Autoblog

As Chrysler moves ahead with its "consolidation strategy" (a.k.a. Project Genesis), it's apparently had enough foresight to realize that shutting down dealerships seriously handicaps your ability to service your customers. According to Steven Landry, Chrysler executive vice president of North American sales, the company's solution will be "stand-alone service stores" -- it is easiest to think of them as dealerships that have closed, but the service department still remains open.

While the first stand-alone service store is still about two years from opening its doors, Chrysler is in active talks with a handful of other retailers about the strategy with customer service as their goal. "If we all of a sudden go from 80 stalls to 40 stalls we don't want to do our customers a disservice," says Landry. "You need to have the right number of stalls." Funny, any woman at a professional sporting event could have told you that.

[Source: Automotive News, subs. req'd]

If you are one of the nearly half-million Americans driving a 1999-2005 Volkswagen Passat, your dealer will be expecting a visit. Every gasoline-powered Passat (the list includes the 1.8-liter I4, 2.0-liter I4, 2.8-liter V6, and 4.0-liter W8) is being recalled for a heat shield issue. Apparently, the shield near the catalytic converter on some automatic-equipped cars may be damaged, so VW wants the dealers to check them out and add additional shielding if necessary.

While it has your attention, Volkswagen has also found some faulty fuel lines on cars with the 1.8-liter turbocharged engine, and some of the all-wheel-drive equipped cars may have damaged fuel tank ventilation valves. Thankfully, no accidents or injuries have been reported from any of the problems. VW will begin notifying owners on May 30.

[Source: Automotive News, subs. req'd]

While repeatedly denying the existence of an upcoming entry-level Ferrari, company executives have stated that the real entry-level Ferrari is a used Ferrari. To back that up, the company's outfit in the UK has established the Ferrari Approved program to certify second-hand Prancing Horses.

The program covers the 360, 430, 465M, 612, 550, 575 and 599 models, in all their derivations, with the oldest stretching back no earlier than 1998. As part of the process, factory-trained technicians put the cars through a 190-point inspection, replacing or repairing defective parts; an independent investigation is conducted into the car's history ensuring there are no outstanding debts on the car; and the service record is verified. Only non-modified cars, dealer-serviced throughout, are eligible for the program, and once the cars come out, they're backed by a 12-month factory warranty and 12 months of roadside assistance.

Although Ferrari North America offers a pre-owned vehicle program, it does not appear to be nearly as extensive in its certification process as the one Ferrari GB Ltd has just launched. Maybe the British program will serve as a pilot before it comes stateside.

[Source: Ferrari GB]

Chrysler today leapfrogged every other car maker by extending its powertrain warranty on every new car and truck it sells to the life of the vehicle. The warranty will apply to the entire powertrain including the engine, transmission/transaxle, drive shafts, and axles. The new warranty goes into effect today, July 26, 2007 and applies to all new 2007s that are on the dealer lots as well as 2008 models.

The warranty covers all parts and labor as long as the owner brings the car in to a Chrysler dealer at least once every five years for a free powertrain inspection. Apparently, the only fly in the ointment is that the new warranty applies to the original owner and is not transferable. If the car is sold within the first three years, the warranty reverts to the previous 3 year/36,000 mile coverage for subsequent owners. The press release is after the jump.

[Source: Chrysler]

UPDATE: The new warranty's logo has been added above. What do you think - infinity symbol with wheels a clever logo or too confusing?

Getting back in the groove, we bring you Autoblog Podcast #68. Starting us off is the battle of the inside sources, where we debate which GM mole is correct about the CTS-V. One rumor has the hottest little Caddy getting the Blue Devil's 600-horsepower 6.0L V8. The competing theory is that there'll be a 6.2L V8 with mid-500 horsepower, not the Blue Devil's mill. Either way, it will add up to M5 punch in an M3-sized wrapper. GM has more RWD goodies for us, as word of its Alpha platform replacing Epsilon cars like the G6, and Cadillac BLS replacement, which may come here, has us all atwitter. Our last bit of GM fodder is the passing of the Cobalt SS Supercharged. It was an entertaining car; but even though the supercharged Cobalt goes away, the un-muscled SS remains. We hope that GM's pledge to reinvigorate the SS badge so that it actually means something will get in gear soon.

We move on from GM to Chrysler and the Cerberus sale. Wolfgang Berhnardt is said to be an integral consultant to the deal, and he's looking for a homestead in the Detroit area as well as poking around the offices and design studio. Seems like Bernhardt is waiting for his noncompete with VW to expire while quietly orchestrating a turn of the Pentastar vessel. We detour into how fitting a Star Wars-themed Chrysler press conference would be (c'mon, you wouldn't really be surprised, would you?) before wrapping up with Hyundai's confidence-inspiring extension of its 10-year/100,000 mile warranty to Certified Pre Owned Vehicles up to five years old. They must feel pretty certain that their cars will hold up, as the warranty means they could possibly cover some powertrains for 15 years. That's it – 37 minutes of heaven!

