Would you buy a Chrysler Town & Country?

[runwad]

Given the new incentives they're offering from the msn website:
Chrysler offers up to $6,000 in incentives
New incentives focus on the bottom-line price of a 2009 vehicle

We're in the market to buy a new mini van, any current owners out there that can comment on whether you'd repurchase your Town & Country?

Thanks

I'M GOING TO EDIT THIS TO SAY IF YOU ARE RESPONDING NO BECAUSE YOU HAVE TROUBLES WITH YOURS CAN YOU AT LEAST GIVE ME THE YEAR OF IT. THANKS

 

[chipscinderelly]

YES YES YES

We've had our van for almost a year and LOVE IT! WE have the stow and go model with the DVD (go figure that it's now free and we didn't want it to begin with but did want Nav) and love it. We were able to add lifetime warranty bumper to bumper to our purchase and plan to drive it for a long time. It's fabulous.

We have had some minor problems with the bluetooth/radio, but nothing that would make us change our mind.

 

[FLAngie]

We have a 2003 T&C. We bought it new right before the stow & go seats came out. I would buy another one in a heart beat. We haven't had any problems with it, it runs great, and is very comfortable on long car rides. I know that the 2009 version has a lot of upgrades that look really nice.

 

[mward73]

Definitely go test drive it. We were looking at it, so DH brought it home for me to test - I didn't like the feel of it. I really liked the inside, but to me, it felt too "loose" - I just didn't like driving it. HOWEVER, a friend has one and loves it. We also rented one on vacation and my stepfather loved driving it. The incentive is great and I would definitely go look at them - they're good cars, just not for me.

I ended up with a Honda Odyssey, which I love, but I know there are folks that don't like those - it depends on what you like and are comfortable in

 

[VAN]

We had a Dodge Grand Caravan years ago. I swore I would never own a Chrysler again. Replaced the transmission, replaced the A/C twice, replaced the radio, replaced safety switches several times, etc.

Very shoddy design ... no matter how nice the features, if the car doesn't "go" it is of no use to me. I felt very taken advantage of by this car company. They got a lot of my money - but no more.

We bought a 2001 Honda Odyssey new ... it's been a great vehicle for these past 8 years! We expect to get many more years out of it too!

 

[okeydokey]

Never. We had terrible luck with ours. I swore I would only buy Honda or Toyota after that last debacle (one of a long line of awful US cars) and we love our Hondas.

 

[chipscinderelly]

We had a Dodge Grand Caravan years ago. I swore I would never own a Chrysler again. Replaced the transmission, replaced the A/C twice, replaced the radio, replaced safety switches several times, etc.

Very shoddy design ... no matter how nice the features, if the car doesn't "go" it is of no use to me. I felt very taken advantage of by this car company. They got a lot of my money - but no more.

We bought a 2001 Honda Odyssey new ... it's been a great vehicle for these past 8 years! We expect to get many more years out of it too!

Depending on what year the GC was this is true! From what I understand the T&C and GC went through an overhaul before the 2008 models.

Never. We had terrible luck with ours. I swore I would only buy Honda or Toyota after that last debacle (one of a long line of awful US cars) and we love our Hondas.

What year was your T&C?

 

[CyndiLooWho]

We've owned two Chrysler / Dodge CARS, and I would never buy one again. The first one came brand new, off the lot straight to us. It was comfortable and great looking (this was when people actually stopped to ask "what is that car?", it was so new). I was so happy.

That was before it was in the shop ALL the freakin' time. I ended up buying the extended warranty after a year so I could have a free rental car every time it needed to go in. I still loved that car, and we attributed the problems to "new model needs to work bugs out". So when dh found a great deal on a used one, he traded in his tiny truck for it.

Then it needed the engine rebuilt at 40k miles. And a new tranny at 80k miles. Had to replace the aluminum wheels b/c they leaked air (yes, it was the wheels, not the tires), and the paint started coming off at 5 yrs old. Sold it to a friend for practically nothing, she drove it about 6 mos and canned it for being too problematical (we thought we had the bugs worked out - the engine was just good and broken in and tranny was nearly new!). Soon thereafter, Mom sold hers and it ended up blowing its transmission too.

So, while Chrysler has the coolest looking American cars out there, we will probably never buy another one. Shame, too, b/c they are innovative and have great features. But they cost us way too much to maintain, and I don't know that they've corrected their transmission problems (this was a major deal on the cars they produced in the late 90s).

 

[preb]

I have a 2008 and love it. We haven't had any problems at all. Even my DH, who is a "car guy" thinks it's a great van. Certainly worth a test drive at least!

 

[DisneyPolve]

Without a doubt I would!!! We have a 2005 Town and Country and just made our last payment last month. When I first heard of Chysler having financial trouble, the first thing that came to my mind was...they better continue you making the Town and Country so I am able to buy a new one in a couple of years. The only reason I am not buying a new one right now is the fact DH loves the idea of NO car payments for the next year or two...and to be honest so I am in this economy.

