I had an accident this week and damaged my 2007 Chrysler Town and Country. A car I bought new almost exactly 8 years ago today. As I absolutely need a van and it must have a flat floor on the interior the Chrysler (or Dodge) van with Sto-and-go interior is a must and a call to my Insurance company got me a 2015 Chrysler Town and Country sitting in the driveway.
Hoo-Boy talk about a technological mind game! The amount of electronics is mind bending. I had to get instructions as to how to turn on the heater so I can drive it.
The only thing similar to my 2007 is they both have 4 wheels.
The engine is overhead cam and a 6 speed transmission. VS. Push Rods and a 4 speed automatic. There is no comparison.
The engine spends city traffic time shifting gears a lot. Face it a small 3.5 engine vs all that weight. It is much faster and quicker (yes there is a difference) than my 2007. Part of that is 100 more hp. The other part is a hand full of gears to get it to move from a dead stop faster.
It has a feature my Saturn did, an economy vs performance button to change shift points. It works like my Saturn did and I like it. But that is about the only thing that directly compares.
It also has a back up camera, a feature I did not expect to say anything good about, but the car is a big car and it lets me park in small parking spots a whole lot easier than I thought I could. So I will take back my negative comments.
I still do not know how half the things work but some of the features I really am not fond of. On my 2007 there is a **** for heater fan, you can feel the indents and know where things are. Wigh levers sliding through notched positions to set the heat. On the video display board of the 2015 you have to manually push a button and look at the display to see what the doggon thing is doing. A little sporty in traffic. Not a fan. 'Specially when you shut the car off and remove the key it resets to default values.
Am I impressed? You betcha, a ton of electronics! But am I pleased? Not really but technology getting better is a way things are going and the cost of advanced electronics is really fairly cheap.
I have never seen this much advancement over a 7 or 8 year time base. It has been hard getting used to it. But and there is always a but, if I can not get mine put back together I will be forced to replace it, a cost I had no programed into my budget so I had better get used to some things.
MERRY CHRISTMAS.

 

Unc. Pull out the owner's manual and check online for your model. If it has voice command capabilities, there will be a corresponding voice command for pretty much anything you can command through the display.

This lets you keep your eyes on the road and not on the LED panel of confusion.

The voice thing is activated by a switch on the steering wheel. Most people only learn 8 to 10 command phrases but once you memorize the required input format you can pretty much guess at the others w success. On the Ford Sync system there are supposedly 10,000 commands, 9000 of which will never be used. But the other 1000 satisfy the needs of 99% of the owners

 

It probably came with a video disc instead of an owners manual. At least, my 2013 200 did. BUT, there's an 800 number in the information that you can call and get a paper owners manual. That's what I did. And I used it to shut the service manager up when he told me I had to come in every 3,000 miles for oil changes or my lifetime drivetrain warranty would be void. I pulled the owners manual and showed him where it CLEARLY states that the oil change is to be every 10,000 miles or once per year. He didn't have anything else to say and turned around and walked off. Get that paper manual and READ that sum beech. How's Val doing?

 

It won't have all the possible voice commands but should have a layout of the syntax of a command....

And what the hell good is a DVD owner's manual by the side of the road when you have some strange unrecognizable dash light blinking? Saving money is one thing, hosing your customers is another...

 

Umm!
I went to check the manual (remember this is a rental) and it was missing.
A lot of good that thing did.

And voice commands, come on, they don't work on the kids, much less a used car.

And video instead of an owner's manual?
That is smart, one more thing to loose and also considering I have no use for a video in my car, 1 I would not pay extra for a car with one and two would never use one even if it came with the thing.
Thee I am trying to turn on the damned heater and I need to play a video to figure it out?
Who actually that has read an owners manual has the slightest desire to watch a movie based on a book..
Phoo!!
Not everyone who buys a car buys a new car with an owners manual still in it. I have yet to own a used car that still has had the manual in it.
But I must remember, the manufactures concern stops cold at the end of the warranty.
And the poor dealer, they are lost in limbo on it.
I stopped by a dealer to see what they had In used cars just in case I could not get my Chrysler repaired and the salesman got really upset when I told him I was not remotely interested in riding around in a golf car looking at vans. If I wanted to LOOK at a van I could look at the rental I drove in with.
I wanted to see only and I repeat only those that did NOT have leather and did hafe sto and go interior.
His response was do you mean you want me to check inventory?
And I said yes.
And that up set him.
Big deal, that is his job.
If he wants to sell me a car, let him work at it a bit.

 

How old was he?

Kids and cars are different.
When the car misbehaves, you can turn it off.

 

I'd have jerked a knot in his ***. Lazy car salesmen DO NOT get to sell me a car. When I bought my 200, I put that poor guy through the ringer and he knew his stuff. I was somewhat impressed with him and I'm someone that is not easily impressed. By ANYONE. Remember Fred Thompson? I knew him before he got famous and was NOT impressed one bit. Met a lot of country stars over the years in Nashville and was NOT impressed.

 

I love Dodge/Chrysler vans in that you can put all the seats in the floor. Here are some suggestions for you if you're looking for alternatives to the Starship Enterprise you have now.

2005-2009 Nissan Quest. Kinda weird on the outside. Back seat tumbles into a well in the back. Middle seats fold and squash down somewhat flat. Heard they have a good ride. CVT transmission. Don't see to many on the road. Take that for what it's worth.

1998-2002 Toyota Sienna. Bulletproof drivetrain. Seats don't stow onboard, hope you have a garage, but with them out it has a flat floor. Little on the narrow side, "mini" in minivan. High resale/used value.

2003-2007 Toyota Sienna. More boring Toyota reliability. Available AWD. Rear seat stows, middle seats are garage queens. High resale/used value.

I would stay away from Honda Odysseys. I would also steer clear of Hyundai's offerings. Not much to recommend after that. All the companies went SUV crazy for hauling stuff instead of minivans. I don't know how big of a box you're looking for, but a Honda Element or Kia Soul might be alternatives too.

 

Unc

If you get the Soul, they give you a discount on a hamster suit...

Oh the imagery

 

I was surprised when I bought the 92 (RIP) it still had the original owners manual.....also had the original bill of sale and dealer window tags. I should have kept the stuff.
I know I am only 22, but I swear I am an old soul.
I am not a fan of all the new technology out. My girlfriend has a 13 Ford Edge. Granted, it is nice. But there is just to much going on in the dash. Not enough character with all the digital stuff going on.


Also, to touch base on "kids" these days. Again, I am the baby of this family, I know that.
But people are beyond spoiled and selfish. They don't know what its like having to do physical labor, or having to earn money for what they want.
Doing something extra these days is a chore. I know we all have lazy days, but seriously, not everything in life is going to be handed out on a silver platter.
The generation I am growing up in more than disgusts me.
If you guys like physically knew me, and hung out with me on a daily basis, you would probably think I belonged in the 70s/80s.
For some reason that generation seems to have their crap together (I don't mean to offend anyone by that statement, its a general statement, not trying to pin point anyone).