2008 Chrysler Town and Country: brake failure

Filed Aug 10, 2018 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 5 miles · CA

The van will shut off while driving on the road the steering and brakes didn't work, I have to make sure I make it to the side of the road because it doesn't always want to start. It could be 5 or 10 minutes before I get it to start and I have had to leave it on the side of the road over night until the next day and have a tow truck pick it up.. I could of been killed or killed someone else. The horn, windshield wipers and window wiper water is spraying, flash lights flashing randomly go on at any time some times while I'm driving, some times late at night and the only way to stop all of this is to disconnect the battery or let it keep going until the battery drains. The speedometer goes on when I open the door but when I turn the vehicle on the speedometer goes off/blank. This scares me I'm afraid to drive it!

Filed May 6, 2016 · Engine · 38,000 miles · MD

Unexpected engine shutdown while in motion driving resulting in loss of brakes or steering. This has been happening for 5 years with many visits to the dealership and various repairs, none of which has resulted in returning the vehicle to us in a safe state. My wife and I are 79 years of age and have no faith in the vehicle which we purchased new with the extra extended warranty.

Filed Mar 18, 2015 · Brakes, Electrical · 107,000 miles · OH

L25 recall. Ignition failed three times no parts to fix yet. No other keys on fob last time it turned off. Key is loose in the ignition (per the local chrysler service mgr). Engine turned off three times while drive without touching the key. Happened three time at different speeds first time at 45 miles per hour car just stopped in the middle of the road.. Once faster, once slower. My 22 year old daughter was driving the car all three times. All the lights on the dash come on and she said the steering would not work and the brakes did not work. She called crying the first time from the middle of the road did not know what to do. Engine had stopped. (no codes showed on diagnostic computer when dealer charged for the diagnostic) she ended up in the middle of the road stopped. Engine did restart all three times. Local chrysler dealer could not get to duplicate even though the said they drove car 4 or 5 times. (even though they said they drove it 4 or 5 times, no miles were put one the van while in the dealership. Even the $115 diagnostic charge from the dealership showed no miles were put on the van). They charged because they said they could not confirm it was the l25 recall which they have no parts to fix yet. The local chrysler dealer said they ran a diagnostic for $115 that showed no computer codes which the service manager said sounds like the ignition recall symptoms, but still charged me because they could not get it to duplicate at the dealership.(I did not know a safety recall had to be duplicated to get work done without charging) the local chyrsler dealership said that it should be safe to keep driving, they could not find anything wrong with it. My 22 daughter is scared to death of the van but is having to keep driving it.

Filed Jul 16, 2014 · Brakes, Engine · 82,000 miles · NY

While driving the van stopped working, instrument panel lit up, AC and radio turned off,steering locked and brakes did not work. Contacted local dealership they were unable to diagnose after 2 days. Took it home and same thing happened on 7/11/14. Brought to non-dealership mechanic who is looking into steering column/electrical problem but still nothing after 3 days. I have an extended warranty on vehicle so plan to submit expenses to chrysler.

Filed Jul 14, 2014 · Airbags, Brakes · 71,000 miles · MI

While driving back from work my vehicle turned off completely. It was rolling and I was unable to brake or turn the steering wheel. There was no power steering, no brakes, all the controls and lights were off. I was in the middle of the busy 4 lane street. I put my hazard lights on and moved over to the outside lane and ultimately was able to turn into the parking lot. I sat there for a while stunned by what happened. After a few minutes I tried to start the van. It did start and I was able to continue on my way home. Exactly the same situation occurred today, july 14, 2014. We also have been having issues with starting the van. After turning the key the van starts up and a few seconds later goes dead.

Filed Aug 22, 2012 · Brakes · 45,000 miles · NJ

2nd set of brakes prematurely failing. First set of front and rear brakes failed at 21,811 miles and were covered under chrysler recall in 2010. The brakes installed at that time have failed with 45,000 miles on the vehicle with 23,189 miles on the brakes. Independent repair shop told me that 1mil was left on the brakes and rotors needed to be replaced as well. The repair shop said they have never seen anything like it before with such low miles and brakes completely shredded!!! He said that I was very close to complete loss of brakes which could have resulted in an accident. Total cost of repairs are $379 not including tax. There are thousands of other town and country owners that are having the same problems - when are you going to do something about!!! These vans are dangerous. Chrysler already replaced the front brakes for this vehicle once before for premature failure - there is obviously a issue with this van. I have contacted chrysler today 8/22/12 and they refuse to acknowledge the problem and will not offer any assistance. The customer service rep exact words were "we don't know anything about a problem with the brakes."

Filed Jun 28, 2012 · Brakes · 28,000 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler town and country. The contact stated that while traveling 60 MPH, the brakes failed and began to grind. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the rotors, calibers and the brake pads needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified and they informed the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer for repair. The failure mileage was 28,000.

