Luxury and reliability

See an update at the end of the review
We leased our 1999 Chrysler Town&County in July 1999. We signed a 2 year lease at $350/month plus a $4500 trade in. We have an option to buy at lease end for $19,000.

Why we bought it
We bought the minivan because of Chryslers reputation in mini-vans and we really liked the features. My Dad has an 88 Dodge Caravan with 200K miles. The dealership that we bought it had a large selection of Vans to chose from. We picked the dark green with tan leather interiors and loaded with options.

Reliability is an important factor for me. Our second car is a 1990 Honda that I bought 11 years ago. (See my review on the 1990 Honda Accord if interested)

How it is doing now - maintenance
This car is now just one year old and has 23,000 miles on it. We have not had any mechanical related problems with it. (As should be expected for any car within this range).

How it is doing now - ride/features
The Town and Country comes standard with a lot of features since that it is Chyrslers top of the line mini-van.

The van is great for trips with lots of people. Everyone likes the heated seats during cold days, the air ducts/controls in the back, the 4 leather captains chair and the sliding doors on both sides. In addition to the 4 captain chairs up front, there is a leather bench in back to seat passengers 5, 6, & 7.

Another feature that I really like is the built in electronic compass. It also tells you about how many miles you can drive until your gas is empty. This is an option on the Voyager and Dodge Caravan but is available standard on the T&C.

Good for hauling too!
I can take the back seat out myself(it is heavy with the leather seats) which gives us a lot of space for camping trips!

Gas mileage
We recently drove from Cincinnati to Charleston (12 hour trip). We got about 24 miles to the gallon. Locally, we get about 18-19 mpg.

Recommendation
If you are looking for a mini-van, I recommend this Van if you don't mind paying a lot extra for the goodies. Otherwise, look at the Voyager or Caravan and just buy the features that you want. Good Luck!


Updated Jan, 2001
The Van is still an good performer at 18 months and 32K miles. Here are a couple service notes:
1) Last time we had the Van in for service, we requested that they fix that driver side sliding door. The rattle is gone but the door operation is not 100%. It needs to be closed more forcefully than before to ensure that is closes all the way.

2) Intermittently, the passenger side window does not operate (will not
"roll" down).