(First Posted August 27, 2013) The Volkswagen Routan is a “badge-engineered” version of the Gen 5 Chrysler Town & Country / Dodge Grand Caravan minivan, and around 58,000 units were sold in the US during its run from 2009-2012. Production ended in July, 2013, with most of the final vehicles going for use internally within VW. A mere 10,500 Routans were purchased in 2012, out of a total of nearly 600,000 minivans sold in the US that year – the car was originally projected to sell 45,000 units annually, but the Volkswagen brand apparently isn’t quite that flexible.
It definitely meets the CC definition of an orphaned car – so what possessed us to recently buy one?
First off, we weren’t even in the market for a replacement for our 2005 T&C, as we normally aim to keep our cars ten years or 200,000 miles (whichever comes first). But in casual conversations a couple weeks ago, I had two different people – unprompted – mention that they loved their Routans and felt they were much nicer than the T&C. When a third coworker mentioned he thought 2012 was the last model year for the Routan, I decided to do a little investigation.
That’s the Routan instrument panel on the left, GC in the center and T&C on the right. The Routan has a much lighter/brighter feel to the interior, and the overall materials, fit and finish are generally nicer than those found in its cousins. Switchgear and controls are identical, however. I personally feel VW did a nice job restyling the grill and tail, as the emphasis on horizontal lines keeps the vehicle from looking so tall and ponderous. While the 3.6l/6 speed automatic drivetrain is identical to the Chrysler, the Routan suspension is tuned for a firmer ride (it’s *significantly* less wallowy than our 2005 T&C) and the unique-to-Routan seats are pretty comfortable (with prominent bolsters and full leather). Despite the nicer fit, finish and materials, however, other touchpoints on the van painfully remind you of its Chrysler roots – and it comes across as “very nearly a Volkswagen” in the end.
Even with all that “added value” that was “engineered” into the van, we never would have considered buying one new (due both to the premium price and the ‘badge-engineered’ stigma) – the poor sales numbers confirm that other VW faithful felt the same. But then I discovered that current prices are steeply discounted for the “unpopular” 2012s now coming off lease, and at that point, it seemed foolish to wait two more years to replace our current van.
So we took the Beetle up to Chicago last Friday to look at a pair of Routan SELs, and decided on buying this program car (originally leased by a VW employee at the Chattanooga, TN Jetta plant) with only 8,100 miles and a price tag a full $17,600 below sticker. Edmunds.com says a similarly-equipped 2012 T&C “L” with the same mileage would run about $3,600 more at a dealer. And that’s why it sometimes pays to buy an orphan.
I doubt I’ll ever think of it as a “real” VW, but I know we’ll enjoy it for the next decade or so, and Son No. 2 will certainly be thrilled to get our ’05 T&C since his ’84 Mustang L is pretty much on its last legs. So for now, we have three generations of Chrysler minivans in our driveway, and I’ve come full automotive circle, as I once again own a Volkswagen Van.
I peeked in a parked Routan a few weeks ago and was struck by those very un-minivan seat bolsters! They look even more aggressive than our old (2006) Passat.
I must look to see whether these are sold here or not VWs commercial vans are gaining popularity here for frontline duty in courier service despite the price premium over Ford and Toyota, It could be due to better quality who really knows nice car by the way I dare you to wear it out.
I’m 99.9% certain the Routan was a US or NA market vehicle only. You realize this is a Chrysler T&C that has been lightly modified to be sold at US VW dealers?
Do you have the Chrysler (or Lancia) Grand Voyager in your market? It’s essentially the same van.
VW sell a passenger version of the T5 Transporter over here – Caravelle. Chrysler sell a few Grand Voyagers – 108 for the first 7 months of this year, or roughly 2% of the minivan segment. Not sure why they are so unpopular, other than cost because they start at $57,500 versus a Kia Grand Carnival at $39k.
No, we don’t get the VW version Bryce, it was indeed US/NA only. Ed: Lancia is LHD only now so none have been sold here since RHD production ended in the ’90s. Fiat uses the Chrysler badge on Chrysler/Lancia products in RHD countries like NZ – I saw several new Chrysler-badged Ypsillon and Delta models in England recently. The Chrysler Voyager/Grand Voyager has been available new here in New Zealand since the mid-90s. Currently it’s a rebadged T&C (with Chrysler grille and interior) albeit 2.8L diesel only; prior to 2001 it was a rebadged Caravan (with the Dodge crosshair grille).
A friend of mine leased one of these for his wife, he says he was never happier to turn a car back in as he as was with the Routan….
