Chrysler’s New Lifetime Powertrain Warranty

Seems odd that Diesels (that are more durable than gas powered cars) wouldn’t be covered either.

Not too happy you have to go to a dealership to find out the conditions either.

As pointed out above, its an incredible stupid publicity seeking move which will do no good. A few people more people will buy a Chrystler hoping that they can keep the car for 7 plus years-but most people today are probably more worried aobut Chrylser being around for 7 years that a transmission going out even on a Chrysler! The fact that its not transferable, even for a fee, indicates they don’t stand beind their cars.

This is the kidn of crap we’ll get form a new owner dumb enough to inslal Nardelli as the new CEO. The later raped Home Depot and by his own admissionn knows nothing about cars-Why would anyone hire him?

“Not available on SRT and certain fleet vehicles” What’s the reason for it then anyways?

I think a few issues come up. First, you have to go to a Chrysler dealer to get the warranty (which most people probably don’t really care about). Next, quality helps resale more than a warranty the second owner doesn’t get to transfer.

It almost seems like Chrysler doesn’t want people to replace their cars (think about it). Drivetrain is covered forever, so the longer it goes, the more likely I wouldn’t want to get rid of it, even if I was a die hard Mopar guy and wanted a new one.

Heck, if they gave me a lifetime warranty on a SRT Caliber with that crazy amount of HP right out of the box, I would almost be tempted, since the odds are you’ll probably have to use it.

If they were smart, they would make the warranty transferable by paying a fee. If you think about it, for the most part many cars will run forever as far as the drivetrain if you maintain it, its the other stuff people get tired of having to fix. So the second owner drives the car and even if the drivetrain holds up, he will probably have to replace the brakes, or other stuff like that and its a wash.

I suspect with the typical US consumer replacing their cars so often, the extended warranty will have minimal cost to Chrysler and will probably have good upside (although the Domestics’ biggest issue is subpar materials and build design, not unreliability I think). So will people want to drive a car that feels cheap but has a lifetime powertrain warranty? We’ll find out soon enough.

“Lifetime Warranty” …define “Lifetime”.

Definitely a step in the right direction, but it would be pretty useless for people like us (’us’ meaning almost everybody on cardomain) because as soon as anything is changed on the vehicle (in the name of performance), that warranty is void.

Like Kyle and Evan said some people these days aren’t going to keep their new vehicles no more than 2 years. If the original owner trades it in before, say, 18 months the next person could also have the warranty but only limited up to 100,000 miles at time of purchase. That seems like a plan to me. But I suppose this way there is less paperwork and cost stays down. Plus it’s a limited lifetime warranty so is it really better?

Improving quality doesn’t need a warranty that big. I agree with kyles comment. Attempting it seems so mafia like.. lack of dynamical.Attempt at a kingdom.monarchial. Totalitarianism. Anti-87Subaru-ish. Proprietariacally incorrect for the mouths to feed and the true minds of evolution. I’m going back to the nuhouse now to write long letters to myself about the demise of the industrial revolution and mail firecrackers to people and maybe some sparklers…

I think it’s a good idea. However, it may mean that most owners will hold on to their cars longer instead of the usual turn over rate…
I’d love to have lifetime warranty on my truck.

Sorry Rob, I know you’re a MOPAR man, but what Chrysler needs to do is just work on improving the quality of their cars. I mean, the lifetime warranty is great, but not if your car is spending more days in the shop than out on the road. More than anything, this sounds like a gimmick to get customers into the showroom. Eventually, Chrysler is going to have to pay the price. I wonder if they’re prepared.

Another way to look at this though, is that many people sell their cars after 3-5 years of ownership. In that case, since the warranty is non-transferable, the warranty coverage is essentially the same.