Stellantis negative sentiment

[JeffKeryk]

I remember when the Hummer H2 had terrible ratings on JD Power. The biggest factor that hurt the score was the poor fuel economy and people complained about that even knowing the truck was not made for MPG's.

Or even fitting in the garage. My ex-next door neighbors had 2.

 

[Rmay635703]

That's a serious paywall there. $299 per year?? Uh yeah, not happening.

Glad I’ve never paid, basically says Stellantis has started with laying off 500 with more layoffs to follow soon.

In so far as “Dodge” I own an actual one (not stellantis or MB)

My experiences with Dodge are pretty meh, lots of nickle and dime and poor rustproofing, interior plastics are falling apart even though the seats are comfy.
Truck hasn’t let me down but it’s been a much more involved ownership experience than the 438,000 mile
82 diesel suburban I had that just required oil, filters and starters.

Dodge earned its reputation with some frustrating engineering decisions, I never intended to own a dodge truck (I knew I would get to experience a lot of cheesy failures) but I needed one at that point and its price was under half a comparable competing model. If the truck was going to be used “a lot” I wouldn’t keep a dodge, it’s a short distance light duty rig so I can put up with it.

 

[mballard70]

True, but so is Toyota. I guess that is what keeps the loyalists coming back?

B/c They work and hold their resale!

 

[4WD]

I remember when the Hummer H2 had terrible ratings on JD Power. The biggest factor that hurt the score was the poor fuel economy and people complained about that even knowing the truck was not made for MPG's.

They continued going after the H3 (had one) putting it on the top 10 gas hog lists - it got the same mileage as the F150 (not on list) and only sold a fraction as many … Mine had 4.56 gears …

 

[clinebarger]

I was more referring to hassles such as Global A modules etc that cannot be used on different vehicles and reflashed, you have to buy a new module when doing say a used transmission replacement. The GM gateway is not locked down like steallantis yet. My mind was all over the place that day I posted. I remember when we lauched K2xx (I was on the electrical launch team) the initial plan was to roll out security measures like FCA/Stellantis but it was to be delayed until T1xx. Then when we launced T1xx that was not in the works but was planned for a 2025-26 model year enhancement.

 

[OVERKILL]

I doubt you understood the meaning of my comment. FCA installed commonly available electronic nannies in vehicles that were designed twenty-some years ago. The underpinnings are outdated, and they never bothered to update them. The electronic nannies will not make up for FCA's lack of investment in their own platforms.

Meanwhile, Hyundai & KIA, two companies that are not very well regarded here, managed to build small and medium sized sedans and SUVs over a decade ago that can pass North American and European crash tests with flying colors, earning them five stars for just about every vehicle they make.

The fact that a vehicle of this size and mass can't get a five-star rating is very telling:


Here's how poorly the Jeep GC WK2 does:


Dodge Durango - three and four stars:


The Dodge Challenger:


Also, a good video on how abysmal the Dodge Charger safety is:


But maybe people aren't buying these vehicles for their safety. Though, I can't imagine why anyone would drive around in a 5000+ lbs. gas guzzler if it can't even save their life when they're involved in a crash at around 50 MPH.

As is the evolving nature of testing. When first introduced, the WK2 Grand Cherokee was an IIHS top safety pick:

As was its platform mate the Dodge Durango:

The same thing that happened to the WK2 happened to the Rav4, the updated small overlap tests tank the rating:

So what's the implication here? That as these tests evolve people driving 10 year old vehicles that were previous top safety picks now have to spend $70K on a new vehicle because the updated test paints it as a death trap? It certainly fuels the perpetual cycle of consumerism.

 

[hemioiler]

So what's the implication here? That as these tests evolve people driving 10 year old vehicles that were previous top safety picks now have to spend $70K on a new vehicle because the updated test paints it as a death trap? It certainly fuels the perpetual cycle of consumerism.

I was just about to point that out. They even say they update their ratings/tests through the years and it doesn't mean a car that now does less well is less safe, just that they continue to make their tests better and better.

 

[OVERKILL]

Also, top safety pick doesn't mean you are going to live. Subaru Legacy has a top safety pick rating:

But in an accident with a 25 year old Dodge 2500 (who wants to bet this is NOT a top safety pick?), the passenger died and the driver was seriously injured:

 

[Invisible]

As is the evolving nature of testing. When first introduced, the WK2 Grand Cherokee was an IIHS top safety pick:
View attachment 210429
As was its platform mate the Dodge Durango:
View attachment 210430

The same thing that happened to the WK2 happened to the Rav4, the updated small overlap tests tank the rating:
View attachment 210431

So what's the implication here? That as these tests evolve people driving 10 year old vehicles that were previous top safety picks now have to spend $70K on a new vehicle because the updated test paints it as a death trap? It certainly fuels the perpetual cycle of consumerism.

I was nitpicking, but you're 100% right.

One glaring flaw is that they smash these vehicles against what are essentially concrete blocks, or steel poles, or the side impact test is a concrete block on wheels speeding towards a stationary vehicle. In the real world crashes are much more violent.

Sidenote: I don't know how good HID headlights are on the WK2, however, the halogen factory ones are abysmal. I replaced them on mine with a pair of eBay headlamps and then installed powerful LEDs in them, and adjusted them correctly so I don't blind oncoming traffic. Now I can see really well at night. But it was some good amount of work to replace them.

I bring this up because headlamps are a very important safety feature.

What you see here are just the parking LEDs. They actually contribute to the overall light when driving down the road at night. They're also the turn signals. No, I don't use them as DRLs. I configured the fog lights to be DRLs, and replaced them with LEDs as well.

 

[OVERKILL]

I was nitpicking, but you're 100% right.

One glaring flaw is that they smash these vehicles against what are essentially concrete blocks, or steel poles, or the side impact test is a concrete block on wheels speeding towards a stationary vehicle. In the real world crashes are much more violent.

Sidenote: I don't know how good HID headlights are on the WK2, however, the halogen factory ones are abysmal. I replaced them on mine with a pair of eBay headlamps and then installed powerful LEDs in them, and adjusted them correctly so I don't blind oncoming traffic. Now I can see really well at night. But it was some good amount of work to replace them.

I bring this up because headlamps are a very important safety feature.

What you see here are just the parking LEDs. They actually contribute to the overall light when driving down the road at night. They're also the turn signals. No, I don't use them as DRLs. I configured the fog lights to be DRLs, and replaced them with LEDs as well.

View attachment 210451

The HID's aren't bad, but they aren't anywhere near as good as the (properly adjusted) LED's on the 1500, which are insane.

 

[michaelluscher]

Glad I’ve never paid, basically says Stellantis has started with laying off 500 with more layoffs to follow soon.

I understand "business needs" but they could've gone about it a little better
Firing people over a call is an L