2013 Chrysler Town & Country Review and Prices

Styling: The 2013 Chrysler Town & Country isn’t likely to change in appearance except perhaps for some trim or color alterations. Its basic form will again be shared with the Dodge Grand Caravan. The biggest differences between the two are front and rear styling treatments intended to look sophisticated on the Chrysler, sporty on the Dodge. Yet a third rendition of this van, with assorted styling and feature modifications, is sold as the Volkswagen Routan.

While other minivans, notably the Honda Odyssey and Nissan Quest, have attempted expressive exterior styling, the 2013 Chrysler Town & Country will retain its classic box-on-wheels appearance. It eschews visual excess for interior spaciousness, easy ingress and egress, and good outward visibility. A revamp for model-year 2011 gave this minivan a richer interior with better-grade materials. And Chrysler upped the ante for model-year 2012 by making leather upholstery standard on every Town & Country model.  

The 2013 Chrysler Town & Country will retain its defining minivan elements: dual sliding rear-side doors for terrific passenger ingress and egress and a wide rear liftgate for easy cargo loading. Both sliding doors and the rear liftgate will again be offered with a power open/close feature for added convenience. The 2013 T&C will again seat seven via dual front buckets, a pair of second-row buckets, and a three-place third-row bench.

Likely to return will be Chrysler’s “Stow ‘n Place” roof-rack system. This allows owners to store the lateral roof bows in the side rails when not needed. That helps maintain optimal highway-speed aerodynamics, which in turn helps boost fuel economy.

The 2013 Chrysler Town & Country will maintain a multi-level lineup. Chances are strong Chrysler would repeat a roster consisting of the base Town & Country Touring model, the midlevel Touring L, and the fully featured Limited.

Mechanical: The 2013 Chrysler Town & Country isn’t expected to change mechanically. It should continue with one engine, Chrysler’s Pentastar V-6. Offered in several Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep model lines, this 3.6-liter engine generates strong acceleration with decent fuel economy. In the 2013 T&C, it should repeat at 283 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque.

The sole transmission will likely remain a six-speed automatic capable of manual-type gear control via toggling the shift lever. Chrysler has begun to phase in an eight-speed automatic transmission, debuting it in its 300 and Dodge Charger sedans, and there’s an outside chance it could make its way into the Town & Country, though model-year 2013 introduction might be optimistic.

The 2013 Chrysler Town & Country will retain a front-drive configuration, which situates the engine and transmission above the tires that steer and propel it. Front-drive benefits interior packaging and furnishes predictable handling and good wet-weather traction. Of the 2013 Town & Country’s minivan rivals, only the 2013 Toyota Sienna is expected to continue to the enhanced traction of all-wheel-drive (AWD) in addition to front-drive.  The crossover SUV that would replace the Town & Country minivan would almost certainly offer both front- and all-wheel drive.  

As befits a family-oriented vehicle, safety features will again be plentiful on the 2013 Chrysler Town & Country. These will include standard antilock brakes to help maintain control in sudden stops, particularly on wet or icy surfaces. Antiskid electronic stability control will be standard to help prevent sideways slides in extreme handling situations. Optional should again be a blind-spot alert system that warns the driver of unseen vehicles in adjacent lanes or those approaching from the sides when backing out of parking spaces or a garage.

Features: The 2013 Chrysler Town & Country should continue to lead the minivan field in terms of seating flexibility thanks to a choice of two second-row seating arrangements. Standard is the Stow ‘n Go system exclusive to the T&C and Grand Caravan. It allows the two second-row bucket seats to fully fold into floor wells behind the front seats. In combination with the split folding third-row bench seat, which drops into a separate well at the rear of the van, the system creates a flat load floor nearly the length of the van. (Town & Country can in fact carry 4x8 sheets of building materials.)

With the Stow ‘n Go second-row buckets in their upright positions the central floor wells become dual covered storage bins. The system’s advantage is that is does not compel owners to remove the second-row seats – usually a cumbersome chore -- to achieve maximum cargo volume, as they must in most competing minivans.

The downside is that in order to fold and pivot into the floor wells, the Stow ‘n Go buckets must be relatively slender and therefore less padded than typical minivan bucket seats. For Town & Country buyers who favor comfort over convenience, fixed-position second-row luxury buckets are optional on Touring L and Limited models.

Every 2013 Town & Country should again come well equipped with standard amenities that include leather upholstery, a single-screen DVD rear entertainment system, power-adjustable brake and accelerator pedals, a rear backup camera for easier and safer parking, and a CD audio system that includes a 30-gigabyte hard drive for storing digital music files.

Either optional or included with higher trim levels of the 2013 Town & Country should again be such features as a voice-activated GPS navigation system, premium audio system with a USB iPod interface and Bluetooth hands-free mobile-phone connectivity. Keyless entry and pushbutton ignition, multiple-zone automatic climate controls, heated front and rear seats, and a heated steering wheel will remain available as well.

Chrysler will also continue to offer a dealer-installed mobile Wi-Fi hot spot that allows Town & Country passengers to connect their notebook computers, smartphones, and other devices to the Internet; it requires a monthly data plan subscription.