Hey Scotty,
I love your videos and find myself agreeing with your philosophy. I’m also a fan of Consumer Reports and see a lot of similarities in reports on Toyota reliability.
The thing that puzzles me is that CR listed Chrysler as the car company with the overall lowest cost of car repairs. So what does that really mean? Do Chryslers need a lot of repairs but at low cost? If so, is it really fair to consider a car company unreliable when it’s overall repair bills are the lowest in the industry? Or does consumer reports just have this wrong in your opinion?
I would not place much faith in ANY magazine. Any statistics can be skewed to show whatever outcome is desired. Real world experience, on the other hand, will tell the truth.
Chrysler build quality has been laughable for quite some time. Even if the problems they have were small (most aren't), you still have the time it takes to bring it in for repair. I, for one, value my time highly and if I have to being a car in for repair constantly it is being sold ASAP, regardless of repair cost.
Pentastar motors don't come cheap, and I've replaced a TON at my shop. So yeah, cheapest car to repair I would definitely disagree.
cI love Chryslers. I had a 1969 Coronet 440 with a 318 engine when I was young. It was a great car. Totally underrated. I love Dodge vans as well. Also the slant six is legendary as a dependable engine. But that all goes back to a long time ago. Older Chryslers had many great options and were high quality cars. My Coronet was way better than my 68 Mustang. It also didn't have the problems my 72Cutlass 442 had.
Fast forward, I bought an 82 Dodge Diplomat from a friend in 1998 for $250. It was a former police car from RI. I drove it across the country MA to CA and registered it in CA and drove it for 5 years. The only reason I junked it was because of a starter issue.
Chrysler made some good solid cars back in the day, but I don't know about the modern cars. They do have a few attractive models. I rented a Journey a couple years ago. I would never buy it, but it was OK. Of course I don't know how it held up over the long term.
Still driving my 270K mile Reliant K, it’s getting long on the tooth. It’s time to trade up to something better.
Scotty also read a list on one of his videos and it also said that about Chrysler. His explanation (which was more humurous than relevant) said that "You don't see Toyota or Honda on the list because they never have check engine lights but Chrysler oh man you will have many of them just shows the quality."
The quality and simple reliable engineering that went into the older vehicles is long gone. Especially at Chrysler, owned by Fiat.
The old Fiat and Chrysler are now subsidiaries of the multinational auto group Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The Italians control 44% of this group.
FCA US (formerly named Chrysler Corp) is run by John Elkann (Chairman), and Michael Manley (CEO), and is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Factories in Canada, USA and Mexico.
I am a subscriber to Consumer Reports but question their rankings sometimes when it comes to cars. For example, for 2020 MY reliability brand ranking they listed Dodge as #8 and for 2021 MY #10, but I would never recommend their vehicles for anyone that is looking to keep for a long time and many, many years hassle-free. Now I realize not everyone buys cars by that criteria. But I would take Consumer Reports rankings with a grain of salt. You are better off asking on this Forum about different cars.
