I wonder if Mopar/DCX would get the subtle hint, if 90+% of the pending orders were cancelled by the consumer, claiming concern over the warranty issue?
Both DCX and Mopar have set the mood for the warranty issue at the front end of this love affair. I don't think it will be a far stretch of the imagination to predict that the number of warranty claims denied due to the presence of the Mopar PCM will be higher than those approved.
That is after surviving the first unknown and getting a Mopar PCM/Injector/Gasket kit where all the components work. That in itself could take a number of tries, based on their own estimation, as stated by their warranty. I had no personal reason to doubt the craftmanship, construction quality or proper operation of a new Mopar Performance part, until reading their own concerns, as stated in their warranty.
With a tuner car that cost $2,500.00 out the door, and a performance add-on costing $25.00, the average customer could afford to play this game and loose; a few times...
Just the process of paying the service department the labor and parts charges on scheduled maintenance to maintain the warranty will probably exceed $2500.00 before the stock warranty period runs out on a bone stock unit.
Keeping that in mind, the process of buying a performance option, just to get the performance you were thinking of when you put the bread down and determined how many crumbs to follow and for how long isn't looking like a great idea.
But for those PT GT owners who are indepently wealthy, and can afford to drop $25K 2 or 3 times a year to establish the bragging rights of having a high-performance PT Cruiser, the deal and warranty that DCX/Mopar is offering is probably a real opportunity.
I waited until late 2001, when the $7K over retail penalty charges on the PT had finally erroded through the $5K mark, $3K mark, $1.5K mark and finally settled at a price that gave the potential buyer the opportunity to begin the bargining at retail price on a 2002 model.
I took the $13K hit for 15 months of driving the 2002 when I traded for the 2003. It was my decision; driven by the love of the car. For the next 5 years, I would be best served to try to get some enjoyment out of it. The perceived reward for customer loyalty is at an all-time low, and with the cost-cutting deletions, the derating of performance provided by the stock PCM and the final blow of being able to purchase the designed performance at the cost of a warranty and a car payment - the red carpet is starting to roll up.
The German parent company won't even have to raid the Chrysler division, or attempt a hostile take over; Chrysler is perfectly qualified to destroy themselves. I hope they are able to do so before the Benz guys spend their pensions; at least they will have some money to spend while winding their watches..
To UniqTwin, my hat is off to you.
To have your job, your quest, your dreams, your finished product become negated by policies that reek of oxygen deprivation due to using company mandated anal-rebreathing apparatus must be a hard jolt to accept and go forward.
I salute the developers, the wrenchers, the programmers and those devoted to "unfixing" current production so it can perform as designed. It is a shame that the finished product comes at such a cost.
The dollar ammount I could overcome.
To make the decision to void my warranty with purchase of the upgrade, taxes both my better judgement and integrity.
It is a matter of personal decision for each to consider. If I participate in an act that promotes the further errosion of ethics, responsibility and/or trust I bear responsibility for eventual complete loss of those and similar ideals.
It may be too late in the game to turn things back around.
Short response: This warranty issue has a massive propensity for insidious morphilation
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