Chrysler Fires Quality Chief

Will it make a difference?

Condemner Reports is totally biased in their own way. With all the problems Toyota has (the list is quite long) they are still praised by C-R and others. Why is this?

Fact is, all brands have problems, none are perfect. It is a matter of customer expectation and definition and marketing politics.



Bernice


Looks like Sergio is moving to address the quality issues at Chrysler and FIAT after the second poor showing in Consumer Reports.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/28/chrysler-fiat-quality-chief-out-after-another-poor-consumer-repo/
 
:mallet:If you love the Jeep you learn to live with it.. but horrible build quality for sure.

Just leave the Wrangler alone Serg...they sell like hotcakes as it is.:)
 
Statistics

Those who are familiar with statistics will want to know sample sizes.

JD Power 2014 Initial Quality: 86,000

JD Power 2014 Dependability: 41,000

CR 2014 Predicted Reliability: 1.1 million




Just what is it that these ratings are telling you?


JDP-IQ: A survey of new car owners after 90 days of ownership.

JDP-Dep: A survey of owners of 3-year old models asking how they've been holding up. So the data is for cars from 2011 model year.

CR PR: A statistical extrapolation (sometimes known as a scientific wild-assed guess) of past reliability data collected from subscribers predicting how a given car model will hold up.
 
I'm a happy customer

a little over 25K on my '12 Abarth, not even one little - much less big - issue. Build quality is excellent. They have a happy car owner and future customer here.
 
Have 65,000 miles

My son has a 2012 Fiat 500 and all we have done so far is change the oil.

The rear brakes should be done shortly, but that is it. I am not sure why Fiat Scored so low. Look at all of the Toyota recalls, yet they are number 1 manufacture in the world.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.
 
Brother has a 2012 500c.

One tire pressure sensor will not stay fixed. "Repaired" twice. Bad again.

POP sound in steering at low turn speed. Fiat says waiting on parts to repair now for 3 months.

Check engine light on...computer replaced after 30 days at dealership.

Closest dealership is 90 miles one way from his home. Biggest issue is parts are never in stock and there is always a wait time...weeks in most cases. He is not happy. Not really a refection of the car as much as the dealership system and their parts availability in my opinion. Fiat I think could fix this with better and faster parts made available.
He was told at one point that Fiat will not ship ONE part to a dealership...they wait until need is greater and then ship a larger order to save shipping costs. Sounds fishy to me....as this may be passing the buck for a dealership to Fiat. BTW...I and he have noticed there is a resentment from Chrysler personnel when dealing with a Fiat owner. In Birmingham the Fiat dealer does not handle parts or service...he is sent to their Chrysler dealership for that. Not a good way to do business but again NOT a reflection of the car itself.
 
A deeper look will reveal these parts are not likely built by Fiat, they are more likely made under contract and license by Fiat. The idea and belief that one car company makes all their own stuff in this day and age is very mis-informed and mis-guided. Fiat does have the responsibility to assure the stuff built for them is correct and meets their specifications and requirements.

It was not long ago when a steering shaft designed by Toyota and parts approved by Toyota built by a contractor was discovered to be defective by design.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...77million-vehicles-steering-shaft-defect.html

Then we have studs pulling of of Toyota engine blocks.. faulty by design.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXEOAw3qp6M

Or, the dead Toyota engines due to oil sludge. Which affected 2.7 million cars complete with a class action law suite.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/car-parts-and-accessories/engine-sludge/index.htm

Recently, flying metal bits from in car gas bags that were defective product of Takata. The entire gas bag marketed and sold as a "safety" issue is a farce as they have every ability to cause further injury and death due to their inherent operation mandated by bureaucrats with little real technical and scientific expertise.

Yet Toyota remains at the top of CR's list of auto brands... why is this?

As for quality, durability, reliability and all that, discuss that with me after the specific vehicle has been with me after 20+ years, 500,000 or so miles and after it has been dissected and given judgement of it's internal bits to a much higher standard than transportation appliance expectations.

Initial "defects" tells little if anytime about the core of any given design.


Bernice


Brother has a 2012 500c.

One tire pressure sensor will not stay fixed. "Repaired" twice. Bad again.

POP sound in steering at low turn speed. Fiat says waiting on parts to repair now for 3 months.

