Hello all,

I am in the market for a used car. I really want to get a town and country. my friend is going to sell me his dads 97 town and coutry for $5500. i know its a good van. i just need to know what are the common problems associated with this vehicles. your honesty is appreciated. thanks very much!

so no one is going to help out?

scrooge- Take a peek around all the domestic minivans & you'll see they pretty much suffer the same issues. The #1 typically being problems with the tranny. #2 is usually intake manifold and/or head gasket issues, especially with GM & ford. #3 most of the time is electrical problems with complicated ABS, or electronic type accessories- power doors, etc.. As with any auto tranny, if it had regular ATF changes & was not abused (light foot) you will be fine. Many of the head/intake manifold gasket issues can be avoided by regular coolant changouts, and again, a light foot. Obviously, the fewer electronic goodies on the van, the less chance of problems in that area. I was just talking to my brother today about his T&C. He has a 1997 T&C that he bought used a few years ago with about 50Kmi on it. He now has 112Kmi on it & loves it. The 3.8L has been flawless and no tranny issues at all. The only thing he's replaced besides normal wear items are: front anti-sway bar end links (twice), ball joints and tie rod ends. From what I can tell, that 3.8L is a great engine for these vans. $5500 sounds like a pretty good deal for you.
G/luck
Joel

thanks a lot. i'll consider your thoughts in my decision.

scrOOge,
I am by no means an expert on Town & Country mini vans but I did own the same 88' Caravan for 12 years. It gave great service for 10 of those years but I always said that I would drive this thing until the wheels fall off. Well they finally did mediforicly speaking. The repairs became just too high to bear and I donated it to charity. By the way I did sell the wheels and tires for $275.00 the wheels were those gold color spoke wheels from a 95 Caravan the tires were Goodyear Eagles 15" with only about 2000 miles on them. I put the original wheels back on it with the same tires that I brought the first time I had changed them. I sold those wheels and tires because they would not fit my replacement van a 96 Chrysler Town & Country LXi with 16" wheels. It is with out a doubt the most comfortable and best riding mini van I have ever driven. Do these vans have problems; yes they do mine had a problem with the up shifting please read my post about it. Now that I have that solved I could not be happier. If you need to know what to expect from a T & C read all the posts on this sight I found them more than a little informing, also check out the Plymouth Voyager and the Dodge Caravan Forums. Remember all these posts are from real people who now own these vans or are people who know them. By all means you should check out this van on (http://www.carfax.com) it will tell you the vans history and all of the recalls it had. Also get a good auto mechanic to check it out that way you will know just what to expect from “your van”. As you will see from reading the posts on the "Forums", not all of these vans are plagued with the same problems, it all depends on the way it was maintained. After all you are buying a used vehicle and maintenance is always key. It is always a good idea to have any car totally serviced after buying it that is all fluids and belts, filters, trans and tune-up that way you will know that you have done all that can be done to prolong the life of your "new to you" Town & Country. I personally love these vans and I believe that they are with out a doubt the most versatile vehicles on the rode today. Forget about the SUV I have never gotten stuck with my front wheel drive and try to put seven people in a SUV or 10 sheets of 4' x 8' x 3/4" plywood in any SUV. My T & C handles much better than most any SUVs because it is not top heavy it can really take a corner. If you really need a 4x4 get an AWD. Happy Motoring , digimon

great insite. thanks!

IMO, Mini-vans are are a good deal now days. The mini-van market is real soft. The trend for today is the small-large SUV. Most of the dealers I know have been and still are getting swamped with mini-van trade in's.
That makes for a real nice buyers market :naughty: You can get a whole lot of van VS. almost any other stlye car or SUV for the money. The only thing to keep in mind. When it comes time for selling the value will be nothing once the miles get up there. :2cents:

thats why im buying one. i'm 22 years old and all my friends are trying to talk me out of buying this van.

thats why im buying one. i'm 22 years old and all my friends are trying to talk me out of buying this van.


I just found this web sight and I must say that it has really scared the shit out of me. I have only owned my 96' T & C for a month and a half but now I am very nervous about it. http://www.lemonaidcars.com/chrysler.htm

I just found this web sight and I must say that it has really scared the shit out of me. I have only owned my 96' T & C for a month and a half but now I am very nervous about it. http://www.lemonaidcars.com/chrysler.htm

That site is an interesting and somewhat informative read, but that chrysler/dodge minivan thread has not been updated in years. The 1996+ vans are no worse than any other domestic iron.

Joel

I have had three T@C LXI vans. They all are temperamental at best with all the gadgets. They are truly overpriced, but nice vans for moving people in comfort. Each of mine had frustrating issues like tranny, sensor and computer issues. I keep buying them becuase I am comfortable with them.

I have had three T@C LXI vans. They all are temperamental at best with all the gadgets. They are truly overpriced, but nice vans for moving people in comfort. Each of mine had frustrating issues like tranny, sensor and computer issues. I keep buying them becuase I am comfortable with them.

The Chrysler T&C is not as reliable as a Camry or Accord but then no minivan, including the overpriced Odyssey is. I am buying another used (2002) T&C since I have loved my 94 in spite of any maintenance issues.