List of Chrysler Dealers closing

[Diamondpilot]

All the cars have too many gizmos on them, IMHO.

How about a inexpensive vehicle that has a good safety record, good performance for its intended use, has good fuel economy, readily available and inexpensive parts, and is simple to repair?

The problem I see with that is yes, Ford Chrysler and GM could build a car like that. Look at the Escort, Cobalt, or Neon. But is it something anyone would want to buy? Now factor in you can get a import like a Kia with more features that gets better MPG for less money and now they are loosing money.

The simple fact is with our high labor cost as compared to other countries we can not compete in this market unless many things change.

Chris

 

[FlaDon]

Just wait till the gov't gets complete control of Chrysler and GM. You'll only see cars made that meet new gov't specs. If you've ever had to deal with gov't spec things, you know the prices go way up. The $400 toilet is real and nothing else meets the specs or fits. And even worse, it doesn't work any better than a $200 toilet. The new gov't car spec might put Ford and some overseas makers out of business too.

 

[2manyrocks]

My wife had a mid 80's Ford Escort, and got service out of it. It wasn't fancy, but it was inexpensive, had a fair amount of room for a small car and got the job done. I believe it was a reasonable value per dollar spent.

My sister in law had a later model Escort with a newer sleeker body style that had the automatic seat belts on it. Her heater core failed and she drove it without heat because of the repair costs. In my opinion, Ford should have stayed with manual seat belts and focused on quality control in the heater core. Also, the newer body style appeared to me at least to be a bit smaller by comparison to the older model.

Somebody is telling the engineers to design X, and then it gets engineered, and finally gets to production and then the consumer finds out whether the company did a good job or messed up somewhere along the process. If they are going to build a car, even an inexpensive economy car, they need to do a good job because when buyers have bad experiences, they look elsewhere when it comes time to buy another car.

 

[Builder]

My wife had a mid 80's Ford Escort, and got service out of it. It wasn't fancy, but it was inexpensive, had a fair amount of room for a small car and got the job done. I believe it was a reasonable value per dollar spent.

My sister in law had a later model Escort with a newer sleeker body style that had the automatic seat belts on it. Her heater core failed and she drove it without heat because of the repair costs. In my opinion, Ford should have stayed with manual seat belts and focused on quality control in the heater core. Also, the newer body style appeared to me at least to be a bit smaller by comparison to the older model.

Somebody is telling the engineers to design X, and then it gets engineered, and finally gets to production and then the consumer finds out whether the company did a good job or messed up somewhere along the process. If they are going to build a car, even an inexpensive economy car, they need to do a good job because when buyers have bad experiences, they look elsewhere when it comes time to buy another car.

American car companies are famous for making us "guinea pigs" on newer model cars.

 

[kenmac]

Hate to say it .But, they have gotten what they deserve. My wife has a 2007 cobalt. Had to replace steering assy.They use a circuit board & a elec. motor for the power steering.. Replacment $650.00 just out of warranty.. Looked it up and I'am not the only one that had this problem.. Going down the road ps. just goes out. This isn't good going 70 MPH. GM has had several complaints filed about this on all vehicles with this system.. Own a dodge truck.. dash cracked .. Vehicle was still under warranty at the time..Had the Dodge Factory rep. meet me at the Dodge dealership.. Warranty claim denied.... Reason... Factory rep said he had never seen this happen before so, he wasn't going to allow repair under warranty..When times were good. The customer was treated like dirt when they had a problem. (I'am sure I'm not the only one)......... You reap what you sow

 

[Builder]

I have heard stories like yours, but, I have never been treated less than generously by all domestic dealers. Ford & GM have been great to me fixing things they should have charged me for, cleaning my vehicle, etc.

I'm very happy with the way big 3 dealers have treated me.

