bms

Hello_Newman

The fact is that we live in a society where even the middle class could find places to cut costs (Starbucks, eating out, gym memberships, etc) to accommodate small gas price increases if they really needed to.

After all, the poorest people who could truly claim anguish from rising gas prices don't even own cars.

Thorny

Seems to me that your experience is typical - the battery-failure thing, indeed, is a crock of FUD.

FuzzyPlushroom

I think Chrysler is offering some creative incentives as opposed to the usual rebates off the sticker price. Many people are holding off buying new cars due to uncertainty about the economy (including gas prices)...these incentives help prospective buyers "lock-in" their costs. I hope these incentives help Chrysler sell more vehicles.

bigballer23

79TA

Well, in the case of most ChryCo vehicles made in the past 15 years, that might not be such an obvious win for the company. ;)

The Toyota scam is also used to move metal- people think they'll get this great warranty and then don't bother to read the fine print *disclaimer: in the case of the aforementioned Matrix, the warranty was not part of the motivating factor, we just knew the Matrix was what we wanted.

Anyway, jabs at Chryco products aside, despite that most new cars will easily outlast the attention span of at least 2 or 3 owners, the American public is still locked into this 1950's consumerist mentality, by and large. The "experts" have been predicting a decline at some point, but it seems reality always defies their dire predictions.

As for gas (and this thread) it wouldn't surprise me a whit to see it drop below 3 bucks after this November.

Still at a pretty-close-to-national-low $3.34 here in Greenville, SC this AM.

mechimike

This deal could save customers about $1 per day, not even enough for one coffee. I'll just drink water and continue driving the car I love.

JONNRG

Agreed on the Avenger- I've driven them as rentals, and they are dire. The Prius ain't exactly fun (I have other cars for that), but when you live in a city, it's a pretty ideal car for my wife to run around town with the kid. It has acquired a stigma as a treehugging smug douchebag car, which is unfortunate, because it is a perfect city runabout.

superbad

jjj7088

Driving an Avenger, driving a Prius, sorry. I dont see any winners there.

ktek01

Regardless of whether its a dealer-run scam or a Corporate run scam, the car companies are responsible for policing their dealerships and such scams reflect poorly not only on the dealerships, but also on the parent automakers.

I was merely making the point that was made before, like all extended warranties ("extended warranty? How can I lose?") the odds are tipped towards the "house". Heavily.

mechimike

I'd assume some of it was due to poor care, but....the BUTTONS ON THE MIRROR MELTED. Also, I am no he-man, but a door handle shouldn't snap off in your hand when opening the door ($100 for a new handle). Her car is in the sun maybe 50% of the day due to shade from the house and trees...the interior seats... yeah probably her fault a bit.

Saboth

VS.

Year 2007
Price $33,500
Make TOYOTA
Mileage 26,000 km
Model PRIUS
Date 5/7/2008
Model Grey Leather Seats, Sirius Radio For Life (no fee), Navigation System, Winter + Summer Tires, HID Lights, Bluetooth, Backup Camera, Side Air Bags. In perfect condition. 26,000 km.

I couldn't find a 2008 Prius to compare, but it looks like they hold their value quite well, where the Avenger appears to have lost $4000 off the base!

POLAЯMISSESEVEЯYBODY

If the dollar picks back up and goes back to being valued twice as much as a Euro, you will very well see the price of gasoline fall. The only reason we had cheap gas to begin with was because our dollar was worth considerably more than other countries' currency. Heck, now the dollar is worth less than the Canadian Looney.

The only people saying this doom and gloom of how gas prices will always be this high are the douchebags that would pick up the last fifty cents off a dead immigrant and have tons of money invested in petrol futures.

MrEvil

Yeah, let's try that. We bought one of the first 04 Priuses (before it acquired all the cultural baggage it now has), and have 75k miles on it. Only expenses have been oil, wiper blades, and tires. Depreciation has been what, 20-25% total, and in addition to the federal deduction, the state of Colorado gave us about $2000 in cash (tax credit) just for buying the thing. Unless you're a congressman getting your Avenger for free, we win.

superbad

TheGuinnessTooth

Who here is actually considering the purchase of one of the qualified Chrysler vehicles because of this offer????

POLAЯMISSESEVEЯYBODY

Who cares? Chrysler is a private company now. Not having to live and die for the next quarter is one of private equity's main assets.

Andrewpetty

jjj7088

.: R32-PΩWER ™

My favorite story is my mom's early 2000's Sebring. She drives it gently, and has about 20k miles on it. The CD player broke, the buttons on the mirror melted, the turn signal jammed into the right turn position, the door handle snapped off, the paint peeled off the exterior, and the seats inside look 20 years old. I guess at least it still runs.

Saboth

jjj7088

I don't know if Al pointed it out in his "class on class", but where do sanitary napkin jokes fall as far as Jalop is concerned? (I hope not on my bathroom floor - "cymbal crash")

rlj676-new job, same problems

Say you and 12 of your closest friends get together, who each drive 12K miles a year, and the average tank size is 15 gallons. You all pitch in and pay fair share on a new Caliber, and get it for $18,500 out the door. You each pay $1541.67, and one of you gets the car as a your daily driver.

All of you use the gas card to fill up your cars for three years, which, for the sake of easy calculations, all use regular unleaded. At 15 gallons a fill-up and 12K miles a year, that comes out to be a total of 9600 fill-ups among the 12 of you.

For a more realistic slant on things, we're going to say gas jumps up to about $4.00 for the next three years' average. With each of you paying $3.00 and Chrysler paying the remaining dollar, you have each saved $12,000 over the course of four years. So, with an investment return of over 775%, I'd say it's a worthwhile bargain.

And that, gentlemen, is how you cheat the system.

