This is the second Chrysler product we bought and our last.
   We had a Caravan with nothing but problems
   and now Robin's PT Cruiser is starting. The starter
   just went out. The shift lever has stiffened up.
   She bought it on looks :)

    Chrysler should have been left to go bankrupt but instead
   we spent billions bailing them out.

   Paul Lamar

   Chrysler has had quality control problem issues periodically over
the  years.  Things get bad, consumers go elsewhere and they go on a
QC program. Cycle  repeats  over and over. This has been a long
stretch of bad. I think they  have  gotten into the "more new model
releases" thought pattern and have not  realized the problem. Look
at Toyota and Honda; some of the best selling  cars  globally. They
do not introduce many new models. Just update and refine the
 existing products. I worked at the local Chrysler dealer for a
while and  they  have nothing to interest me. Look at Consumer
Reports and Car and Driver.  They  both have magazines out right now
with ratings. The ONLY Chrysler product  they  recommend is the Ram
1500 pickup. They are pretty good but I have  reservations  there as
well. For pickups, the new Ford Ranger/Mazda BT50 seem to be very
good. Truck Trends did a test on the Ranger and describe it as a
great  truck  with one problem, they are not bringing it to North
America. In Russia the  BT50 four door loaded is $35762CAD. 2.5
diesel gets 29 MPG US highway. The  Ford is the same. Size and look
is more like the discontinued Ford Explorer  Sport Trac.   Might be
good idea to take Robin to look at the new Mazda 3 Skyactiv. 2.0L
with 155HP is advertized to get 40 MPG US. These are rated very good
with
  4.5  stars out of 5. Typical Japanese quality.

  Dale Davies

  When it comes to piston engine IMHO it is hard to beat Honda.
  I love the 2004 Odyssey we have. Once I took out 300 pounds
  of rear seats that 3.5 L V6  MOVES!!!!

  Paul Lamar

  My 12 company pickup trucks were all Dodge- but only the 2500 or
up, with  the Cummins Diesel, manual transmission and the best
suspension available.  These trucks routinely go half a million
miles and get 25 MPG. Not bad for  a truck that empty weighs 4 tons.

  The chevys that we ran never made 100K without issues and never
got more  than 15 MPG, and the Fords were worse.

  I haven't had such good service from the other Chrysler products- the
  trucks and cars with the gas engines suffered from poor fuel
economy and  maintenance problems like the Fords and Chevys.

  I did notice something from having a fleet of trucks for over 20
years- my  Dodge trucks that I get such good service out of are made
in Mexico and  have been since 1992 with the body style change, and
the others are made at  various plants in the US.

  Another observation- I am restoring a 1974 Hatteras boat, and have
almost  completed disassembling my 1968 Bellanca Viking. The
Craftsmanship that  exists in these two markedly different items is
remarkable. The Viking has  a steel tube fuselage that was hand
welded with an acetylene torch. And the  welds are absolutely
beautiful. The fit of the steel tubes is remarkable.  No gaps, no
filler welds, just pride and craftsmanship at its finest. The
Vikings wood wings are absolutely a work of art. Aside from a
liberal  application of glue (not a bad thing) each part fits
perfectly. All 1200 of  them in each wing.

  What we get today, particularly if its made in the US, doesn't
compare. In  spite of the CAD systems where each part can be laid
out to withing  thousands of and inch, and then cut on a machine by
a computer with equal  precision, after the machines get through it
has to go to a person that  doesn't know what "Craftsmanship" means.
Its very discouraging.

  Craftsmanship and quality mean only one thing- care enough to do
it right.  And accept nothing less than that.

  Thats what you are experiencing with your vehicles. As long as
they get a  check, they dont care.

  My speech "Never do anything for money- do it because you want to,
and do  it the best that it can be done. If you do what you do the
best it can be  done, success and money will follow you around.
Chase money and you will  never catch it."

  OK- I'm off my soap box now.

   Kevin Alderman

Cummins makes great engines.
I have always liked Vikings. Those are exceptional airplanes. Has
anybody made a carbon fiber wing yet? When the economy recovers next
November it might be a good biz for somebody.

Wood rot scares me :)

We have a shop in SZP that repairs Vikings and it seems they are
always working on the wings.

Here is an idea. Put the whole wing (with out fabric) in a big
autoclave and pressure treat it with epoxy. Might be cheaper than
carbon for FAA approval.

Paul Lamar


I agree with your observation on the QC Kevin. Some of it is also the bean
counters making decisions. The Caravans had a problem up here (Alberta) that a
power steering hose would fail when it got a bit cold. They used the same hose
on at least one other model, Journey?? with the same problem. We did a
temporary repair with a hydraulic hose and swage on fittings on the ends. Cut
the tube off on both sides of the leak and tighten the nuts. Repair parts took
up to 3 months to get here. Made the hose part with kevlar. I would have left
the hydraulic hose in if it was mine, but then you do not get paid warranty.
We have seen a few problems with the Cummins but they are probably mostly due
to the emissions system and too much idle time. Diesels do not like to be
idled all day. Emergency Medical Treatment that have to sit in the truck all
day to be there if some one gets hurt. They should have a gas engine or use a
Wabasto heater which can also be used to heat the cabin. Solar panel would
charge the batteries.

Dale Davies