did anyone at MB really even consider what the marraige of MB to chrysler did to its brand ? what long term reprocussionS this may have had ? i really do think that chrysler has rubbed off on MB and maybe some of the other way too, BUT I DONT CARE ABOUT CHRYSLER CARS. i have never owned one,wont ever and now MB is having recalls with the 164 ? and jd power lists GM products at the top,cmon......damn![:0]
I owned a Dodge once...styling was wonderful and the vehicle did me well for what I paid. Problem was Dodge/Chrysler had many problems for 5+ years - planetary gear in the transmission and poorly engineered head gaskets (11 revisions and they still couldn't get it right) on the 4 cyl. Both were quite pricey to replace (or timely if I did it) and was the ultimate reason I chose to junk it rather than fix it and resell. Chrysler will not call a recall for anything...a buddy of mine is a mechanic and says for 3 years running (until this year) the Durangos had a crappy rear-end gear the would break teeth after 20-30K miles! I just don't get why these American manufacturers continue to turn out junk when they know it doesn't work!
I owned a Dodge once...styling was wonderful and the vehicle did me well for what I paid. Problem was Dodge/Chrysler had many problems for 5+ years - planetary gear in the transmission and poorly engineered head gaskets (11 revisions and they still couldn't get it right) on the 4 cyl. Both were quite pricey to replace (or timely if I did it) and was the ultimate reason I chose to junk it rather than fix it and resell. Chrysler will not call a recall for anything...a buddy of mine is a mechanic and says for 3 years running (until this year) the Durangos had a crappy rear-end gear the would break teeth after 20-30K miles! I just don't get why these American manufacturers continue to turn out junk when they know it doesn't work!
exactly....then this type of stuff happens all the time for a long time and now everyone knows why the asians are now in charge!(this is not a slur against asians)they make great products(with no soul) and copy nearly everything. even though i dont own a far east brand of auto, you have to respect their idealogy. this merger between chrysler and MB,imho, has removed a lot of glitter from the 3 pointed star and added shine to the pentastar.is that what they were trying to accomplish ?
Most experts conclude that the reason for MBZ purchasing Chrysler was to have an outlet for selling less expensive cars in the US without compromising their luxury status. Keep in mind that in other countries, MBZ makes vehicles for all levels of the market, but in the US, they are a “luxury� brand. Buying Chrysler gave them a brand name that they could “tinker� with to sell less expensive models for the masses.
They can use “last year’s technology� from the MBZ vehicles and stick it into cheaper Chrysler vehicles. Good examples are the Crossfire and the 300 and Magnum. These vehicles use many components and technology from MBZ, but don’t include the cutting-edge components. Tried and true items like the 3.2L engines and 5-speed automatic trannies can be put in these vehicles while MBZ starts phasing in the 7-speeds and 3.5L engines, for example.
Anyone that argues the buyout of Chrysler hurt MBZ’s overall quality is wrong. While MBZ’s overall initial quality may be worst than in the past (and even that is arguable), it has nothing to do with Chrysler and everything to do with using suppliers that don’t have the same concept of quality as MBZ, and adding too much technology too quickly. It’s easy for the Japanese and even American makes to be high in initial quality because they are simply using the same technology MBZ and other European makes have been fine-tuning over the last 20 years.
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