Open Letter to Chrysler & Ralph Gilles

[DMAG]

What do you want to see become of the LX platform?
What running changes would you like to see in the existing vehicles?
What derivatives of the LX would make you buy another?
What do you want to see changed or added to the existing vehicles?

Post your comments and suggestions here so we can give DC ONE place to look (because we know you're watching!)

[Inferno Charger]

My suggestion and this is a really controversial subject is to have a 2 door variant of the Charger or perhaps a different car all together on a SWB LX platform that is a 2 door. Personally I like the Charger the way it is and I will have a 2007 SRT-8 Charger regardless of how much some don't like the way it looks.

Later

[Black on Black]

1. Side bolstered bucket seats in ALL trim levels, not just the SRT-8.
2. The exterior looks great and the powertrain and handling are rock solid... now work on the interior (more color options, less plastic, etc.).
3. Work out the kinks... my car has been in the shop 3 times in 4,500 miles.
4. Don't cheapen the HEMI name by slapping it on every cereal box in town. Everyone loves what you're doing right now, so keep doing it, but don't OVERdo it! That line has not been crossed yet, but darn close.
5. Bring back the 7yr/70,000mi powertrain warranty! What is this, a bait and switch? Boy, am I glad I bought in 2005.

I'm sure I'll think of more...

[kudasai]

own up to the mistakes made on the r/t's

most namely the issue with the right pull and the early demise on a lot of our tires. after seeing all the people here who have lodged complaints and knowing that they are only a small sample of the general car buying populace, i find it offensive to be in the long drawn out situation that i am in over these tires and my alignment.

customer service needs to start meaning customer service. the way it is now reminds me of a chat room. call in to tell them the problem, they listen, tell yu thanks for calling, and when its over, you are right back where you started. i can understand if they cant authorize the new parts, but for the love of god, how about actually looking into it? the dealership didnt make the cars, DC did. and it seems all i see is a bunch of people all pointing the finger at the next person down the line, or up the line, however that goes. i want someone to step up and take responsibility and get it fixed. that,"i just work here" line aint cutting it.

once, just once, i'd like to see a dealership service dept where the tech actually did the job right. until i see a snap-on stamp branded into a tech's elbow, i'm not buying that his arm is torque wrench qualified. and while service counter reps may be peachy keen to deal with, i'm tired of dealing with them because half the time, they dont know anything about cars. they are glorified customer service reps. and that makes for an awful situation when the tech tells the rep a boldface lie, he/she knows no better, and passes that lie onto me. then i'm standing there fuming at this poor rep who has no idea why, and i have to explain it to them. all the while, the tech, the one who really deserves to get a peice of my mind, to be cornered and have his lies exposed, sits in the back, because the techs dont deal with customers. i want that mechanic front and center so i can bust him out in front of his boss if i have to.

i'm just sick of sub par mechanic work at the one place that should know better. i'm not saying he should have every torque spec and procedure memorized. but each one should be required to use a factory service manual for everything. to include the 3k services. they should also be required(the tech, not the counter person) to PRINT sign and initial off on every individual service. case in point, i put in a k&n filter at 13,900 and upon pulling my factory filter, was apalled to find it solid black, with a buildup over most of the surface. but if you check my service manual, you will see each block checked off where my airfilter was checked and found ok....by the counter person. so what else is my 60 dollars not going to?


i could rant for hours. but i guess an easy summation is i want the people from DCX down to the dealer to be held responsible for their actions. i dont want anyones head on a pike, but i bet if you stick a few up there, if DC starts bringing the hammer down on people, instead of running the whole thing like a good-ole boy's club, you'd see a lot more people use the dealership for services, and more importantly, keep buying DC products. a lot of people bought their first dodge because of the LX. the question is how many of them will keep coming back for more abuse

[BrilliantBlackHemi]

I echo everything written above about the dealership service experience. I WILL NOT GO TO THE DEALER because of this kind of "process" we deal with. The service advisor front has got to go. Never seeing the technicians and having my car disappear where I can't see it is a very bad thing. I already don't trust them from the botched work from the last visit.

I like to watch and I take my car to the local tire and auto place or garage mechanic where I can watch and interact with the guy working on my car. Most of the time I do my own work, but when I REQUIRES some proprietary computer programming and firmware loadsets I'm out of luck. I do that computer control, software programming, firmware upgrades, etc for a living. If the systems in the cars were standardized, and we had access to the tools and the software could be downloaded, then I could fix it myself.

For example, I want/need firmware 3.61 (I have 3.60) loaded in my car to fix some "annoyances". I also need to get some dumb radiator mounts replaced, most likely will never fail in my car, but since 2 did out of 10,000 the statistics say I should. I have not done either because I am AFRAID of COLLATERIAL DAMAGE. What else will they break? Will my interior come back marred or dirty? Will I have damaged door panels again because somebody overtorqued the screws again? etc..

Chrysler has two problems in the public eye: 1) generally folks think they are unreliable, especially transmissions 2) dealer service sucks

This is why more people don't buy American in general. For those of us that have a little faith and maybe a lot of luck, we have VERY RELIABLE Chrysler vehicles, even the trannies. I have 7 in my family. Based on my experience, 1) is not true and 2) is very true. Thank god I don't have to go very often if at all.

Fix the dealer service problem. 5 Star is a joke.

Now Kudos on good design and styling. That's why we are here and keep coming back. We just got to manage the dealers cautiously. If I could buy factory direct and bypass them all together that would be sweet!

[snickle]

Agree with all. My dealer is very concerned with my problems, but seems unable to look up TSBs. I can deal with that, but the average Joe can't.

DMC needs to adress the big outstaning issues soon.