 

[arrow]

Almost every answer on this thread hit the nail on some point. Manufacturers are closing dealerships because they cannot stand the amount of floor planning that grew and grew with product not moving. Much money is spent on printing and advertising banners that go out to every dealership. Closings have been political and not just because a dealership did not move product. Basically, American car companies relied on old mindsets from yesteryear and when the world was zigging, they just kept zagging. They attempted to fit with the predominant consumer mindset and when that changed, Their adjustments were like steering an ocean liner. Legacy contracts and pensions were the final nail in the coffin.
Look what saved Chrysler in the 80's. They need to do that again only make the cars look like "32" 3 window coupes that weigh 2400 Ibs and get 30 mpg with 250 hp 4 cylinder motors. Simple, easy to fix cars that have full internal roll cages. I'd rather get in an accident in a funny car coasting down to 150 mph than a street car doing 50. They make a replica of the Mustang that was $2400 when it first came out back in 64 and add twenty to 50 thousand to it now in 09. Good idea about the design. Imagine how many they would of sold at 12 -16 K. Auto management did not seem to be concentrating on how to build and price a car people would buy. Instead they concentrated on covering all the consumer bases until they washed themselves out from having to concentrate on so many sectors let alone government regs and mandates. All this brain power on merchandising caused them to forget on how to build a car whose steering didn't go out before 5000 miles or whose transmissions didn't drop out at less than 50000 miles. It all finally caught up to them and we can only hope they get their brains straightened out and rise from the ashes. Oh and while I'm ranting, how many out there believe as I do that we should get computers and sensors out of cars . Maybe that would end our vehicles coming to mysterious stops while doing 65 mph or crossing an intersection for that matter.

 

[kenmac]

Arrow, some good points about their pricing...Not everyone can or will pay 40K-50K ( B-4 finance charges) for a new diesel truck.... Try to trade that truck or sell it in 10 yrs ( If it will last that long b- 4 major repairs )..What Will it be worth 10K ?? If that much

 

[ultrarunner]

Have you ever wondered why the Imports sell so strong? Why can a little Honda dealer, 1/4 the size of a mega GM dealer hold its own or out sell them? One reason is a lean trim lineup. They carry very few models, very few trim lines, and nearly no options as compared to the big 3. This means its probably in stock, not a special order that will take 6 weeks or more. I bought a New Honda Civic in 1996 and wanted a Green one with Alloys, Cruise, and AC. They had 20 on the lot but none had these options. No problem, they are all dealer installed and I picked up the car 15 hours after making the deal. With the Big 3 I would have had to search high and low and probably would have had to compromise or wait for a special order. Most people want it now, and being able to do that sells cars.

Chris

Mom's only new car was a Toyota... there was not a single one in Northern CA configured the way she wanted it... several dealers said you can't special order from Toyota...

Not only did Mom special order her Toyota... the Factory invited her as a VIP and we got to watch her car being made and many on the line signed the engine bay and chassis as it was going down the line...

The "Impossible" options she wanted was a white car, factory sunroof... not the aftermarket stuff each dealer tried to sell her and she wanted side impact airbags... the combination didn't exist.

One thing was for sure... the salesman at the Dealerships sure wanted Mom to buy something on the lot NOW!

 

[Renze]

Somebody is telling the engineers to design X, and then it gets engineered, and finally gets to production and then the consumer finds out whether the company did a good job or messed up somewhere along the process. If they are going to build a car, even an inexpensive economy car, they need to do a good job because when buyers have bad experiences, they look elsewhere when it comes time to buy another car.

I find my old 850, designed in 1991, built in 1996, way more spacious than the S60 my friend bought... However the marketeers wanted Volvo to part with their square brick image, even more than they already did when introducing the 850 over the 740
Head room is problematic in an S60 for a tall guy like me, but because of the looks of a sleeker roof line, they designed a heavy car with a cramped interior.
My next car might be a Skoda, which is a Czech subsidiary of Volkswagen. Volkswagen driveline and undercarriage, but with a rational touch to design, the Skoda Superb has even more leg room than the VW Passat it shares its floor pan and chassis with. Price of used Skodas is better too because Skoda doesnt have status. However that changes quickly as the Czech engineers make them better than the VW they are based on by focusing on ergonomics, and adapting the styling to that, instead of primarily focusing on the styling to appeal to a certain consumer, and then trying to fit ergonomics into that design.