Another car shopping question

[Egdisney]

I am looking to buy a new car, probably a Chrysler Town and Country. We have been missing out on deals are whole life, never again! . My question is does the TrueCar target price include manufacturer rebates? How about the costco price? I don't what the costco price is yet, I am looking to purchase before May. Thank you. (I know honda and Toyota are preferred but I think I am going to with t&c bc of affordability with options)

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

There have been many threads here concerning the long term reliability of the T&C. Please be sure to do some research it a little more so you are prepared for the long term ownership experience.

Unfortunately I can not provide a definitive answer to your original question.

 

[Egdisney]

There have been many threads here concerning the long term reliability of the T&C. Please be sure to do some research it a little more so you are prepared for the long term ownership experience. Unfortunately I can not provide a definitive answer to your original question.

Thank you! I am aware of the concerns and I don't think I could possibly research it more. Will the T and C go 200,000 miles like the Homda might? Probably not, but buying new i really think I will be able to get my money worth.

 

[MillauFr]

I can't emphasis enough how much you want to avoid buying a Town and Country. When you count the cost of the inevitable repair costs (they break down far too often) they cost far more than the Honda or Toyota. They are an absolute piece or junk and you couldn't pay me to drive one.

 

[delmar411]

There have been many threads here concerning the long term reliability of the T&C. Please be sure to do some research it a little more so you are prepared for the long term ownership experience.

Unfortunately I can not provide a definitive answer to your original question.

Actually all the threads regarding it have never said anything about its reliability, just the same people saying they had an issue with the car. In fact. It is an extremely reliable car. Our 2003 has over 150k and I treat it like crap and it still goes and goes.

I would buy another T&C in a heartbeat.

 

[Pea's Mom]

I am looking to buy a new car, probably a Chrysler Town and Country. We have been missing out on deals are whole life, never again! . My question is does the TrueCar target price include manufacturer rebates? How about the costco price? I don't what the costco price is yet, I am looking to purchase before May. Thank you. (I know honda and Toyota are preferred but I think I am going to with t&c bc of affordability with options)

Hey there, the TrueCar price includes all rebates that are available to the general public. It does not include manufacturer loyalty rebates, military rebates, etc. We just purchased a 2014 Hyundai Tucson 3 days ago and used TrueCar. The dealer did not have the exact vehicle but honored the TrueCar discount ($1100). On top of that, we received a $500 Hyundai loyalty discount and a $100 discount for having an American Express card.

Whatever you do, do not buy a Ford Edge! Mine had 49,500 miles and an engine design flaw was about to cost us big time. Good Luck!

 

[Lucky4me]

My 2005 Town and Country has 105,000 miles and is going strong. Never had one issue with reliability. We have spent less on maintenance with this car than any before.
The only problem now is the interior is getting beat up because we beat it up.
And it has the tiniest bit of rust around the edges because we live in a cold snowy climate with tons of road salt. But the engine is sound.

Edmunds has a good car buying guide.

I think my next car will be a Ford Escape. Having done tons of research on those, I think they're a solid car and a good deal.

 

[mikehn]

As you know, there is a Truecar 'target' price, within a price range. You can pay the 'target' price if you want. This is the price they want you to pay. But as you can see, there are dealers willing to sell the car a lot lower than the. And if that is the case, then why would anyone want to pay the 'target' price? I recently bought two vehicles way below the 'target' price. All it takes is a little haggling.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Back to the reliability issue...............

For those of you with "good ones", I am happy for you.

If someone were to go the JD Power website and do a quick search, they could see that from 2006-2014 that the reliability/dependability of them is between 2 or 3 stars out of a maximum of 5 stars.

On page 84 of the April edition of Consumer Reports it has a list of Used Cars to Avoid. Under the Chrysler Group, it says.............Town & Country '03-12

On page 88, it has those colored circle ratings for them and for 07-12 they have all dark colored circles (that mean bad) and the predicted reliability is "much worse than average"

Shunning the information provided by JD Power and Consumer Reports is not an approach that many consumers want to do.

 

[arminnie]

Whether it is true or not the Honda is deemed to be more reliable and will hold its value much better than T&C. For what that is worth.

When I bought my Pontiac Vibe (no longer made) it was the exact same car as the Toyota Matrix - even manufactured by Toyota. It cost a fair amount less than the Matrix but now is worth less.

It was a case of pay less up front but get less on the backend. As I keep my cars forever I went with paying less up front. Which is what it sounds like you are doing.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Whether it is true or not the Honda is deemed to be more reliable and will hold its value much better than T&C. For what that is worth.

When I bought my Pontiac Vibe (no longer made) it was the exact same car as the Toyota Matrix - even manufactured by Toyota. It cost a fair amount less than the Matrix but now is worth less.

It was a case of pay less up front but get less on the backend. As I keep my cars forever I went with paying less up front. Which is what it sounds like you are doing.

I've found in cases like that you're far better off to take the hit later than sooner. Pay $2,000 less new, which ends up $2,500 less when you finance. And down tr road when your car is worth $1,000 and the Toyota is worth $2,000 you're money ahead.

Incidentally, the article running last week on van reliability for 3-year-old vans found both the Dodge and the Honda to have too many issues to be "recommended". Ditto all other brands with the exception of the Toyota. OTOH, for the price difference, one could replace the transmission in hr Dodge 3 times and break even.

 

[Egdisney]

I've found in cases like that you're far better off to take the hit later than sooner. Pay $2,000 less new, which ends up $2,500 less when you finance. And down tr road when your car is worth $1,000 and the Toyota is worth $2,000 you're money ahead. Incidentally, the article running last week on van reliability for 3-year-old vans found both the Dodge and the Honda to have too many issues to be "recommended". Ditto all other brands with the exception of the Toyota. OTOH, for the price difference, one could replace the transmission in hr Dodge 3 times and break even.

That is what I have found in my research. So Chrysler gets a 2.5 reliability rating, and Honda gets a 3. Is that worth the price difference? Not to me. I never planned to by a new car, until I realized how much used vans are selling for. All of the big 3 are holding their value pretty well. The Chrysler also has a superior powertrain warranty(100,000 miles). I have been thinking about this for over a year(the 4th kid was born and the cargo in the Pacifica will barely hold a single stroller! let alone a double.) I might have a bit of trouble buying used, but getting one with less than 20 miles, I feel confident that I will get my money out of it.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

The April 2 0 1 4 issue of Consumer Reports is now out. This is their annual car issue.

Besides the continuation of not recommending the Dodge Grand Caravan/Chrysler Town & Country, it lists a long term pattern of multiple issues and on page 90 at the bottom it says: "....has more problems than most vehicles of any kind."

 

[Dictator]

Never base a car buying decision on the word of Consumer Reports.