Well the speculation and rumors have finally came true, Cerberus bought Chrysler for $7.4B: http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/14/news...ion=2007051406. Most likely this will finish off any resale value our car has left and what little quality service that was available will dry up soon. I guess it is time to start buying up spare parts.

 

It's a buyer's market right now, no question.

Hopefully they will at least keep their service and parts up to date (or as much as they are now).

I haven't had my car into a dealer yet (just got it used), so I'm not sure about the service in my area. But, hopefully it wont get much worse then everyone says it is.

SQ

 

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Most Chrysler dealers didn't know how to work on the car to begin with so why would it be any different now? What few trained mechanics they did have probably aren't going anywhere so if you're one of the lucky ones who found a "good" dealer, it should stay that way.
There should be a good stock pile of body parts in Chryslers inventories, to handle the inevitable accidents, and of course more and more Crossfires will be ending up in salvage yards across the country too. So that should take care of that problem. Mechanical parts are all Mercedes, so that should mean we have all the bases covered.
Prices will naturally go into the toilet, (even more so than they have already) thanks to wholesalers not being able to unload their cars to anybody at dealer auctions around the country. But this too will level off after awhile. Americans have a short memory, and when the Daimler/Chrysler split becomes old news, and the news media picks up on something else to capitalize on, things should get back to normal.
Which is to say the Crossfire will continue to be the "Bargain" of the century it always has been, when it comes to getting so much for so little. The longer you keep it, the less you're going to get hurt when you go to sell it.
If you were one of those owners who were thinking about selling sometime soon, then it looks like your ship has just sailed. But if you're one of the many forum members who have said time and time again that you're never going to sell your Crossfire, then today's events should have little if any effect on you.
There really is no reason to panic, it's just business. IMO

 

i wish karmann would just buy the crossfire name, scrape the ugly gold pt cruiser crap off, put a better interior in it, and take over, selling the car for the same price. they ought to just call it the karmann crossfire. it could be like the next karmann ghia. as far as resale value goes, hold on to your car. there's about as many crossfires as there are prowlers, so they will become more and more of a rarity.

 

+fireamx,

Spot on with your assessment.

The most interesting quote in the article was that by Dieter Zetsche "... He also said that the Chrysler buyer wasn't willing to pay the premium for the advance features and technology that were being developed by Daimler for its Mercedes Benz brand.,,"

I have commented many times that the Crossfire was not overpriced for the quality of the car (up to $20K less, even at MSRP, than its older brother with the 3 pointed star, the SRT6 in particular). The biggest issue was just as Zetsche said, but I would also add that the Chrysler Dealer Network was just as guilty. From the many horror stories presented on this forum and from my own experience, they just did not understand the jewel they had.

Add to that overproduction (it looks like there was over 60K '04/'05 built...far too many for a car in this class), and the result became handwriting on the wall.

For those of us lucky enough to latch on to a Crossfire and recognize not its market value, but its significance for what it is, we will continue to drive them with a broad grin on our faces.

 

AMG I agree you regarding the drive train but what we need to stock up on is body parts such as headlights, fenders door panels etc. Those will become scarce and costly and it will be dicey if there are ever second run on parts like previous manufactures do, but maybe.

 

In Greek mythology, Cerberus or Kerberos (Greek Κέρβερος, Kerberos, "demon of the pit") was the hound of Hades, a monstrous three-headed dog (sometimes said to have 50 or 100 heads) with a snake for a tail; he was also seen with a dragon's tail and serpentine mane.
Cerberus guarded the gate to Hades and ensured that spirits of the dead could enter, but none could exit (additionally no living person was to come into Hades).

 

Now that's really scary!

Are car dealers considered "living" or "dead" for this purpose?

 

This was stated on MSN... "The expectation is that Cerberus will do some cutting and slashing to try to make it leaner and then turn around and selling it," Tynan said.

Looks like Cerberus is planning to sell CHRYSLER after the restructuring. I think it is bad news for CHRYSLER that a soon to be middle man (Cerberus) is going to restructure it.

 

Why do we assume parts will not be available? When a company or investors buys a company, they not only buy the assets and intellectual properties, they also buy the liabilities as well. Parts will have to be available for 'X' amount of years. I can't remember the amount of years, but I want to say 8 - 10 years. This car being distributed sold, and warranted by Chrysler makes the 'new Chrysler ' liable for such inventories.

 

Seems that with a name like that the new owners would want to produce the Dodge Demon concept.

 

As far as getting parts, service, and retail value I don't think anything will change for us. Cerebus bought an 80% stake in Chrysler and they still plan to work together with Daimler, using the same components to produce cars. Cerebus said they plan to continue with Tom Lasordas plan, who has said the company would be back in the black by 2008. Cerebus' real purpose is to help with Chryslers debt and take the company international. They are just investors with lots of money that Chrysler needed, only they get the perk of an 80% stake and the decision making.

 

I've been wondering myself, how much Chrysler cut into the profit of Mercedes. Considering the Aspen, Crossfire, and the Hemi powered 300 and Jeep commander. Who out there really wants to drop $40-60k for a mercedes sedan or two door sports car 350slk, or their minivan benz. If I had the money to buy a MBZ I wouldn't waste it on a Benz. I would use that money, and get myself a Chrysler product, being its the same wolf in sheep clothing.
It actually kinda makes sense as to why they need to shake Chrysler off their back as fast as possible, its killing MBZ product value.

 

i heard that cerberus is mainly a parts company.

 

Wrong company, from what I understand dealers were hoping a large parts company out of Canada would buy them. I forgot the name though...

 

magna... but I guess their bid was not high enough...

 

Man, I haven't even gotten mine yet. I'm still going to get a black SRT Coupe and take my chances. I've done this a couple of times already. I owned a couple of Superbirds in the late seventies. By today's standards, I gave them away when I sold them.
Not going to happen this time. I want a coupe because I am going to use it as a tow vehicle for my motorcoach. Haven't decided weather to tow it or put it in an enclosed trailer. Leaning towards the trailer idea.
I really think the Crossfire will be a collector's item, coupe or convertible. I think the SRT will be well worth the investment.
Gotta love this car!

 

fireamx! bravo sir.

 

Any item gone discontinued is required by the manufacture to provide replacement parts for 7 years.