Chevy Uplander Vs. Chrysler/Dodge Minivan

Love my Town and Country. The stow n go and auto doors are so great and we have not had any problems with it.

We bought a 2008 Uplander recently, I love it, it drives well and has great pick-up. I don't know much about the town and country, but when we bought ours, the dealer told us that the US postal system has bought up all of the new Uplander's because they are such a good van.

We've had 3 different Chryslers (2 Town & Country's and 1 Grand Caravan). We love them! Our kids love them, too. We haven't had any major vehicle maintenance -- my husband just loves to buy & sell vehicles. We tried going without a minivan after we sold the first one & had to buy another one in a few months. They're comfortable & easy to drive.

Hope that helps!

I just recently got a 01 dodge grand caravan sport and I just love it, I've had a Pont montana before it, I would take the dodge over that one anyday.

S.

We are trying to unload an '05 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT that has been nothing but trouble. I don't know if we got a lemon or what but it started self destructing at 20,000 miles and has just about finished at almost 50K mi. Avoid this year and model if at all possible.

Hi T.!!

I am not sure what the features of the Chevy Uplander are but I do have to say that the Stow & Go seats of the T&C are awesome. We bought our T&C in 2005 and it is still running strong. I love that fact that we can stow the a middle seat - as we have 3 kids under 5 and they all need help getting buckled in. Though we have to crawl up in help with this task, it is really not that bad. Also, we have found that the comfort of the T&C is great as well.
I think it will come down to how you will be using your van and what features are most important to you. I just know that being able to adjust the seating by storing it on a moments notice is an awesome feature.
We have also been able to pack a lot of things in the van while doing some serious furniture shopping without the children, fitting 3 major pieces in and on top of the van.
Hope this helps. Good luck to you!
K. O

I have a 2005 Town and Country. First make sure that your used Chysler isn't one of the one's that had tranny issues (From my own research, I think it was pre-2005 AWD vehicles, but make sure).

I really like the van. It has Stow and Go seating, where the seats fold into the floor, which is super convenient if we are running down to the park with a bike or two. Auto doors all around, entertainment system, etc. all the goodies you would expect to find. Ours is a 2005, has 79,000 and we bought it used two years ago, with 49,000. Have had no problems at all, except a sensor in the emissions system. My only wish is that it was AWD (I know, I know, I just said avoid AWD in this make) because I am often driving alone and miss the confidence an AWD vehicle gives me. Very comfortable driver. My fave feature is probably the heated seats LOL!

We purchased a Chrysler Town and Country last spring. I like the way it drives. Watch out though, it has a lot of blind spot areas. It does have a rear camera, very helpful.
Our kids enjoy the 2 DVDs. My older 2 sit in the back and watch a PG-13 movie while my younger 2 can watch their movie. Love the earphones and their holders.
I also love how the seats tucks away or how much space in there is to store things during long road trips.

I was in your same position a year ago - had to go the mini van route for functionality. I aswell, reluctantly went with a 2009 Uplander that we bought with 30K miles for $15,000!!!!!! I don't think it is the best looking mini-van out there, but for the price, you can hardley pass it up. It has a DVD and TV, and automatic sliding doors, so as far as I'm concerned it serves he purpose.....any other features seem to be excessive, esp. when you condsider the larger price tag or more miles you've got on your other 2 options, even when it's a used one. The only thing I can reccommend is to NOT get a model that has the cup holder attached to the one seat in the second row. It makes navigting thru the center aisle a bit tighter. Nevertheless, we find ourselves filling every cup holder (a total of 8 throughout the car) every time we have a long drive and I have 3 kids- 5, 4 and 2 years old. Hope this helps!

Hello T...We just went through this in January. We have had a chevy venture for the past 7 yrs and it was a wonderful van, but the miles were so high(doctor's,hospital's,vacations,work) and the turning signals no longer worked, and when it rained it leaked so reluntantly we need to purchase a safer newer vehicle. We looked at both chevy and chryler/dodge vans and although we liked them both most of the uplanders we looked at had high miles for the price(hopefully you will be luckier). We ended up buying a 2007 dodge grand caravan lx..One of the features we love is the automatic doors. When you have a diaper bag, a baby in a car seat, and for that baby medical equipment in your hand the touch of a button on your key ring comes in very handy~it also can open the trunk. There are also buttons inside to do the same functions~both near the console and the actual side doors which my 8 year loves. plus if you cloes the door and it does not close tight it will finish closing. Ours also has dual climate control~so if the driver is burning up and the front psr is freezing,the driver can have cool air blowing on them while the passenger is being heated. The Steering wheel has cruise control plus controls for the radio,you can change the station and turn up and down the volume all be the steering wheel..our van has 3 power outlets(2 up front and one in the middle section~which is nice for my 8 yr old and her games). we also have stow and go seating. Can pack the seats down flat or use the space for storage,and there is a big stroage drawer under the front psg seat.we get pretty good mpg(although not sure what it is).Our van seat 7 and the cpt seats have the latch system for car seats. Our van came with an automatic starter9again with a touch of the key ring)which comes in handy on cold winter mornings..but i am not sure that is standard..one thing that drives me crazy is that the lights do not come on or turn off automatically~our chevy's lights were automatic..so I have to remember to turn them on and off and sometimes when it is still light out I tend to forget thinking they are already on and at least it beeps if you forget to turn them off or leave your keys in the inition. Aslo it beeps, and will continue to beep if the front driver and psg seatbealts are not fastened..until you refasten it will not turn off...which is kind of annoying if you mail box is about a block away from your house and you don't refasten for that short distance..we got ours for a fair price for lower miles. Good luck and I hope some of the is info helps~K.

I own a Town and Country and love it! I have 3 year old twins and a 6 year old and they fit comfortably. I like it because you can store a seat in the floor. I always keep a stroller in the very back and storing the seat in the floor gives me room for my groceries. I have an older model (2007), but the newer ones have a lot more features that would be cool to have (2 DVD players and swivel chairs with a table).

I definitely recommend a Town and Country!

I suggest not getting a Chevy Uplander, we have one and have had nothing but issues. Good luck!

I do not know about the GM, Although my sister has a ten years old now grand caravan, loaded everything still works. When the rocky river flooded over its banks she got caught in a flash flood the do not enter signs had already washed away. So water water everywhere, three feet atleast the aircleaner is at a lowest point facing the road so no no run sucking up water,well we took everything out washed out mud replaced saturated air filter sprayed a can of throttle plate cleaner !! WOW started up blowing water out of the exhaust holding the throttle at two thousand rpm it kept getting better as more cylinders cleaned up - and let it idle perfect unbeleiveable. few months later it needed a bearing assembly for the right rear one hundred plus miles!! Yeah we will get another Grand caravan at around two years old is best buy. Chrysler had a serious transmission problem i beleive with recals should be al in the past! GOOD LUCK A retired dodge mechanic !!

We just bought a Town and Country in November. We got the swivel seats in the middle , which I love! I still have a child that I have to help buckle sitting in the back and the swivel seat allows me to do this without crawling all the way inside! We also found the swivel seats to be more comfortable than the fold and go ones. However, we still have the fold option with the back seat. I also like the deep well in the back for hauling groceries. We chose the T&C over the caravan because we liked how it looked more sporty on the outside.