Chrysler corps "Lifetime Warranty"

[LwnmwnMan2]

Are there any Chrysler guys here that can explain this to me?

We're looking at getting a different minivan, and the sales guy that I trust, my family has bought vehicles from him for 25+ years, says that not only can I get the powertrain covered for life, but for an extra $1500, I can get a lifetime bumper to bumper warranty for lifetime.

What I can't understand is, there's no way Chrysler is going to keep warranty-ing things if I run this minivan 500,000 miles, right? Or is it true that bumper to bumper is what it says, and lifetime really is lifetime?

I know that every 5 years, Chrysler has to 'inspect' the vehicle.

Can anyone else talk me out of this? Other than I'm sure Chrysler is betting on the fact that I won't keep the van for an extended period of time, and that most people will swap cars every 5-7 years, at which point the warranty is non-transferable.

[Shack]

Quote:

I can get a lifetime bumper to bumper warranty for lifetime.

In all reality, the factory warranty is not even “Bumper to Bumper”. Being in the service department, I would cringe when ever I heard a customer say the term “bumper to bumper”, only sales men and women would use that term . The factory warranty never covers every thing from bumper to bumper, look at the list on none covered parts .

Now, this is a good deal I have heard Chrysler has been offering. At this point in the service realm, there is not a limit of time or mileage on the Chryslers “life time” warranties. Now, the life time of vehicles covered by these warranties is not much as of yet, so I have not heard of any 200,000 mile repair claims going threw as of yet, but the over all consensus says this program is legit and hassle free (with in the parameters of the warranty contract). The only thing is Chrysler Service contracts have a cost cap of around $6500.00 and after this, Chrysler can get picky on what they will and will not cover. I am sure this applies to the life time warranty also.

Now, what you are being offered is and addition Chrysler Service Contract that has the “life time warranty” parameters with it. What I have herd is this is a “Max Care” style Chrysler Service contract. You can pay more or less for a $0, $50, $100, $200 or $250 deductible. The Max Care contract is very close to the factory warranty, but it is not completely like the 3/36 original factory warranty. If you read the fine print, you will find out what the differences are. Every 5 years you do have to do a free inspection at the dealership or the warranty might expire/cancel. The one big exclusion is this program will not cover SRT vehicles, diesel models or commercial vehicles (I.E. anything with a name on the side or a plow on the front).

The only thing I wonder about is when buying this addition “life time” Max Care service (for the $1500) you are being double dipped on the “life time” powertrain warranty. The “life time” Max Care contact covers powertrain also, but you all ready paid at the time of purchase for the “life time” powertrain warranty, but paying the full price for the Max care life time warranty (with power train coverage). Not a big deal, but I like how the factories hide things like this a little bit. Basically your powertrain will be covered by the factory “life time” warranty that comes with the vehicle and the extra Max Care contract you purchased on the side.

All in all, this does sound like a very good deal, boarding on almost too good to be true. The one thing I will give Chrysler is they have very strong extended service contacts and if it was not Chrysler, I would have major doubts on this program.

Make sure that what you are signing is Chrysler contract and not an after market warranty/contract, find out the deductible that has been chosen and make sure it is something you want to pay. Also make sure it is a Max Care Chrysler Service Contract and nothing less. I have herd the going rate for this package is $2000.00, not $1500, so check on what you will be buying (just and FYI). You could be just getting a deal on top pf a deal also

Good luck!

[Scott K]

The only other thing to add to that is you need to follow to the "T" maint and have a copy of all of it when going in for warranty work, if the maint wasnt done at the dealer. And the fact that it isnt available to commercial vehicles, which would inclure name on side, plow, registered in company name for tax break, ect..

[Shack]

4.W.E.,

Good call dude! Yes, yes, and yes

Chrysler has been pretty good when it comes to asking to maint. records (very rare), but that could all change with these programs and the economic state of the manufacture.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Yes, I realize bumper to bumper doesn't literally mean bumper to bumper, that there are wear items and such that aren't covered.

It is the maximum care plan, and it is $2,000 and it is lifetime, even though the brouchure only says up to 7 years / 70,000 miles.

There's no deductible, and yes, we pulled the trigger on a new van.

We have a 2005 T$C with 75k miles, which we were going to drive into the ground over the next 5-6 years, but then we got to thinking about shoot, if you could get a 'bumper to bumper warranty' then you could drive the thing to 200,000 miles over 10 years and not have to worry about it.

It's an '08 T$C with DVD, Nav, leather, no sunroof. For the money, it's hard to pass on a minivan anymore, for the value anyways. Especially once you get over the stigma of "it's a minivan". Double especially when you've got a 6 and 3 year old.

[Shack]

You asked and we gave some info. I hoped it helped?

Good luck with the van dude!

[LwnmwnMan2]

Yes, it helped tremendously.

I had the wife read your guys' repsonses, she always appreciates peoples thoughts where they have to direct ties to the issue.

The other thing about the maintenance to a "T".

We've been dealing with the same shop for 15-20 years here in FL, the Dodge / Chrysler dealer.

They know that we do all our own service and that we use Amsoil. If I have to bring in a vehicle for inspection every 5 years, then so be it, that's fine, as long as I can drive this thing now for 200,000 miles and still have it covered.

We've had them try to deny warranty claims in the past since they did not do the maintenance on it, but we've stood our ground and they've always covered. Now they know it's not a fight worth fighting, at least with us anyways.

[jwhjr]

Good luck with the new van!

[Gus]

You mentioned that you use amsoil but you didn't specifically say that you do extended drain intervals or not. Either way, the manual for the van is very specific that even if you are using synthetic oils you have to change it by Chrysler's intervals or you will void your warranty.

I picked up a 08 Grand Caravan about 10,000 miles ago. Smiles from ear to ear. Especially with the little ones in the back and not having to shell out the gas $ for my old pig of a truck.

Also, you may want to take a ride up to North Branch and check out Central Motors. I was dumbfounded by how nice the people were up there, felt like I was walking into a coffee shop not a used car dealer unlike the FL place. And they beat FL's price substantially as well.

If I had one complaint about the van it would be the new 6 speed automatic and towing. I tow a pretty light boat and the older vans with the 4 speed would keep in gear much longer than the 6speed. The 6er tends to downshift more than I like (even without towing), but I also wouldn't call it excessive during towing based on the frequency of not towing. Either way, I know I am not overloading the towing capacity of the vehicle and it has the lifetime warranty. My towing trips are pretty infrequent, so the daily tasks of shuttling the kids and taking road trips where I don't need to haul still greatly outweigh the negatives of towing.

[LwnmwnMan2]

........

Also, you may want to take a ride up to North Branch and check out Central Motors. I was dumbfounded by how nice the people were up there, felt like I was walking into a coffee shop not a used car dealer unlike the FL place. And they beat FL's price substantially as well.

........

That's where ours is coming from, by way of Fury motors.

Rick at N.B. did a locate on the color and options, they went down to S. St. Paul this morning and got it.

Ours will even have sirius TV in it for the kiddos.

Now I won't have to constantly listen to the same DVD over and over and over again. Now if we could just get them to wear the headphones......

[Gus]

Rick was who took care of us also. GREAT GUY!

Enjoy the new van!