I don't know what I would do without my T&C, the built in DVD player, the captain chairs in the back that are comfortable for an adult, the heated leather seats, power doors, the abundent space, and the extremely smooth ride.

Joi

 

[kidsicet]

We have a 2008 T & C. It is comfortable, and has nice features (DVD and stow and go seats). My complaints are the leather seats are cold in winter, hot in summer, and I tend to hit my head on the "panic" bar in the front passenger's seat when I am getting out of the van. Other than that, I do enjoy the heated seats in the winter, it does drive nice, and it is confortable.

 

[okeydokey]

Depending on what year the GC was this is true! From what I understand the T&C and GC went through an overhaul before the 2008 models.



What year was your T&C?

It was an older model, may be a 2000. But it was so awful I will never chance it again. We also replaced the transmission and the AC along with a host of other things. When they AC went for the second time we said forget it and bought a Honda Pilot. I love it and fully expect to keep it for at least 10 years.

 

[thesaurinis]

We had a Dodge/Chrysler and it was a nice riding vehicle but I would never buy another one. We had to have transmission work, AC work, brakes, I can't even count how many times it was in for the automatic doors, and squealing in the back end. When we leased the vehicle it had 11 miles on it so it was brand new and I traded it in at 27 months. Thank god it was a 28 month lease at the time. I couldn't stand it anymore it was in the shop more than anything. When we traded it in it only had 22,000 miles on it. So technically it shouldn't of needed brakes at 17000 miles and the squealing they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.

We traded for a Honda Oddessy and probably won't buy anything but from now on. The Chrysler van had no trade in value either. We totally got screwed with that van. Atleast with the Honda/Toyotas they hold their value.

 

[Lucky4me]

05's and newer seem to be better cars than earlier years.
I love my T&C van- it's an 05 bought in 06. No problems with it at all.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I have a 2002 T&C and I really like it, although I do wish we had stow and go. We bought it used in 2004. Since I've had it I've had to repair a transmission leak (not a whole new tranny or anything), replace the front brake pads and rotors, and right now our A/C needs charged. I'm not too surprised about the brakes, we did drive it cross country and frequently in the mountains around our home. All of these repairs were done in either 2008 or 2009. We just hit 100,000 miles and I expect to get many more miles out of it.

 

[cheap traveler]

In a word - No. I own a repair shop, and the Chryslers are constntly in need of repairs. One thought, if the Post Office runs them, how good can they be? The repirs start one day and just never stop. Foreign cars are the way to go - Hondas are great. But if you don't plan to keep it long, it might be ok. Just don't plan to get any mony out of it down the road, they do not hold their value at all

 

[peyton18]

NO WAY!! I liked mine because of the space it provided but it was always in the shop!! New transmission, brake work twice, didn't start a couple of times but I can't remember why because it had so much work on it, all the details run together now! I traded it in last year & got almost nothing for it. Will definitely never buy another one.

 

[runwad]

NO WAY!! I liked mine because of the space it provided but it was always in the shop!! New transmission, brake work twice, didn't start a couple of times but I can't remember why because it had so much work on it, all the details run together now! I traded it in last year & got almost nothing for it. Will definitely never buy another one.

What year is yours?

 

[richmo]

The incentives are good; you definitely do need to consider that. But, from a reliability and quality point of view, the Honda is superior. If the difference in cost is really $6000 or so, I might be inclined to do the Chrysler, but realize there may be more initial and longer term problems with the T & C.

It also depends upon how long you're going to keep it. Even without today's environment (the viability of Chrysler in question), the Honda has consistently better resale values. Of course, if you plan on keeping it a long time, that may not be an issue. But, even though they sold a lot less, I see more old Odyssey's on the road than T&C's (and equivalents).

I will say this though: if you have your heart set on a Chrysler product, I'd get it now, while a little of the Daimler-Benz influence is still in their vehicles. If they wind up getting in bed with Fiat, as it looks now, watch out. Fiat has produced some of the poorest quality cars in the world - so bad they pretty much got chased out of the US several years ago.

 

[Cellthing]

We had this very debate a few weeks ago. To go with it or not. It had everything we wanted for the price we wanted. Or we could of went with more of a base model from Honda or Toyota, so it was tough (as I read all the reviews also). When it came down to it, money talked as we bought our first Chrysler T&C a week and a half ago. So I have no history yet to help you out on. We did get the extended warranty for the life of the van, so that's a little piece of mind (hopefully). We keep our cars for a long time so resale isn't our top priority. Kids love it and we are looking forward to taking many family trips in it. Good luck with your decision. From everything I read the 08' and up models are redesigned and I'm banking on a better car from the past. Time will tell. We got in on the DVD discounts last month and was well worth it!!