Chrysler announces lifetime powertrain warranty

[Dragon]

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/26/breakin...train-warranty/

Chrysler today leapfrogged every other car maker by extending its powertrain warranty on every new car and truck it sells to the life of the vehicle. The warranty will apply to the entire powertrain including the engine, transmission/transaxle, drive shafts, and axles. The new warranty goes into effect today, July 26, 2007 and applies to all new 2007s that are on the dealer lots as well as 2008 models.

The warranty covers all parts and labor as long as the owner brings the car in to a Chrysler dealer at least once every five years for a free powertrain inspection. Apparently, the only fly in the ointment is that the new warranty only applies to the original owner and is not transferable. If the car is sold within the first three years, the warranty reverts to the previous 3 year/36,000 mile coverage for subsequent owners. The press release is after the jump.

[regfootball]

its basically a free extended warranty for the original owner. nice move, but people hate asterisks too. it doesn't really help resale. plus the free inspection is a plot to extort money for dealer service work.

this has more value as an advertising tagline than it does actual benefit to an owner.

Edited July 26, 2007 by regfootball

[Drew Dowdell]

Way to hit resale value and repeat business at the same time.

[haypops]

Their giving a lifetime warranty on that CVT transmission and Hyundai engine!!

[Sixty8panther]

That's it.... I can;t take it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm buying a Chrysler 300c SRT-8!

[BrewSwillis]

its basically a free extended warranty for the original owner. nice move, but people hate asterisks too. it doesn't really help resale. plus the free inspection is a plot to extort money for dealer service work.

this has more value as an advertising tagline than it does actual benefit to an owner.

I don't think "once every five years" is too much to ask for a free inspection that will keep your lifetime warranty in tact. Every time you go to the dealership, they try and sell you something anyway.

Edited July 26, 2007 by BrewSwillis

[CARBIZ]

It is a smart move for Chrysler. Realistically, not many people keep their vehicles passed 4 or 5 years anyway. This just trumps GM's 100k mile powertrain. Of the hundreds and hundreds of customers I have sold, very few of them still have their '98s any more and those that do have barely gone 100k miles.

It's a strong signal to the market, though.

PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS. Go get 'em, MoPar!!!!

[Dragon]

That's it.... I can;t take it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm buying a Chrysler 300c SRT-8!

it forgets to mention (though its stated on chrysler's website, SRT models are exempt from this

http://www.chrysler.com/en/lifetime_powertrain_warranty/

Not available on SRT and certain fleet vehicles.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I just wish GM would cut out the incentives and just offer a 10 year/100,000 miles bumper to bumper coverage. Then watch the people flock into dealerships. It's got to be cheaper than offering rebates in the long run.

[Flybrian]

This just trumps GM's 100k mile powertrain.

Not really. GM's warranty stays with the car regardless of owner. Insurance for used buyers who pick up a car that will still be covered by the factory and even for third-owners who have the piece of mind that most major problems have likely been reapaired.

Chrysler's is non-transferable. Non-transferability is how people get suckered by these long warranties. Hyundai, for example, isn't transferable and from all I've heard is a bitch to get them to cover even moderate repairs.

Also, doesn't Chrysler still offer a 7/100 transferable powertrain warranty? If so, that pretty much superceedes whatever this 'lifetime' one offers 97% of owners who don't keep their cars for life.

[haypops]

Also, doesn't Chrysler still offer a 7/100 transferable powertrain warranty? If so, that pretty much superceedes whatever this 'lifetime' one offers 97% of owners who don't keep their cars for life.

I'm pretty sure that that warranty(7/70) ended last year sometime.

In a related issue I heard a stock market report and they said that the sale may fall through as Cerribus was having problems getting the cash. Countrywide Mortgage reported that they were seeing a large increase in defaults on other than sub-prime loans.

[Newbiewar]

Way to hit resale value and repeat business at the same time.

how long do you think cerbrus is gonna keep chrysler?

if sales jump by lets say 30% in the next 5 years... it will be worth the price it was when benz bought it... like 35 billion instead of the 7.4 they bought it for... they'll just strip it of its financial unit... and sell off the automotive section

[AxelTheRed]

Oh snap. Now that Daimler-Benz is pretty much out of the picture, Chrysler's finally getting its $h! together it seems.

[vonVeezelsnider]

I hope this only the beginning... This could really bring in sales!

[AxelTheRed]

I hope this only the beginning... This could really bring in sales!

You ain't kiddin'. Just finding this out has, for me, given a huge boost to Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles for when I'm looking for my next car.

[regfootball]

its about interiors, stupid. even this warranty isn't going to get people to want to buy a chrysler with a deadly drab interior and dark cabin devoid of light and views.

mitsu has a good warranty. 10/100, 5/60. can't remember if its transferable. i'd rather have the 5/60 BTB than the lifetime powertrain.

although, on an srt-8 i could see the value of it.

