"Stow and Go" Chrysler..........

[Pete]

I know that I'm not the only person on the board that has a mini van in the drivway. Actually, we have two. If your in the market for a mini van due to an expanding family, a quick heads up on the new Town & Country "stow and go". I found one thing that I think will cause some injuries or deaths over time with the van.

Your normal mini van generally has the spare tire mounted just in front of the rear bumper under the van. The under carrage of the stow & go is one of the oddest things I've seen in some time, right down to the spare tire mounted under the van, directly under the front seats:doh:

With the van on all four, you have to lay down, and parcially get under the van to drag it out. With a tire flat, you lose some ground clearance to start with. Are you expected to put it up on the cheesy jack they give you and crawl under?? I haven't had a chance to check out the jacking instructions, but even if they expect you to hook it and drag it out with the jack crank rod, that can be a bit hairy on the side of the road.

Now I'm not saying that the ladies out there can't change a tire, but would you want your wife, or maybe and older family member having to deal with this. I would be twice as pizzed if I got a flat, and then had to deal with that.

Just seems that they have added more danger to a situation that has many safety issues to start with. I'd say a set of "Run Flat" tires, or a cel phone and AAA are in order. Now, I can't ccondem the vehicle completely for this one flaw as I see it, but it's something to think about if your lookin at them.

:cool:

[skinsfanjoe]

That's the first time I have heard anything negative about the new town and country. The Detroit Free Press gave it a great review. Beside, most people have triple A and don't change their own flats anyway.

[TC4]

If I was gonna check out a Chrysler, I would wanna check this new 2005 Chrysler 300 with the 340 HP Hemi under the hood

[Oldskool]

Originally posted by TC4

If I was gonna check out a Chrysler, I would wanna check this new 2005 Chrysler 300 with the 340 HP Hemi under the hood

my friend, who is single by the way and drives a 1997 Dodge Ram, is about 2 seconds away from talking himself into selling his truck and buying this. Its not a bad looking vehicle IRL.

[Pete]

Originally posted by skinsfanjoe

That's the first time I have heard anything negative about the new town and country. The Detroit Free Press gave it a great review. Beside, most people have triple A and don't change their own flats anyway.

Actually Joe, most folks don't have a motor club for road service. Having been in towing and recovery for about 8 years total at two shops, you do about 50 50 between cash and motor clubs.

The van itself is as good as any Chrysler product out there. Real nice vans. They have dead space in the left wall in the rear. Enough to fit an uninflated space saver spare. Instead, it's wasted space behind the wall and arm rest.

The other thing with road services , is down time. At rush hour, you could have to wait well over an hour for a flat repair. I had the misfortune of having my van die in the turn lane at a major intersection. I was blocking the lane, with nowhere to push the van off the road. traffic was backed up over a mile behind me in a matter of about 20 minutes. The best AAA could do was 1 hour and 45 minutes...........and I was a "high priority" call. Another thing to remember. It's up to the tow operator to determin if it's unsafe to change the tire in the location of the break down. If he chooses to tow you off say, a highway to a secondary road that is safer, you could be hit with a nice little bill. AAA gives you 5 miles towing. After the 5, you pay. If you break down in a construction zone, your getin towed.

There's only one way to get a motor club out faster.

Tell them that you have very young children or an infant with you. When the driver shows up, you tell them you had whoever come and get the kids;)

Again, I don't condem the van. Hell, the company I work for sells new converted Chrysler mini vans. While I'm not a fan of the marque for many reasons, their good quality for the money.

[skinsfanjoe]

That 300c is one cool ride. My wife fell in love with that thing as soon as she saw it. I'd rather have the 2005 Dodge Magnum myself.

[skinsfanjoe]

Originally posted by Pete

Actually Joe, most folks don't have a motor club for road service. Having been in towing and recovery for about 8 years total at two shops, you do about 50 50 between cash and motor clubs.

The van itself is as good as any Chrysler product out there. Real nice vans. They have dead space in the left wall in the rear. Enough to fit an uninflated space saver spare. Instead, it's wasted space behind the wall and arm rest.

The other thing with road services , is down time. At rush hour, you could have to wait well over an hour for a flat repair. I had the misfortune of having my van die in the turn lane at a major intersection. I was blocking the lane, with nowhere to push the van off the road. traffic was backed up over a mile behind me in a matter of about 20 minutes. The best AAA could do was 1 hour and 45 minutes...........and I was a "high priority" call. Another thing to remember. It's up to the tow operator to determin if it's unsafe to change the tire in the location of the break down. If he chooses to tow you off say, a highway to a secondary road that is safer, you could be hit with a nice little bill. AAA gives you 5 miles towing. After the 5, you pay. If you break down in a construction zone, your getin towed.

There's only one way to get a motor club out faster.

Tell them that you have very young children or an infant with you. When the driver shows up, you tell them you had whoever come and get the kids;)

Again, I don't condem the van. Hell, the company I work for sells new converted Chrysler mini vans. While I'm not a fan of the marque for many reasons, their good quality for the money.

Thanks for the info Pete. :thumbsup: I don't have triple A but it sure seems like I know a lot of people that do. There is no way that I would pay to wait an hour an a half for a tire change. That's ridiculous.:laugh:

[Pete]

I should actually make myself a bit clearer on responce times from towing companies as I know it. It all comes down to what they have on the active sheet at the time your call comes in. Calls with little kids in the mix always got highest priority. Blocking traffic , and recoveries are next. Next comes "no starts" being you have a chance to get it back to the shop for the repair. Then comes the rest of the stuff, flats, lock outs, out of gas.

The drunk who locked his keys in the car, and is calling at 2:30 am, is gonna wait.....and wait......and wait...............an.........

If it's slow at the time of your break down, odds are a truck will be there quickly. It also has to do with saturation of towing companies in the area. A rainy rush hour, is qonna be busy more times then not every where in the country. Ya just gotta get a little luck, and dispatchers that are on the ball. What we get here in FL, is way beyond substandard compared to the shops in NY and Ct that I ran. Never once did a person wait more then 45 minutes for service in the three an a half years I ran the shop.

We didn't have all the wireless goodies we have now to help back then. Pagers and two way radios for the most part. Maps, no GPS.

All this being said, AAA is a good thing to have. You would be wise to go with AAA +, being you get 100 miles of towing. Towing your vehicle on a saturday night 30 miles, can cost a fortune. I never needed a motor club, but once I got married I got it for my wife. When I switched jobs, we got it for free. It's come in handy more then once.

If my wife would catch on and call them instead of me, I'd much happier in the long run.......