Paul Stenquist wrote: > Utter nonsense. Take a look at the J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction > Index. A number of American brands are right at the top. Quite a bit > ahead of Nissan I might add. I've had six Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep > leased vehicles over the last 15 years. None has ever had to spend > even an hour in the dealership. And Chrysler products aren't among > the leaders, but they're still plenty reliable.
I had an 86 Ram with the 225 slant, which, I might add, was one hell of a good engine. However, the intake and exhaust were shit. The smog recycling pump, or whatever it was called, was a complete waste. Problems with the carb and that pump left me stranded more than once. The starter, too, was crap. I learned early on to carry the necessary tools behind the seat. The fourth, and last, time I swapped out the starter was on the town square. Took me 30 minutes, including the 2 block walk to the Western Auto store to buy a replacement. I sold her shortly after that. In 2003 I bought a brand new Dakota SLT. Extended cab, v8. I had put her in the shop for transmission problems, weather stripping replacement (it fell out), the brake release broke off in my hand, the A/C quit at 3500 miles, a driver's seat back that wouldn't lock into place, and an electrical problem that caused some of the dash lights to flicker when i had the headlights on - all within 6 months of purchase. Missouri's lemon law stated that within a year the same problem had to occur 3 times, or the vehicle had to be in the shop for more than 30 days, at which time I could take steps to force Chrysler to buy the damn thing back. The same thing never broke twice. It was something new every time. And it was obvious that it wasn't going to be in the shop for 30 days. So I traded it in for a 2003 Xterra. No problems for 85,000 miles. Routine maintenance only. (Whoever bought my Dakota continued to have problems, as I received 3 dealer satisfaction surveys over the next 6 months for repairs that occurred after I traded it in.) The Xterra is my second American made Nissan. The first was a 94 pickup. I sold her at ~130,000. No problems with that one either. Of course, these are my own experiences. But I find it highly unlikely that I've had two Dodge trucks that were worse than average and two Nissan's that were better than average. I'll stick with Nissan, thank you. -- Scott Loveless http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
