1996 Chrysler Town and Country LXI review from North America
"I'm sure it was good in it's prime, now it's a death trap and a danger to my family!"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Oh my goodness! Where to begin? Well, we had bought this car from a used car lot, after we dumped our old Plymouth there because it flat out blew up.
Let me just say that for a 1996, it is working very well, putting up with how me and my wife drive, and my wife owns a cleaning business, so this van is used almost 24/7.
Well the CV joints are the worst ones right now. We hit the gas, and when you reach about 20, the passenger side starts shaking like an earthquake. It's bad enough to make the drinks in the cup holder fall out.
The passenger window does not work, and when I am driving, and my wife is sitting next to me, she smokes so all the smoke either goes in my face, or back to our 8 year old son.
Some kind of gauge in the steering wheel has broken, so we have no horn, cruise control or airbags.
My brakes and the transmission scare me greatly. My wife was recently in a car accident. The day after the 4th of July, and she went to go make a hard stop, and rear ended a little Toyota something. So our grille is cracked.
Now the transmission had it's first major slip up earlier this week. We were leaving our close friend's house. Turned the van on, made sure everyone was buckled in, put in in reverse, let my foot of the brake, and we went forward almost in a ditch! My wife blames it on the gears weren't locked.
She doesn't want to face the fact that this is a dangerous vehicle and I do not want a police officer knocking on my door telling me that my wife and my 8 year old son were killed in a car accident! I cannot get her to drive my GMC Jimmy while I go get this checked. But she complains that it's too hard to drive and there are bad blind spots. Now she would rather drive this big 20 foot long white death trap, with a broken driver side mirror and a shaky rear view one.
General comments?
I STRONGLY suggest that you all get your vans checked even if they are fine. You never know. I am now to the point where my son will only go out if we all go, not with her, because I do not trust that car, and I do not want him to be killed by a defective brake pedal and lack of working airbags.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Don't Know |
| Model year | 1996 |
| Year of manufacture | 1996 |
| First year of ownership | 2005 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2006 |
| Engine and transmission | 3.6 Automatic |
| Performance marks | 7 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 5 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 9 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 5 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 100097 miles |
| Most recent distance | 120155 miles |
| Previous car | Dodge Caravan |
| Date of Entry | 14th July, 2006 |