The Routan is a rather handsome minivan. Ideally, it would have been the Dodge version of the van, and would have provided much better differentiation between the Dodge and Chrysler versions of the Mopar mini, especially the early years of the current generation.
It was probably the best badge engineering job they could do to put some fahrvergnugen into the vehicle, but it’s a pretty tough sale when the rest of the VW line up is sold with a nod to “German Engineering.”
It was German engineering (Daimler Chrysler), just a different sort from the kind most people think of. 🙂
“and Son No. 2 will certainly be thrilled to get our ’05 T&C since his ’84 Mustang L is pretty much on its last legs”
You should be proud. If he’s thrilled to get something new to him, for the sake of practicality, then it sounds like you’ve raised someone who appreciates what they have.
I deal with lots of kids still in college or HS who feel like they’ve earned a brand new car just for existing. I had friends when I was in school who inherited “uncool” cars, and had to deal with the guffahs and teasing from other entitled kids about why it wasn’t a new Jeep or Accord from their parents. Personally, I’d much rather go on a camping/bonfire trip with a friend who has a minivan rather than a sporty car…
PS- I like the Routan as well. Like you noted, every small change from the Chrysler is an improvement, and it’s just different and weird enough to be noticeable. Good choice, especially for the price.
Number Two Son bought the Mustang L (2.3l) out of his own wallet ($1,000), and has had a similar experience keeping it running that many of us had in the 1970s-80s with our first cars. I’m surprised it’s gone as long as it has, given all the abuse it got (yes, there was hoonery). We home schooled, which helped avoid a lot of the peer pressure issues (not all).
He’ll be “buying” the ’05 from us, too, just at a steeply discounted price from what we could sell it for. He’s almost 21, which is when we gave our Gen 3 GC to Son Number One (still going strong at 270,000 miles). In fact, since you mentioned camping with a minivan, they just got back from an eight mile backpacking trip together and drove there in the GC…
The most popular car in my circle of friends from High School was my buddys older brothers Astro van. It could move 6 people, 8+ in a pinch It was great for roadtrips and we used every last available watt form the OEM stereo system.
My first thought on seeing these was always “What an idiot – doesn’t he (she) know its a Chrysler?” But then, the value shopper in me kicks in, and I would buy one in a second. From everything I have read, this generation of Chrysler van is quite nice, and VW did some nice things with the trim and interiors.
Had I not needed a vehicle at the peak of used-car-price-mania a couple of years ago, I might have gone the same route. But at this time in 2011, I chose my Sedona, which is also a 2012 model (and which is also an orphan, likewise discontinued at the end of the 2012s).
I propose a series of the great orphan discount minivan face-off – Routan vs. Sedona. I think we should finish up with an extended swap of our vans. Really, this is just for pure journalistic integrity, and has nothing to do with enjoying your leather seats and high option content while you suffer with my strippo. Really. 🙂
Actually the Sedona is back as a 2014
http://www.kia.com/us/#/sedona
It apparently was only not sold in 2013 to be retooled as a new version.
I have always considered orphan cars to be those that the company that made then was gone(i.e. AMC or Pontiac etc) and not a car that has been discontinued because it can still get parts and service
If I still had The Mayfield Belle, I’d take you up on that!
After a quick look on edmunds.com, I see we paid less for our van than list on a new base model Sedona… (cue the “Sorry Charlie” sound byte). Had we waited two years and bought new, however, we would have been looking at the base or mid-trim GC/T&C ourselves – that’s why this was just too good a deal to pass up.
Kudos to your choice of vehicles and the good buy on the van. Both are distinctive looking and conservatively styled. And both appear to have good headroom in all seats. Not like the look alike 4 door sedans with too many ugly details and not enough room in back seats for the sake of a diving roofline. Just don’t paint or wrap the van like a bomber airplane until it’s near the end of it’s time with you. 🙂
+1 LOL!
Between 1978 and 1983, Chrysler used 1.7 liter VW engines in the Omni/Horizon as the standard engine.
The Dodge Avenger and Caliber had a 2.0 ltr. VW diesel for a while, only in Europe I guess.
The “Lancia” Grand Voyager has a 2.8 ltr. 4 cylinder diesel engine from VM Motori. The same engine is in the Jeep Wrangler and Liberty~Cherokee. (That is, in the Euro countries where the Cherokee is sold at the Jeep dealerships)
Mopar used the short block from VW; the top end was Mopar/COTS stuff.
