2014 Chrysler Town & Country reliability (vehicle, 2015, Japanese, minivan)

[froglipz]

Looking at purchasing a 2014 T&C Touring model. Anyone have experiences good or bad that they might want to chime in on? We last owned a Dodge mini van when they first came out in 1990, it was JUNK. I would like to hear real live experience of living with one after purchase.

[Magnatomicflux]

I'm bias, since I live in the home of the minivan. lol They can't all be junk, and be a best selling van for 29 years.

[PokerMunkee]

I'd wait another year if possible. The 2015 will be revealed soon and it's supposed to be a game changer, once again.

Not sure how much in discounts can be had. But these things are $20K ($10k off MSRP) in less than a year with 15-20k miles. Make great used cars, unless new $35K fully loaded ones can be had for $25K.





Chrysler's large minivan continues for one final year before changing completely for model-year 2016; the new nine-speed automatic revs up acceleration and gas mileage, while Ralph Gilles has promised completely different styling (is the Chrysler 700C concept a clue?)

Jettisoning the ancient Chrysler minivan architecture, which has admittedly aged gracefully, this E-EVO platform van is completely new in every way. The 3.2 liter Pentastar V6 and nine-speed automatic create the sole powertrain, while buyers once again have a choice of front or all wheel drive. The Lancia and export versions have a standard 3-liter VM diesel.


Chrysler’s minivan has unique styling to make it more palatable to minivan-haters, and is officially called a crossover; Dodge is now the official home of the minivan. Or the other way around. Both have been announced. At this point we expect Chrysler to keep the minivan and Dodge to get the crossover.

Initially, production appears to have been scheduled for midyear 2014, but the factory shutdown has been pushed back to November/December 2014.

[Hemlock140]

I don't think there's many people that have put enough miles on a 2014 to be even out of the warranty yet, best to wait until at least summer and ask again or check the reviews. My experience with Chrysler products since about 2000 is that they have a lot of problems. Their new Jeep Cherokee was delayed several months due to major transmission issues (new 9 speed), and they are now road testing every one before shipping to the dealers. What I have heard about the T & C is some rough shifting issues on the 6 speed automatic, engine noise on acceleration, and the ride is not as smooth as the competition.

[Thegonagle]

The Consumer Reports reliability survey gives it a black half circle, which is "worse than average." That's not as bad as a full black circle ("much worse than average"), but anything without at least "average" reliability is excluded from their "recommended" list.

In CR's Owner Satisfaction rating ("would you buy this vehicle again?"), the T&C gets a 68 percent.

For comparison, here's CR's rundown on the usual suspects:

The Honda Odyssey gets an open circle ("average") rating for reliability, with 79 percent Owner Satisfaction.

The Toyota Sienna (FWD) gets a red half-circle ("better than average") for reliability, with 73 percent Owner Satisfaction.

The Nissan Quest gets a red half-circle for reliability, with 69 percent Owner Satisfaction.

The Kia Sedona gets a black half-circle for reliability, with 56 percent Owner Satisfaction.

The Dodge Caravan, like the T&C, gets a black half-circle for reliability, with 57 percent owner satisfaction, much lower than the T&C.

Conclusion: None. Buy what you like.

[tropicare]

It is still way to early to tell, but so far so good. How can someone give a "reliability rating" on a brand new vehicle. Even if they did test a vehicle and put some mileage on the vehicle, nothing is like real world stop and go traffic and wear and tear. If you buy the vehicle you will be happy I am sure, is something going to break at some point... of course, its a mechanical item with moving parts, things wear out.

[outafocus]

Chrysler got beaten at their own game again by Toyota, Nissan, and Honda. Go for reliability.

[tropicare]

Everyone thinks Toyota, Nissan, Honda are so great. But if you look at the average Chrysler dealer in a normal market and the chrysler dealer has 2-3 service advisors and about 10 techs. The average Toyota,Honda dealer around here has 5 service advisors, and 20 techs. So why is this? is it because Honda and Toyota outsell Chrysler,Dodge,Jeep,Ram... I don't think that is it. It is because they break down just like everything else. Toyota and Honda are NOT like what they used to be and I feel there reliability are going down in my opinion. Are they good vehicles, sure, but chrysler has come a long way. Just like Kia, and Hyundai.

[Thegonagle]

Consumer Reports uses data from previous years if there hasn't been a significant redesign. Sometimes, they'll say that a vehicle is too new to predict reliability.

And it's not that Honda, Toyota, et al, "are not what they used to be." They're actually better than ever. It's just that everyone else is better than ever, too, and the gap between the Japanese and the Americans has been steadily shrinking for two decades.

They're all incredibly complex machines that require maintenance and will eventually break down in one way or another though. That's why mechanics and service departments haven't gone out of business yet.

[ghostrider7811]

My 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan has 170K, never a big problem, just service items.
It is our 3rd Chrysler van. Every memberof my family has one also. We all have had similar luck.
We are thinking of buying a 2015 also.

I know we have many Chrysler haters here on the forum, but every brand of car has a service department, and they all are full.