2008 Chrysler Town and Country: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Jan 28, 2026 · Electrical, Fuel system · NY · fire

I was driving from getting my daughter from school and felt heat and saw smoke coming from under the dashboard. I immediately pulled over and pulled my daughter out of the car the dashboard became engulfed in flames. I was told by the fire department that it looked like and electrical and fuel issue under the dash. There are known problems with this vehicle catching fire but my cin number when I looked up recalls did not have any on it. My insurance company also stated they had many claims against the make model of vehicle regarding fire issues do to manufacturers issues.

Filed Aug 1, 2022 · Electrical, Transmission · OH

The contact owns a 2008 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle independently accelerated, without warning. The contact was forced to depress the brake pedal. The contact stated that the engine was revving abnormally. The contact stated that with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle continued to accelerate with white smoke coming from the passenger’s side front end of the vehicle. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic however, the mechanic failed to duplicate the failure. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Sep 8, 2021 · 62,000 miles · PA · fire

The contact owned a 2008 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated that the vehicle caught fire overnight inside of the garage, while the contact was sleeping. The contact was made aware of the failure when he went inside of the garage and it was filled with smoke. The vehicle was filled with smoke and the dashboard had melted. No police or fire department report was filed. The contact's son was able to pull the vehicle out of the garage with a chain. The vehicle remained parked outside of the contact's garage. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 62,000.

Filed May 2, 2019 · Wheels · 155,000 miles · OH

Vehicle has 4 different sizes of tires. Dark out when I bought vehicle. Also transmission slips in and out of gear. A/c immediately quit working. Oily burning smell after driven. Uses an abundant amount of gas $25-30 a day. My friend noticed the cord coming out of the tire a couple weeks after I got the van because it was making klunking sounds. I took it to goodyear and they were appalled!

Filed Aug 27, 2018 · Electrical · 99,000 miles · NJ · fire

Vehicle was stationary and parked for hours in the driveway. For no reason the alarm went off on my car. Found key fob to shut off alarm. Daughter went to see what happened, then came to tell me there was smoke coming from my rear passenger sliding door. Went outside and heard noise that door was trying to open. Used key fob to try to unlock door. Tried to manually open door. Door wouldn't open and smoke continued. Didn't know if fire was inside door and was parked by garage so called 911 to put out potential fire. Concerned that there was electrical problem so continued to park car in street not close to house. Called chrysler customer service and they said they would send an investigator due to concern of fire. Dealer said problem was due to a broken door latch and mechanical assembly mechanism needed to be replaced in addition to door handle for $1200, but didn't want to get work done until I got the information from the investigation. About 3 weeks later got a letter from chrysler special investigations. They said due to the age and mileage of my vehicle, there are a number of factors outside the manufacturer's control that could have been contributed to your incident. *dt updated 10/30/18

Filed Jul 27, 2018 · Airbags · 79,000 miles · OH · crash · fire · 1 injury

I was involved in a low speed frontal crash on an interstate highway. I was belted in and didn't even touch the airbag, but the airbag shot flames out of the right side hole burning my arm like a blowtorch. I have photos of the injury and it's healing stage. I was advised to go to the hospital for stitches as it split my arm open wide, but I'd been there 5 times in the last 8 months and just dressed it myself. The airbag is supposed to help prevent injury and it was the only thing that caused an injury!

Filed Sep 7, 2017 · Engine, Fuel system · 117,000 miles · IL · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler town and country. While driving 30 MPH, the contact noticed smoke coming from the rear of the vehicle. The contact stated that she had to refuel the vehicle with fuel approximately every ten minutes as the fuel gauge continued to display empty. In addition, the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent auto shop where it was diagnosed with a failure in injector number four that needed replacement. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and repaired. The independent mechanic test drove the vehicle after the repairs, but the failures persisted. The independent mechanic diagnosed the vehicle as having a misfire in cylinder four. The vehicle was not repaired and the contact was advised that it was not safe to drive. The independent mechanic suggested that the vehicle be taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 117,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Filed Apr 8, 2016 · Brakes · 90,000 miles · TX

Driver rear brake intermittently hangs and heats up. On some drives after I exit my vehicle my passenger rear wheel will be noticeably hot with smell of burning rubber. It does not do this all the time just seems random

Filed Dec 22, 2014 · Electrical · 118,000 miles · MA · fire

Tl* the contact owned a 2008 chrysler town and country. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, it caught fire. The contact mentioned that the cause of the fire was the rear speakers. A police and fire report were not filed. The specifics on how the fire was extinguished were not available. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 118,000.

Filed Dec 16, 2014 · Electrical, Seat belts · 119,000 miles · MA · fire

To whom it may my 2008 chrysler town and country caught fire last friday in my garage. When I woke up to bring my kids to school I noticed the back part of the car was burned in the car was filled with smoke. I immediately called the fire department once they got there they noticed the car was cold, that the fire had been started, and put itself out, in the middle of the night. The fire inspector came as well, and determined it was an electrical fire from the rear speaker, where my daughter typical sits. My car is a total loss. Likely we would not hurt, the fire was right about the gas tank! I'm wondering if this is something I could file a case on or if you can direct me to someone who handles cases such as this. As far as I know, according to my insurance company, price I was not going to help me out even though it was a manufacture error. Any information you could provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Filed Nov 12, 2014 · Electrical, Seats · 111,000 miles · MD · 1 injury

My wife experienced an electric shock from the driver seat when she started the engine and the electric shocks continued while the engine was running. The electric shock was severe, causing pain and forcing her to get out of the seat, and continued while she sat in the seat. The electric shocks appear to come from the right side of the seat cushion. In order to drive the vehicle she had to insulate herself with cardboard which appear to muffle the shocks so she can drive the van home. There were no burning smells only a steady continuous electric shock.

Filed Sep 25, 2014 · Brakes · 99,000 miles · NC · fire

Brakes have been a problem sense purchased new. They sometimes get hot enough to catch fire. We took the car to the dealer and we were told this normal. The service manager said it was the way it was being driven. After several attempts to get the dealership to replace the brakes we took the car to independent shop. The pads,rotors,calipers and brake lines were replaced with after market parts. These also got hot caught fire. We then took the car to a different chrysler dealership and was told we should have used oem parts. We then had this dealership replace the aftermarket parts with oem parts. The brakes again continued to run hot. 3,000 miles later the steering wheel began to vibrate and smoke came into the vehicle. During the 99,000 miles we have used this minivan the brakes always ran hot and have caught fire three times. Looking on the internet I see thousands have similar problems. The average brake life on this van is about 20,000 miles. Our previous dodge van ran 120,000 miles before any brake work. The chrysler minivan has a problem with hydraulic pressure not being completely released when the brakes are released. This creates excessive overheating and sometimes fire.