Check engine light on...computer replaced after 30 days at dealership.
 
parts availablity

when I worked for a fiat dealership in Berkeley, the warehouse was in south san Francisco near the sf airport. less than 20 miles away, but it took a week to receive a stock order. I always thought, WTF.
but they would always send a bulletin to us before a recall or campaign and have stock ready and then, notify the customers of the problem.
I guess times change like the seasons....WTF???:sad:
mikemo90*aol.com
 
Ya know Dean... these were the same dealership...

and parts issues that gave FIAT a poor rep back in the early '80's!

Deja' vu???

I remember from my US car dealership experiences that there were terms for parts delay and they generally went like this:

1. On Order
2. Back Order.

Usually the MAXIMUM wait time was about 10 days for a Back Ordered part...

When I got Black Tooth in '83 I went to our Fiat/Volvo Dealer in Studio City here and asked them for a few interior plastic trim pieces. I then that there were more terms to consider with these foreign cars.

1. On Order
2. Back Ordered
3. District Back Order
4. State Back Order
5. Nation-wide Back Order
6. Global Back Order

I believe today there is another term added and that is...

7. Intergalactic Back Order

But back in the day I did find a few INDEPENDENT/Mom & Pop suppliers in the Valley area that had more parts and better prices than the dealer!

HA!

After living through all that... I cherish our vendors and the FRIENDS on this board!~
 
Thanks Bernice!

I really appreciate Bernice for pointing out the flaws that Toyota has and that nobody, and I do me nobody, seems to have the guts or brains to point out. Fiat has always been fighting an uphill battle against the press and it continues to this day and I believe that it will never change no matter how good their cars really are.

Thanks again Bernice for stating what I have always believed to be true. Maybe I am not a nut after all!

George
 
Yep this valued reputation is wholely undeserved.

Add to that list a simple power window switch, 297,931 recalled in Australia - globally 7.4 million vehicles were impacted.

PRA number: 2012/13327

http://www.recalls.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/952857/fromItemId/952855

Due to the “non-uniform application of lubricating grease resulting in wear to the internal sliding contact points”. The way I read that was 'ooppps we forgot to add lube to the switch when we assembled it'. So a small production error where electrical safe grease wasn't applied correctly for some of the units and they didn't know which ones were impacted as the QA had a hole in it, so they replaced them all. Some punters applied their own non electrical dielectric lubricant and it died when they let the magic smoke out of the component. Most probably a third tier component manufacturer supplied part, given my understanding of their supply chain but I am just guessing there. So coming out early ( perceived or not ) and replacing ALL of that inventory Item seems to have a positive effect for them. GM & the ignition switch by comparison is interesting.

Not a big deal breaker for the average punter as the residual value on a Toyota is fairly good and that is what matters to econobox commuters. A Toyota Corolla that was once in the extended family is an example of why it was purchased. For one of the ladies in the family it was light nimble enough and it was actually a fully imported made in Japan model for the Ozzie market. It actually sold three years later for a little bit less than the price it was bought for, less the dealer delivery and Govt' charges. Probably because of the short trips - hardly drove it old lady one owner. I was astonished and didn't believe it but there you go - reputation is that highly valued and I guess that was the point for the person who paid over the top for the slightly used second hand car. Sadly Italian ( & French ) cars have a poor reputation and the general punter has no idea how damn good Fiats can be hence the lease residual is so poor so I guess they don't buy one.

I'm on board with Rupunzell here, little nigly issues impact nearly every car manufacturer as cars are complex and often abused machines. Often folks expect perfection from the outset because they cost a fair bit of coin. A simple sensor made by a component supplier can cause havoc and the whole car ( thence the Brand ) is treated as a pile of junk by the ill informed. Sadly that is human nature and Auto journo's have a lot to answer for a many just swallow their rubbish without critique. What does matter is reputation and leaving a market like Fiat and Renault have done in the past was a massive faux pas. It shows how easily it is to loose a reputation, when Fiat and Renault pulled out of the market here I myself felt betrayed, some people sadly can't look past this and don't forgive, unwilling to take a punt on the brand again. That Peugeot has a better reputation than Renault Downunder is probably something to do with that, Peugeot never left us 'stranded'. It takes a lot of effort to get a good reputation and can be lost in the blink of an eye.
 
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