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Hyundai has just announced a new Certified Pre-Owned Limited Warranty on used (sorry, "previously owned") vehicles that are up to five years old and have less than 60,000 miles. Known for being the first to offer a 10-year/100,00 mile powertrain warranty on its new cars, Hyundai will now be including that same lengthy coverage with the purchase of a CPOV.

Hyundai's original 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty really forced the automaker to improve the quality of the cars it builds, otherwise the cost of warranty repairs would have put it out of business. That warranty first began around Y2K, so any vehicle that qualifies for Hyundai's new Certified Pre-Owned Limited Warranty was originally sold with its new car warranty. The new 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty for pre-owned vehicles demonstrates that Hyundai is clearly confident in the cars it built back in 2002.

[Source: Hyundai]

In the face of increasing quality problems, Jim Press, president of Toyota North America, revealed at the recent Chicago Auto Show that no discussions have taken place within Toyota about increasing its new or used vehicle warranty coverage. Speaking about the topic to Automotive News, Press said, "It's something you need as a solution to a problem." Hmm... a problem like this, this, or this? AN reports that the company has recalled 3.4 million vehicles since 2005, 2.2 million of which occurred in 2005 alone.

It's perfectly valid to wonder if Toyota should increase its warranty coverage and follow the lead of General Motors and Ford, both of which have increased their warranty coverage recently. We don't dispute Press's claim that such increases are meant to solve a problem, but in the case of these two domestics, it's not because of increasing recalls and rising warranty claims. Rather, the domestics are seeking a solution to their image problem. GM and Ford have both been dogged with poor reputations for quality despite steadily improving the durability and build quality of their cars. Neither is admitting they have quality problems by increasing their warranties, rather they're both showing customers that they're willing to put up or shut up about their increased quality. Frankly, if Press believes that his company doesn't have "reliability issues that go beyond our normal warranty," as he says, then what's the harm in extending the warranty to prove it?

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Honda has decided to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleges its odometers were racking up miles too fast. The automaker says odometers on some 6 million Hondas affected by the suit were accurate to within 3.75% on the high side. The NHTSA doesn't regulate odometer accuracy, and the only industry standard is a voluntary one set by the Society of Automotive Engineers that says odos should be within +/-4%. While the car's affected by the suit fall within that range, Honda recognized that its customers expected their odometers "would be based on zero," and they weren't.

The settlement will lengthen the warranty mileage of affected vehicles by 5% and Honda will pay lease-mileage penalties incurred by owners, which is expected to cost the automaker around $6 million. If you own a 2002 to 2006 Honda or Acura bought between April 12, 2002 and November 7, 2006, then you're eligible for the benefits of the settlement.

The lawsuit also prompted lawyers to test the odometer accuracy of other vehicles. It was found that on average domestic vehicles were nearly perfect in their odo accuracy, while Toyotas actually racked up fewer miles on the clock than they did in reality. Nissans, however, didn't fare as well, and a new class-action suit has been filed on behalf of Altima owners who say their odometers are counting the miles 2.5% to 3% faster than they should.

[Source: USA Today]

Thanks for the tip, John!

Those looking for a glimpse into the future of light-duty diesel reliability may be interested in a new study by J.D. Power on customer satisfaction with modern heavy truck powertrains. The 2006 Heavy Duty Truck Engine/Transmission Study ranked engines from the 2004 model year by quality, performance, cost of ownership, and warranty, and revealed what one would reasonably expect from new technology.

An average of 74 problems per 100 vehicles was reported, which represents a 60% increase in trouble over the prior year. This was attributed directly to the emission control systems that were phased in during 2003 and 2004. Fuel economy also declined from 6.04 MPG in the 2004 study to 5.72 MPG - a drop of over 5%. Ranked highest in the study was Caterpillar, and the company's ACERT technology allowed the C12 and C15 (pictured above) to lead the ratings of individual engines. Unfortunately, unless you hold a CDL, it's highly unlikely that either one of them will find their way into your personal fleet.

So, what does this mean for consumers of passenger vehicles? Just as we've experienced the evolution of emission controls on gasoline engines, problems can be expected as manufacturers roll out clean diesel technology. How long it will take to sort out these issues is not yet clear, but we're guessing that things get sorted out rather quickly, and indeed some of the problems that are currently affecting heavy trucks may very well be eliminated before it trickles down to smaller oilburners.

[Source: J.D. Power; the complete press release is posted below the jump]

We had a big news week to cover in the Autoblog Podcast, Episode #40. Damon and I kick off the show with a debate over Ford's chances for survival after its new CEO, Alan Mulally, settles in. Somehow we manage a smooth segway into talking about GM's new 5-year / 100,000-mile warranty and what it means for the General's longstanding problem with perceived quality. Finally, we round out our 40th episode with GM's sequel to its Sequel hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle and Audi's announcement that it's going to drop the LeMans-winning V12 TDI diesel engine into the Q7. Enjoy the show!

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Hosts
John Neff and Damon Lavrinc

Producer
John Neff

Length
37:14