Stew

That is a stretch. if ALL of the products were being put off for years, you may have a point. The fact is the major products are simply months and tweaks and updates to improve them and their quality makes a LOT more sense than the diatribe you just spewed. IMHO, they are going o have a lo of touble with the new Wrangler. How do you improve cafe, keep the loyalists happy, and keep the price reasonable. Same with the Ram, it needs to get lighter and better FE, but sense sales keep falling for the Aluminum F-150, you have to wonder what is he best way to achieve this and i believe this is the true delay for the Ram. I wonder if the fact the Dart is delayed means that it's survival may be in question because isn't the Chrysler 100 a new compact sedan based on the same platform? LXs just ot a major new refresh with updates as extensive under the skin as out, so 4-5 years seems about right there. Having a refresh, especially one as major as what the LXs just went through for just a ear or 2 makes absolutely no sense, especially when sales are on the rise. Again, you WANT them to fail so you will see issues everywhere. Your total post is wrong, with exception to one part.. the last sentence.. if they aren't ACTUALLY American... Eff 'em... My post is 100% correct regardless of where a manufacturer's headquarters is located. And the last part of your post tells me ALL I need to know about your intentions. Go back to the GM threads and ruhaha GM in the thread about their criminal actions with the ignition fiasco.......

The 8 speed trans is outsourced too. ZF doesn't need to work on the 9-speed, Chrysler still needs to tune it properly. Platform-wise, their full size RWD cars are ancient and overweight, their high-volume compact car is floundering and overweight, their new midsize car is quite nice, but also overweight at a time when everyone else is in the process of shedding pounds. And the worst hurdle for Chrysler right now is that they DESPERATELY need some competitive 4-cylinder engines, which you mentioned. I thought they were in a better position financially because Jeep is basically printing money. I hope that the Fiat side of operations isn't becoming a leach. I have to disagree on a number of points. First, the 9 speed is having issues in basically every vehicle it is in, including the TLX and RR Evoque. Second, look at other actual fullsize platforms and you will see the weight is similar or even heavier compared to the LXs. They could improve this issue immensely anyways simply by going aluminum blocks on the Hemi. in any case sales are up, the cars, especially the Charger Hellcat and Scat Pack, are getting excellent reviews on not only power, but handling too. Remember, demand is so high for the Hellcat, which is a VERY profitable product, they had to stop taking orders. The 200 is selling like gangbusters, never thought I would see them selling over 20k units a month. Also under MT's real MPG the 200 beats nearly all comers including a lot of cars that "claim" superior FE. Weight is not an issue here since it is not a sportscar and still gets that FE and drives quite nice. I also don't think weight is a major issue for the dart, but rather I do agree they need a new family of 4 cylinders, the world engines despite updates , are nealy a decade old. New 4 cylinders are coming and no delay was mentioned for those, so about 1-1.5 years out. Also, the 8 speed, at least most iterations for FCA, are built at Chrysler plants under conract from ZF. It seems like the 9 speed was rushed to markets and I know the 8 spent quite a few years in developement and is wonderful in every application it is in. My brother's A5 wih the 2.0T matches up beautifull with it. The 9 speed seems half baked. Ram and Jeep are certainly the cash cows, but Chrysler and Dodge are also profitable. Fiat just isn't a good fit here and they have been hit hard by the financial crisis in Europe which sucks. If Sergio wants a partner, I think Mazda would be great. They could use skyactive and Mazda could use the Pentastar V6 with their own touches ie, my biggest fault with the 6 has been it's lack of a more lusty engine option. Heck, they are already going to be making a Miata based roadster.

That is a stretch. if ALL of the products were being put off for years, you may have a point. The fact is the major products are simply months and tweaks and updates to improve them and their quality makes a LOT more sense than the diatribe you just spewed. IMHO, they are going o have a lo of touble with the new Wrangler. How do you improve cafe, keep the loyalists happy, and keep the price reasonable. Same with the Ram, it needs to get lighter and better FE, but sense sales keep falling for the Aluminum F-150, you have to wonder what is he best way to achieve this and i believe this is the true delay for the Ram. I wonder if the fact the Dart is delayed means that it's survival may be in question because isn't the Chrysler 100 a new compact sedan based on the same platform? LXs just ot a major new refresh with updates as extensive under the skin as out, so 4-5 years seems about right there. Having a refresh, especially one as major as what the LXs just went through for just a ear or 2 makes absolutely no sense, especially when sales are on the rise. Again, you WANT them to fail so you will see issues everywhere.

