10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 5
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 66,024 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
2002 Chrysler Town & Country lxi. Turn signal indicator lights inside vehicle are malfunctioning, we are unaware if they malfunction outside, other lights are shorted out inside in the "dash" area. These are all indicators of an electrical short somewhere in the vehicle. Also the power rear door on the driver's side does not open using the keypad when it is cool or raining. We were told by dealership at the time of purchase that it didn't operate at all and needed a new motor, that's why we were "getting a good price". the rear power doors will both also almost close all the way, and then open for not reason, I.e. nothing in the way at all. The rear power doors will also not close if you are on a very slight slant. The liftgate gives a hard time latching when using keypad. The vehicle was purchased in October 2008 preowned from a dealership. These issues cause a major safety threat. Others with the same make, model and year are having similar problems. I feel that this vehicle has many problems and should be recalled at least for the faulty wiring and electrical system.
- Easton, PA, USA
Vehicle ran poorly at times and occasionally stumbled or stalled. Sometimes we would be partly in a busy intersection. Perform diagnostics and inspection, remove exhaust for inspection of harness and repair damaged wiring and install protective heat wrap. Cost: $268.93 could have been very dangerous in traffic.
- Bristol, FL, USA
I have a 2002 Chrysler Town and country (90,000 miles). After normal driving and parking, car would not start. I found out later that the starter had an internal short. It destroyed the battery and melted the starter housing, concerned that it could have caused a major fire!!!.(pictures available, had to return core to auto parts store).
- Carthage, MO, USA
The contact owns a 2002 Chrysler Town and country. The contact has experienced several issues with the electrical components in his vehicle. The vehicle would jump when the accelerator pedal was depressed or accelerating at any speed. The dealer replaced all the wires, wiring harness, spark plugs, and the battery; however, the failure continued. The automatic doors also became inoperable. The vehicle was taken to a different dealer and they stated that a new oxygen system was needed. The computer system and spark plugs wires were replaced, but the failure continued. The manufacturer was notified and a case was filed. They stated that the vehicle could be repaired under warranty. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 65,000 and current mileage was over 100,000.
- Smyrna, DE, USA
Several times when trying to start the vehicle the key has refused to turn. After several minutes of banging on the steering wheel and pulling out the key and re-inserting it finally turns. Has happened on several occasions. Started around 65,000 miles now has 73,000 miles.
- Shelby Township, MI, USA
The van was purchased in March and around July the middle section of the front where the ac unit, radio, controls, etc are located began to stop working properly. The ac will not cut off, instead the air pressure increases and doesn't stop. This has affected my back unit and the heat will not work, which makes it hard to bear with small children. Recently, the cd changer has been messing up and not ejecting cd's or changing. Nothing has been repaired, because it will cost a lot, according to the dealer, to locate the problem.
- Greenville, NC, USA
Vehicle had just entered atlanta Georgia on I85 southbound. There was very heavy stop and go traffic. Upon light acceleration, the engine lost power. The engine never stalled. The idle remained smooth. In neutral the engine would accelerate normally. In drive (all gears) and reverse, the engine would accelerate to about 900 RPM and then lose power. We were able to drive along the shoulder at a slow walking pace (a slight incline) until we encountered a disabled vehicle. The van did not have the power to pull into the stop and go traffic. A tow truck was called and the van towed to a dealership for repairs. No check engine light and the engine restarted normally. The engine never ran rough and all the fluids looked good and were at correct levels. The dealership determined that the fuel pump was the problem since they measured the pressure at 40 psi and the specification was 53 psi. The fuel pump and filter was repaired at a cost of $686 plus towing. The powertrain warranty apparently does not cover these items. The replaced parts were not made available to us. After pickup from the dealership the van has intermittently experienced a pronounced hesitation accelerating from a stop. No check engine light. The van duplicated the same failure again on 12/30/06. We had just pulled out from a parking space at a restaurant. Every aspect of the incident was the same even to our proceeding to drive down the shoulder. Except in this case the shoulder was a slight decline. When the van made it to about 5 mph the problem disappeared and the van drove fine for the remaining 95 miles of our trip. The next time that the van was started it went straight to another dealership for repair. The dealership could not find anything wrong with the van but charged a estimate fee and said to bring it back when it was experiencing the problem. There were no trouble codes set for them to diagnose the problem and the van behaved fine during the test drive.
- Saint Leonard, MD, USA
10am, driving at a low rate of speed, slowing to turn left, I suddenly lost power steering and had to manual make the turn (very difficult). The van was also hesitating, like it would stall. I regained full power and power steering after 10 seconds +/-. noon, same day, accellerating <35mph, uphill, same problem occurred with the exception that after power steering failure, I completely stalled in the road and had to restart the vehicle. Brought to dealership Wednesday. They were unable to find the problem (no code) or duplicate the problem. (also an issue with an intermittent problem with the power side door popping off but not power opening). Both electrical issues have occured since the five star dealership corrected an electrical problem with my power gatelift popping off but not power opening) I have called Chrysler directly about technical service bulletins issued on both items and the advance service information 02-018/NHTSA#10000327 relating to the problem with the power side door and/or liftgate. Even with providing this information, the problem cannot be fixed until they get a "code". I have exhausted my progress with Chrysler in their assistance with the proper diagnosis of the problem so I could pay to have the correct component replaced. My option is to pay $50 per diagnostic check by the dealer regardless of whether the vehicle "codes" the problem and no assurances as to the number of diagnostic checks it may take to produce the "code", so I filed a complaint with Chrysler customer assistance "which is handled in house". when asked what department handles complaints, I was told " Chrysler customer assistance". I clarified that is the same department title as to which I was speaking with, it was explained that customer assistance has many departments, which are not given titles, and that they are not allowed to provide names of whom would be handling the complaint, nor would anyone follow up with me. The circles begins!
