Opinion on 01-04 Chrysler Town & Country

We had a '96 Voyager for many years that had the 3.0L Mitsu engin and 3-spd auto. It was a great van that proved very reliable. Several years later, we bought a then four-year-old low-mileage '03 Town and Country AWD that was loaded. From the start, we had electrical gremlins like the power windows and sliding doors intermittently not working. The HVAC panel went out and cost $400 to replace shortly after buying the van. The worst part was the transmission which would sometimes, quit altogether, then work fine, then make bad sounds, then work fine. We finally got tired of living with a fairly new (and pricey) vehicle that was comfortable when it was working, but made us nervous because it always felt like something was going to break or not work properly. The AWD feature was nice but adds weight and our fuel economy was a consistent 17mpg, not very good in my opinion for a minivan. The 4-spd auto that came with the 3.3L and 3.8L at that time has a horrible reputation. One other thing to know: The Stow-N-Go option is not available with AWD due to the space needed for the AWD system. Overall, I'd stay away from the 2001-2007 era vans as the quality was lacking. The transmissions are definetly the weak link as opposed to the engines that are fairly reliable. The newer bodystyle (2008?) may be better. I'm unsure if the 4.0L still has the same problem-prone 4-spd auto.