Exhibit 31

                                  CERTIFICATION

         I, Paul Knauss, the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of
DaimlerChrysler Services North America LLC, the Servicer of DaimlerChrysler Auto
Trust 2003-A, certify that:

I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K and all reports on Form 8-K
containing distribution or servicing reports filed in respect of periods
included in the year covered by this annual report, of DaimlerChrysler Auto
Trust 2003-A;

Based on my knowledge, the information in these reports, taken as a whole, does
not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material
fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under
which such statements were made, not misleading as of the last day of the period
covered by this annual report;

Based on my knowledge, the distribution or servicing information required to be
provided to the trustee by the servicer under the pooling and servicing, or
similar, agreement, for inclusion in these reports is included in these reports;

I am responsible for reviewing the activities performed by the servicer under
the pooling and servicing, or similar, agreement and based upon my knowledge and
the annual compliance review required under that agreement, and except as
disclosed in the reports, the servicer has fulfilled its obligations under that
agreement; and

The reports disclose all significant deficiencies relating to the servicer's
compliance with the minimum servicing standards based upon the report provided
by an independent public accountant, after conducting a review in compliance
with the Uniform Single Attestation Program for Mortgage Bankers or similar
procedure, as set forth in the pooling and servicing, or similar, agreement,
that is included in these reports.

Date: March 30, 2004

                                  /s/ Paul E. Knauss
                                  ---------------------------------------------
                                  Paul E. Knauss
                                  Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
                                  DaimlerChrysler Services North America LLC, as
                                  Servicer of DaimlerChrysler Auto Trust 2003-A