Faults:

My 85 year-old mother's van has only 32,200 miles, but needs a new refrigeration compressor for a/c unit. This is a real discouragement to her as she just had to replace her a/c and heater in home ($7300) and lawn mower (1799). On her fixed income this is very difficult.

General Comments:

The van also had to have transmission line replaced while still under warranty.

Faults:

Constant coolant leak lasting until 50k. Two different dealers replaced radiator caps more times then I can remember. No dripping on pavement when parked. Finally replaced the water pump and that fixed it.

Uses lots of oil... 1 Qt every 500. Seems normal, last van did same thing.

Now I can't keep the serpentine belt in place when it rains. Puddles knock it off. Didn't start happening until I had the original belt replaced at 65K. Dealer says this is a know problem, but there isn't a recall or an offical fix. They are trying a couple of things. Chrysler says it isn't a safety issue. I guess they have never had the belt come off while taking a back road corner at 40 mph when the belt comes off and you lose the power steering and breaks.

General Comments:

I must be snake bit.

The last van (90 G.Voyager) I had lost its transmission three times in 60K miles. I was assured that the problem was behind them. The first time I had a problem with that car was just after the warranty ran out (figures)... I had to talk to a number of people at Chrysler to get them to cover that problem. Now with the serpentine issue, Chrysler is once again hiding behind the phone. At least the dealer is a stand up organization. I wish they sold Toyota's..

The van is for sale.

Too bad, we really liked it, had proven very reliable up till this, but I can't have my family at risk when in the rain or snow. Chrysler has shown once again not be in touch with their customer base.

Faults:

Trim pieces fall off randomly.

Engine smoking at 50,000.

Transmission replaced at 55,000 miles.

Wipers work - but all by themselves and at their own discretion.

Leather stitching is separating.

Lots of noises from looseness in body.

Clear coat peeling now - just started.

Radio may or may not play or give back our CD's.

Power windows do not work from the driver's door - other than the driver's window.

General Comments:

This is a beautiful vehicle, as are all Chrysler products. Chrysler has done much to improve the styling trends in automobiles in the last 10-15 years.

However, the overall quality and reliability problems with this van are astonishing. There has never been a time when everything worked at once - something is always going wrong.

My wife and I did a little survey. Every time we see a smoking vehicle, one of us will note the make and model. By now we have some results.

93% have been Chrysler vans (or variants)

2% have been other Chrysler products.

2% Have been Ford or GM.

1% Have been European.

2% Have been Japanese or Korean.

Come on! 93% of the smoking cars we have been Chrysler vans - and it is not limited to older vans. We have seen some new vans (1-5 years) doing the same thing. Do your own survey. There has to be something wrong here.

I think Chrysler products are just beautiful and we feel heart-broken that we must be afraid to buy another one. We have always had Ford Crown Vics. Though they may be boring, we have always been happy.