8.0
pretty bad- Typical Repair Cost:
- $2,500
- Average Mileage:
- 75,650 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 4 complaints
Most common solutions:
- rebuild transmission, replace torque converter (4 reports)
This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Chrysler dealer.
To Whom It May Concern,
I have an issue with my vehicle that was purchased from a Chrysler dealership. The vehicle is a 2001 Chrysler 300M with European Sport Suspension, I purchased this vehicle as a Certified Pre-Owned Chrysler in February of 2003. Within months of ownership, still under warranty at this point, I returned to the dealership with issues regarding the Transmission, with only 36,ooo miles on the car. I was told at that time the computer they used to diagnose the Transmission was not providing them with any codes. Essentially informing me that unless the computer can tell them what to do, they are clueless. I was told by the Service Department Representative to "drive it until it breaks". That was and is an unacceptable resolution. So, as anyone should, I brought my vehicle to an alternate Chrysler dealership for a second opinion. I was told, yet again, that the computer was not telling them what to do so they had no clue how to fix it. This time I took the Service Manager of the second dealership for a test drive in my vehicle. The Service Manager sat in the passenger seat so I reproduced the Transmission issue so he could feel what I was while driving. I specifically asked the Service Manager about the symptom, this is how that conversation went:
Stephen: "Did you feel that?" Service Manager: "Yes." Stephen: "Is that normal?" Service Manager: "No." Stephen: "Then it needs to be fixed." Service Manager: "The technician informed me that everything checked out." Obviously end of the conversation.
The Service Manager verified that there was an issue with the Transmission, as felt personally, yet did nothing based on the computers reading and the technicians' inability to troubleshoot the issue with the Transmission. Deeper analysis was made, it was then determined that the engine installed from the factory had a Manufacturer Defect. The engine was replaced, no questions asked, due to the lubricant used during porting having not been completely flushed from the block before putting out on the road. All these interactions with the dealerships are documented, in my records as well as theirs. This should not even be an issue, nor should I be even writing this letter to you now. I am more than displeased with how I have been treated after purchasing a $30,000+ vehicle. Even more so, after the conversation I had recently with one of your Call Center Customer Service Representatives, named Penny. This person had the nerve to tell me that my "warranty was out so there is nothing we can do, the responsibility is yours." This is after explaining my situation in detail, that the Manufacturer Defect in the Engine and the Transmission never working properly since I purchased the vehicle could not possibly be my responsibility. If you can explain to me, logically, how a Manufacturer Defect in the Engine and the Transmission not functioning properly be my fault after this vehicle passed its "120 Point Pre-Owned Certified Chrysler Vehicle Inspection" to be sold and put out on the road? This means that not only did you let a vehicle that could have seized at any moment while traveling down the highway, potentially killing me, my child and several other innocent victims, but you Certified it as good as new to be resold to someone else. This is negligence at its most extreme. My vehicle was purchased under false pretense as a properly functioning automobile based on a Pre-Owned Certification Inspection. When in actual fact, you knowingly sold me a complete Lemon from the start. The proof of this is in the Manufacturer Defective Engine and the Transmission that repeatedly was brought to your attention, only to be ignored. Currently my Chrysler 300M resides at the Maxwell Dodge Super Center. I have been told that the Water Pump and the Timing Chain need replaced, which was a complete misdiagnosis. I have already brought the vehicle to an alternate shop that actually did the work to find out what was the real cause for the overheating issue. Guess what, it's the newly installed replacement engine with 16,000 miles, yet the Engine Block is leaking like a sieve. This is unacceptable, as the engine was replaced as new no more than one and a half years ago. Not performed at the manufacturer, the engine was installed by hand. This leaves plenty of room for technician error. Water Pumps don't just leak a year after the Dealership Installed the water pump, nor would the year old Timing Chain need replaced because the Water Pump has been leaking on it. I have been paying for a rental this whole time, I refuse to be the victim of fraud acted out by Chrysler against me, by selling me a manufacturer defective Chrysler automobile. As a customer, owner or person, I have never been treated with so much disrespect and negligence by what are supposedly "professionals". I did everything in my power to provide you the opportunity to correct the issues that have plagued me for years with this Chrysler 300M. It is obvious that you gave me the run around and dismissed my needs in an attempt to expire my Warranty before miraculously making the determination that all these parts, that I have told you were not functioning properly many times, now need replaced completely. This is unacceptable, I will not be held responsible for your incompetence and lack of customer support after the actual purchase. In the event you want to continue with your previous methods of handling me as a "valued customer", than this correspondence along with all documentation from my experiences with Chrysler Customer Service Representatives, Chrysler Dealerships, Chrysler Service Managers, and now with Chrysler Customer Relations, will be expedited to anyone else that wants to listen, including every local Television News Station as well as Radio and their National Affiliates. I look forward to receiving a call from a Manager, with authority to make decisions that are in the best interest of your company, as well as your customer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That is the letter I sent to Chrysler after years of being scammed on my vehicle. All for no reason, when everyone on the planet knows that Chrysler Transmissions are absolute junk, no more than paper weights. Furthermore, that two consecutive engines have been declared defective. The replacement engine with 16k miles on it is now being replaced under warranty, gee thanks Chrysler, how about fixing the real issue of my poorly engineered and built Transmission?? I am surprised there was no Customer Service involved with the highly sensitive subject of Chryslers' inoperable transmissions and getting it replaced when the symptoms of the Torque Converter having gone out was physically and audibly apparent, even to the Dealerships Service Manager. Sounds like a lawsuit to me. I'll be acquiring a great deal of compesation for my time, trouble, stress, fraudulant acts, life endangerment, and a brand new automoblie. May even make it a Class Action, I mean why not? I am sure there are enough people out there that got just as screwed as I did by Chrysler. No wonder they were just recently taken over by majority holdings by a popular Take-Over Company. I hope they turn it inside out and sell off the company for scraps, because that's all Chrysler is worth.
- chryslersucks, Austin, TX, US
check engine light came on no apparent problems. went to dealership and was told torque converter needed to be changed. told to drive car till part came in. within 20 mile the torque converter went and the transmission with it. because I had no extended warrente chrystler would not provide a loaner car...
- Mark M., Norwich, CT, US
Just recently the check the engine light came on. Took it to Autozone, they said it was a code p740. Guy didn't know much about it. Took it to a mechanic who replaced the input/output sensors on the transmission. Check engine light came on 2 days afterwards. Took it to Aamco. They say the transmission must be rebuilt and the torque converter replaced. $2000... what a piece of junk!
- Ernesto S., El Mirage, AZ, US
2001 Chrysler 300M with only 87,000 miles. Check engine lite on, codes 700 & 740. Torque converter doesn't lock up. Took it to a transmission shop, they said transmission needed to be replaced. Replaced transmission, got car back on 3/10/2011. After 2 weeks transmission failed again. Replaced transmission second time. Got car back on 4/6/2011. Today 4/17/2011 transmission failed again. Replacement transmissions are from Transtar Industries Inc. 7350 Young Dr. Cleveland, Ohio. Replacement transmissions come with 3yr. 100,000 mile warranty. Warranty useless if their transmissions don't work.........How many more times before I get a good one?
- Frank T., Cotati, CA, US