That is the VW engine which started sucking oil through the valve guides at 75K miles on our Horizon, not to speak of other things. Since I change oil and such as I should I thought that was uncalled for.
Congratulations. The VW-ish interior is clearly more appealing to me than the Chrysler’s. Too bad they didn’t offer it with a diesel!
The VW interior looks good in that pic, but Isn’t the Routan interior based on the pre-2011 Chrysler interior, which was awash in hard, ill-fitting plastics? Not sure I’d pick it over the revised Caravan/T&C dash and door panels, which at least use better materials.
You are correct.
It’s hard to say which interior is the best though. The 2011 Chryslers were an improvement, but they didn’t blow me away when I sat in one. The lighter interiors tend to look nicer than the all-black. I’d really have to compare them side-by-side and in person to give an honest opinion on which is nicer.
Agreed, lighter colors definitely look better than the all-black treatment. And it’s nice to hear that VW spruced things up a bit over the Chryslers, as Ed noted below.
Ours has very nice leather(ette) soft-touch surfaces in most places. There is some “hard plastic,” but it’s in areas less noticeable. The lower trim levels might have more plastic, though.
Ignoring the logos, the all black GC interior looks the most VW-ish to me. I also find it the most attractive, although I can’t tell much about material quality and seat bolsters in the pictures. The gray-beige-black on the Routan looks like random parts thrown together, such as I’d expect of an American design team.
I had no idea the Routan was a Chrysler underneath, but it explains why I recently mistook the former for the latter.
Our new Chrysler Grand Voyager (aka T&C) still features the old dashboard, as below from the Chrysler NZ website. Given that RHD production must be pretty low (UK, Australia, NZ, Japan), I wouldn’t be surprised if we never get the upgraded dash.
it’s too bad they never offered these with the “stow & go” fold flat to floor rear seats. i think it’s the best feature ever in a mini-van.
The 3rd row did have Stow ‘N Go. 2nd row had removable buckets, but still the floor storage compartments. IMO the comfort of the 2nd row buckets is worth more than storability. If you’re buying a luxury minivan, more than likely it’s to haul people, not cargo 24/7. Just my preference though.
Correct. I’ve occasionally hauled a sheet or two of plywood in the ’05, but anything over 2-3″ thick (like three sheets of 3/4″ ply) won’t fit because it hits the front seat mounts.
You’re not alone. Stow ‘n Go seats are neat but not nearly as comfortable as the 2001-2004 seats. I once rode 3 hours in the 3rd row of one of those. No way I could do that in a Stow ‘n Go van. The oddly shaped seats and no toe space make a huge difference. Also the steep slope on the cushions makes car seats a real PITA.
I’ve had my ’05 GC for 6 years now and have no desire to get another one with Stow ‘n Go. I consider it a downside of the Chryslers. I’m sure it’s useful for some people, but it should be an option instead of standard on all but the most basic trims.
you know… i never actually sat in the stow and go seats. i just admired them from afar. reality bites!
I recall reading at the time that Stow n Go was considered Chrysler’s minivan crown jewel, and they were insistent on retaining that feature as a Chrysler exclusive.
That’s what I figured…
Kudos on that great deal and the Routan! I agree with you that the VW’s exterior enhancements make it look much less tall and boxy (thus way better looking) than the current Chryslers. As for the interior, I do prefer the design and look of the materials (I’ve never sat in a Routan) over the T&C/Grand Caravan. Although in Chrysler’s defense, they did step up quality considerable with the 2011 refresh. One huge benefit of the Routan is that they all came with “normal” 2nd row buckets, not the uncomfortable, thinly padded stow n go seats.
As you know I’m part of the CC minority who love minivans. The Routan is certainly one of the most interesting ones ever sold here in the U.S. I guarantee you that it will be a huge conversation starter 10-15 years from now.
Though VW loyalists see it as nothing more than a Town & Country, you’ve had Chrysler vans and Volkswagens before. I think you made a great choice Ed!
Very savvy move, Ed. Since you are keeping it until it’s depreciated out, purchase price is the motivator and you sure did your shopping.
I had not realized this VW was based on the Chrysler mini’s. I do like the looks of this much better than the others.
About two years ago my wife was mini-van curious so I wanted to test drive a Routan.
I went three times to the dealer – Myers Volkswagen – and they would only let me drive it if I gave them a $2K deposit. We walked.
Worst treatment I’ve ever had at a dealership in over 25 years of new car ownership.
My wife now drives a Cruze Diesel.
VW dealers are the worst part of owning a VW.
Calling VW dealers pond scum is a disservice to both ponds and scum.