Filed Dec 29, 2011 · Acceleration, Engine · 38,800 miles · MI

Upon merging on to the highway at approx. 50 MPH, the van rapidly accelerated on it's own. The gas pedal was not stuck on a floor mat, it hit the floorboard on it's own. Applying the brakes did not work, pumping the brakes as well as the gas pedal did not work. Van was steered to shoulder, the emergency brake was applied, and the vehicle put in park. The engine revved rapidly until vehicle was turned off. Acceleration problem occurred at 38,800 miles.

Filed Dec 6, 2011 · Electrical · 76,000 miles · FL

We have been continuously hassled with electrical issues with our van. For approximately 4 months we have been experiencing brief issues with all the lights coming on in the gauge cluster along with a pulsing of the dashboard lights and the resetting of the electrical components randomly in the van. We replaced the battery and the issue seemed to go away. After 2-3 weeks it started up again. Me and my family were driving down a highway for about 30 minutes when the cluster gauge suddenly started beeping and all the lights began to flash on and off, the speedometer and tachometer dropped to 0, the radio turned on and off multiple times and the engine shut down briefly while driving on the highway. Immediately after the problem began I pulled off the road and restarted the car, the problem was gone! Two days later my wife was taking our kids to school, and after less than 5 minutes of driving the car she experienced the exact same issues. This time before she made it off the road there was a complete loss of power, the brakes stopped working and the steering wheel completely locked up, she was unable to make it to the side of the road! Again after a immediate restart the problem went away. We contacted the dealer and we were told that if they could not recreate the problem, there was nothing they could do to fix it. This is a issue because the problem happens randomly. We are aware that this problem has plagued a very large group of consumers and the dealer does nothing but repair random parts because they cannot properly recreate the problem due to its randomness. I feel the problem could easily cause a fatality if the steering wheel locks up at high speed or while turning!

Filed Jul 6, 2011 · Electrical · 45,000 miles · NJ · crash

My 2008 chrysler town and country sporadically acts up. The wipers go nuts, the washer fluid empties, the horn goes off, and the last time the car shut down, and I had no power steering and no brakes. I had my 2 children in the car and it was very scary. Thankfully I was able to get off the road and bump into the curb to stop. If I were on a highway or busy road it would have ended in an accident and could kill my family or someone else. The service dept thought they fixed it by reflashing some modules but it happened a few more times after that and now they say they can't replicate the problem again so they want me to take the car until it happens again. I think that is poor service for a problem that is definitely a safety issue and can cause a death. This issue is not new as I have read about it online I am just trying to find someone who has had it fixed so I can tell the service dept. What they need to do and I can drive my car safely with my family. This should be an issue chrysler needs to address!

Filed Feb 9, 2010 · Brakes · 17,050 miles · CA

I bought a brand new 2008 chrysler town and country van in nov 2008. After about a year, dec 2009 my van started shaking badly during braking. It had 17,050 mi (mostly highway miles). I brought the van into a chrysler dealership for inspection. They told me the brakes were 100% shot and I needed a complete brake replacement (rotors, pads, flush, etc.) which cost me $650. I called chrysler complaining that brakes on a new vehicle should not wear out on a vehicle with less than 17k miles (especially the rear brakes). Chrysler told me this was normal but would look into it. After a month I've not heard back. I've owned a 1992 and 1999 chrysler vans and never had these brake problems. The front brakes on my older vans lasted over 35k miles and the rear lasted over 50k miles. My neighbor owns a 2006 town & country and has had only 2 brake jobs in 80k miles. Apparently he brake design did not change much from the 2007 model however the 2008 gained a lot of weight (new model) which contributed to the premature brake failure. Minimally, chrysler should have notified me of the premature brake failures but never did. I've checked safety complaints on your odi website and saw 85 complaints for brakes on the 2008 t&c. I also checked complaints for earlier years and only saw only a very few brake complaints. I've checked the internet and found hundreds upon hundreds of complaints related to brake problems on the 08 t&c. So here's my summary: 1) I never expected the brakes to go at such low mileage so if I needed to do an emergency stop I probably would have had an accident. 2) apparently there was a design flaw but chrysler refuses to admit it 3) chrysler is silently reimbursing owners who file the loudest complaints. Odi: you have all these brake complaints for the 08 t&c so how is it that toyota is getting bashed for their brakes but chrysler continues to produce their vans with defective brakes??????

Filed Jan 21, 2010 · Brakes · 22,000 miles · LA

The brakes on my 2008 chrysler town and country required replacement (brakes and rotors) with 22,000 miles on the vehicle. The brakes were checked in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations, but were worn to the point they were unsafe three months later. This is a common problem with the 2008 chryslers town and country's and should be fixed because there have been accidents caused by the brake failures and this is due to the poor quality and negligence of chrysler.