All the quality issues on launch because it was rushed to market. That happens again and I DO believe FCA will be in trouble.

I think part of this is related to the CHerokee's issues. The Patriot sold almost 11k units last month, the Compass anothr 5k, the CHallenger is having it's best sales ever, the Charger sales are basically holding pat and the police market will help it out, as said the Wrangler and Ram are doing great. The only worry IMHO is the dart, though it is on an upward sales swing. Journey also isn't selling bad and at this point the developement costs are all paid off so I can guarantee they are making decent money and letting the various Jeep models carry the sales crown.

All i read is blah, blah, blah. For cafe we have diesels in the Ram and GC, there are new 4 cylinders coming in roughly a year, do some freaking research and ou see they are not being idle at all and their debt IS dropping. You do not like them and you DO want to see them fail apparently. i laugh everytime I see someone singing gloom and doom for Mopar and hen they rise back up.

Say what you will, it is incorrect, all i am saying, you simply hate them to hate them and I would guess you hated them in 98 before any merger. The 4 legacy US brands ARE showing profits and ARE showing their best sales in a decade. Yeah, Fiat isn't doing to great, but neither is everything GM has, IE every Cadillac bu the Escelade, and for the most part Buick as what they do sell is VERY small volume. If you say the whole company is going to die over ONE of it's subsidieries, you MUST think the same of GM. And FYI, FCA is showing profits, they are NOT in the red.. Also, from what i read, what was sent was NOT a request for a Merger, but rather a tech exchange and mutual investment, asGM has already done with Ford and their 10 speed transmission. you can accomplish a lot more by pooling resouces than ou can alone.....

I really didn't feel like reading that mess...... So I didn't...... Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram are profitable and IMHO he 500X should help FCA's bottom line in the states. Like Ford and GM's European arms they are having issues in Europe, probably more so than the others honetsly, but Chrysler itself has a great product line, ever increasing sales, and isn't going anywhere. I know, they are not GM so they suck, right? You would be ok if you weren't so anti-anything not GM. Heck, GM reduced their warranty first and companies adjusting to match each other is nothing new and FCA is far FAR from the first to do such........

The others are getting long in tooth. The A4 and A5 have a redesign right around the corner along with other's I believe

4.3 was also sedan only, all Caprice Wagons from 94-96 came with the LT1. I had a 96 Caprice LT1 and a 96 Roadmaster LT1, miss them both.

How is FCA in trouble? 62nd consecutive month of year to year sales increases and first time selling over 200k vehicles in a singe month in nearly a decade, they are fine. There ae HUE issues with these studies and most of them today have VERY plitle to do with actual reliability and more to do with a new owner bitching because they are too dense to use the features and electronics their cars come with these days..... I see far more Dodge, CHrysler, and Ram long term tests that have ZERO issues for he full test than I do GM or Ford and even Honda and Toyota these days. There is nothing wrong with their reliability, just the reliability of these so-called reliability tests.

It won't let me edit, so hopefully this will show the right chart for 2015.

Crud, stupid links didn't post right lol.

Oh Casa, shush. No big deal and not surprising and why not post the 2015 dependability study Unfortunately I couldn't find the 2015 IQS

I think the General lee is the most popular. Seen a few replicas and even saw a local sity police dept. taking potos with their car behind one a year ago lol. i have a huge collecion o 1/64 cars, love Greenlight and Auto World models.

Yes, reliabilit in general was not their strong suit, but when they are running good, they are a blast.

Name: Dodge Dakota (2004) Date Added: 20 May 2015 - 01:44 PM Owner: Stew Short Description: Basic 4x4, only add-ons are the sidesteps and bed cover. View Vehicle

I will, i tried to reply, but gave up after the 10th attempt over there. OOoohh.. I'm well known for being the guy around here that like the big old luxury boats, but the AWD Talon has long been a secret love of mine! Never did own one though. 1998 Eagle Talon.jpg I had 3 first gens, great to drive, not to great to keep going haha. i blew up a turbo on one during a, um, spirited drive home from work one night. i miss my boats, I think my Caprice with the B4U suspension was my favorite, literally cried when i had to sell it!

Hey Casa

I am just so happy to make a post and only have to click once! Seems to be a great site!

Another one that jumped over from the MT forums! I have owned many vehicles from AWD Talons to Caprices and Roadmasters, to 350 swapped S-10s and now own 4 trucks (97 F-150, 99 Z71, 01 Dakota motorsports, and an 04 Dakota 4x4). Look forward to posting and enjoing the community!