Nice surprise

This van has turned out to be a nice surprise. Since I have 3 kids under 3, carseats and airbags have forced me into the minivan segment. I have always driven mid-sized German sport sedans or wagons, most recently an Audi A6 quattro, so I've really dreaded making this move.

I have had recent first-hand experience with a 2000 Honda Odyssey which my company owns as a shared vehicle, and a 2000 Ford Windstar which my wife had briefly as a company car. Both vehicles are fine, but neither approaches the Chrysler in terms of comfort or available features.

I have a 2001 Town & Country Limited with All-wheel drive. The ergonomics are very good--similar locations and configurations of switches as my A6. The seating position is very supportive and comfortable, and the gauges are elegant and easy to read. The trip computer and display are a nice feature which allows programming of auto door locks and headlamp-on delay times without using obscure patterns of turning the key and operating power switches, or worse--having to have the dealer reprogram which is what we had to do with the Windstar.

The van is much quieter and more comfortable than the Honda for long highway trips. I've been very impressed with how solid the van is in everything from how the doors slam to the lack of rattles over bumps. The power doors and tailgate are handy gee-whiz gadgets which do relieve some stress. They're also nice in that they'll complete the job automatically if you don't close the door hard enough manually--similar to the power trunk-lids of old (& maybe new) Cadillacs.

I haven't had snow yet to try out the all-wheel drive, but the system does seem to help in the dry as well. I've found myself taking curves at higher speeds that I thought would be comfortable in a minivan. It handles exit ramps very nicely.

The big drawbacks are that the seats are still heavy and awkward to remove, the available rear seat TV is small and requires fixing the movable console in place, and the available navigation system looks tacked-on. The mileage hasn't lived up to my expectations or the EPA ratings yet. I'm holding out for improvements to the video system, hoping that they'll make a DVD version available.

All in all, the van is very comfortable. It's probably as close to what Audi would make if they were to make a minivan as is available. If I could get the A6 Avant or BMW wagon to hold enough, I'd still take that option, but since I can't I'm glad I got this van.

Update 1/17/02:
The van is now nearly one year old and I'm still very pleased with it. Other than our babysitter backing it through the garage door, I've had no items needing special maintenance, which is helping me build more confidence in Chrysler. I looked at the 2002 model at the auto show and don't find any major differences. Apparently, a DVD player is now available, as are power adjustable pedals. Otherwise it's just paint colors.