Family Travel Made Easy

The 2009 Chrysler Town and Country

The Chrysler minivan is very similar to its cousin Dodge Grand Caravan.  Only a few features separate the Chrysler Town & Country from the Dodge Grand Caravan. For example, the base Town & Country LX includes three-zone climate control and wood-grain dashboard trim that you can't get on the base Grand Caravan SE. The top-of-the-line Town & Country Limited includes touches of luxury -- such as chrome wheels, xenon headlights and suede-trimmed seats -- that Dodge's top-of-the-line Grand Caravan SXT doesn't match.  The downsides to the Town & Country include flimsy-seeming interior plastics, imprecise handling, long braking distances and a below-average resale value. For 2009 Stow 'n Go seating is now standard on the base model (LX). The major downsides to this minivan is the small navigation system display, and low quality dashboard.  The benefits of the Town & Country are its seating versatility, its family friendly features, and its inexpensive base model. The 2009 model has a starting MSRP of $26,340 ? $36,780.

T & C Power

The Town & Country comes with a choice of three V-6 engines: Standard is a flexible-fuel 3.3-liter V-6 that can run on gasoline, E85 ethanol or any combination of the two. Higher trim levels come with a 3.8-liter or 4.0-liter V-6. The gear selector, which looks like a center-console shifter, is located high on the dashboard, to the right of the gauges. The base 175-horsepower engine quite honestly has a hard time moving the minivan's bulk; the Touring and Touring L Package step up to a 197-horsepower, and the highest trim, the Limited gets even more powerful with251-horsepower.

2009 Chrysler Design

The T & C has some design cues that say Chrysler; its nose resembles that of its Aspen, Pacifica and Sebring siblings. This is definitely a vehicle with traditional minivan looks, yet its higher hood, squared-off rear end and the most stealthy sliding side doors all combine in a presence that's not too far from what passes as a crossover SUV nowadays. The Town & Country measures 202.5 inches long, 78.7 inches wide and 68.9 inches tall. In both length and width, the Chrysler surpasses its competitors by a small amount. Compared to the Dodge Grand Caravan, The Town & Country's exterior is more distinguished. The main difference is in the brand image; the Town & Country is more focused on comfort and amenities than on sport.

Driving the Town and Country

 
The Town & Country drives sufficient enough, but will certainly not give anyone a thrill.  Performance is not a top priority for minivans, and this shows with the Town & Country.  However, acceleration with the 4.0 liter V6 is excellent.  As far as gas mileage goes, each trim is different.  The base LX gets a four-speed automatic, and it delivers 17 mpg in the city, 24 mpg on the highway and 19 mpg combined.  The Touring and Touring L deliver 16 mpg city/23 mpg highway/18 mpg combined, and the Limited gets 17 mpg city/25 mpg highway/20 mpg combined. All are about average in their class for gas mileage.

Minivan Cabin Features

With three different options for seating, it can get confusing.  The choices for seating in the Town and Country are the second-row bench seat with a manual 60/40-split folding third row (with the bench, the same bins in the floor that would accept folded Stow 'n Go seats, were they installed, provide covered storage); Stow 'n Go second-row captain's chairs with the manual folding third row, now standard on the base model; or Swivel 'n Go rearward-facing second-row seats with the manual third row. The standard Stow 'n Go seats in the second and third rows are the big plus for this minivan. The bins in the floor can be used for storage when the seats are occupied, or the seats can fold flat into the bins to create a huge cargo bay. Unlike the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna the seven-passenger Chrysler minivans offer no eighth-seat option. 

Chrysler's minivans are the entertainment leaders. You can add a single backseat DVD screen to the base Town & Country LX for $2,120. But Chrysler saves the most elaborate option for its upper-level trims: dual backseat screens that can show Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network as well as DVDs, so kids in different rows can watch different shows. This option adds about $2,000 to the minivan's cost and includes a year's subscription to Sirius satellite TV. This option is also available on the Dodge Grand Caravan.  A newer feature, the Swivel 'n Go seats, include second-row captain's chairs that can swivel to face the third-row 60/40 split bench, with a stowable table for games and meals between them. It is important to note that the swiveling seats don't fold into the floor, and they're off-limits to baby and toddler seats when swiveled.  The Town & Country offers power-folding 60/40-split third-row seats with one-touch operation, up or down. This feature is included in the Premium Group option package on the Touring model and is an option on Limited models. There are also optional seat heaters for the front- and second-row seats, both in stain-resistant cloth and leather.  The Town & Country also has power windows ? in the sliding doors, too ? with power sliding doors and liftgate optional. There are numerous storage nooks, pockets and bins throughout the interior, including a dual glove compartment.

Safety for the Town & Country

There are two options to ease backing up and parking: a sonar ParkSense, which sends an audible alarm when things are behind the van, and the ParkView rearview camera. The Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross Path accident-avoidance systems are available on Touring and Limited models. They sound an alarm and light up an indicator o n the side mirror whenever something is in the blind spot or behind the van. Rain-sensing wipers and SmartBeam self-adjusting headlamps are also available on Touring and Under the Hood


Summary

The Town and Country certainly offers a lot of tempting and cool options, but in some ways the minivan lags on the more important issues such as resale value and safety. For another review check out Edmunds.com.The 2009 Chrysler minivans did get mostly good safety ratings, but crash-tests show that they are only marginal in a rear-end collision. For more detailed pricing and specifications, click here.