Those $17.1 million in payments plus the warranty costs were considerably less than the company's likely liability in excess of $42.5 billion.

He also said warranty costs had risen 50 percent since 1993, to $2 billion or more.

Ms. Self said that 32 percent of warranty costs could be attributed to dealership service visits at which no problem was found.

And most important, warranty costs of our new cars were down substantially.

He said that Chrysler's warranty costs had jumped 50 percent since 1993, to $2 billion or more.

The company said its recent data on matters like warranty costs indicated that quality had improved but public perceptions had changed little.

Chrysler says its internal warranty costs dropped 20 percent in the 2001 model year and are now half of their 1996 level.

The company has also evidently given signals to the financial community that its warranty costs are declining, although it does not disclose figures publicly.

Dropping the deductible probably will raise the auto makers' warranty costs, but improved quality should eventually reduce them.

Is it warranty costs or the nuances of wind noise?