Hey Chris,
Glad to here you weren't left wondering indefinitely. The lawyer thing sounded good originally, but they can drag on forever.
Here's hoping your '10 is a better car and can help you get over all this crap. Looking forward to seeing you on the road again.

 

^thanks Mark, I am excited, I won't lie, a new car again.... either we keep this one or it goes in on trade for a new truck.

There still may be an incentive to come from Chrysler but at this point I don't know, But the car is a priority build and will be delivered to me 1st week of September by Chrysler not the dealership. So that is a first for me.

 

Well, the really important thing, CC, is that you'll be rid of an obviously dangerous car.

 

^very true.... I can breathe a bit easier knowing that problem is no longer my problem. But does has me alert and aware with the new car for any possibilities of problems..... not a great feeling to have to be honest.

 

well an UPDATE to my ongoing saga:

it has been a very tiring past month witout my car... I stopped by to see it at the dealership yesterday and the repair work was completed. I will say the paint on the front bumper is LESS than desirable but I'm not concerning myself with that as it will no longer be my car.

I do however get to drive it for the next 3 weeks until my new 2010 arrives as it is now going to be delayed 1 week.

THe dealership did make some calls and I was given $1500 off the purchase price of my new car at regional level. I'm now dealing with CHsyrler Canada to help offset the difference of the purchase price on the new car, even if it's another $2000 I'll be happy.

I have taken into consideration the depreciation value and after speaking with 8 dealerships was given a trade in value of $26,200. so at this point I am at a loss of $10,750 w/ repairs and with the regional discount of $1500 that brings me to a loss of $9250. THe positive side is I'm making headway and am only seeking fair assistance. I am really hoping that Chrysler Canada will offer more assitance and hopfully alleiviate some financial stress.

THat is the update.,

 

wooohooo UPDATE!!!!!

so after 3 weeks of sheer hell with Chrysler and their award winning customer service managers.... today I FINALLY got through to someone high up. Nancy Market, head of customer service called me this morning and was super awesome to hearing what I had to say. She did read my case and was in utter shock to read what she did. She was a great sport with my witty jabs at Chrysler, and in the end, auth'd another $1500 off my new car, so i am slowly chewing down the cost of the new car, so the latest total I'm now out is down to $10,900. Then the head of AMVIC contacted me and went through my file and was actually not surprised at how everything was handled, they have now launched an arbritation case against the dealership to force Chrysler to buy back my car at full value.... now the head of AMVIC is a dealer owner and their policy is if the car is in the shop for a MAJOR issue such as mine more than 4 times, the auto manufacturer automatically sends out an alert on the vehicle and the vehicle is purchased back at full value within the first year, 75% reduction if in the 2nd year of ownership, and 60% within the 3rd year of ownership. He then had me fill out a small claims application for the $10,900 and they will pay to file and deliver the notice of claim to Chrysler. My fingers aren't crossed but I think I'm making more progress.

well the saga continiues... I'll update as I progress. I am not taking "we can't help you sir, we have given you our position on this issue", so 'no' is just not an option. I'm not fighting for spite, I'm fighting for what I think is fair and what I beleive is customer service and product support.

 

[quote=canadiancanuck;71713]

I decided to take the car out to clear the TPMS code and go see the progress on my house... this was a bad idea. The car started to misfire again (a persistant problem which I thought was resolved back in Jan/Feb), so I pull the car onto the shoulder, shut it down and restart it. Car starts up fine, idles normally, so I take off, well I get to 65kms / hr and the car starts to misfire, but this time the check engine light chimes 3 times and blinks, and the car shuts down completely sending me into coasting mode, well the steering locks up and the brakes are not responding... so I held on for dear life as the car and i went into the ditch, through a pile of dirt and gravel, up the ditch and apparently into the air over an embankment and landed / stopped nose down on the other side of the embankment.

First, let me say that we have a 93 Daytona that we bought new in 92 and have had no problems other than a couple fuel pumps and water pumps.....not bad at all for 330,000 miles.
We're considering purchasing an SE Challenger and have read this saga with disbelief at Mother Mopar's backing away from resolving the issues with this car!!
So....let me get this straight, if the engine quits while going down the road the steering and brakes will not function??!!!! Or you just lose power assist?
If steering and brakes quit when the motor (or electronics) messes up, this thing looks like a death trap!!

 

^ sorry for the late reply, this was the case with this car, after some serious digging with the recent purchasing dealership, they have found some MAJOR electrical issues with the cars ECU and PCM.

I have since sold the car to an Edmonton dealership and reluctantly went into a 2010 Challenger, I have to say I'm much happier with this car, the 2010 models were completely revamped in the electronics area, the new 5spd slap shifter is a treat, and this car has a totally different feeling to it to drive.

Don't shy away from a Challenger on account of my experience, mine was a lemon, and there is bound to be a handful of these troubled cars throughtout the build process, but do your homework, check dealerships credentials on websites, google them, I probably would have had less of a headache had I researched the dealership I bought it from first, these guys are just skeezy lot leeches that screw their customers over and then lie to you repeatedly when they burry themselves.....

do your homework, that is key to any vehicle purchase.

 

We did buy a 2010 SE a couple weeks ago (the wife loves the car!) and I tried the steering wheel with the key off and then out, (not trying to bust your chops here)&(not to say that yours didn't have other problems) there is a mechanical connection to the front wheels, (though it does turn hard without the power steering) no need for the motor to be running, in fact the steering wheel doesn't even lock with the key off or out. I haven't tried the brakes yet but I'd bet that they will also work with the motor off, though be very hard to get any real braking out of after the first stab (the first stab should still have vacuum in the power assist can). I have to think that the liability would just be to great if they needed the motor running or the electronics to work. One thing we did notice, the small amount that the window rolls down when you open the doors doesn't always work when the windows have ice on them, not sure if the inner workings got melt water on them then froze or what. We got the door open but didn't shut it till we got the window to move down a little.

 

Most of us that winter drive have problems with the windows freezing to the sweep at the bottom. You can get a glass treatment product called Aquapel from some auto glass shops such as Speedy Auto Glass. It is a water repelant and seems to have helped. After you initially apply it to the glass you are supposed to wipe it off with a dry towel. Before you do this though, roll your windows up and down a couple times to help the Aquapel reach below the door line.