2012 Chrysler Town & Country Pros and Cons at TrueDelta: Chrysler minivans are comfortable, roomy, versatile family vehicles.

by droubal

Interior styling

Purchased this 2012 Touring-L used with 13,000 miles. Extremely nice interior. Front seats are very comfortable, although really tall people might like a little more leg room. Instrumentation is very good. Large multi-function screen, in the center stack has radio and back-up camera, both work very well. Heated seats and steering wheel are nce options in Upper Michigan. I am impressed with the vehicle because of the overall features and performance: roomy, luxurious, quiet, powerful, great highway mileage.

Powertrain performance

The Pentastar engine is very impressive, as are most of the current v-6 engines on the market. The engine loves to rev and is very smooth. The six-speed transmission is nice in that it provides enough gears to keep the engine from in its power zone all the time and enough oveall gear ratios to provide good acceleration and impressive mileage, for such a big vehicle. The downside of the power train is the indecisiveness of the transmission. It's shifting is ot responsive enough, either shifting to soon or sometimes holding a gear too long, before shifting. In that regard, I think GM and Ford have better performance. The economy button on the center stack does not improve driveability for me. It moves shift points down lower in the rev range, causing the engine to lug. Best avoided in my opinion. I love the engine and tolerate the trany.

Fuel economy

Fuel economy averages around 20 mpg for us, which is mostly mixed driving. Not bad for such a large vehicle, that has impressive power. The highway mileage is impressive. In good weather, with the cruise set on 70, it gets about 30 mpg. Really impressive for such a big vehicle. Of course different terrain and weather conditions can affect that a lot. Winter highway mileage, more like 24 mpg. Overall I am impressed with the combination of power and fuel economy.

Interior storage compartments

Lots of interior storage. Two glove compartments, large center console, door pockets, cup holders, etc. The big storage feature is stow and go. On a trip and find something large you would like to bring home, but already have a lot packed. No problem, just fold the seats into the floor and the interior is like a cargo van. The combination of a nice roomy interior and huge cargo capacity, and good fuel economy makes this one of the best travel vehicles available.

Discounts & incentives

The best discount on a minivan is to buy one slightly used. Touring-L costs about $36,000 new. I bought mine a year old and saved $8,000.

Powertrain performance

Overall this is a very nice vehicle. I would say the most disappointing feature is the six-speed transmission. It is not terrible, but it is disappointeing. It just doesn't shift when you would like it to shift. There is a manual feature, allowing you to select gears as you wish. But the location of the shifter and the lack of response does not help out much. Chrysler would make driving the vehicle more fun if they improve the transmission.