thats funny

 

It doesn't surprise me! The only Nitros I see on the road, seem to be stripped models used by businesses.
With most Dodge dealers also selling Jeeps now, the thought of a more expensive, ugly and less off-road capable Liberty, just doesn't make sense to a lot of people.
Not to mention, people know and like the Liberty and tend to go with what they know. When the new Liberty comes out, who will want the Nitro?

As for the Sebring, its problem is, its just ugly! Its got a nice interior, but when you consider some of its more attractive competition like the Mazda 6 and Saturn Aura, who wants to be seen in a Sebring?

 

When I got done test driving the Compass that the dealer had. We walked by this car, I had no idea what it was, I go "What is that?" Salesman "That's the new Sebring" Me "Oh, I didn't recognize it" haha!! Nitro well I've seen one or two. Looked at one. They are just to high in price for me. I think there were 4or so sitting on the lot and one on the show room floor the day I ordered the Patriot.

 

Over the past 3 or 4 months I've seen more Nitros than I can count on both hands, but I've only seen one Patriot and 4 Compasses.

 

Looks like you will ride in a Nitro soon.It's a nice vehicle but honestly I wouldn't exchange it for amy Pat.Keep your Nitro and I'll still wave at you.

 

the only thing good I have seen or heard anyone say about the nitro is about the myGig stereo.

 

for what it costs them putting black plastic bumpers on it didn't help their sales numbers either... what the hell were they thinking? Even when Saturn used the plastic bumper/ quarter panels to sell cars as a gimmick they painted them... The guy that came up with that money saving step should be fired... not to mention them recently changing their 7/70,000 warranty back to the 3/36000 warranty left many dodge/chrysler buyers thinking that Chrysler had less trust in their products or were possibly paying too much for warranty repairs in the 36001 - 70,000 miles so people began changing minds and attitudes towards chrysler products.

Could you imagine what the sales of the Patriot would be like if it had a 7 / 70,000 or 10 / 100,000 warranty? holy cow.

 

But, it is at least Highway Capable?:dead_horse:


Longtime readers will know what I'm talking about.....

 

I know what you are talking about...

 

Unfortunately if they don't sell enough Nitros and Libbys to justify keeping the line open they both may fail. In another words this may put the new Liberty in danger.

 

Actually Mike if the Nitro/Liberty platform fails that may actually help the Patriot owners. Currently there are several aftermarket companies that support the Liberty with products such as lift kits, spare tire mounts, brush guards, bumpers, etc... Many of these companies are already looking at our platform but the failure of the new Liberty would probably speed up the release of products for our trucks!

Now don't take this as a Liberty sucks post because its not, however that could be the silver lining in its failure...

 

The Nitro might have done better if it hadn't been introduced as gasoline prices spiked, but i think it was also slotted and priced incorrectly. It should have sold for less than the Liberty.
The Sebring is an ugly collection of design elements. The hood strakes kind of work on the Crossfire, but not on a sedan. The (semi) corporate grille and headlights look too large on both the Sebring and the Crossfire.
As a long time Mopar fan, i have two words for the new ownership of Chrysler: Bob Lutz.

 

The reason these two have failed is because they took the styling of the failed crossfire to the sebring (somehow thinking it will work) and the styling of the Scion XB to the Nitro, doubled the price, and excluded the target market for the XB... If they shrunk the Nitro down to the size of the XB, and the price to match, it would have been a major success... ( I would have bought one) but some genius thought "Let's take a car that is targeted to the 25 and under crowd, make it twice as expensive, and market it to the 25-50 segment that was excluded from the marketing of the XB because they don't like the styling, and expect it to blow up in popularity..." Whoever this is, should be fired. No question!


I don't think the new Lib will be in trouble, if it does fail, I don't think they will abandon the segment entirely... its the lifeblood of the brand... that is until the riots, and compasses take over, which will be within the next two years... if not by the end of 08'

We'll see!

 

My only problem with the next generation Liberty is: They didn't update any of the powertrain features. So if my current ride gets horrible gas mileage, what is really going to make the new one any better? I would be more impressed if the new Liberty had a 5 or 6 speed automatic


The Sebring looks good from the rear and side but the front of it is cobbled together with too many different design elements. It is just too busy to look clean and elegant.

 

Gas mileage hurt the Nitro. It isn't a true off roader. The heavy ladder frame will not get as good MPG as the IFS setup. Daimler-Chrysler should have did their homework. Gas mileage is important to people. Who needs a truck that can't truly offroad, and can't compete with comparable cars (GMC arcadia, Toyata highlander, etc).

The sebring is boring! If you are old, and tired, then this car will appeal to you. At least the dodge avenger looks interesting. I have read that Bob lutz was hired by Cereberus as the new design chief. Look forward to great new designs from chrysler!

 

Gas mileage hurt the Nitro. It isn't a true off roader. The heavy ladder frame will not get as good MPG as the IFS setup. Daimler-Chrysler should have did their homework. Gas mileage is important to people. Who needs a truck that can't truly offroad, and can't compete with comparable cars (GMC arcadia, Toyata highlander, etc).

Here, here! The dealer I bought my Patriot from (who had none in inventory) REALLY tried very hard to sway me towards a Nitro (which he HAD in inventory). I was trading in a 2004 Liberty that got bad gas mileage (reason #1 for the Patriot...). Why would I want to go for essentially what is a reskinned Liberty? I would have rather had another Liberty if that's what I wanted since I think they're better looking than the Nitro anyway.

