10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 96,984 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
I own a 1999 Chrysler Town & Country van. Major problem is serpentine belt coming off and causing a loss of steering. Every time it rains my serpentine belt comes off which causes extremely hard steering. I have replaced tensioners twice in the and belt 4 times. Thank god I was not on the free way or a street with alot of traffic or this could kill me or an other person. I have looked on the internet and this has happened to 100S of people. On the internet it state that the factory recommended repair ( the replacement of the idler pulley and the pulleys retaining bracket.) in the tsb I read, Chrysler's engineers have decided that on some models the idler pulley is misaligned by.08 inches. Chrysler should recall this and fix there problem before someone gets killed. Get involved and make Chrysler fix this problem.
- Sacramento, CA, USA
I own a 1999 Chrysler Town and country minivan. While driving in the rain with 3 passengers ( 1 youth, 1 toddler in car seat and 1 elderly person) I noticed the steering became very hard to control, immediately after I looked at my indicators and noticed the temperature was on the max hot setting. I was able to pull over and ark it and upon having it towed I noticed a belt hanging from under the vehicle. After asking around and doing research I found it was the serpentine belt, which I cannot afford to fix at this time and I also found out it was a common problem with this particular vehicle. Wont Chrysler do anything to fix this most dangerous defect??!!
- Honolulu, HI, USA
The serpentine belt falls off in wet weather on my 1999 Chrysler Town & Country minivan. This has happened 4 times this past year alone and has cost me in terms of towing and service. This can also be a very dangerous situation depending on when and where the belt falls off. When the belt comes off, there is no power steering, the radiator overheats, and the alternator isn't charging. This can ruin the engine. After searching the web, I found that this is a very common experience for both Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town and country vans. There should be a recall to fix the problem.
- Olympia, WA, USA
The serpentine belt fell off last night and due to the loss of steering assist I ended up in an accident. Luckily no one was hurt. It has been an on-going problem with the serpentine belt falling off. I replaced all the parts associated with the belt and it still happened. It is dangerous and why does Chrysler not have a recall on this?
- Stevens Point, WI, USA
Serpentine belt falls off in heavy rainfall.
- Victoria, 00, USA
Serpentine belt slipped off tensioner pulley after driving through puddle on highway making all power accessories inoperable including power steering. This is the second time in 3 weeks that this has happened and upon further research online this is a well known problem on Chrysler/Dodge minivans built between 1996-2000.
- Delaware, OH, USA
I bought my Town and country used about a year ago. I have not had any significant problems until around three months ago when the serpentine belt started coming off. It has come off approximately 9 times in the last three months and only in wet weather while driving through small puddles in the road. I thought the tensioner was bad and changed it, but the next day the belt came off in the rain. I called the service department and asked the service tech why the belt kept coming off and he asked me if it was raining at the time. Imagine that! they know it is a problem but will not recall the vehicle for a fix. I will never buy another Chrysler product again. Again like almost all the other complaints, loss of power steering, engine cooling, alternator etc. Lucky for me I am mechanical otherwise it would have cost me a ton of money on towing charges.
- Newport News, VA, USA
The contact owns a 1999 Chrysler Town and country. While driving 65 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated to 95 mph. The contact was able to pull over and stop the vehicle. The vehicle had to be towed. She found that there was a plastic sleeve that failed inside the air filter housing hose. A piece of the plastic went into the accelerator and held it open, making it impossible to decelerate. The plastic piece that went inside the accelerator was 4 inches long, and another piece of plastic went inside the housing. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The piece was removed from the accelerator and the vehicle is currently working fine. The manufacturer wants the contact to buy a new resonator air cleaner. The part numbers are available. The contact filed complaint number 17422816 with daimler Chrysler. The purchase date was unknown. The current mileage was 153,873 and failure mileage was 153,823.
- Cynthiana, KY, USA
Serpentine belt jumps off when car is driven in rainy conditions, leaving driver and family stranded anywhere! serpentine belt controls all sorts of functions in car including the ability to steer the car!
- Lilburn, GA, USA
About 2 years ago the consumer noticed while driving, the power steering went out. The oil light came on at the time. The consumer drove to a garage. The mechanic replaced the serpentine belt and tensioner. Everything worked for about 2 months and then it had to be replaced again. Then today while driving the consumer lost steering again, due to the failure of the serpentine belt and tensioner.
- Northhampton, PA, USA
- Naperville, IL, USA