Congratulations on the van, Ed. I really respect people who get really good deals on vehicles. It’s always better to keep money than spend it in my opinion!
I actually bought one new for my wife in 2011. Got a fantastic deal on it on the last day of July – got it down to $29,500 with 0% for 72 months on an SE with dual rear LCDs and navigation (it stickered for $37k MSRP). Its been great so far, the brakes suck but the 2012s got the newer HD brake package. The Pentastar is fairly smooth, granted the transmission shifting sucks. Was quite happy to trade in my ’08 HHR SS (5-speed with LSD and stage 1 upgrade) towards it. The VW dealership experience has been fantastic versus my experience with Chevy (I refuse to buy another Chevy because of their dealerships)
There’s a small Routan forum on VW Vortex for stuff, but most of the time I just go to Chryslerminivan.net
I think the Routan is most analogous to the short and unspectacular run of the Saab 9-2X (aka the Saabaru) a WRX sold by Saab dealers.
It a quirk of irrational markets how badge engineered Doppelganger vehicles can sell at a significant discount to their platform mates. The Price differential between the Corolla and Geo/Chevy Prizm, Matrix and Pontiac Vibe comes to mind.
That’s a great deal on what seems to be a very good car. In what’s probably the CC effext, I saw one parked just a few days ago in a very small village in East Germany; that’s a rare sight, as they were never officially sold here. Instead, VW has the highly successful Sharan and its little sibling, the Touran, to cover the European minivan/MPV market. The latter is based on the Golf platform, while the former used to be on a platform co-developed with Ford; I’m not sure of the current generation though. They both come with a variety of engine options, and of course include diesels.
Anyway, the Routan, while badge-engineered, is a good-looking van; I think they did a much better job than with the “Lancia” version that’s now being sold here, which looks just weird (even weirder than the “Lancia” that used to be the Chrysler 300).
I never understood why VW could never make the case for a new VW Bus, they showed a few concepts, I though making one was a given after the Beetle was a hit, the concept was a bit awkward looking, but they could have kept working at it.
Actually, they have kept working at it, and it may yet see the light of day in NA: http://futurecars2014.com/2013/04/vw-bulli-2014-concept-price-and-review/
Great job Ed! That was a steal for what will be a highly rewarding van. I always loved these, and was deeply tempted when towards the end of their run VW was advertising $10-12k off. By far the best looking of the triplets.
Calling out lots of plastic in this type of vehicle is vexing to me. It’s a minivan, made to be durable. My new car has lower dash hard plastics. I felt them. Ok. I don’t plan on feeling/licking/biting them often so I’m ok with this/
“VW dealers are the worst part of owning a VW.” Amen.
Crying “hard plastic” has got to be the most over-used, over-rated complaint possible on a car nowadays. In the old days, it was a sign of an auto writer trying to show how knowledgeable and supremely critical he was about cars.
In auto blogs, its usually a sure sign that the writer dislikes the car for whatever reason, and is looking for every possible disparaging comment he can come up with.
‘Crying “hard plastic” has got to be the most over-used, over-rated complaint possible on a car nowadays…’
Now I can add an Amen!
Thank you! Unless I’m resting my head on it, I don’t give a rip about “hard plastics.” Besides, they’re probably more durable than soft plastics. Just mind the NVH, that’s all.
While I’m opining about interior materials, I wish my Civic had vinyl instead of cloth armrests & headrests. Why? I have oily skin, & vinyl is easier to keep clean. My old Accord’s cloth headrest got nasty after many years of my hair against it, whereas its other vinyl surfaces held up well. Makes me wish I kept a doily on it, like airlines do.
Bring back vinyl!
Anyone who has ever had a late 90s or early aughts Volkswagen and watched the soft-touch plastic disintegrate into mush…probably appreciates something a little more sturdy.
A friend of mine worked at a VW dealer and dubbed these as “Croutans”
The service manager wasn’t happy when he was calling them that in front of customers.
The crazy part is that the Grand Caravan I rented had the same LED screen in the cluster that could be found in the 2010 Jetta. But is not available in the Routan.
Around here they aren’t selling at any discount compared to the T&C and GC. And they are hard to find.
I do like the exterior better than the Chryslers. I also like the interior on it, most T&Cs and GCs have black leather which is a terribly hot color to have in a vehicle with so much glass. And the middle seats look a lot better than the low Stow&Go seats. If it had a bench in the middle it would be perfect. I have always thought Stow&Go was mostly a gimmick, the folding rear seat is nice and so are the extra storage bins but I’ve never found myself really needing the fold away middle seats in the past 6 years. In the meantime they are uncomfortable on a daily basis and car seats don’t fit them very well due to the steep slope of the bottom cushion.
