No, Fiat Chrysler Probably Won't Go Broke Buying Back Used Cars

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

After this morning’s announcement that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles would be subject to one of the largest civil penalties for an automaker, reports that the automaker could be on the hook for $2.5 billion in cars aren’t true , the automaker said today.

“While such amounts may exceed the $20 million, contrary to certain reports, FCA US does not expect that the net cost of providing these additional alternatives will be material to its financial position, liquidity or results of operations,” the automaker said in a statement.

In other words, expect to find some screaming deals on Ram trucks in the next few months.

The automaker announced on its website that not all customers would participate in the buyback plan and that 60 percent of the affected vehicles had been repaired already. That leaves roughly 200,000 cars that could be eligible for free repairs or to be purchased by FCA.

Those vehicles would be purchased at “a price equal to the original purchase price less a reasonable allowance for depreciation plus ten percent,” according to the automaker.

The manufacturer said under the guidelines of the penalty, it would be allowed to resell the recalled trucks to the public.

The vehicles that may be eligible for repurchase are:

• 2009-2012 Ram 1500s

• 2008-2012 Ram 1500 Mega Cab 4×4, Ram 2500 4×4, 3500 4×4, 4500 4×4, 4500 4×4

• 2009 Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango

• 2009-2011 Dodge Dakota

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

More by Aaron Cole

Comments
Join the conversation
14 of 29 comments
  • Dave M. Dave M. on Jul 27, 2015

    Too bad they didn't extend back to 2004 Ram 2500s. My brother's truck had the "death wobble", and he paid out of pocket to replace the whole front suspension. Now he finds the frame completely rusted from the inside out....effectively rendering it to parted-out status. Only 60k miles; that Hemi sounds sweet.

    • See 2 previous
    • Dave M. Dave M. on Jul 28, 2015

      @heavy handle The body and under chassis components are fine. I'm trying to understand the science behind the frame rusting from the inside out. His '92 Dodge didn't do that, and his 2000 Ford van is fine. Rusty panels? Yeah they're still all over New England despite some great advances since the bad old days, and it'ssomething their Caravan suffers from. That can be expected. Complete frame rust out? Vexing.

  • Jpolicke Jpolicke on Jul 27, 2015

    If the vehicles are fit to re-sell, why should they be bought back in the first place? Sounds like a shakedown by NHTSA "because we can". Likewise, if the owner has been told that their vehicle has a safety defect and they need to bring it in for remediation, it shouldn't take a $100 bribe to get them to show up for a free hitch.

    • See 1 previous
    • Derekson Derekson on Jul 28, 2015

      @segfault It has to do with the failure to come up with effective solutions within a certain amount of time after recalling the cars. The first methods they tried to fix the issue failed. It's a similar idea to how lemon laws work: they get a chance to fix it a few times, and if it's still an issue they have to offer to buy the car back.

  • VolandoBajo VolandoBajo on Jul 28, 2015

    Lucas -- The Prince of Darkness. Spoken by one who knows. 1961 Jaguar Mk II 3.8 L sedan 1966 Norton Dominator SS twin carb cafe racer, made for the British market. The Jag would have its lights go black on an open highway in the middle of driving, while doing absolutely nothing you weren't doing for several minutes previously. Taught you to memorize the shape of the upcoming road. And the Norton would blow out its Zener diode rectifiers so frequently that most Norton riders I used to know would carry at least two in their spare parts kit. But Sterling didn't learn... I also heard that on the early versions, the wheels were shimmed with close to a dozen shims. A non-dealer mechanic tore one down to work on it (bearing replacement, I recall) and it would make grinding noises. Finally found out that each of the almost dozen shims not only had to be replaced in exactly the same order, but also in the same direction they were originally. And I think the exact shim setup was different for each vehicle. The mechanic was a pretty good mechanic, but had never heard of or seen anything like that before. I can only imagine what it must have cost to have the car worked on, with an almost captive audience for dealer service departments. Take my Sterling...please!

    • See 4 previous
    • Andrewa Andrewa on Aug 01, 2015

      Here in South Africa Toyota and Nissan as well as Honda sometimes came from the factory with Lucas electrics. My Honda civic (sold here as a ballade not only was made by the Mercedes Benz factory but has a Lucas starter motor but as Lucas no longer present the factory offer a Bosch replacement part) To drive in Africa, would you rather have a fault tolerant Norton Commando (two ignition coils, points,condensers, carburetors as well as a 3 phase alternator and three phase rectifier when driving Joburg/Maun over 800km of dirt washboard road or a fuel injected Kawasaki? Hint: Never stranded by Norton (roadside repairs often) but have you tried to buy an efi computer in Lusaka? (left bike behind as had to return to work by hitch hiking as leave finished and 4 day extension already granted)

  • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Jul 28, 2015

    "net cost of providing these additional alternatives will be material to its financial position, liquidity or results of operations" Gotta have some money in your pocket in order for it to matter that someone took it away.

Next