Owner-reported complaints naming the engine system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2012 Chrysler Town And Country submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 104 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 104, in the owner's own words
Vehicle randomly shuts off while driving. No warning lights are illuminated. Shutoff can occur at any speed and causes loss of power steering, braking etc. Shutdown requires immediate pull off to the side of the road. Once key is turned off and back on, car restarts.
Catalytic converter is reported to me as needing to be replaced. Check Engine light came on which indicated this error. It’s only at 84k miles. Followed by needing new O2 sensors if the catalytic converter is replaced. Another error was the thermostat which needs replacement. We are looking at over $5k in repairs.
My van will frequently lose power and die while I am driving it, with NO WARNING. I have to pull off and put it either into park or neutral then turn the key again to get it started again. This has happened more than 40 times over the last 15 monnths. My speeds have ranges from 25mpg in town to 65 mpg on the highway.Most recently on Saturday, October 4, 2025.
The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated while driving on the highway at 70 MPH, the vehicle stalled, and the instrument panel turned black, and the steering wheel seized. The contact stated that the failure had occurred temporarily, and the vehicle restarted independently. The contact stated that the failure recurred intermittently while driving. There was no warning light illuminated. The local dealer was contacted and advised the contact that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
Couldn't reverse vehicle after buying the vehicle three days ago. My safety and my passengers safety wasn't safe I almost got hit from the front and back trying to reverse the vehicle to go. I can put the vehicle in any other gear and it works but the reverse. i called the vehicle repair shop and bring it in to the shop where I was told they were going to work on the vehicle for free since I only had it for three days. I paid for the warranty part and everything. This the second car I bought from Fett's city motors that been dangerous to operate on roads and highways.
Hard starting mostly in the mornings sometimes in the hot afternoon I have to turn the key several tries to get it to start the most of the rest of the day it’s OK the Ignition seems loose sometimes the key will not pull out right I’ve heard about the recalls on the other years causing the vehicle to shut off while I’m driving I hope this does not happen.Other years of the Chrysler Town an Country was recalled,Same engine same parts.Win ignition was bad.Please don’t let us get seriously injured if the vehicle ever shuts down on us while driving.Many other owners having the same issues.We got many new parts trying to fix.But no luck.But it is now. Narrow down to this problem with the ignition.
The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start intermittently. The contact stated that the battery was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle started jerking while the transmission was shifting between gears. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that there was a burning odor coming from the vents while driving in hot weather. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Several unknown dealers were notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 189,000.
Engine stalled at roughly 20 miles per hour, thankfully, I was stopped. Restarted and drove off, but vehicle now has a check engine light on.
The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the A/C was blowing out hot air. The contact stated that smoke began emanating from the engine compartment and the vehicle started smoking and it caught fire. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road where the hood was opened and the fire was out by a passenger. The vehicle was then towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine and engine cooling system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the issue but stated that the parts to complete the repair have been discontinued. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
The Flexplate/Flywheel cracks every 4 years for us, this is our second repair same part. Dealership says now there is a reinforcement plate. That we have to buy, Seriously, give us a break with a broken Flexplate that is either to thin or made of a inexpense product. IDK. Dealership told my Mechanic they keep a lot on hand because they know it’s a problem. Help Please🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 At least give us the reinforcement plate, for Heavens sake!!! Then come up with a Fix to this ongoing Problem, Please and Thank you... God Bless/SAVE America again, in NC a Jesus name!!!
Confirmed cylinder number 2 misfire. Performed relative compression test and intake trace pull. Confirmed that number two has low compression and is directly affecting cylinder number fives intake pull. removed spark plug and did a compression test on cylinder 2 it had 90psi of compression and the rest of the cylinders were at 148psi of compression. used a bore scope and found cylinder damage in video attached vehicle needs a new engine to correct customers concern. When going up a small incline at 30-45mph engine would stall out. I have 3 little kids and I drive a lot for my job and want to be safe on the road! Also my blind spot detectors have constantly been on since about 75,000 miles. It’s kind of a distraction when you are driving at night.
Starting in 2019 our 2012 Chrysler Town and Country had stalled out while driving. The entire engine cut out with no warning, losing all power steering, and even braking seemed hard. The vehicle would not start and would only crank over. The only solution was to disconnect and reconnect the battery and the vehicle would start. Problem did not happen again until June of 2022 when my wife along with her mother and our two children were traveling to Los Angeles, CA from Wyoming and the vehicle died while driving on the interstate putting them in situation which could have been deadly. Vehicle would not start again after that and only fix was to disconnect and reconnect the battery and vehicle started again. This has happened another 3 times since June of 2022. Our vehicle has approximately 138,000 miles on it and has had no other issues. From reading other complaints it sounds like this is related to a faulty TIPM. However since it never throws a code, no one can tell what is causing the issue since it cannot be replicated and happens randomly without warning. Latest incident occurred around Oct 1, 2022.