I’m surprised they didn’t sell better, I thought it was a better overall design than the Chryslers and a better value than the Japanese vans.
There are a surprising number of these around my town, though probably an order of magnitude (or two) fewer than Vanagons and Eurovans. A friend has a Touran in the UK, and the transposed letters in the names of those two VW vans always make me think of a similar transposition between the Vanagon and (short-lived) Honda Wagovan. I think the later name should be revived for a special-edition Odyssey targeted at dog owners.
Prior to the advent of the Atlas, several dealers retained these Routans–mostly for parts and shuttle runs–so that they could drive around in something with a VW badge, rather than having to put VW livery on another brand’s vehicle.
My bro has one of these. The price was heavily discounted. It worked out to be high-content well-optioned VW for the price of a standard Dodge. He’s glad there aren’t more educated consumers out there, or scenarios like this would never evolve. The SAABaru WRX was a similar deal 10 years ago.
While I don’t dislike the GC or the T&C, I do like the Routan better. Were I in the market for a minivan, one of these would be my first pick, provided I could also get a great deal.
An update on the Routan: it proved to be a reliable vehicle, and could easily achieve 30 mpg on highway trips (hand calculated, overall average around 24 mpg). Biggest gripe was with the transmission shift programming, which always seemed to be two gears away from where it needed to be.
Unfortunately for the Routan, I fell in ‘car heat’ with the Buick Regal TourX, which, due to slow sales have been marked down anywhere from 20-30%. So we acquired a “NOS” 2018 TourX about four months ago and gifted the Routan (with 128K on the clock) to our pastor and his family, who were in need of a vehicle but lacked funds for even a well-used replacement. They love the Routan and we’re enjoying the TourX, having already put over 10K miles on it.
Win-win! That’s very generous of you!
I almost bought a Jetta from that same Chicago dealer back when the MKVI 1.8T Jetta SEs came out around 2015 but it sold before I could get an offer in.
Why does it “painfully” remind you of its Chrysler roots? Nothing wrong with Chrysler.
No, nothing wrong with Chrysler (we’d owned four Chrylser-platform minivans before the Routan), but VW did little to hide the fact of what the Routan actually was. The value proposition basically boiled down to loyalty to the VW brand, even if applied to a lightly disguised Chrysler minivan.
So I have a ‘10 T&C. I remember these Routans from when they were new, and thought they changed “just enough” of the base vehicle to make it different enough to justify it. Obviously not enough other people agreed with me, to keep them going. Now that my van is getting close to 200k (and looking like it), I’d like to run into a Routan at a pick-a-part, to maybe get a couple things to spruce up my van. Not that I’m likely to find one, if they made so few of them…
In a related note, I read in several places that the Routan has a firmer suspension tune than the T&’s, so when I needed to replace the shocks on my van, I asked if they could use the Routan parts instead of the stock ones. The parts guy (at the Chrysler dealer in my town) claimed to not know what a Routan was, and that there were no Routan parts in his computer! I went to the NAPA in my town later, asked for Routan shocks, and was told the part numbers were the same for all the Dodge/Chrysler/Routan shocks… They must not have bothered to make any Routan-specific service parts, because of the low volume.
I saw one parked at the supermarket an hour ago. Anticipatory CC effect?
There are at least a half-dozen in and around where I live and work – I pass one on the way to work fairly regularly, in fact. The local dealer must have had a good salesman!
Chrysler’s own minivans (the Town & Country and Grand Caravan) arrived in 2008 and got a significant refresh in 2011, likely on behalf of Fiat. As your pictures point out, the Routan did benefit from a redesigned steering wheel (not unlike that of a contemporary Touareg) with the new button setup. But the Routan did not get the improved instrument cluster or center stack switchgear.
As for the Routan as a whole, it really worked with Volkswagen’s soft-but-sporty 2006-2010-ish design language. I’m not sure they could have made it work if they used a Pacifica and reworked it with VW’s current chiseled styling.
I wanted to love the Routan when I was buying a minivan. The interior was a bit nicer than the T&C, with a softer touch dashboard but the lack of Stow-N-Go without the benefit of any greater reliability was a bust. The ONLY reason I’d go with a Chrysler product was for that S-n-G brilliance. Why Toyota, Honda or Kia/Hyundai haven’t copied it is baffling.