Battery problems of the 2008 Chrysler Town & Country

Initially when I turned the vehicle on the entire instrument panel lit up and I had no gauges, nor could I open my windows or unlock my doors. I disconnected the battery and reconnected it and all the lights went off. A couple of weeks later, on June 1st, June 2nd and again on June 3rd, the instrument panel began lighting up, the wipers went on, the gauge turned off and the windows and doors would not work. This happened continuously the entire time I was driving the car. On June 2nd I again disconnected the battery in the hopes of resetting the computer and it seem to work again until June 3rd when it did it again. This time I was on the road with only my son and was not able to do anything. I hoped that it would stop on its own and it did. I has not happened today, yet. I contacted the dealer and have an appointment set for tomorrow. I am afraid to drive this vehicle, especially with my children in it, since this happens so randomly and from what I am reading it is happening to alot of other consumers, and some are complaining that the car totally shuts down and they have no power. This is a real safety concern!!!.

Drove vehicle successfully to location, then came back to vehicle to open doors with remote. Pressed open sliding door on remote, the vehicle instantly started a continuous honk and the windshield wipers and fluid started to go off. I was unable to unlock vehicle until it finally stopped 5 minutes later. I was able to turn it on and drive home. Then it occurred again in the afternoon but this time my kids were locked inside in the heat. Finally able to unlock and get kids out, neighbor got the hood open and disconnected battery. Very scared that they could be locked in there again in this heat. I did call Chrysler and awaiting a resolution.

We have been continuously hassled with electrical issues with our van. For approximately 4 months we have been experiencing brief issues with all the lights coming on in the gauge cluster along with a pulsing of the dashboard lights and the resetting of the electrical components randomly in the van. We replaced the battery and the issue seemed to go away. After 2-3 weeks it started up again. Me and my family were driving down a highway for about 30 minutes when the cluster gauge suddenly started beeping and all the lights began to flash on and off, the speedometer and tachometer dropped to 0, the radio turned on and off multiple times and the engine shut down briefly while driving on the highway. Immediately after the problem began I pulled off the road and restarted the car, the problem was gone! two days later my wife was taking our kids to school, and after less than 5 minutes of driving the car she experienced the exact same issues. This time before she made it off the road there was a complete loss of power, the brakes stopped working and the steering wheel completely locked up, she was unable to make it to the side of the road! again after a immediate restart the problem went away. We contacted the dealer and we were told that if they could not recreate the problem, there was nothing they could do to fix it. This is a issue because the problem happens randomly. We are aware that this problem has plagued a very large group of consumers and the dealer does nothing but repair random parts because they cannot properly recreate the problem due to its randomness. I feel the problem could easily cause a fatality if the steering wheel locks up at high speed or while turning!.

This car has been nothing but problems since the moment I bought it. It is so aggravating that Chrysler won't own up to the issues with these cars. Aside from the multiple recalls this car has had in three years, the break system is awful. I had replaced the front breaks and rotors around 28000 miles (maybe earlier I can't remember). Now the back breaks are shot and once again, I will need breaks and rotors that will cost me $375 according to the dealer. My car has 38,000 miles on it. I have owned Mini vans in the past and many cars and never have I had to replace both front and rear break pads/rotors this soon. My tires are so bald that all four need replacing. Again, I have never had to replace tires this soon on any of my vehicles over the years. The radio sometimes will not come on or will go black. The factory battery needed replacing at 30,000 miles which was extremely unusual as well. The side doors need to manually be closed when exiting vehicle because if I use the automatic switch, they bounce back. I have come out of stores with my doors wide open. When using the cruise control on the highway, the car with suddenly accelerate with rpms going into the red zone. Only way to stop it is to turn off cruise control. This morning on my way to work pulling out of my neighborhood I heard a grinding sound as the car began breaking on its own. Meanwhile the ebs and abs lights came on. I pulled over, shut off the car and turned it back on. Drove up the road and lights are still on. This car is junk all around. I have only had it for three years, still have a car payment. Ridiculous. I may just lease next time. That way Chrysler can pay for repairs.

Beginning in 2010, both rear sliding doors began malfunctioning. When opened either with the remote or inside button, they begin to open and when most of the way open, close on its own. It started out doing it infrequently, about once every 50 times the door was opened. Over the last year it has become more frequent, doing it about once every few days or so. Once in 2010, my 3 year old daughter was getting out and the door malfunctioned and caught her in between, causing a bruise on her face. For some reason the door did not "bounce back" when it made contact with her, but thankfully I was standing there and was able to manually force the door back open. This year, the door again malfunctioned and almost caught my 8 yr old, but he managed to get out of the way. I have taken it to the dealer twice for this and both times they told me it is functioning fine. The first time I picked it up from the dealer I tested the door. I opened and shut it about 15 times and it malfunctioned. I went inside to get the repair tech to show him and when it didn't happen again he told me there was nothing he could do. When I brought the van in again to have them look at it the second time, they again told me it was functioning fine and that since my van needed a new battery that they thought the battery was the problem. The door did it again that night and again after that three days later. I contacted them twice about it again, asking them if I video taped it if they would believe me and figure out what was wrong. They told me it wouldn't matter and that they would need to keep it until they saw it. They had my van this last time for 5 days! I had to pay $217 for a rental because they didn't find anything. This is dangerous! I have four children getting in and out everyday. I don't have the money for rentals for an unspecified amount of time, but this is dangerous and needs to get fixed!.

2008 Chrysler Town & Country does not start. From Thursday 01/22/2009 to Monday 01/26/2009, this occurred on three occasions. It was verified the battery was holding a charge, the second time, the battery was replaced. We have owned this vehicle for 3 days and it is in the shop for the third time.

Keyless remote (peanut) would not open vehicle; needed to use 'emergency key' to access vehicle; was able to start vehicle with peanut key. Changed battery, still does not function properly. Within one week, second keyless remote had same problem. Dealer repaired one peanut and ordered one new peanut. Within 2 hours of "repair" remote has same problem, again. Returned to dealership, got new remote that had been ordered, and another new remote was ordered. At this time we are waiting for second new remote. Service manager has treated us very well and compensated us, at least partially, for well over 500 miles of trips to/from dealership.