A big company does me right

I have/had a bias against American car manufacturers, I must admit. It just so happens that ever since I bought my first car, it's been foreign. Not purposely, it just was. And because those foreign cars have served me well, I was hesitant to stray from that path. However, a few years ago when we decided we would finally break down and buy a van (we were the ones who said they would never buy a minivan by the way), I really liked the new Chrysler van. You know, with the swivel seats that we never use are super awesome and I had to have. Thereby forcing us to buy new since '08 was the first model for those.....another bad financial good move. And I honestly am really not sure where my bias came from. It just was.

So, we bought the new van. I like the look and I like the interior/comfort. However, we have had more than our fair share of service problems. Air bag lights on, sliding doors not working, leaking coolant hoses, you name it. And, since we are on the road so often, we hit that "out of warranty" point within oh, maybe 17 days or so of receiving the vehicle. So now, when all of these things flare up, we are on our own. Even my neighbors comment on how often it seems we have the van in for something. So, when just 18 months after possession, the digital screen started to swirl and then disappear for the rearview backup camera/stereo system, I was frustrated. By this past summer, it was totally black. The radio still worked, the internal hard drive still carried my songs, but you were a blind man pushing buttons to try to find out where it all was. So, I took it to the dealer, who informed me they would have to replace the whole unit for a cool grand.

And I, being the letter writer that I am, had to let Chrysler know how I felt about this. I got online and filled out a comment form on their website, describing my hesitation to buy their product, and then all of the subsequent problems I have had. I think I added a few eloquent statements like, "C'mon! Seriously? I've had enough" and some other well written items to further my point. Anyhow, they called me, and called the dealer, and decided they would split it with me. I was impressed with this, and thought that was a pretty fair way to handle it. However, I had to have it fixed within 30 days. Although now we were only looking at $500, it was still hard to pay this for something that technically still worked, though not the way it should. But, we decided that since we tend to drive cars into the ground, and we'd hopefully have it for a while, this was a feature that we would like to see working, and due to the financial split offer on the table, now was the time to do it.

Fast forward, I took it to the dealer, and the radio was replaced. However, in the process, the tools they used to pry the old unit out the first time scratched some of the finish off of the dash. I shared this with the service manager, who doesn't appear either particularly social or interested in such details. When I drove away after the unit was replaced, I saw the scratch was about 5x bigger than before, leading me to believe he hadn't asked the mechanics to be more careful as I'd requested. So when I got a survey shortly after this visit, I once again shared my thoughts, as I like to do, including my feeling that the service manager was attentive to my needs, and geez, I wasn't happy to be in there replacing this thing in the first place.

Imagine my surprise when, the very next day, the service manager called me to let me know that "they must have re-evaluated my case, and decided to give me my $500 copay back". Wow. How amazing is it to get a call that there is a check for $500 waiting for you to pick up?

I'm really not sure if the survey I'd just taken the day before was the reason. Or, if they really did for some reason decide to re-evalulate my case, despite the fact that I'd already agreed to the $500. Whatever the reason, I have to say, Chrysler was very responsive to my concerns, and I feel they certainly stepped up to the plate and accepted responsibility. Is my car a lemon? I'm not sure. It might be too soon to say. Have there been lots of piddly annoying problems I've had to take it in for? Absolutely. But did this giant corporation seem to listen to a little guy complaining and do the right thing? 100%.

Go Chrysler. This chick is giving domestic cars another chance.