Vehicle has shut off, while driving, multiple times over the past year and a half. The first instance was Summer 2021. Coming to a stop from a highway exit ramp and the van shut off for no reason. I was eventually able to restart and drive within a few minutes. A few days later, the van would shut down, or try to shut down, every time I would slow to a stop during a 2 hour trip. A few months ago, while driving approximately 35 mph, the van dashboard lights shut off, windshield wipers turned on and all other lights and power steering / brakes shut down temporarily. Luckily we were driving in a straight line because I had no power brakes or steering at that moment. Most recent issue occurred 8/27/2022. Driving van on highway, shut off at a light at bottom of exit ramp. We do not feel safe driving this van.
Van engine dies while driving. Has happened four times at high rate of speed— once on the expressway going 65 mph. Dash lights come on when driving and engine dies. Power steering and brakes go out. No codes. I coast to a stop on side of road. When trying to restart, van will have power, but will not turn over. After about 45-60 minutes, starts and runs normally. Could not replicate problem at auto repair shop. Had it towed first time. Three times since it restarted after sitting an hour. Almost was rear-ended on expressway overpass the last time it died. Children were in the car. Also died in the rain at dusk on county highway. Unsafe location. No warning prior to the failure. Also happened to another driver. First event May 2022. Again June 2022. Again July 2022. Again September 2022.
My town and country will shut off while driving, this is very concerning to me I have 4 children with me at all times. I can be going 10 miles down the road and it will shut off atleast 5 times. I live in the mountains so getting it out of the road is an challenge at most times. The other day I was going thru a green light and it shut off. Luckily it had just enough roll to get it out of the intersection and kinda off the interstate. It just does it no warning at all shuts off I loose breaks steering everything! IT IS VERY DANGEROUS!!!
2012 Chrysler Town&Country My 2012 Town and Country has randomly stopped on me three times in April and May of 2022. The car shuts off completely for no apparent reason. The car will not start again until put into park. This was unsafe because I had no control of the car until it rolled to a stop. Fortunately, each time the hazard lights responded and cars behind me went around. The very scary part was not knowing if I would run into the car ahead of me as neither brakes nor steering worked. I took it to my dealership and told them the problem. They said they discovered there was faulty wiring and repaired it at the cost of just nearly $700. I picked up the car. I drove it for under an hour and it stopped in the middle of a busy street. I took the car back to the dealership. They kept it for two weeks and finally said they made it do the event again. They then proceeded to try to diagnose it. After a week or so they called to say they thought they had diagnosed the problem. However they could not get the part that they thought needed to be replaced. None seemed to be available. The dealership then called to say that they had found two parts but only one was available. I was informed that they weren’t sure they could get the part at all. (The cost for parts and labor will be $1000.) My car has now been in the dealership for almost a month. They tell me that they have no idea when the car will be fixed. I was also informed that even if they put this part in the car they cannot guarantee me the car will be safe to drive. I will not have any confidence in this car again. I will find it a financial hardship to purchase a new car right now. This however is the only choice open to me now in order to feel safe in a car again. 2022,dlr
The External Fuel Pump Relay has failed causing stalling conditions while driving and starting problems. Along with that, it has drained the battery due to not turning the fuel pump off after the car is turn off. The part was recalled on the Jeep and Durango models with the same 3.6L engine. There have been many reports of this online with Town and Country and Dodge Caravan models with the 3.6L and 5.7L engines.
The bearings in the rockers went bad and allowed the rockers to make contact with the camshafts. The camshafts are bad and the rockers are bad. There is metal in the oil system now.
The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town & Country. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled, and the rear brake lights failed to illuminate. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The failure almost caused a collision. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 151,602.
Car stalls while driving. Looses brakes and steering. Mechanics can not determine cause. No codes stored. Almost caused a collision happened 4 times in a month
The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 154,000.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE ATTEMPTING TO START-UP THE VEHICLE, THE ENGINE WOULD NOT TURN OVER. THE CONTACT REPLACED THE STARTER HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WAS NO WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO LARRY H. MILLER CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE RAM SANDY (10905 AUTO MALL DR, SANDY, UT 84070) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH THE ENGINE NEEDING TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT YET REPAIRED. THE CONTACT RELATED THE FAILURE TO NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 11V487000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING) HOWEVER, THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED. THE MANUFACTURER HAD BEEN INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 90,000.*DT
I HAD THE FOLLOWING REPLACED IN JUNE 2020: 6 SPARK PLUGS, 6 BOOTS, AND AN INTAKE GASKET SET. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS STILL ON AND IT IS STILL READING #2 MISFIRE.
VEHICLE SHUTS OFF WHILE DRIVING SHUTTING DOWN ALL POWER CONTROLS
WHEN TRYING TO START START BUTTON IS PUSHED, VAN TURNS OVER, STARTS FOR ~2 SECONDS AND SHUTS OFF. TAKES SEVERAL TRIES TO GET IT TO COMPLETELY START AND CONTINUE RUNNING. ALSO WHEN TURNING VAN OFF. PUSH BUTTON, VAN STOPS RUNNING, HOWEVER, IT SWITCHES TO ACCESSORY AND TAKES SEVERAL TIMES PUSHING BUTTON TO SWITCH TO OFF AND STAY THERE. VEHICLE IS ON LEVEL GROUND AND STATIONARY PARKED POSITION. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A MONTH OFF AND ON. RECENTLY THE LAST WEEK.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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