VW Routan

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 05/12/2015 at 23:00 • Filed to: vw, not vw

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So my father-in-law has one, his is silver so its not this white one, its the other one. His Routan has 63,000 miles on it and it sounds like crap. I just drove it tonight for a couple of hours and despite the fact that its supremely comfortable and the interior is holding up well considering what it is...the mechanical sound like imminent death. He takes good care of it, keeps up with maintenence, but the transmission has a whine to it, its really harsh and indecisive on kickdown and the manumatic feature was all over the map. The suspension clunks and the steering wheel shimmies hard under heavy braking. To say nothing of how annoying it is to drive smoothly because there is like 6 inches of pedal travel in the gas that does nothing followed but the full furry of a 4.0 V6.

I was talking with a Toyota engineer recently who had nice things to say about chrysler products, up to 90,000 miles when they all fall to pieces...I don’t think this one will make it to 90k. Going to see if I can get him into a transit connect or something instead.

TheHondaBro > HammerheadFistpunch 05/12/2015 at 23:02

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Odyssey. Preeeeety sure this is an Odyssey.

HammerheadFistpunch > TheHondaBro 05/12/2015 at 23:04

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nah, definitely an accord coupe.

jkm7680 > HammerheadFistpunch 05/12/2015 at 23:08

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The Routan never should have existed.

HammerheadFistpunch > jkm7680 05/12/2015 at 23:09

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highly true. Its been a decent car for him and its way more comfy and quite a freeway cruiser than the Sienna, but the fact that its hurting mechanically already is telling.

ranwhenparked > HammerheadFistpunch 05/12/2015 at 23:12

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My first company car at the last job was a two-year old Caravan with 65,000 miles, loose steering, sloppy suspension, and about ten years’ worth of squeaks and rattles.

It got replaced at 90,000 miles, almost on the dot, by a brand-new Caravan that felt almost like a totally different vehicle. Everything was just so much tighter, more precise feeling.

I can confirm that, for whatever reason, these things do seem to age prematurely.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > HammerheadFistpunch 05/12/2015 at 23:13

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His Routan has 63,000 miles on it and it sounds like crap....The suspension clunks and the steering wheel shimmies hard under heavy braking. To say nothing of how annoying it is to drive smoothly because there is like 6 inches of pedal travel in the gas that does nothing followed but the full furry of a 4.0 V6.

In its defense, it *is* a Chrysler product.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > HammerheadFistpunch 05/12/2015 at 23:17

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I want to put a VW badge on my Civic just too see if the badge itself will curse my car like it seems to on everything else it touches

jkm7680 > HammerheadFistpunch 05/12/2015 at 23:39

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It's not a bad car, but it's still a Chrysler underneath. I'm probably wrong, I'm tired but was it the first car VW every rebadged as their own?

fhrblig > HammerheadFistpunch 05/12/2015 at 23:56

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If you want him to experience the same problems he’s currently having in a different vehicle, then sure. By all means, get him a Transit Connect.

Orange_Crusader > HammerheadFistpunch 05/13/2015 at 00:15

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the full furry of a 4.0 V6

Heh. And yeah, every one I’ve been in that had over ~50k miles sounds like it’s aged at hyperspeed. Give the tranny fluid level and colour a check.

fhrblig > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 05/13/2015 at 00:28

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I have a couple of RAM Cargo vans with the Pentastar-V6, they both have been mostly trouble free. The flex plate is a super fragile hunk of crap, but other than that they are good. Both have over 140k and show no signs of slowing down, though they are only 2 years old.

roboro > jkm7680 05/13/2015 at 00:43

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not sure about first, I know they've rebadged the Tacoma before the Routan.

AM > HammerheadFistpunch 05/13/2015 at 00:59

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I don’t get how VW made this van so garbage. The Grand Caravan/Town and Country are the best minivans and have been for the past few years. As for the Toyota guy, he’s only trying to shit on Chrysler because he knows their vans are better than the Sienna and that they’ll never sell as many.

HammerheadFistpunch > AM 05/13/2015 at 01:04

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okay...sure

His Stigness > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 05/13/2015 at 01:28

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Except the problems he is describing are pure Chrysler, and in fact are common among American cars. German cars come with their own set of problems.

His Stigness > HammerheadFistpunch 05/13/2015 at 01:28

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Besides the horrible mechanical whine I’m pretty sure I know what the cause of everything else is.

MultiplaOrgasms > jkm7680 05/13/2015 at 03:10

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You could bring up the K70 although that one was never sold as an NSU.

MultiplaOrgasms > AM 05/13/2015 at 03:15

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Sure, lets blame VW for Chryslers incredible built quality.

LongbowMkII > HammerheadFistpunch 05/13/2015 at 07:18

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a chrysler minivan with transmission issues? huh, that’s new.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > fhrblig 05/13/2015 at 07:47

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They might have updated some of the components for durability reasons when they went to the Pentastar engine.

My experiences are my grandmother’s three Chrysler T&Cs, before they went to the Pentastar. Two 3.8L engines and one 4.0L. They have gotten better.

The first one, a 1999 (Third Generation, in black, affectionately called the Vader Van), suffered from the “Mopar transmission planned failure at 60K miles” malady common to the 41TE transmission when not religiously filled with fresh Mopar fluid at intervals that Chrysler would never recommend (due to shortness). The second, a 2002 (fourth generation), was probably the best package in terms of being saddled with the 41TE, overall build quality, and ergonomics.

The last is a 2010 (fifth generation) with the 4.0L engine and 62TE transmission. She’s had some build quality issues, but the powertrain is far more sorted out now than it was in 1999.

AM > MultiplaOrgasms 05/13/2015 at 08:23

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Chryslers vans haven't had as many problems as the Routan has.

mazda616 > HammerheadFistpunch 05/13/2015 at 09:00

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My mother-in-law has a 2012 Town & Country with around 80,000 miles and it makes some downright scary suspension noises. I've driven tractors that were quieter when going over bumps.

MultiplaOrgasms > AM 05/13/2015 at 09:14

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Considering the Routan was built by Chrysler in the same plant as the TC/ Grand Caravan, something doesn’t quite add up does it?

AM > MultiplaOrgasms 05/13/2015 at 09:20

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Must be more of that “German engineering” they’re always talking about ;)

Matthew Phillips > AM 05/13/2015 at 09:28

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I’ve driven a sienna and a Caravan.

Caravan has more power....

MultiplaOrgasms > AM 05/13/2015 at 09:41

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Chrysler has always been very european in that regard.

AM > Matthew Phillips 05/13/2015 at 10:16

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Pentastar V6 is a great engine.