- Cape Elizabeth, ME, USA
While driving smoke came from the speakers and then the vehicle caught on fire.
- West Chester, OH, USA
The air bag light illuminated and the transmission shift lever shifted from drive to neutral while driving. There was an explosion while the vehicle was in motion. The engine light had come on, the transmission went into park, the gear shifter lever didn't move, the gas pedal worked fine but had frozen up in the park position. The air bag did not work and the seat belt didn't work.
- Rialto, CA, USA
Problems with remote entry on 2002 Chrysler Town and country. The remote works from as far away as 600+ feet and at times this presents a problem. There have been times when the consumer has come out of the house to get in the car, after it had rained the night before, and found that one of the sliding doors was open and the inside of the vehicle was wet. Similar incidents have occurred while the consumer was shopping. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but they were unable to fix the problem.
- Roswell, GA, USA
On Monday, July 5th 2004, my 2002 Chrysler Town and country [xxx] erupted in a van fire. My daughter was sitting on the 3rd seat on the left side of the vehicle when she heard noise, saw flames and yelled there was a fire. My family immediately evacuated the vehicle. Nyc fire department, Chrysler fire investigator and auto insurance fire investigator deemed it as an electrical malfunction due to a manufacturer's defect. No recalls have been placed on this issue. Updated 07/25/2012 information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Croton-On-Hudson, NY, USA
From the almost day one this cars has had electrical problems. Originally the dash lights light up and would not go out for several minutes. Then the fuel pump started to operate poorly. Then a slight hesitation began at idle. Then I noticed a hesitation at about 40 mph when the car was pulling a incline. Then the headlights began to flutter as rpms fluctuated. Then the headlights began to flash violently. A switch was finally replaced and the lights have not had the same problem flashing, but do appear to have some minor flutters in them from time to time. After this, all of the gear selector lights came on at one time. You could not tell what gear the transmission was in. The car also would not hold on a slight incline when stopped for a traffic light or stop sign. When taking your foot off the brake, the car would drift quickly, almost causing an accident. The dealer tate of glen burnie. Md. said the car was designed to work that way. About October to November time period, the driver's side power sliding door unlocked itself and open about 10-12 inches while the car was in motion at about 25 mph. A door module was replaced to see if that solved the problem. It hasn't open since. But about 3 weeks ago now, the passenger side door started to do the same thing. Both times, there were passengers in the back seats by the doors. Chrysler now refused to fix it for free because it is over the basic warranty, even though it has had multiple electical problems. I am at my wits end. I am now approaching the the fear of the car burning up with my family inside or someone being ejected.
- Baltimore, MD, USA
Since the day I drove my van off of the dealers lot, all of the lights (map lights, dome light and headlights) on the van pulse (similar to the pulse of a flourescent tube warming up on a cold day). The speed of the pulse changes with the speed of the engine. The van has been to two different 5-star dealers and the headlight switch has been replaced twice. Something in the computer was upgraded once. Every oil change they try to determine if/what might be causing the problem; to no avail. Because the speed of the pulse changes with the engine rpms and from other personal experiences, my husband believes it is the alternator current bleeding into the rest of the electrical systems, but because the alternator doesn't test bad according to their computer they are unwilling to consider this possibility.
- Fairfield, OH, USA
While driving at 35 mph consumer's son heard a loud popping sound coming from the steering column. Moments later, the driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with a guard rail on the driver's side. The seat belts were worn, and the air bags did not deploy however, there were no injuries. Before the collision the consumer heard ticking sound coming from the steering column. Also, there was a tsb concerning this problem. The vehicle was taken to the dealer once before the collision and once after the collision. Vehicle was repaired by the dealer, but the problem still persisted. In June 2003 the consumer had a problem with a major draw on the engine with the heat or A/C running. The consumer was told that the compressor was replaced so the A/C and the heater would work properly. The consumer had explained to the service dealer that there was a problem with the steering and the mechanic suggested that this wasn't a dangerous problem. (following this service visit, the consumer's son experienced the above accident) the consumer had also found that the warranty work for the steering hadn't been completed. Recall#10010414
- Baltimore, MD, USA
Automatic transmission disengaged while driving. Dealer was unable to duplicate or correct the problem. The service dealer manager verified and experienced these conditions and was unable to correct the problem. Two days after the purchase, the van shuttered at low speed, low rpms in reverse, slipped out of gear when attempting to ascend in grade, the check engine light had come on. Other problems that occurred, were as followed: The brake calipers were squealing which may have been due to sticking, the vehicle leaned to the left, and the right sliding door didn't open from the inside switch.
- Roanoke, VA, USA
Left side power sliding door stop functioning.
- Fort Worth, TX, USA
- Norman, OK, USA