2012 Chrysler Town & Country Review and Prices

Styling: Cosmetic changes to the 2012 Chrysler Town & Country are minor. On the outside, new color choices include True Blue, Cashmere Pearl, and Crystal Blue. Inside, leather seating is now standard across the model range and there’s a new Sapphire Blue lighting scheme. The top-line 2012 Town & Country Limited model also gets a leather- and wood-trimmed steering wheel.

Otherwise, the 2012 Chrysler Town & Country’s styling carries over with the changes made as part of its model-year 2011 midcycle refresh. That tweaked this minivan’s front and rear styling for a slightly more sophisticated look. It also gave the interior a more handsome appearance with richer-feeling materials throughout.

The 2012 Town & Country retains the same basic profile and dimensions that came on board with this minivan’s model-year 2008 redesign. While some minivans, notably the Honda Odyssey and Nissan Quest, reach for some visual flair, the 2012 Chrysler Town & Country remains its slab-sided self.

Rigid-looking though it may be, the boxy shape helps maximize interior room, and its large rectangular windows create an expansive feeling inside and furnish good outward visibility.

As with all other minivans, the 2012 Chrysler Town & Country features sliding doors on both sides and a wide rear liftgate for easy cargo loading and unloading. The sliding doors feature roll-down windows and, like the liftgate, offer a power open/close feature. A unique Stow ‘n Place roof rack system allows the roof bows to be stored in the side rails when not in use. That improves durability and highway-speed aerodynamics, which in turn helps fuel economy.

The 2012 Chrysler Town & Country comes in three levels of trim: base-model Touring, better-equipped Touring L, and top-of-the-line Limited.

Finally, note that yet a third version of this same basic van -- albeit with its own exterior and interior treatments and suspension tuning -- is marketed as the 2012 Volkswagen Routan.

Mechanical: The 2012 Chrysler Town & Country is unchanged under the hood after receiving Chrysler’s Pentastar” V-6 as part of its model-year 2011 revamp. Named in honor of the company’s five-point logo, this engine appears in several other Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep models. The 3.6-liter V-6 is the 2012 Town & Country’s only engine and delivers a class-leading 283 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. A smooth shifting six-speed automatic is the only transmission Its shift lever is mounted next to the steering wheel and features a separate gate for manual-type gear control.

The 2012 Chrysler Town & Country is front-wheel drive. That places the engine and transmission over the tires that also propel the vehicle, which benefits packaging and wet-surface traction. The Toyota Sienna is the only minivan to offer all-wheel-drive in addition to front-wheel drive. All-wheel drive does provide added traction on wet or snowy roads, but accounts for few sales and isn’t likely to be offered on the Town & Country or Grand Caravan during this current design generation.  

The 2012 Chrysler Town & Country includes a full list of standard safety features, including antilock brakes to help maintain control in sudden stops. As mandated by federal regulation, antiskid electronic stability control is also included to help prevent sideways slides in extreme handling situations.

Features: A single-screen rear-seat DVD entertainment system is newly standard on the 2012 Chrysler Town & Country Touring and Touring L models. A rear DVD system with two screens -- one positioned for viewing by the second seating row, the other for viewing by the third row -- remains optional on the Touring L and standard on the Limited.

The 2012 Chrysler Town & Country seats seven passengers via dual front buckets, a pair of second-row buckets, and a three-place third-row bench. The Town & Country, along with the Grand Caravan, have exclusive use of Chrysler’s Stow ‘n Go seating arrangement. It’s standard on all models and allows the second-row buckets to fold completely into wells in the floor; as in other minivans, the third-row bench also flips into a rear floor well to create a flat cargo load surface long and wide enough to carry 4x8 sheets of building materials.

The second- and third-row seats can also fold away in individual segments for maximum flexibility. In rival minivans, owners have to physically remove the second-row seats or, at the least, fold the seatbacks, to free up carrying capacity. With the Town & Country’s second-row seats in their upright position, the central floor wells become dual covered storage bins.

The knock on Stow ‘n Go is that its fold-into-the-floor design makes necessary rather thinly constructed second-row seats. For buyers who want more thickly padded second row seats and are willing to sacrifice the fold-into-the-floor feature, the 2012 Town & Country Touring L and Limited models are optionally available with heftier buckets that are fixed in place. (The central floor wells are retained as covered storage.)

The 2012 Chrysler Town & Country comes with an array of airbags, including seat-mounted side-impact bags for front occupants and head-protecting side-curtain airbags for outboard positions of all three seating rows. An available blind-spot alert system warns the driver of vehicles in adjacent lanes that might escape notice in a side mirror and also of vehicles approaching from the sides when backing out of parking spaces or a garage.

Families will find no shortage of entertainment, connectivity, and convenience features available for the 2012 Chrysler Town & Country. Standard features include a rear backup camera for easier and safer parking, power adjustable brake and accelerator pedals, and a CD audio system that incorporates a 30- gigabyte hard drive for digital media storage.

Other available premium features include multiple-zone automatic climate controls, a voice-activated GPS navigation system, premium audio system with USB iPod and Bluetooth hands-free phone connectivity, heated front and rear seats, a heated steering wheel, keyless push-button entry/start. A dealer-installed accessory turns the minivan into a rolling WiFi hot spot so passengers can connect to the Internet via their laptop computers, iPads, iPods, and other enabled devices. This option requires a paid data plan.