The day after I got it home from the dealership, the transmission went out (with only 47,000 miles). After battling with the dealer (it was still under warranty as well) I got the car back a month later with a brand new tranny. They tried putting a rebuilt one in it instead, but the guy installing it cracked the casing when he torqued one of the nuts too tight, and it broke when they test drove it. They gave up then and just put a brand new one in it.
The electrical system (power windows) had some wiring problems, as well as the gas gauge. The shocks and struts were shot as well.
It was a very comfortable and easy driving car though, extremely wonderful on vacations and it got fairly good gas mileage.
The inside had tons of room, while the outside wasn't very large, which made it easy to maneuver. The trunk was massive.
The tranny problems is a factory defect that all CDP's had for a few years. I just put the third one in my car, this one is very well redesigned and I expect 75,000 or miles of this one. Other than that my 5Th has been the best land yacht I've owned. It has 151,000 miles on it now. virtually trouble free and fun to drive.
Other than a few problems with a bit of rust, and the rear air suspension my car is great! Yes, the transmission can be a problem, I have heard, but I have put about 175,000 kilometers. on the original transmission, and it still works as good as new. My Fifth Avenue just keeps going! And... it sure is a pleasure to drive.
I too have had transmission problems but when I replaced it, it worked fine from then onward. I also had wiring issues in the driver side door which I had to fix, once fixed I had to also fix the passenger side door too cause it was messing up. Nonetheless, this car is nice to drive and has a ton of room. Plus the auto-darken mirror and the big trunk is a plus!