In the market for a 99-00-01 Caravan/New Yorker/Voyager

Right, the Town and Country, not the New Yorker. I wonder
where I pulled that from? Must be memories of the nightmare
'77 New Yorker that my dad once owned.

--Bert


"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
. The Chrysler version of the
> minivan is the Town & Country, not the New Yorker. If you wish to drive at
....snip...

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005, Bert Hochwald wrote:

> I'm interested in the V6 engines and have no real engine preference
> other than it not have alot of design or manufacture faults.

The 3.3 and 3.8 are durable, essentially bulletproof, largely trouble-free
Chrysler designs. The 3.0 is a somewhat more troublesome Mitsubishi design
but will also last a long time if carefully maintained.

> Since I have a '91 van, I'm used to night-driving with the equivalent of
> flashlights taped to the front of the car. The plastic lens-units are
> all discolored.

Yeah, the '96-'00 headlamps are even worse.

DS

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005, Bert Hochwald wrote:

> I have had to baby the 4-speed transmission along to keep it alive.
> Have they improved at all since '91?

Yes, QUITE a bit.

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005, Bert Hochwald wrote:

> Right, the Town and Country, not the New Yorker. I wonder where I
> pulled that from? Must be memories of the nightmare '77 New Yorker that
> my dad once owned.

Yeah, in the late '70s build quality was all over the map. If you got a
good one, you were all set to go, but if you got a bad one you were well
and truly screwed. Much like VW still today.

Dear Bob,

I just saw a '99 T&C being sold with 64K miles (private seller). Two
items that stuck
out at me and I have questions about:

1) The driver leather seat was quite worn looking with "crazing" in the
leather. The remaining seats were considerably better looking with the back
bench seat the best. Does yours have a crackled look?

2) I noticed a small puddle of transmission fluid under the car and I
could see evidence of leaks around the pan. Is this a common
fault? Easy fix?

I did notice that the headlight lenses were quite cloudy.
It was being sold for $7,900

Thanks,
Bert


"Bob Shuman" > wrote in message
...
> Bert,
>
> We have a '99 Town & Country Limited with 3.8L engine. It has been a very
> good vehicle, but is heavier than the earlier vans (we owned one of those
> too wit ha 3.3L engine) so gets a bit worse gasoline mileage. Both the
3.3L
> and the larger but nearly otherwise identical 3.8L engines are solid. I'd
> say the 3.8L is better for the larger size van. We would definitely buy
....snip...

Comments below.


"Bert Hochwald" > wrote in message
...
>
> Dear Bob,
>
> I just saw a '99 T&C being sold with 64K miles (private seller). Two
> items that stuck
> out at me and I have questions about:
>
> 1) The driver leather seat was quite worn looking with "crazing" in the
> leather. The remaining seats were considerably better looking with the
back
> bench seat the best. Does yours have a crackled look?

My 99 T&C does not have any cracking on any of the seats, but is garage
kept. My '96 Vision with leather has the cracking you describe on the
driver seat only and I think this is considered normal wear. I maintain all
my leather by using a conditioner at least once each year in the Spring
(Fall too when I get the chance.)

> 2) I noticed a small puddle of transmission fluid under the car and I
> could see evidence of leaks around the pan. Is this a common
> fault? Easy fix?

I have never had any of my Chrysler transmissions (6 vehicles over the last
14 years, 4 of which I still own) leak at all from the transmission pan or
body. I did just replace the transmission cooling lines on the 1996 Vision
as they were leaking. I also just had to fix these same lines on my son's
Saturn . Bottom line is you need to know where the leak is to determine the
cost to fix. I do know the trans pan is sealed with RTV from the factory,
but they sell a nice re-useable silicone metal gasket at the dealer that has
served me well on three different vehicles.
>
> I did notice that the headlight lenses were quite cloudy.

My vehicle's lenses are not cloudy at all, but lighting/visiblilty is still
poor.

> It was being sold for $7,900
>
> Thanks,
> Bert