[egirl1]

I ditto everything kudasai said.
After 31 days in the shop within 5500 miles, I have found myself having to "drill down" to get to the actual people who seem to know anything. and don't placate me with your "CUSTOMER CARE" line...cause It's now obvious to me that you DON'T.
Furthermore- why the HELL do you ALLOW this Hiway robbery called dealer mark-up?

[desquirrel]

Furthermore- why the HELL do you ALLOW this

To quote ANY American mfg I've ever complained to...

"The dealer is an independent business man..." who can screw you as he pleases.

American Mfgs seem to have no control whatsoever over their dealers. My friend has a bunch of Hondas. Whenever he got something he didn't like from a Honda dealer, he'd call American Honda. WITHIN HOURS, he'd get a call from the dealer... sorry for the misunderstanding..... yes, we'll take care of that right away.... over and over again.

[hemi dawg]

My 300c is great, very happy with it--except for the right drift.
I have had some problems but I also had some problems with my hondas and acuras.
The DIFFERENCE has been the way the dealership handles the problems.
Japanese dealer experience--excellent!
Chrysler dealer experience--awful!
Everything about my local dealer seems shady and dishonest and grubby and unhelpful. Twice I've had to read my service contract to them to get them to honor its terms. And the salesman and service guys are completely ignorant of the 300. I find this amazing.
The only time they treat me well is when they remind me to give them high scores on the cutomer feedback form.

Chrysler has done a magnificent job re-thinking how it builds cars.
Now you have to re-think how you sell and support them.
I sincerely wish you all the best in this effort.
To your continued success!
and thanks for listening

HD
Downers Grove, Illinois

[EMB]

On the Magnums...

Re design the rear third light trim into a real spoiler, but one that directs air flow down, across the rear glass.

The rest of the greenhouse on the 05s is fantastic, sorry you pudged up the 06s....

Work on the paint quality...my Midnight black looks like midnight orange peel!

Interior, less plastic in the doors, more leather or fabric and what ever the material/left over play-doh you made the dash out of, lose it and go back to fabric, or ABS plastic.

And add a glove box light, in both the dash box and the console...for thirity grand, this thing should have both.

Offer the headlights in both black and chrome...bet you sell every black and blue Mag with the black headlights.

Customer service.

You might want to re think how you do that...

I have yet to hear from a Magnum owner who didnt love the car..
Yes, I know people rationalize their purchase..no one wants to admit they dropped $30,000.00 plus on a car they decided they didnt like after all,
but with the Magnum, it is true, they really do love the car.
My wife says if I could marry the car, I would, and she is right.

You have built a car that generates a lot of customer pleasure...and they talk about it a lot.
So for once, listen to the people who are buying your product, and are telling everyone they know how much they love their car...warts and all.

Forget your marketing guys telling you only mid 30 to mid 40 white males will buy this thing, they are wrong.
Read this forum, and look at the profiles..
You got 18 year old black males, to mid 20s white females, to a 70 something guy who is hot rodding around Florida in your station wagon, and loving it!

So, when something does go wrong, (and we realize these are machines, so they do fail) take care of it, fast and fairly.

Because no matter how much your advertising budget is, you can never pay enough to generate the kind of word of mouth advertising you are getting here, for free, and you can never spend enough to overcome the bad press that same word of mouth can cause....

Ed

[Black on Black]

Well said, EMB. I agree with almost every bit of your eloquent testimonial, and I hope that DCX hears you and all others loud and clear.

[koliva]

It doesn't matter how many stars you display on your building. If the cutomer feels like they are not taken care of the stars are meaningless.

[7thS0N]

You know what would be interesting, is someone from DCX PR department stopping by to say hello. Never happen in a million years, but it sure would be proactive and reassuring.

I must echo the disappointments voiced above. Our dealer (Brandon Dodge) generally has given me decent service up to this point. But there have been times when I've wanted to ask why- or how- and just gotten nowhere. They formerly had an on-site Enterprise rentacar. Just for the saps like me who purchased the Extended Warranty. Apparently, that deal has fallen through, and now I have to wait a half hour to get picked up to be brought to the rental place to wait and get a car. Then go through the same process in the afternoon when I return from work. Only slower - because everyone is returning their cars and needing rides during rushhour. Makes for a most unpleasant experience - especially when it's to correct righ pull or radiator brackets, or something else that should have been done right at the factory.

Believe it or otherwise, having an onsite rental was a real perk that helped in selling me the extended warranty. While I know this is very likely outside DCX's corporate control, it is another example of how lack of better corporate control is making for a less pleasant customer experience. I won't bring my car in for regular service, because it is too much of a hardship. I'll service what I can, and if something goes wrong I'll bring it in (being that I have to). But heck if I'm going to be happy about it.

Also, if someone could call the guy at the parts counter and let him know that MOPAR has a cat back exhaust for the 05 Magnum, and has for months now, that would be great. The last two times I've asked him about it, he's given me this crazy look like I was Hammer or something. ( )

Mike

[Rev.Hammer]

Hah.. I always have crazy looks!!
I can only hope that DCX takes a s harp eye to these issues!! The are at a point where they can truly shine and bring back the passion and the verve of American Cars.

[adaptabl]

From the above it doesn't look like DC has solved all of its quality issues. DC seem premature on dropping the warranty coverage. If this is what happens in the first year, I would be a little worried about year 4 and 5. My Intrepid was never in the shop untill it was 2 years old. Then it must of fell in love with one of the mechanics. It had regular visits after that point. At 80,000 KM's it lived there.

DC you need to keep that warranty, customers will need it. If you are so sure the reliability is there, it will cost you nothing to stand behind your product.