 

I considered the Nitro, I'm almost 30, first couldn't afford the dang thing. If they planned to target the 25 and under, well in this area, your talking a flop. The one or two Nitro's I've seen were retired people. I like the Nitro but with gas prices forget it. I rather stick to driving 4 cylinders like I have my whole life. (only V-6 is hubby's pickup). The Sebring, okay that's one ugly hood.

 

Iacocca! He knew how to take a boring platform and make different, exciting vehicles out of it. Didn't he get a limousine, sports car, 5-door touring sedan, luxury car and minivan out of the humble K-Car? Although they seem horribly compromised designs by today's standards, they were all class leaders in their time, much to the consternation of more conservative GM and Ford. THAT'S the kind of risk-taking that has defined Chrysler for 80 years, and to which the corporation must return if they intend to survive.

(Sticking a bustle trunk on a few designs wouldn't hurt either, IMHO!)

 

JeepJim that is short time. Long term there will be a failure to try something new like a Gladiator or other show car.

For aftermarket suppliers, I don't think they are limited by capacity. If the Nitro-Lib platform fail they will avoid risk and just concentrate on the Wranglers. It is a business and they will produce what they can sell and will seek to avoid risk.

 

Really I don't see that many Nitro's in my area at all. I do see a one or two here and there, but never a whole fleet of them on the roads like you would with the new JK or my KJ's.

 

I have only seen 3 Nitros on the road and that weren't stranded on a car lot by dodge...haha

 

Is the '08 Liberty the New Nitro?

Hmmm, this should get interesting. From preview looks at the 08 Liberty, it sure looks like it is based on the Nitro.

Could the Nitro stance get a facelift and call it the Liberty? Just might.

 

I must be a freak, because I actually like the Sebring and think it is a nice departure from the "bars of soap on wheels" of the previous model. I also liked the Nitro until I drove one. I have been a Mopar guy since driving-age back in the early eighties and jumped onto Jeep after getting into a 97 Cherokee. That was the model year Chrysler updated the electrical system to post WWII, stiffened the body, took 200 pounds out of the dashboard, improved the seating position and added a steel liftgate. Basically, I think they fixed a lot of what I didn't like in the earlier Cherokee but retaining its character. I realise that is the opinion of a Mopar guy, and there are many Jeep fans that could write volumes on how Chrysler ruined Jeep. It's a mixed bag, because I can see where they have in some ways, and I didn't like the move away from the Jeep philosophy of rugged simplicity and solid axels. I never warmed up to the too-tall rounded Liberty and the popping ball joints (thank you Chrysler) or the fancy Grand Cherokee. And when I needed to haul seven, I couldn't afford a Commander and bought a Durango for half the price.

I really love my Patriot though which started with me liking the Caliber. By the time I was back in the market to buy a car to drive to work, I had the Caliber, Sebring, Avenger, Mazda 3, 4 door Wrangler and Patriot on my list. The problem was finding a Patriot to look at! But when I did, the Caliber faded, the Sebring/Avenger were more expensive, the Mazda was forgotten and the Wrangler was deemed impractical. The choice was easy and painless.

As for fixing the problem? I guess sell more Avengers than Sebrings or emphasise the convertible feature. Take the Nitro concept and put it on the Caliber/Patriot platform to compete with the HHR, XB, PT Cruiser etc. They could axe the Compass and use the production capability to make a Nitro/Caliber/Patriot. I think with 27 mpg, it would be a hit. Take the new Liberty (an improvement) and put it on a Wrangler platform to replace the old Cherokee. Take the Commander and the Grand Cherokee and cross-pollinate them into a mid-size SUV with Commander sqaurish styling and GC mileage and performance with an option for 3rd row seating.

I would have liked to see some of the Nitro interior styling used in the Patriot. The Nitro looked a little more Jeepish inside, and the Patriot looks a little too Dodge-ish. The Patriot should have had Wrangler styled door handles and stuff. The current ones are pretty car like.

So the Sebring is really that ugly?

DJP

 

No the Sebring isn't really that ugly... Admitedly - I worked on the JS (sebring code) while I was at DCX. I did the IP.

 

In my opinion is the Sebring hood is ugly!!!

 

I saw another Sebring today on my way to work, and I think I like them more than the Avenger. The hood doesn't even bother me that much to the point that I would say I like it. They actually look as though they were going for an Audi styling cue.

 

I think it's the headlights and grille treatment that ruin the font end. Thank goodness I worked on the insturment panel

 

You know the sebring hood looks like it met up with the Patriot muffler.

 

I saw a sebring today, and it looked like it had an identical muffler as the Patriot. Are these muffler's suppose to improve performance or decrease exhaust sound? The muffler's are unusual looking.

Hey djp_63, great ideas. Chrysler should be the upscale version of the company, ala lexus, infiniti, cadillac, etc. Dodge should be the aggressive brand with cool products. And Jeep, should just be Jeep that everyone knows. All of this cross platform & rebadging doesn't really distinguish the brands.

Perhaps Mercedes wanted to be the upscale version, and all of chrysler's products were suppose to be volume selling? I do agree with you in that at least the new sebring looks better than the old one. The avenger is better looking than the stratus. They made very small strides, however.

The Jeep Patriot is definitely the best MK, and a great new product. At least they have some direction. So if the dodge nitro failed, and the 2008 liberty is basically the same thing....what will happen to the liberty? Will it get the axe?