[gm4life]

They don't even insure the hi-po models boo-hoo.

[knightfan26917]

Oh my.

I received a couple Emails from Dodge dealerships earlier today ... and didn't quite believe 'em.

But ... wow.

Hmmmmmmmmmm....

Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker

WRMNshowcase.lego.HO.model.MCs.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"Hood slidin' like Bo Duke"...Dierks Bently...'What Was I Thinking?'

[CARBIZ]

Not really. GM's warranty stays with the car regardless of owner. Insurance for used buyers who pick up a car that will still be covered by the factory and even for third-owners who have the piece of mind that most major problems have likely been reapaired.

Chrysler's is non-transferable. Non-transferability is how people get suckered by these long warranties. Hyundai, for example, isn't transferable and from all I've heard is a bitch to get them to cover even moderate repairs.Also, doesn't Chrysler still offer a 7/100 transferable powertrain warranty? If so, that pretty much superceedes whatever this 'lifetime' one offers 97% of owners who don't keep their cars for life.

Exactly. There is a lot more to consider about a warranty than just the full-page newspaper ads! In Canada, which is still largely tundra, I have successfully pointed out that the Hyundai warranty is useless if you have to pay for a 300 mile tow to the nearest Hyundai dealer; whereas, there is a GM dealer in every trading post and watering hole in Canada.

And it is the list of what the warranty DOES cover that is important.

[boblutzfan]

As someone that keeps their cars more than 10 years (which I'll admit is a % of the total population and not the whole) then this is a huge advantage for going with Chrysler. I kept my last car 9 years to 120K miles before buying a 2004 Mazda6 (which at the time offered a better warranty than GM or Chrysler) and now have in my garage a 1996 Nissan 240SX that my wife purchased new. It has 98K miles on it and over the 10 year mark. We (my wife and I) have been going back and forth between a Buick Enclave and a Chrysler Town & Country Limited. My wife wants the van (it will be her car initially) and I wanted the Enclave. The new lifetime powertrain warranty moved me into the Chrysler camp. I do keep my cars over 100K miles and 10 years - so this has great value to me.

I think this is a smart move on Chrysler's part. The only vehicles that are excluded are SRT models - no surprise there with all the hard driving they will receive. I have heard many people talking about Chrysler's new warranty and their new cars just in the past couple of days.

For those of you that trash the Chrysler warranty as a marketing ploy....what do you think GM and Hyundia warranty are about? It is all marketing. They are trying to generate sales. And they will.

[Intrepidation]

I wish they extended it to used cars from say, a generation ago...but then that would be a LOT of 2.7L engines.

[VenSeattle]

I'm still trying to interpret Lifetime Warranty...

Are we talking about the vehicle's lifetime or the company's? Which will be longer?

[BrewSwillis]

I'm still trying to interpret Lifetime Warranty...

Are we talking about the vehicle's lifetime or the company's? Which will be longer?

Yeah really! Cerberus will probably just offer the lifetime warranty until they return to profitability, and then dump the company and the warranties on the open market to make a quick buck. The company might be hard to sell with all of those open lifetime warranties?

[MyerShift]

Back off Chrysler for God's sake. They are now doing what they can as they can.

They even have a banner on their headquarters building that says GET READY.

I will get ready because Chrysler will get its mojo back like it had in the 1990's. It has to.

Just because they had a better idea than anyone else that encourages LOYALTY doesn't mean it should be trash talked.

Shame!

[Satty]

Does it cover the cost of the rental or include free loaner use for the owners who have to leave their car at the dealership for weeks on end because their transmission went out and there are 14 cars with the same problem in front of them?

[privity]

this news sealed the deal on my girlfriends new dodge charger r/t. those suede/leather seats are comfy!

[Intrepidation]

this news sealed the deal on my girlfriends new dodge charger r/t. those suede/leather seats are comfy!

[Sixty8panther]

Chrysler's is non-transferable. Non-transferability is how people get suckered by these long warranties. Hyundai, for example, isn't transferable and from all I've heard is a bitch to get them to cover even moderate repairs.

Yes, very true.

A friend had a Kia Sephia with 60K... the trans was having problems

so they took it in to the Kia dealer who promptly said oh, well you

guys are the 2nd owners, the warranty is non-transferable... so

just for $hits & giggles they ask: but if we WERE the 1st owners this

would be taken care of free of charge, RIGHT?

Kia's response:

The trans. is not the problem, it's the fact that it is LEAKING that is

the problem, a trans. leak that caused low fluid levels that damaged

the trans. is not TECHNICALLY a trans. problem & is not covered.

WTF?