Bet all of you guys never leave home without your cell phone, right? Pity us poor folk who don't have one.
That's because your're going to need it sooner or later to summon help when your Daimler-(Chrysler) cashes in. Can't really tell what's going to give out first. There are so many gremlins lurking under the hood. Will it be the in-tank fuel pump? The Power Module? Hall-effect? Wiring harness? The Logic Unit? Pentium IV Transmission? Take your pick from a hundred systems/subsystem malfunctions that can stop your car dead in its tracks.
Do you think you are a good enough mechanic to make a field repair and get going again? Try replacing the fuel pump buried in the gas tank. Even if you had the part and a bucket full of tools, do you think you could drop the tank and do it on the road? How about the old lady, just in case you aren't along for the ride? Most amateurs couldn't even diagnose the fuel pump as a failure mode simply because its just one of a hundred failures that would mimic fuel pump failure.
An on the road fuel pump replacement is going to cost you $400 minimum, depending on how far the tow. You will lose about half a day if your're lucky. When that happens think about this: Had DC put in a dual fuel pump system it would have cost them $40 or less when the car was built. You would not have suffered a breakdown when the pump quit; only a warning indication from your check engine light. Just keep driving until you can get the failed pump fixed. Lot better than a breakdown in the middle of nowhere, right?
Take something simple like a fuel filter. A plugged filter will overload the pump and burn it out. The solution is to change out the pump according to factory recommendations, right? Yes and No. One bad load of fuel can clog a filter, so going by strict mileage is no good. Why didn't DC make the filter a screw on into a die cast housing for ease of R & R? With no hoses to cut off or pry off, there is no chance of leakage after changin the filter. A pressure differential switch mounted to the fuel filter housing would provide warning when the filter is clogged (pressure drop across the filter triggers the warning system). How much do you think this first class redesign of the fuel filter would cost? Maybe $10 on a new car. Two engineers at the drafting board for eight hours could make this happen. Imagine that, after 100 years, a major reliability improvement in a single day!
So far,I have tamed two major gremlins for $50. Not much on a $40,000 Pacifica, is it? I estimate I could do all one hundred twenty-seven gremlins for $4000, about 10%. Actually, it would cost zero because you would recover it all on resale. Ever wonder why cars depreciate so much and aircraft don't? Now you know: Its in the engineering.