Cruise Control problems of the 2008 Chrysler Town & Country

The contact owns a 2008 Chrysler town and country. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the driver's side sliding door erroneously opened and closed independently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the defect was caused by severed wires of the wiring harness that were inside the sliding door. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact also stated that the vehicle would frequently fail to accelerate and the cruise control would independently activate. The vehicle was not diagnosed by the dealer or repaired. The manufacturer was notified and no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 88,000.

While traveling on four lane stretch of us23 south (north of au gres, mi) using cruise control, a vehicle approached from behind. I switched lanes hit the brakes to coast and the car decelerated. The other vehicle passed on my left after which, I hit the resume/accelerate function on the cruise control (a quick up push of the lever). The engine revved to 4-5,000 rpm to resume cruise speed of 55mph but once 55 was reached, the engine did not slow down. I applied the brakes and the engine did not slow down. I pumped brakes, pumped accelerator, pushed the cruise off button multiple times pushed the cruise control to decelerate multiple times. Nothing slowed the acceleration. I pressed the brakes and the car continued to accelerate. Finally I put the car in neutral and with the car continuing to rev at 4-5000rpm, I coasted to the side. I turned the car off and then back on and the car engine went right back to the same rpm. I turned the car off again and waited approx. Two minutes and when I restarted, it functioned normally. I have not tried the cruise control since. I have set an appointment with shuman Chrysler in walled lake, mi and they said they have never heard of this type of incident before. However I did see a similar incident with a quick internet search. This is a very dangerous situation. I can see how others driving could have had much worse results (think about the Toyota incidents). Please contact me for additional information and if you would like to inspect the car before it goes to the dealership. My wife and I are still driving the car, but not using the cruise control of course.

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.

While driving down the interstate I set the cruise control which broke from the steering column. It was hanging by the wires inside the steering column. After exiting the interstate I made a left turn. The cruise control stalk got entangled with the turn signal causing the steering wheel to become inoperable. My quick fix was to tape the cruise control stalk to the steering column until a new part could be ordered from the dealer. It was replaced in a timely manner by Chrysler.

Cruise control will shut off without warning. Vehicle must be restarted, which may or may not resolve the problem.

Beginning within weeks of purchase, cruise control will randomly not turn on; must restart engine to fix the problem. Also, when on, the cruise control may suddenly turn off, usually need to restart engine to get it to work again. All the above occurs on a regular basis, even after "repairs" by the dealership.