The “New” Chrysler will be every bit as bad – no worse! – than the “Old” Chrysler. I’m still looking and thinking about that new vehicle, when the time is right, and none of my first 5, 10, … or 100 choices are an American-made car. Now, that door of possibility – if there was one – is slammed forever. I’ve been driving a 2003 PT Cruiser lately, to get from here to there, and, as usual, it’s been nothing but problems. Two issues in particular show me how unbelievably incompetent this company is. When I first bought the car (used) in magnificent condition, I bought new Pirelli tires and I noticed they kept getting low on air, and eventually, I could no longer keep the left front tire from going flat. Problem? I took it to two tire dealers, and both guys I talked to knew exactly what it was when they saw the PT with the factory chrome wheels. The PT Limitied Edition has a long, sordid history of the chrome wheels being defective in that the clear coat chips off the inside of the wheel, causing big, rusty, cracked flakes to gather between the wheel and tire, flattening the tire. I’ve been told it’s a massively common problem, even with PTs newer than mine. It happens to almost anyone with the PT and factory chrome wheels. They kept shaving the wheels until finally I had to go out and buy new ones.
Today, I take the PT in for an electrical problem: the parking lights stay on when the car is off, and only by turning the left turn signal on after the car is shut off (you heard that right) can I shut those lights off. So when I forget, guess what? Dead battery. Today my mechanic calls me back and says that it is some kind of “multi-function switch” that went bad and has to be replaced. Except that it’s a dealer-only part (no aftermarket version) and no Chrysler dealer anywhere has any. Why? Nationally, there are 250+ of these on back order. Status? I asked my mechanic, “days or weeks?” He said “weeks or months; no one knows.” So not only is it a part that seems to be another persistent problem, it’s not even accounted for in parts stock. So each time I forget the very abnormal function of turning on my left turn signal after shutting the car off, I’ll have a dead battery. Now we’re calling junkyards.
This is only one snippet among many bizarre problems derived from owning domestic automobiles. I loved American trucks (when I owned them), but New Chrysler, New GM, and Old Ford, I am forever done with all of you.
