Out of all the makes out there, I completely hate working on their cars.
Not just me, but every body else I know.
They have the dumbest engineers. They literally make parts to go together once. Use a million different types of screws.

I'm just fed up.

/rant

In before op is a hypocrite

 

Frustrated at something on the Viper?

 

Hard to work on/different types of screws means that dealers will get more work than corner shops. The dealers want all the work themselves, that's how they make most of their money.

Parts that break or need to be replaced also equals more money.

Xbox does the same thing with their controllers, honda does it with the tb sensor screws that you have to grind a slot into to remove. They are hoping people will spend 500 on a whole new tb instead.

I wouldn't say it has to do with dumb engineers because it is done on purpose. It makes money. Most new car buyers don't think about this when buying a car.

Plus people who buy chryslers normally aren't the modding types.

 

Not the Viper but on all the other cars we work on.
Especially when taking down the headliners, interior panels, etc.

 

uhhhh not true at all. not by a longshot.

Chrysler does suck in the realm of modding to some extent. They are like Apple in that they dont want you messing with their "perfection" where as Ford/Chevy leaves their stuff open because they want to see what their customers can do...its free advertising for them.

But modding does take place...and while its a bit more challenging, its sure it rewarding when its finished.

 

"perfection" is being used very loose in this context i assume

 

yea lol

 

 

Not on the Lx cars. The CLS was a lot harder to work on with all the little clips & things holding the trim pieces on. At least on the SRT8 the clips are metal or go into metal & not plastic crap.

 

.

 

Depends on the model. But I'd put any lx/ly chassis with the 5.7 or bigger, viper or jeep up against your G 7 days a week.

But every companies engineers think they know what's best for their cars. Doesn't matter if it's Honda, ford, Chrysler, etc. everyone I've spoken to has some kind of ego about what theyve designed. They act like aftermarket parts are an insult to them.

It's amusing actually.

 

^teehee, he has a 2nd gen TSX

 

Oh?

 

 

 

by the way, not talking about modding them at all. just taking them apart and putting them back together. Viper is in a different category since its mostly hand made. Its the mass produced cars.

 

 

Didn't Mercedes merge with Chrysler to make their cars cheaper & less reliable? Since the old models were lasting for ages they weren't getting repeat customers fast enough. Cant find where I read that though..

 

you didn't

 

I think the Benz merger benefited Chrysler a great deal in engineering. The LX cars were born out of that & the switch back to RWD. The Mustang, Camero,& Corvette were it for a long time. Now most anything American with power is RWD.

I will admit the 300M I had(pre merger engineered) Had the most stupid battery location. Right in the passenger side wheel well. You had to take off the passenger wheel & fender lining to replace it. WTF?

 

Never worked on a Chrysler.. but I helped my buddy replace his alternator on his focus. Had to lift the engine since it was shoehorned by the firewall.

 

What did MB get out of it?

 

NOL carryforwards (tax benefits from the losses).

 

How about the Dodge Charger? It seems like every police dept is switching over to this car. The Ford Crown Vic was super easy to work on and many service centers were already familiar with it. How does the Charger compare with regards to reliability and ease of work.

The amount of abuse, wear and tear these new Chargers are taking, it's gotta be a lot of repairs and maintenance.

 

yes chrysler has some of the dumbest designs, i hate working on those things, i always charge extra to do anything on them.





yup, on the older ones, the new ones are in the trunk, if you thought that was a special placement check out the newer sebrings, they switched to top post battery, and left it the wheel well area, bigger headache to change than before

 

Nothing but financial losses, heartaches and headaches!

But Zieter was great in those Chrysler commercials

 

What's sorta amsuing about this thread is a decade ago, a Chrysler operations exec ordered one of every non-powertrain fastener be put into a executive conference room.

Then he had the head of engineering and many of his senior staff into a meeting to discuss why they had over a 1000 different types of fasteners. He went around the room picking up very similar screws, bolts, nuts, rivets,...

He sent engineering off to consolidate the similar types, they got it down to ~300 of common fasteners for all their products by the mid 2000's. Saved them money, time and effort.

 

The SRT team did a lot of work on some MB halo vehicles such as the SLR and the new SLS.

I know they designed the entire exhaust system for the SLS AMG.

 

^ really?

From what i read the MB engineering teams thought little of their counterparts across the ocean. About the only successful joint project was the Sprinter van.

 

I'm sure both groups had very different ideals. But I do know the SRT team worked on the SLS exhaust system.

 

And I freaking love the Sprinter vans...a lot of film sets have started carrying one of two of them among the fleet of 15 pass vans we usually have on set.

They are SO much more comfortable to get in and out of and sit in. The fact you can stand at full height inside one is so nice. No one is piling over each other in bench seats.

 

^ Sprinter is a great van, it's even moved into the consumer space with some conversion RV vans.

I took a class from a former IBM program manager who was on the Sprinter program management team (Daimler-Chrysler subcontracted some of the program management & IT to IBM). Early on the team wanted to use a MTU diesel engine over a MB motor which annoyed the senior MB people but overall it's been a extremely successful van. It even broke into the Asian market. The Sprinter was designed to not only be worked on around the world but also be manufactured around the world. They also choose design tolerances and tooling that would not require more expensive German machinery.

 

I don't remember where I saw it but there was a supped up version someone did. Ran like 10's & was street legal. It was sick looking.
I also remember seeing those vans hooked up inside for a mobile office. It was unreal.

 

http://www.gizmag.com/mercedes-benz-...jet-van/22070/

Yeah the "JetVan". Love every bit of it.

 

Anyone remember the Chrysler Crossfire?


What a ugly POS

 

Ugly, yes POS? no

 

Every time I see one of those the driver is cutting everyone off like his ass is on fire. Then again I drive like that so I cant really complain.

 

Ugly.. subjective. Same for Saturn variant.

 

shocked.

 

Saturn Variant? Not the with the Chrysler Crossfire. Basically a Merc SL.

The SRT6 model....I'd rock one, sleeeeeper.

Back to Sprinters...I was just on the freeway and passed by two of them with camo'ed fronts....hmmmm