Purchased T&C after considering Sienna, Odyssey, Passport and Pacifica

It was finally time to replace our 1995 Ford Explorer.
Wanted "3rd row seating" to provide for lifestyle with school aged children.

Considered SUVs (Passport, MDX), Minivans (Sienna) and Crossovers (Pacifica and others). This is primarily my wife's car - she did not want a minivan or another Explorer (note: we did not have problems with it, just time for something else).

We live in New England and must go up a fairly steep, infrequently plowed street to get to our house. AWD or 4WD mandatory. Knocks out Odyssey - no 4WD option.

Liked the Sienna but with no price flexibility, the cost was about $33,000 for cloth interior and no DVD. Passport was similar, but the rear seat is almost unusable for adults. Ditto with Pacifica... going from the Explorer to the Pacifica was going to be too cramped.

The Chrysler dealer suggested the Town and Country Limited. Plenty of availability and choices - he had one on the lot with everything we wanted including a rear DVD entertainment system with wireless headphones. Note: no Siennas are being brought into the New England market right now with DVD - dealer wanted us to pay over $3K for aftermarket version installed.

While we never thought we'd spend this much money for a minivan, once we compared it to the Sienna it was really no contest. To get a comparably equipped Sienna would have been at least $5K more, plus an unknown wait for delivery.

Prior to taking delivery, I was having "buyer's remorse" based on Chrysler's negative reputation for quality. But after speaking with two coworkers who are satisfied with their T&Cs, I decided to go ahead. Supposedly the transmissions problems that plagued the T&C have been solved, plus they offer a longer driver train warranty just in case.

We've had the car for 3 weeks and it has been fantastic! We did run into one embarrassing problem. I forgot to close the rear hatch before backing out of the garage. While there is an indicator light showing the hatch is open, there are no audible alarms when the car is put into gear. Fortunately, I was going slow enough that we escaped with minor damage - but this could have been an expensive lesson.

Two features the Sienna has over the T&C are the stowing rear seats and the opening rear windows. In the end, we figured we wouldn't really use these features very often anyway. The rear seats are easy enough to remove if you really need the extra space on an infrequent basis.

The safety override for the power doors seemed superior in the T&C vs. the Sienna. The Sienna uses a pressure sensor in the weatherstrip that I did not "hit correctly" (dealer explanation) when the door was closing on me.

Price paid includes Limited AWD, leather seats, power adjustable pedals, full size spare, rear DVD entertainment system and trailer hitch (plus $3,500 factory rebate included). Also includes full power windows / seats / doors, heated seats, 3 zone climate control, tire pressure sensors, trip computer, and much more.

Got a great deal by purchasing at the end of the month and as a referral through BJs Auto (like Autoweb.com). Our price was below dealer invoice BEFORE APPLYING THE REBATE due to other factory-to-dealer incentives.

=================
Update 1000 miles
=================

So far, so good. Highway gas mileage increased to about 21MPG at 70 MPH. Given that it's AWD, this is ok and I don't expect it to get much better.

The kids are loving the DVD entertainment system. Highly visible and seems to be unaffected by the sunlight.

If you are considering the Sienna because you really like the rear "drop away" seats, here is more info to consider. The rear seats in the T&C can fold forward without removing them (take headrests out and put them in the seat once folded). The space available when you do this is incredible - way more than in the back area of our Ford Explorer. On a recent trip to NH, had the car loaded and nothing obstructed my view out the rear like it used to (with the explorer).