Chrysler Offers the Deal of a Lifetime
Chrysler fired a major salvo in its fight to stay competitive yesterday, unveiling an industry-leading lifetime powertrain warranty plan, replete with logo.
Announced yesterday on the company’s Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep websites, the new service plan will affect all ’06-08’ models purchased and delivered on or after July 26.The warranty, a major upgrade on the existing 3-year/36,000 mile job, is non-transferable (available only to the original owner or lessee) and will exclude SRT and diesel variants. A further stipulation states that owners must bring vehicles in for powertrain checkups every five years, and within 60 days of the "anniversary" of the warranty’s start date.
With Chrysler’s sale to Cerberus Management imminent, and quarterly profit reports less than stellar, the lifetime warranty might just be the shot in the arm the automaker needs to keep buyers interested. With the commitment of forever, Chrysler claims underscore its ability to "produce quality, reliable and durable vehicles."
Will the promise for a lifetime of service put you behind the wheel of a new Chrysler product? Yea or nay in ‘Comments.’
(Click on the jump below to read Chrysler's official press release on their new lifetime powertrain warranty)
* The New Chrysler Lifetime Powertrain Warranty – the first from an OEM and the longest in the industry – is a statement of confidence in the reliability of Chrysler products
* Warranty covers the cost of all parts and labor needed to repair covered powertrain components – engine, transmission and drive system
* Provides worry-free ownership for new Chrysler, Jeep® and Dodge ownersAuburn Hills, Mich., Jul 26, 2007 - Chrysler today announced that the Company would extend its powertrain warranty from the 3-year/36,000-mile Basic Limited Warranty to a new Lifetime Powertrain Warranty. The new Chrysler Lifetime Powertrain Warranty applies to most new Chrysler, Jeep® and Dodge vehicles purchased from dealer inventory and delivered on or after July 26, 2007.
The Lifetime Powertrain Warranty covers the cost of all parts and labor needed to repair covered powertrain components – engine, transmission and drive system. The new powertrain warranty is limited to the first registered owner or retail lessee. Customers should contact dealers for details on vehicle selection.
"This new Chrysler Lifetime Powertrain Warranty is a statement of confidence to our customers to the reliability of their powertrain. It's peace-of-mind reassurance for as long as they own the vehicle," said Steven Landry, Executive Vice President – North America, Sales and Marketing, Service and Parts, Chrysler Group.
To continue warranty coverage, the owner must have a powertrain inspection performed by an authorized Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge dealer once every 5 years. This inspection will be performed at no charge. The inspection must be made within 60 days of each 5-year anniversary of the warranty start date of the vehicle.
Landry added, "The new Chrysler Lifetime Powertrain Warranty underscores our focus on quality and customer satisfaction. It demonstrates our commitment to customers and the confidence we have in our ability to produce quality, reliable and durable vehicles. That's why we put 'lifetime' on it."
Customers may visit Chrysler.com, Jeep.com and Dodge.com for more information. A warranty promotion – print, radio, television and Internet – begins Friday, July 27.
Comments
Russ Bellinis
It might be worthwhile, but is really more "hype" than substance. It is a great deal for the person who buys a new car and drives it until "the wheels fall off", but realistically, Most cars are leased for 3-5 years or bought new and traded every 3-6 years. In short for the typically buyer/lessor, the "lifetime" non-transferable warranty is probably less than G.M.'s 100,000 mile powertrain warranties.
Steve
Wow.
The Stig
They need it. One of my clients owns a transmission shop. By far, the brand I see most waiting for trans work are Chrysler products.
B
B
What Russ said.
Mark Arnold
Wait... does it it affect '06-'08 models that have already been bought??? If so, thats very impressive.
John Carder
I'm one of those "drive it until the wheels fall off" guys. I would echo the comments of "The Stig", with regard to full-size pickups. Every full size has it's pluses and minuses. The Chrysler minus remains the transmission.
So, the Lifetime Powertrain Warranty would mean that I would include Chrysler in my shopping list. The nearest Chrysler dealer has a positively horrible service department, so even if I bought it, it wouldn't be there (strike one). The second issue would be the financial health of the company. If they go under before your tranny fails, the promise is worthless. The fact that the banks are taking the Cerberus loans, because they can't make the deal work in the market, means that the market doesn't like Chrysler's prospects (strike two?).
In other words, it's a good idea, but it will probably come back to haunt them (lots of transmission repairs), and if it costs too much, Chrysler may not be there to honor the promise.
David Brunow
The press release says all vehicles purchased after July 26th and the article says the opposite. Who's right?
chris
Carder you are wrong, the trannys are not an issue, and Osoma BinLaden is a lot more likely to be found then Chrysler going under. Bet your one of those guys that wont buy pennzoil either. I personally dont like the life time warranty, only time will tell what impact it will have.
Don
The trannies aren't the issue?
Tell that to whoever engineered the Caravan automatics.
Ducati Major
Don is right. Chrysler's mivivan auto trannies are terrible. My uncle's had to be rebuilt, and it didn't even hit 130,000 miles.
