2002 Chrysler Town & Country and Voyager: Overview

Vehicle Highlights

Power-adjustable brake and accelerator pedals, a DVD rear-seat entertainment system, and a tire-inflation monitor are newly available on the 2002 Town & Country and Voyager. The luxury Town & Country is nearly a foot longer than Voyager, an entry-level model. The Dodge Caravan shares this design and most mechanical features.

All Chrysler minivans seat seven and have two sliding side doors. Power operation for one or both side doors is available and includes a manual override that allows them to be closed or opened by hand during the powered phase. A power liftgate is available on Town & Country. Also offered is a 50-50 split 3rd-row bench seat; its 55-lb portions remove individually, recline, or fold flat. Available on Town & Country is a rear parcel shelf that locates at floor or midlevel positions and includes pop-up storage dividers.

Voyager comes with a 4-cyl engine or a 3.3-liter V6. Town & Country offers V6s of 3.3 and 3.8 liters. All engines team with automatic transmissions. Town & Country is available with all-wheel drive. ABS is unavailable on Voyager eC models, optional on other Voyagers, and standard on Town & Country, where it teams with 4-wheel disc brakes. Front side airbags are available on all models. The DVD system is newly optional on the eX, and is a dealer-installed option on other models. A VCR-based system is similarly available. Chrysler positions its Voyager eC as a high-value entry-level minivan, with Town & Country eL and eX models equipped to compete directly with corresponding Honda Odyssey models, but to sell for less.

COMPETITION

Though the competition has heated up, we feel that the new Dodge Caravan is still one of the best minivans you can buy. It offers all of the creature comforts in a pleasing package at a fair price. Our other Best Buy is the Honda Odyssey. It's a little bit smaller than the Dodge, but more sporty to drive, and it has a super-convenient flip-and-fold-away rear seat.

Trailing at a close second are the Recommended Chevy Venture and Toyota Sienna. Though these vans are comparably priced and offer loads of neat features, we feel they can't match the road manners of our two Best Buys. Also garnering Recommended ratings are the Chrysler Town & Country and Chrysler Voyager. Though they are mechanically similar to the class-leading Caravan, they don't offer the breadth of model choices.