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Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan 2005+

1446 messages,  Last post on May 15, 2013 at 8:51 AM

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What is this discussion about? Chrysler Town and Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, Van

Messages Page 10 of 146

#85 of 1446 2005 Town & Country First Impressions by laundryguy

Feb 14, 2004 (4:40 pm)

I visited a local central Wisconsin Chrysler dealer who got about 10 of new ones in on Thursday today. I had been waiting to make a buy decision until I had seen this vehicle since it was so close to market. Here is what my impressions were on the new 2005 Chrysler:
*Out of sight sticker shock. The unit I looked at had $31,000+ list (Tour edition), but no side curtain protection at that price. Had most of the other bells and whistles. Sliding side doors seemed very well done - as good as the Honda in my book.
*The rear and front stowing seats was very thought out in many ways. They accomplish the stowing front seats by raising the step in floor height about 1 inch. The inside dimensions are not compromised. A look under the chassis shows lots of tubes and pipes routing their way around the sunk in depressions to receive the seats.
*The rest of the car is hardly touched beyond these areas. On the outside, they are nearly indistiguishable.
*The head rests, although not required to be removed to tuck the seats are extremely small and have little padding when compared to Quest and Ody. In fact, a poorly belted rear seat person will be badly injured by the exposed metal posts when extended, should an accident occur with front impact.
*The floor where the seats stow were sturdy under my 190 lbs, but my wife and I wonder about their durability from being walked on relentlessly, places for grime to hide. The front seat must be positioned a certain amount forward to allow the cover to be lifted up to set the seat in the well. It folded extremely flat - improved over Quest concept.
*Third row 60/40 split was really easy to fold and this is a huge advantage over Freestar and comparable to Sienna. Gives lots of seating options for family of 6.
*The leg room in the third row is better than the Freestar, but worse than Ody and Quest. You cannot stick your toes under the second row seat when in the third row seat. Quest fabric cover at least gets the toes under the second row seat to gain some foot space.
*This vehicle is better than Freestar in many respects, but in the end, we signed for an Ody LX today at $2000 less than MSRP when equipped the way we want it, which would have been several thousand less than the Chrysler to get the 3500 lb towing. Gave up the side curtain protection that the Quest has standard and the Sienna offers as an option. Just couldn't get past the Quest noisy fan when on high and less than solid fits on several other components.

#86 of 1446 by rctennis3811

Feb 14, 2004 (4:44 pm)

Went to the local Dodge/Chrysler dealership today to see the new TC. Wow was I impressed! Did anyone else notice that the dashboard has a better feel to it compared to the 04s and before??

#87 of 1446 No All-Wheel Drive on DC 05 Vans by jamesfletcher2

Feb 14, 2004 (9:23 pm)

I received an e-mail for DC confirming that they have dropped the All-Wheel Drive option for all of their new 2005 vans. They seem to be justifing it by stating that only 3% of customers purchased AWD on 2004 vans.
 
I personally believe that DC dealers not ordering AWD vans in sufficient numbers in mid-range equipped models was also a big part of the problem.

#88 of 1446 well by jchan2

Feb 15, 2004 (6:56 am)

I personally like the new Town & Country and Grand Caravan over the Freestar and Relay. The only things that kept me from buying a Grand Caravan in 2002 were the non-flat folding third row seats and the previous reliability track record.

#89 of 1446 laundryguy by jglackin

Feb 15, 2004 (12:33 pm)

whats done is done, but i feel badly that your salesperson didn't seem to do a very good job presenting the vehicle to you. The '05 Touring is closer in equipment to the EX Ody. It has huge advantages over the LX (at least a dozen I can list w/o effort), so it should have more value at time of sale.

#90 of 1446 Saw one by jchan2

Feb 15, 2004 (2:54 pm)

a silver 05 Town & Country Touring at the stoplight with dealer tags.

#91 of 1446 New T&C engines ? by pb17

Feb 16, 2004 (10:56 am)

#92 of 1446 New T&C engines ? by pb17

Feb 16, 2004 (11:00 am)

Any rumors about new generation engines for the minivan? Will DC go to overhead cams? How about a 5 speed tranny? Nothing wrong with pushrods though. Mpg is becoming more of an issue as gas prices ratchet up.

#93 of 1446 Re New T&C engines by backy

Feb 16, 2004 (4:42 pm)

Same drivetrains in the '05 vans as were in the '04s--except no AWD of course.

#94 of 1446 jglackin T&C touring by laundryguy

Feb 16, 2004 (6:36 pm)

Was looking for a lower end featured unit with circa 240 hp, which he indicated was not available on the lower trim levels. My application was peculiar as I wanted lots of power, but not interested in paying for the bells and whistles like power seats, power sliding doors, power lift gate, etc.
 
I'm sure it is a wonderful van and delivers good value for many folks, but just not the option package I was after. As posts in other areas indicate, with a whole lot less confusion, Honda/Nissan/Toyota seems to put together the option packages most folks are interested without loading down the entry vehicle or pricing it out of sight on the high end.

Messages Page 10 of 146

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