FrankReynoldsCPA

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/...nivan-in-2013/

All I can think is wow......this vehicle is an icon. What started out as an idea by Lee Iococca that resulted in his separation from Ford became a revolutionary concept and sold massively. I don't think a day goes by that I don't see a dozen Dodge or Chrysler minivans. This was a trend setter. We've owned two of them(a 93 Plymouth Voyager and a 98 Chrysler Town & Country), and they were decent cars(well, the Plymouth not as much).

EDIT: Whoops, I didn't read the whole article before posting. The Town & Country will live on. It seems Chrysler is trying to eliminate product replication among its brands. This may be a smart move in creating new diversity for the company, but what will it do to costs?

84Cressida

It would make more sense to keep the Caravan, as that was the first of the lot that was launched, and for awhile was the better selling version.

Anywho, I could care less about what chrysler and co. does.

Blackraven

Agreed, it's one of the only 'good' vehicles from "Pentastar" so it would be stupid of them to kill it completely.

Btw, I've driven the diesel engine version of the Town and Country (which I think is not sold locally in the States). The engine is made by VM Motori and is imported from Italy which is shipped to the factory in Ontario, Canada.

The engine is 2.8 liter CRD diesel engine and I must say it's quite good.

In fact, I'd rather pick this over a Kia Carnival/Sedona Diesel van

P.S.
I guess they will also get rid of the VW Routan as well (which was just part of an OEM deal)

mmarshall

These vehicles, of course, have a noted history, and have introduced a number of innovative features, such as Stow-and-Go, double-sliding-doors, and the built-in, pull-down safety-child seat. But, reliablilty, and, until recently, fit/finish has always been a problem. In the 1990's, the four-speed Ultradrive transmissions were especially unreliable....I've seen some Chrysler minivans go through four or five of them in their lifetimes.

SoCalSC4

I like the VW Routan owners that think they actually bought a VW.

Awesome.

VIPG35

iTrader: (6)

Caravan is a crappy van anyway. A friend of mine purchased one and a week later ended up trading for a sienna.

FrankReynoldsCPA

I really enjoyed our 98 Town & Country. It was generally reliable, other than a few fit and finish problems. The trannsmission has held out so far, and it was at 180k when we gave it to my cousin. It's probably upwards of 200k now.
While it didn't have the get up and go of of our 99 Toyota Sienna, it had more room inside, and killer speakers.

Alucard

I rode in and drove a family friend's brand new Town & Country a few years back. The model year must have been 2009. It looked really nice inside and out, but even being a few weeks old it was showing its poor build quality.

Poorly finished details, rear entertainment screen picture being all out of whack, doors that sounded like something internally was going to break (if it hadn't already).

Pretty sad.

Och

iTrader: (3)

I wish we had a child limit in the US and minivans were illegal

hypervish

They should keep the Caravan instead, of the Town & Country.

Either way, their vans aren't that good, in comparison to competitors. They aren't reliable, they go through front brake pads every 25k miles, undersized brakes all around, still have transmission problems even on the brand new 6 speed, the newest gen has lot's of road noise and the build quality just isn't there. People are having rust problems on 2010 model Town & Country's. That's just ridiculous.

I'm surprised they still sell as many as they do, the main reason is probably because they cost less than their competitors.

rkyat

Been watching Terra Nova have we?

i also believe the caravan would be a better alternative to keep around. It is more affordable isnt it?

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

Your sig says you have a 96 Dodge Caravan on its 4th tranny? Holy crap! I would have put that sucker in a junk yard by now!! lol

hypervish

Yup, that's right 4th tranny. All of the replacements were Mopar OEM replacements too. They weren't even reman's, they were brand new. Believe it or not all of the miles were highway too all road trips, the easiest types of miles for any car.

It's sitting in my parent's backyard without plates/insurance, too many memories for the family to just junk it unfortunately. But trust me, If it was up to me I'd throw that crap in the junkyard asap. Come to think of it the junkyard is to good a place for it. There's a reason why I never buy Domestic. I don't know what ever led me to buying it in the first place.

All of the issues I mentioned about caravans above are only about the newest generation too. If I mentioned the problems with all the other gen's, I'd be sitting here all day typing it up. I bought my Grand Caravan in 2004, and I've spent $15,000+ on repairs. Sentimental value got the best of me, and I kept on fixing it. I just want to burn it one day. LOL But, I have a feeling it'll to that to itself, If I kept it running long enough. hahah

FrankReynoldsCPA

We must have been lucky then, we had mostly good things to say about ours. It was definitely our best Chrysler product. It only had 3 problems in the time we had it.
1. The driver's side window belt broke, so it wouldn't stay up
2. The A/C compressor locked up and siezed the belt. This happened at 180k, and we parked the car.
3. There was an occasional issue with the rear driver's side light blowing fuses. Can't complain much, my mom's 91 LS400 keeps blowing out taillights too.

Other than those 3 things, it was a very reliable car that got used heavily in daily driving situations AND extensive highway miles. Always got us from A to B.

Kaydee

when I was growing up, I seriously thought that the Caravan was the coolest car ever...it was like a ship, now it's just sad. I hope they don't kill it. As for the rest, I couldn't care less