing Chrysler dealerships, but
it was mainly for buying used vehicles. But even then, you would not
have been able to get a new vehicle at wholesale cost, since Chrysler
allowed closing dealers to transfer their new unsold inventory to
dealers remaining open.

What we are likely to see this summer is dealers allowing new vehicle
inventory to drop to very low levels, much lower than in years past,
until the '09's come out.

The entire Chrysler dealer reduction program is an attempt to
reduce vehicle outlets so as to allow the price on new vehicles to be
higher. It is going to be very interesting to see what the pricing
and incentives are on the '09 vehicles. If Fiat/Chrysler have their
way it will rise.

The best deals right now are in used vehicles, epically in private
sales of used vehicles.

As long as the extended warranty is issued by Chrysler your fine. Also
keep in mind the extended warranty prices are also negotiable - the dealers
don't like to advertise this, but they are.

You might also seriously considering a special-order on your Chrysler,
since you know someone there. That way you could get the DVD stuff
without the automatic hatch, you could get the exact color you want, etc.

There's so little difference - even the JD Power survey results that came
out a few days ago said the differences between GM/Ford/Chrysler and the
imports are only a matter of 1 or 2 percent. And in your case
if your going to get the new gadgets in the van plus the extended warranty,
it really makes no difference at all.

Ted