What ARE we going to do, Chrysler?

As Shrempp has said, Mercedes, in trying to give their customers cutting-edge technology, has, unfortunately, sometimes put that in before all the bugs were out of it. They have committed themselves to improving. An example is the COMAND system, which was supposed to be available in the 2003 E-class, but wasn't due to supplier problems. Mercedes replaced any E-class that the buyer had originally ordered COMAND on, since it couldn't be retrofitted.

Wasn't there a Chrysler "Saratoga"?? Named after the USS Saratoga CV-3 and USS Saratoga CV-60. Also I almost bought a Dodge Avenger, named after the great TBF Avenger Torpedo Bomber Fighter. I think someone should have made a Dauntless, after the incrediable spunky and durable SBD Dauntless dive bomber, that kicked the Japs asses back to the old world at Midway. Wasn't there a F/85 Olds after the Fighter????? Oh when they introduced the Avenger they brought it out on the Intrepid..... Also, the Wildcat, Mustang, Was there ever a Hellcat??? One more the chevy Corsair, after the famous gull winged F4-U Corsair.....

Jake

The Magnum was also a Dodge vehicle, 1978-79, the successor to the B-body Charger (and was itself replaced by the Mirada in 80).

Are you really claiming you cannot go down to a Chrysler or Dodge dealer and buy a 2004 Concorde, 300M, or Intrepid?

Which? The finances? Sorry, that's well documented; Lutz writes about it too. The quality? Also well documented. How many 1998 Chryslers were rated even average in reliability in CR that year?

Give me a break. Aspens/Volares? Most recalled car in history up to that time. Minivan transmissions?

Problems with transmissions there too, HVAC systems, squeaks and rattles, etc.

Yeah, that's why they're still the only profitable arm of DC, right?

Yeah, Chrysler's model range overlapped so much with Mercedes'.

True; both DBAG and Chrysler wanted the others' expertise.

Surely you don't mean to tell us that Mercedes is subject to the same manufacturing startup foibles that lesser makes such as Dodge or Chevrolet are, do you Lloyd? Why, I thought they were incapable of such failures, being a marque of such prestige and good design!?!?

--Geoff

And still getting royally criticized by any tester (CR, C/D, etc.).

You're obviously one of the "anything after the 4-barrel carb, live-rear-axle,

Huh? The only AMC V8 Chrysler ever sold was the 5.9 in the Grand Wagoneer for the first year or 2 after the purchase of Jeep. Dodge's 5.9 V8 is still based on the 360 V8 introduced in the early 1970s.

Chrysler did get some good engineers from buying Jeep. Their head engineer, Caistaing (sp?), in fact, was a Renault engineer put in when they bought Jeep; he came along when Chrysler bought Jeep.

Equipment levels. The 04 Concorde LX, for example, doesn't have the fog lights like the 03 did. There's a 300M Platinum version with 2-tone leather, side mirror turn signals like the Special, and no wood trim.

Actually, I'd say its an ignorant mis-use of an old Dodge term in a failed attempt to mollify us Mopar-philes. A "Magnum" is an engine performance package (440 Magnum, 383 Magnum) not a vehicle.

Of course, Chrysler was already making such stupid mistakes BEFORE the takeover also. The Sebring is a PLYMOUTH, not a Chrysler fer cripes sake!

Yeah, and my 1966 Dodge Factory Service Manual has a whole section on the 426 (wedge head) engine, too. Despite the fact that it was replaced by the 440 that year.

Print != reality, especially on the web.

Oft repeated, but always wrong. Another nice little Diamler lie to try to spin the "merger of equals" in a positive light.

Never did where CHRYSLER was concerned. My first year (and early production to boot) 1993 LH car has been one of the best vehicles I ever owned.

The fact has been well established that Mercedes was about to crater before the takeover, and desperately the speedy design-to-production process that existed at Auburn Hills in order to try to compete with more agile automakers like BMW (and Chrysler, for that matter). Mercedes' molasses-like design process couldn't even keep current with emissions requirements, let alone innovate ahead of other manufacturers.

The fact that Benz hasn't taken full advantage of the Chrysler design process leaves me (and no doubt the guys over at the still rather autonomous Jeep/Truck Engineering group) snickering with glee.

And yet, unlike the Daimler takeover, many of the finest points of AMC engineering live on TO THIS DAY at Chrysler. The 4.0 engine, despite Lloyd's funeral for it years ago, is still powering Wranglers. The whole valvetrain adopted for the Magnum versions of the LA v8s was based not on earlier LA designs, but on the AMC v8 design. And I have often read that the 4.7L v8 design was largely carried out by former AMC engineers (not as certain of that claim as I am of the other two).

Were there any other difference between a 2003 and a 2004 other than the "model year"?

other that

misrepresented as

I'd have to agree with Lloyd on this one. Chrysler did an interesting thing shortly before the merger. They announced that because warranty claims were way down they would be able to reduce the reserve for warranty claims by millions of dollars thereby increasing profits. Of course that is a number easily manipulated and I bet if you ask most dealers they would tell you that warranty claims are way down because Chyrsler makes it difficult to collect for diagnostic work. It was not an indication of quality though quality was certainly much better than it had been as is true with most cars.

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That's nice Lloyd, but he's describing the "valve train" used in the V magnum engines, not the entire fricking engine.

See where he says; "The whole valvetrain adopted for."

These are some of those internal parts that get all 'icky' with oil, something you wouldn't know anything about (obviously).

I'm claiming that they are no longer in production, as has everyone else in this thread.

But not by anyone that matters.

You obviously cannot read. I love my 1993, EFI, overhead cam, independent rear suspension, 3.5 Liter v6, LH car.

But not to go offroading or towing.