New 1:1 vehicle.
 

Well we just ordered our Xmas present for our family and they promised it would be in our hands in two weeks time coming from their overseas Asia stocks. We decided on a brand new 2010 Chrysler Town & Country "Touring Plus" minivan loaded with just about every luxiury avialable since we are about to move to Prague. We are figuring on doing some touring around Europe over the next two to three years and wanted to make sure we had good reliable transprtation to fit the bill. We figured it was about time for us to have an upgrade from our two beaters. The MSRP for this particular van was right at $39500. With the AAFES special adjustments and Manufacturers rebates we managed a nice final price of $31,200.00, and this thing is really loaded up with goodies including the DVD triple monitor system, GPS, Seius radio system, rear back up camera, 4.0 liter V-6 251 HP engine package, foldaway(in floor) middle and back row seating, electric adjust front row seats, and heated seats front and middle row, electric side doors(both), and electric liftgate, and a bunch more. Neither of us has had a new vehicle since 1999, so we felt it was long overdue. We are thrilled and the kids won't know anything until we take delivery around 01/December/2010. AND included in the price is a full seven year/70K miles bumper to bumper international warrenty package. No matter where we go with this thing, we are covered. They even took an added $1000 off the final price for a loyalty gift just because we presently own a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan. Our neighbor is taking that one off our hands for us.

If anyone sees any kind of end of year closeout pricing in the next 45 days please let us know and we can low ball them even more on this deal. We receive the military discounts since we are posted overseas, but they have to be lower than any other offers anywhere in the Cont USA.

Sounds nice Jerry. Long overdue is true. It's not the sportser model is it? Sorry flashback to the beginning of National Lampoons Vacation.......

What kind of close out should we keep an eye out for? The same make and model vehicle? Chrysler dealerships?

Congrats on treating yourself and the family to the smell of a new car.

Thanks guy.
 

Thanks Guy. Yes what I am looking for is any Chrysler dealership that is conducting year end close outs trying to clear out the remaining 2010 models. Town & Country "Touring Plus" models that can compare to our new toy. If we gain access to any special sales advertisements with added discounts then we can take them into the Military dealer here and they have to honor that deal as an added bonus to us. Because of the military sales promotions and garuntees they have to give us the absolute lowest deal anywhere in the USA.

My last new car was my 1999 Yellow Ford Mustang, and we gave that to my daughter a few years ago for her birthday. My wife's last new car was in 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and we sold that one in 2005. Too long if you ask me.

Model year closeouts are exactly what you got. I doubt if you can find many 2010's on the lots right now. They typically start in June-ish.

Go into Edmonds.com and figure out where you bought at relative to dealer invoice on it - if your within a 1000 of that (below it), you got a good deal. I'd be interested in knowing what the difference in dealer invoice is here vs over there.....

420HP V6??? Wow... Sounds like a nice ride. :mdr:

So you got a new minivan, huh ??? :lol:

My how things do change.........:whistle:

I'm just teasin'. It does sound like a bad mamma jamma. Especially with all thoses horses.

Should have no trouble baking the front tires off!

420HP sounds a bit high for a naturally-aspirated 4.0L engine. According to the Chrysler site, the largest engige (the 4.0) is rated 251HP, so it was likely a typo unless he got some modded engine. :smile:

Checking.
 

I have to go back and check that out. It is 0330 in the morning here and everyone is sleeping right now. The wife has the paperwork on the new van. I may have misread that one. I was just so excited about this purchase, and there are tons of major options and gadgits with these T&C vans that its hard to keep track. OK I fixed it. 251 HP.

Anyway thanks guys. It is a pretty cool van, and yes it is a change of pace for me. I have had a few vans in my days and when you have kids at home they are a great choice. When I had the Mustang I also had a 1998 T&C as well. I do love my hotrods, but one has to make compromises sometimes when your raising a family. At least with the T&C vans they are pretty cozy and have lots of features that make them a nice trade off. I will verify the engine specs when everyone wakes up. Have a great day guys.

Nice Jerry I hope you and your family enjoy it!

......................

Thats funny
 

Now thats funny. I have no inclings of wanting to burn the tires off or our new touring vehicle. Still nice to know you can if you need to.

What I am concerned about is whether the new 6 speed transmission is holding up better than the old 4 speed models. We have a Dodge Grand Caravan now and the tranny is slipping. Of course it has like 138,000 miles on it, but they have been plagued with issues over the years. I just read that Chrysler is planning for install the 8 speed BMW 7 class tranny into the newer 2011 T&C vans. Anyway we are just hoping to get a few years out of this one until we retire in 2017, and then we will more than likely buy ourselves a retirement vehicle at that time. By then the kids will all be grown and out of the house, so having a van will no longer be a requirement. I will post up some pics once we receive the van.

4L V6 is what you really need in Europe with our gas prices :)

Jerry if you wait a few months you might find one after the first wallop of depreciation has arrived...what's that likely to be 10K??

That's a nice family holiday!

Thanks
 

Thanks PBO, but we had to have this in hand for our transfer so it will get shipped to Prague ahead of us. We could not wait any longer.

Thankfully we get gas coupons from our Gov which keeps our cost of gas at the same level as it appears in the USA. Not exactly sure how that works, but it saves us a ton of money during our stays overseas. Here in Korea we just purchase our fuel on base at $3.30 a gallon. Not too worried about that. If we had to pay full Euripean gas prices we would never leave our home. Filling up our van usually cost us about $65. When we were posted in Brussels we traveled to Paris on one occasion and forgot our coupon card, and it cost us nearly $200 to fill up our van. We never did that again.