Scott
Nay
Fred
Yea
dante
At first I thought they planned to go down like NSU, but now I see it's just a hollow promise. Even the rare person that buys a car new and keeps it until it dies probably won't bring it in every 5 years to be checked up. Also, this is just drivetrain coverage - the rest will likely go bad after the standard warranty covering the rest is up, sending the car to the junk yard before the drivetrain goes. Even Hyundai can make a drivetrain they can bank on hitting 100k, but one of these Chryslers will likely be dead of multiple issues not long after. And who would want to own a 100k+ mile (assuming somewhere near the average mileage rate per year) Chrysler when it would likely look and drive like it was three times older anyway?
fantasyfreddy
why not ALL vehicles, as diesels are stronger anyway??
and why not transferable?
The Stig
It's not transferable because that's the way out for them not having as astronomical warranty costs. It works the same for Hyundais and Kias. The second owner (this was before Hyundai's CPO program) only got a a 5/60k powertrain warranty. It's to make the first owner feel good and as already mentioned, make "hype". I'm sure they have reams of research to support that the true $ cost to them is negligible compared to the publicity value.
chris
305,000 miles on my 93 grandcherokee says so,original engine and trans. They had issues at one time with trannys in vans and vehicles here and there but not anymore then their competition. How about Toyota and their new trucks breaking camshafts and their engine recalls!! Volkswagen and there fires! So give me a break, I work in the industry unlike alot of you folks I would imagine, its just hard to shake a bad image sometimes, even when its an old one.
Paul In Jersey
There's a lot of "ifs" and "buyer musts" in the Chrysler warranty. But hey, if your buying habits fall into the "buy and hold" category, then it'll be a great deal for you.
Let's see what the marketplace says. If GM and Ford follow, then maybe the idea has legs. If not, then...
Alexander López
hehe, I wonder why they aren't offeging this kind of warranty in Latin America... maybe it's because the roads are not that good?
MK
My father is on his seventh Dodge van spanning every generation.
His 2001 has 224,000 miles on it, still going strong. No trans issues, no engine issues, doesn't even burn oil. He has replaced tires, brakes, shocks/struts, and regular driveway oil changes. Occasionally there is a whine from the power steering, he adds a half quart of STP to the reservoir and it goes away. It has been a highway tourer , a city driver, and a workhorse, including many weekends with a fully loaded 12ft enclosed trailer.
People who say that dodge transmissions suck haven't driven one since 1994. People who say they are unreliable have never owned one.
Oh, he bought a 2007 last week, just because. They offered him $500 for trade in, he laughed and said he'll just keep it. So now he has an '01 for a dedicated workhorse, and a '07 for a cruiser. He also has an 04 stratus for the daily commute...
Chris in T.O.
I had a '95 Neon... Sold it in 2000 cause I'd driven the snot out of it...
The 5spd wasn't great, but it never let me down, and my little four door and I pissed off more than a few 5.0 Stang drivers...
I think this 'Lifetime' thing is a good one... The number of people that keep a vehicle, til the wheels fall off, will probably increase simply due to their experience with other brands.
Honestly, does anyone make pure crap these days? If Chry Co is willing to back it up, I say take 'em up on it... I am disapointed that I can't get a diesel MegaCab with that warranty though...
Russ Bellinis
I think they don't offer that warranty on the diesel because people who buy the diesels are probably more likely to drive it until the wheels fall off, and Mopar's trannys may be ok for most of their fleet of vehicles, but the automatic is not strong enough to avoid a bad rep on the diesel pick ups.
Don
"305,000 miles on my 93 grandcherokee says so,original engine and trans"
&
"His 2001 has 224,000 miles on it, still going strong. No trans issues, no engine issues, doesn’t even burn oil."
Here we go with the "that's funny...my car has been problem free for 900,000 miles and I haven't even changed the oil once" stories.
There's always a few.
The Stig
"People who say that dodge transmissions suck haven’t driven one since 1994. People who say they are unreliable have never owned one."
I'm one of those that's never owned one and complaining about the reliability. Why? Because of the number of friends and associates I have that have bought Chrysler, and I've seen first hand the issues that they've had. Heck I'm sure you could find one or two people that had Yugo's that had no issues and would swear they were the most reliable thing they had ever owned.
dante
A friend of mine put 315k mi on a 2001 Cavalier. That doesn't mean they're all reliable cars. Mileage doesn't mean that much when it's put on rapidly. Age is also a large component to measure reliability.
Jaymez
If this offer is still around after I get my finances in order, yes, it'll get me into the dealership. I've been wanting a Wrangler for years, but, I never thought them to be worth the money to buy new. With a warranty like this, yeah, I'd buy it new.
fantasyfreddy
it is amazing! a really great warranty! and i understand the non-transferability is to limit number of years to approx. tops 10-15, and not 100! (although then it is truly not lifetime!)...
But they should include diesels!! especially as that is all they will be building in a year or two!!
mk
"Here we go with the “that’s funny…my car has been problem free for 900,000 miles and I haven’t even changed the oil once
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