Chrysler Town And Country
Problems & Worst Years
Every reported problem for the Chrysler Town And Country, model year by model year — ranked from 450 federal NHTSA complaints across 2015–2016.
Sliding doors and transmissions define this stretch of the Chrysler Town and Country's record. The 2016 is the heavier of the two years on file, with 381 complaint occurrences across just nine problems — and the concentration is striking. Transmission issues leading to power loss or stalling top the list at 106 reports, followed by steering system lock-up at 91. Then come the doors: sliding door actuators failing or buzzing loudly (74 reports) and the driver-side sliding door sticking in the locked position (67), both classified at safety severity, plus another 20 reports of door locking problems with loud buzzing. Doors that won't open and a transmission that quits are exactly the two systems you can't compromise on.
The 2015 file (269 occurrences, five safety-severity problems) shares the transmission theme — 53 reports of transmission failure without warning — but adds a distinctive one: headrests. Owners filed 49 reports of headrest deployment without a collision and 27 more of general headrest malfunction, both safety-severity. Sliding door actuator malfunction appears here too (28 reports, safety-severity), along with engine misfire (32).
Both years carry a single NHTSA recall campaign, 16V461. Confirm it shows as completed on any VIN you're considering.
The buyer's checklist writes itself. Work both sliding doors repeatedly — powered and manual, locked and unlocked — and listen for buzzing or grinding from the actuators. Drive long enough to feel how the transmission behaves under light and hard throttle, and take any slip, shudder, or warning light seriously given how many owners reported sudden failure. On a 2015, inspect the active headrests and ask whether either has ever deployed.
These totals reflect owner filings to NHTSA rather than measured failure rates, and each model year has had a different span of time to accumulate them. An example that has already had door or transmission work done may be the better buy — which is why service records and a pre-purchase inspection ultimately matter more than choosing between these two model years.
Chrysler Town And Country problems by year
Complaint volume by model year (bar = relative to the worst year). Theworst yearsare the most-complained-about, weighted by safety-risk problems.
| Year | Complaint volume | Problems | Safety / High | Most common problem |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015worst | 173 | 15 | 5/6 | Transmission failure without warning Transmission · 53 complaints |
| 2016worst | 277 | 9 | 2/4 | Transmission issues leading to power loss or stalling Transmission · 106 complaints |
Data source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) owner complaints and recalls, 2015–2016. Problem clustering and year rankings are derived from the complaint record; complaint volume reflects reports filed, not total incidence or fault rate. Vehicle image is illustrative.