Dodge Charger Break Down

Those things can break. It is a shame that Chrysler does not make sure they are bulletproof. One flaw like that can prevent Chrysler from ever reaching Toyota/Honda reliability ratings yet they refuse to address it.

Reliability ratings don't mean a s*it if all they are measuring is if something breaks under warranty. What matters is how quickly and how much s*it is going to break when the warranty expires.

There are some organizations that understand this and that is what they look at, there are others (like Consumer Reports) that apparently lose interest in any vehicle older than 5 years.

Ted

Is Chrysler (Daimler) using the same speed sensor in the Mercedes transmission that's used in the trannies for the LH cars???

Yes, they do. For me anyway. When I buy a new car, I expect it to work. I am more concerned about the repair record during the first years. As the car gets older, I expect it to need repair.

Also, for people who lease cars for a few years, and then turn them in for leases on new ones - they are more concerned about the repair record for cars under warranty.

Testing doesn't mean a thing if it is a 3rd rate design with cold solder joints and the supplier is only interested in meeting initial specs and doesn't care if the unit falls apart in 3 years.

GM hired a quality executive from Toyota. The first thing he told GM is that they should make their parts to last 100k miles instead of just lasting the warranty period.

They had to hire someone to figure that out?

And even with all that, there will always STILL be a few that fail with

Deal with it, or abandon all technology more advanced than a rock used as a hammer....

I like my 99 300M a lot more than my 2001 Avalon but I hang around both groups and there have been tons of postings over the last couple of years to this group about AT sensors going. In the Toyota group I remember just 1. Unscientific perhaps but Toyota is selling a heck of a lot of cars and they rarely get stuck in second gear because of a poor quality $20 sensor.

Maybe Toyota has a real speedo-cable going to the dashboard?

(yes, my sensor died on my 2000 300m, but it was still under basic warranty).

Nope they use sensors too. Their's just don't fail as often as Chrysler's.

Mine died too. No big deal unless I was taking the family on a vacation some Sunday.