Faults:

When we bought the car, we were given only one key fob.

The key, of the same FOBIK type used by Mercedes-Benzes, cannot be duplicated except at the dealership unless you already possess two original keys. To duplicate them is expensive - over Php 10,000.

The button for the right side sliding door already malfunctions - it normally takes two presses of the button to open the door, but this key only takes a light press to open it. As a result, I have unintentionally opened the door while the car is parked.

The engine supports of the car have disintegrated, and are in urgent need of replacement, even though the car has only 35,000+ km on it.

The wireless headsets for the rear Vehicle Entertainment System are broken - the hinges that allow the earcups to swing are made of cheap plastic and the cups now hang loose.

The hinge for the passenger side upper glove compartment no longer allows the door to open fully.

General Comments:

The Town & Country lives up to its marketing blurb: "A living room on wheels".

There is no other family car/minivan on the market that affords this much interior space or flexibility for a family.

We come from a family that takes extended road trips, and were looking for a car that could seat 7 adults in comfort, while having the flexibility to occasionally haul cargo for our business. We cross-shopped with the Kia Carnival and the Honda Odyssey, but the former had limited cargo flexibility and the latter was too expensive and petrol-powered. The Town and Country offered a diesel and had the most interior 'toys' to boot, including its "Stow-N-Go" fold-flat seats, a power-folding 3rd row, and a vehicle entertainment system.

The engine lacks the refinement of other Korean or German diesels, but is adequate. The 6-speed auto already reaches 6th gear at 60km/h, which helps fuel consumption but robs the engine of accelerating power. Average economy is 12l/100km.

Dealer service is so-so and expensive, as it is handled by the Mercedes dealership in my country. I prefer to order my parts and have it serviced independently.

The ride is American-wafty, which is excellent for the poor quality of Philippine roads. Seat comfort for the 1st and 3rd rows are excellent for a minivan and a blessing for adults. The 2nd row seats are relatively thinly padded, but are adequate.

Don't expect sporty handling or excellent interior materials with this car. What you do get is great shoulder and legroom for all passengers, the ability to slide and recline the 1st and 2nd rows, and to recline the third row, and the most number of power features I've seen in a van. (Power seats, adjustable pedals, power doors, power tailgate, power windows for all rows, power mirrors, etc.)

Faults:

Nothing except a light bulb that took two minutes to replace.

General Comments:

This is, generally speaking, a good car. It's a tad quirky and the dealerships around here are pretty terrible. We chose the Chrysler for the stow and go seating and the general size of the van. The gas mileage isn't great around town, but it has good power, so there has to be a trade off someplace. The Chrysler transmission is clunk, but that's not a problem for me as long as it's reliable and will go for a long time. The rear A/C is a bonus since my wife hauls show dogs in the van.

Overall we really like the van and hope to drive it for a few years. The automatic doors and rear hatch are really cool. Once the seating is folded into the floors, there is a ton of storage in the van. The stereo is the best of any car we have ever owned.

The van does have a safety recall for the ignition switch. I called the local Dodge/Chrysler dealer and all they will say is that they will check and call me back, which they have yet to ever do. We bought our van from the Credit Union Auto Buying service and had a real good experience. But, the actual Chrysler dealer is a bad experience so far, which sadly is exactly what I had heard about them from other Dodge/Chrysler owners. I do all my own repairs, so fixing the van in the future shouldn't ever be a problem, but this factory safety recall is something they have to do, and so far they give every indication that they will never get it done.