(Coincidentally, this is also why corporate lawyers will include copious amounts of fine print with said credit card. Thanks, and Gig 'em.)

Unevolved

jjj7088

NovaloadMissesPolar

Shit, where am I? I thought this was Jalopnik.

Thanks for doing the calculations, me and a friend were arguing about this the other day. Good to know I was right.

Unevolved

jjj7088

Just like airlines use oil futures to hedge their future fuel costs so that they predict future earnings, this allows the consumer to more effectively budget without having to worry about getting another job, moving closer to work, or cutting vacations if gas goes to $5-6/gal.

I say bravo for a brilliant marketing plan. Sure, it makes Chrysler money by selling more vehicles, but the consumer now has another investment tool in his/her pocket.

LtShinySides

[ ELÇEVEN ]

jjj7088

Bumblebee

dculberson

Speedblogger... Go Speed Go!

jjj7088

Matt Hardigree

.: R32-PΩWER ™

That's just foolish thinking.

DustyButt

FЯeeMan is slowly cЯawling out of the new commenting system

They wouldn't offer it if they didn't figure, urm, know it would work out best for them in the end.

FЯeeMan is slowly cЯawling out of the new commenting system

My g/fs new Matrix comes with this warranty. For the first 10,000 miles or so, she was taking it back to the dealer faithfully, and in those first few miles, the bills were "reasonable"- about $50 or $60 every 3000 or 5000 miles. But now she's about to turn 12,000 or 15,000 miles (I forget, something like that) and the "required maintenance" in order to keep the unlimited warranty is something like $450!

So she asked me, as an engineer, what my opinion was. I said "well, your Honda has lasted over 250,000 miles so far with basic maintenenace (mostly just oil changes and one timing belt), and the last compression check I did showed the engine was roughly only 1/2 used up. Let's assume the Toyota goes just 250,000 miles, and then the engine dies. At the maintenance plan you're on, you will have spent several times more than the cost of the engine replacement in unnecessary maintenenace over and above simple oil changes."

She stopped going to the dealer.

mechimike

In true Jalopnik fashion, the better way to beat the system is to pick up a much cheaper (ideally sub-$1k), more economical for commuter vehicles.

narf

Matt Hardigree

That's quite a gauntlet, Mr. Nardelli (why the pseudonym?). Are you including depreciation in TCO?

The Name's Ash78, Housewares

You also get the gas protection PLUS rebates on almost EVERY model. The system works great, can you imagine the savings if you buy a diesel truck?

What Chrysler has done here is reduce TOTAL cost of ownership for those of us on a budget. Lifetime powertrain warranty, huge rebates, 0% financing, and $2.99 gas for three years.

Now take your ass down to your local Toyota store, and buy one of their super awsome hybrids ... Then check back with me after 100,000 miles, lets see who has spent the least per mile on their car, YOU or ME ... assume I just bought a 2008 Avenger with a 4 banger. I win, hands down.

jjj7088

I can't imagine myself buying a new Cerbyrler any time soon w/out serious duress on my part or superOEM improvements on theirs.

SeanKHotay

Matt Hardigree

rkwadd

LJKelley

Matt Hardigree

POLAЯMISSESEVEЯYBODY

Matt Hardigree

Saboth

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

"The new Dodge Rorschach: Any Color You Want, As Long As It's Red"

The Name's Ash78, Housewares

Paul Y. can't think of a better, shorter handle

Which side is the back of the napkin?

Bumblebee

sbcncsu

BTW: That Aspen won't get what the sticker says for mileage. My '05 Hemi Grand Cherokee gets 11-12 MPG in the city and barely brakes 17 MPG on the interstate (Cruise at 78 MPH). The fuel per year number would be higher than calculated.

It is a great marketing gimmick. I would just about trade my grand on a new one with the diesel if it was covered by the program.

sbcncsu

A couple of caveats, though...the warranty requires regular (annual?) mandatory inspections at the dealer, at a certain cost to the owner. Assuming they can stick with this routine AND they remain the first owner of the vehicle, your scenario is definitely possible. If I had to gamble, I'd say the average owner only keeps that warranty valid for 3-4 years, assuming they don't trade the vehicle. Which would actually be shorter than most mfrs' powertrain warranties, when practically applied.

Again, beancounters FTW!

The Name's Ash78, Housewares

Actually, yes, there's a line on the Chrysler media site link under the "Select Program Offer" that says "Yearly allotment of gallons provided".

The [www.freep.com] listing infers that the allotment's based on 12,000 miles a year for each vehicle...

Quoting 8th paragraph, Freep link: "Under Chrysler's plan, the guaranteed price covers an annual allotment of gallons based on 12,000 miles divided by the average mileage per gallon of the purchased vehicle."

SeanKHotay

If gas hits $5 next year, than I'm guessing this will be stretching the loss reserves over there.

rlj676-new job, same problems

So what would have been $2,250/yr is only $1,794/yr thanks to the "rebate". A savings of $456.

Over three years at a discount rate of 5% (doom and gloom!), that's a rough present value of $1,241

I'm sure the beancounters realize that's a lot less than the average cash-on-the-hood rebate.

Cha-ching

The Name's Ash78, Housewares

heavylee-again

Sloop_John_B

So what's left then? Ohhhhh, the crap nobody wants to buy!

Call me back when you're offering unlimited free tires for the SRT-8 Challenger!

POLAЯMISSESEVEЯYBODY

bohemian

Why not go further into your fantasy world and pretend gas will drop into the $2.00 per gallon range?

Once gas hits $4.00 per gallon it's not going to drop down to $3.00 ever again.

The Oil Company execs wouldn't be able to buy ivory toilet seats if that happened.

Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen

Bee1