Chrysler Offers Lifetime Warranty on Powertrain

Uncertainty is one of the - if not the - greatest obstacles to market exchange. Entrepreneurs have an incentive to discover ways of easing consumer concerns about their products, including warranties and guarantees, etc. Of course, those warranties and guarantees are only as good as the company making them, and most expire in the not-too-distant future.

Chrysler is making the bold move of offering a lifetime warranty on the powertrain (engine, transmission,  rear axle, etc., on EVERY vehicle it sells, beginning now.

This adds a lot of value to an otherwise suspect good and gives Chrysler a greater incentive to put out a better product.

A few years back I was asked to participate in a focus group study contracted by a company representing an "unknown" manufacturer of minivans. (We immediately discovered that it was Honda doing the marketing research.) Prior to the start of the focus group when the participants were sitting around eating deli sandwiches provided by the research company, two women participants revealed that they both owned Chrysler produced minivans (one a Plymouth Voyager and the other a Chrysler) that experienced  recurring major problems. One was on her tenth transmission in seven years and the other on her fifth engine in (I believe it was) eight years. I found it odd that both women owned Chrysler products (no one else did) and both experienced recurring major problems.

I, too, have experienced problems with Chrysler products in the past, and the Chrysler rental cars that I  have driven were grossly inferior to my Toyotas in terms of ride, comfort, styling, and general makeup. I have never been tempted to purchase a Chrysler product since the mistake I once made. (A used '84 van that I was grateful to have towed for being illegally parked and subsequently auctioned off for nothing.) This warranty does not change things for me, but I'm certain that it will make it more attractive for others to purchase a Chrysler product.

Comments

[Don Lloyd]

Chrysler is making the bold move of offering a lifetime warranty on the powertrain (engine, transmission, rear axle, etc., on EVERY vehicle it sells, beginning now.

This might be useful if there were any reason to be assured that Crysler's own lifetime is likely to extend long enough to even match the term of your loan or lease payments.

Regards, Don

[Mark]

Don says, "This might be useful if there were any reason to be assured that Crysler's own lifetime is likely to extend long enough to even match the term of your loan or lease payments."

No doubt. That's why I said in my post that guarantees and warranties are only as good as the company that issues them.

Beginning in 2002 I was predicting that the Big Three will become the Big Two within ten years. I have five more to go and I'm holding on to my prediction.