Mother Proof's view

I’m a hypocrite when it comes to minivans. I don’t want to own one, but every time a minivan comes through the doors at MotherProof.com’s global headquarters, I jump at the chance to drive it. Huh? For me, a minivan is a vehicular vacation; it takes no effort to open or close its doors, and it has fun features and plenty of space for the whole family. The 2009 Chrysler Town & Country I tested is no exception to this experience; however, it’s more of an all-inclusive resort as opposed to a vacation I’d plan on my own.

With minivans, I’ve learned that I just need to forgive the not-so-great ride quality and move on already, but the Town & Country could use a little updating in this department. The vehicle feels top-heavy and roly-poly on turns. This is not a new issue for me, and I hate to harp on Chrysler about it. But can we work that out already? Thank you.

The Town & Country has a V-6 engine and plenty of power for merging onto the highway. This minivan runs on regular gas and gets an EPA-estimated 17/25 mpg city/highway.

The Town & Country does a good job of hauling the family around, and the kids enjoyed its slew of features. However, there are some tricky issues that crop up when some of the Town & Country’s family-friendly features are in place. When the second row’s Swivel ‘N Go seats (the second-row captain’s chairs turn to face the rear) are swiveled, I had a hard time seeing out the back window. Some of the family-friendly features can’t be used when the car is in motion (I’m looking at you Swivel N’ Go seats and stowable table for the second and third rows).

Now that I think about it, the Town & Country is the perfect vehicle for your staycation. After paying $44,430 for the fully-loaded Town & Country, a staycation might be just what the pocketbook ordered.

Exterior

The Town & Country still looks like a mailbox, but this mom’s gotten used to its looks. I’m not overly passionate about its looks one way or the other, and I mean that from a “design-is-usually-important-to-me-but-I’m-willing-to-overlook-it-if-the-functionality-is-phenomenal” sort of way.

I have to offer some serious praise for the Town & Country’s power liftgate, power-sliding rear passenger doors and its key fob that lets me open them with the touch of a button. This is actually my second test-drive of the Town & Country (read my review of the 2008 Town & Country here), and my kids were still enthralled by the power-sliding door buttons. By the end of the test drive, the novelty had finally wore off.

While I love the power doors and liftgate, I do have an issue with the minivan’s running boards. The Town & Country sat low enough to the ground that the running boards seemed unnecessary. If I used the running board to step into the minivan, my head would hit the doorjamb. If I didn’t use the running board, I bonked my legs on it all the time.

SENSE AND STYLE

Family Friendly (Not Really, Fair, Great, Excellent): Excellent

Fun-Factor (None, Some, Good Times, Groove-On): Good Times

Interior

What makes the Town & Country the perfect car for your staycation? The features alone make it a marvel that could easily rival your local amusement park. It has cupholders, input jacks, power outlets for video games or other items, satellite TV, Swivel ‘N Go seats, third-row tailgating seats, a power sunroof, two DVD players, iPod interface, Bluetooth, interior ambient lighting, removable flashlight (genius!), stowable table, extendable front center console (see video below) and an overhead console with bins that stretches from windshield to tailgate, giving it the feel of the overhead bins on an airplane (which my kids loved). The Town & Country has all these features, yet lacks a telescoping steering wheel. That’s right; it’s got satellite TV but no telescoping steering wheel. Sheesh.

For as much as I might complain about the Town & Country’s features overload, my kids were overjoyed by them and are in total denial that a minivan won’t be our next car. They loved that the second-row windows roll down. They loved that the test car had integrated booster seats, which is my son’s favorite new phrase. My daughter (who’s dying to be older already) loves that she can ride around “and no one knows I’m in a booster seat!” The Town & Country’s second-row captain’s chairs also allow for easy third-row access. There was no flipping, folding or shuffling to get back there. Nice.

This is where I have to complain. The Swivel ‘N Go seats cannot be used in the rear-facing position with any child-safety seats because of safety issues, but kids who are out of booster seats and adults can ride in the rear-facing seats. (Or you can purchase the $225 integrated booster seats, which can be used with the Swivel ‘N Go seats facing the back. You also can’t have the table in place while the minivan is moving, and the third-row seats can’t be in the tailgating position while moving either. Again, this is for safety reasons, which I fully support and abide by. However, explaining the rules to my kids every time we went somewhere in the Town & Country was exhausting. To appease my kids, I promised they could play a game of Connect Four on the table while the minivan sat in the garage.

Another complaint is the Town & Country didn’t fit me well; I’m 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and everything was just out of reach. That’s not to say that everything must be reachable, but Chrysler should at least make the important things easier to reach. For instance, don’t place the rearview mirror a million miles away from the driver’s seat. I also had problems with the not-so-handy conversation mirror; it gave me an excellent view of the front passenger seat instead of the rear of the minivan. Lastly, I couldn’t seem to get the power-adjustable pedals, steering wheel and driver’s seat in a comfortable position. I was constantly adjusting the seat the duration of my test drive.

What I loved about the Town & Country is it has a place for my purse, which is between the center stack and the center console. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I also loved all the real estate between my kids in the back, which meant there was much less griping and bickering than usual. This may be the real reason that I love to sneak a minivan into my daily life; I’d do anything for some peace and quiet from the second-row occupants.

There’s plenty of cargo space in the Town & Country. When the third row is up, there’s a deep bin for storing all the bags from a serious grocery run.

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT

Storage Compartments (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Galore Plus

Cargo/Trunk Space (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Galore Plus

Safety

Since the Town & Country has features galore in every other aspect of its being, the safety department should shine as well, right? Absolutely. Its standard features include side curtain airbags for all three rows; antilock brakes; traction control; stability control; and a backup camera.

The Town & Country also has three sets of Latch connectors, which were easy to reach. However, some minivans offer as many as four sets.

Because the Town & Country is so long, I had visibility problems when I looked out the rear window. The backup camera helps, but it’s those blind spots that really got me. You can add the Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross Path accident-avoidance systems on the Touring and Limited models. They work, but they take a little getting used to.

When using the blind spot monitoring system, an orange triangular light in the side mirrors illuminates and a chime sounds when a car is in your blind spot. The system would chime whenever I turned my turn signal on. This became annoying because the system muted my music to sound the chime. I’m a very liberal blinker user, which made the system a bit overbearing, but I was glad to have it in this car nonetheless.

FAMILY LIFESTAGE

In Diapers: Easily accessible Latch connectors, but I was surprised there were only three of them.

In School: The power-sliding rear passenger doors and bucket seats in the second row kept my kids mellow like Jell-O.

Teens: There’s plenty of room for them and their stuff, but there may not be enough room for their egos if they don’t want to be seen in a minivan.