2012 Chrysler Town & Country Electrical System Problems

The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the ignition switch malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to turn off. The contact stated that after wiggling the ignition key in the ignition switch, the vehicle started. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall on the VIN related to a faulty ignition switch. The local dealer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,288.

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.

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.

Our van's engine shuts down while driving. It has done it multiple times and our local auto mechanics can not figure out why it is doing it. We are concerned about our safety driving our van. Luckily, we have been able to brake and restart the van quickly to avoid a collision. We have now stopped using the van.

Has had some issues trying to turn on after sitting over night. It will just kill the battery but it just started to die while driving and the entire system shuts off. All the lights, the steering wheel locks up and gas goes out. All you can do is brake and hope that you can stop in a good spot before it dies fully. This has happened a few times with my kids in the car and now I just don’t dare to drive. The tipm needs to be recalled.

While in motion at various speeds, this vehicle has, on numerous occasions over the last year, abruptly lost power in the middle of traffic disabling the power steering and braking making stopping and steering out of traffic almost impossible. Most of the time the vehicle restarts after turning the key fob off and on. On the NHTSA website I have found numerous reports of the same or similar incidents reported with this vehicle. It is logical to the most casual observer that there is a problem with the ignition system, most probably, the key port and/or the ignition control module. How many of these incidents have to be reported before it is obvious to the experts in the agency to that there is a safety problem with these vehicles being left powerless in motion, in traffic? Or maybe a more appropriate question is: how many people have to be injured or killed before the "experts" and/or bureaucrats decide to do their job.

The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town & Country. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The driver was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle was able to restart. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the Totally Integrated Power Module (TIPM). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 140,000.

My car would randomly shut down while I am driving leaving me with no power steering. I took it to my mechanic who discovered it was a faulty ignition switch module and recommended I take it to a dealership. If I touch the key fob on my car or hit a bump while it is running, the car will shut down. No power steering. There are multiple recalls for faulty ignition switch modules but not on my particular vehicle (recall L25 is one of many I have discovered). I have been carefully driving the vehicle because I don't have $1500 to repair. Dealership will fix it at my expense because there is no recall on my particular vehicle.

The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was restarted after approximately two attempts. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the failure could not be replicated. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the wireless ignition node module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked unattended, he detected smoke from the vehicle, which caught fire in the rear electrical compartment. The fire department extinguished the fire. There were no reported injuries, air bag deployment or police report filed. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified about the failure. The approximate failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.

Last year, when I purchased this used minivan, it stalled at highway speed 2 hours after purchase on my way home. This random stalling at highway speed continued for at least six months. Then, it began having problems starting. The dealer said I needed a new computer, which I spent nearly $1,000 to get. The stalling at speed continued. It is now getting worse again and seems related to the vertical movement of the key fob in the ignition. Here's what I don't understand: You issued a recall for, what, the 2008-2010 version of this minivan, yet I can also find comments on here and elsewhere online that the problem is still happening. I drive with my grandkids in this minivan. How many people will have to die before another recall is issued? Chrysler did not fix the problem at the manufacturing stage. Please be a government and protect us. Please force them to fix it in a recall. BTW, you leave space for only a single date and speed. It happens all the time at any speed, including startup. Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated that the vehicle was consistently unable to be started. The vehicle was jumpstarted and operated as needed. There were no warning lights illuminated before the failure occurred. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

Car shut down twice while driving. Then car crank but don't start. Alternator, starter, fuel pump, battery changed and still having same issue.

The driver's side sliding door became inoperable suddenly. The locking mechanism was stuck in the locked position and would not release via key, manual, fob, or buttons. A buzzing noise occurred when trying to lock or unlock. This exit door being inoperable caused a safety concern to be able to exit the vehicle on the driver's side. It does now allow for quick, easy escape from the vehicle. If the danger was on the passenger side then the only exit is everyone climbing through the driver's door. This issue was verified by Dishman Dodge (Spokane Valley, WA) service team on 8/8/23. The lock actuator was the issue. They have replaced it at my expense. (This is the same issue referenced in: Chrysler TSB 23-017-20) There were no warnings or symptoms prior to this lock failing. We were on a trip July 22 when we first noticed the issue.

The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the speedometer and several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact had assistance from another driver, who disconnected and reconnected the battery to correct the failure. The contact related the failure to a faulty electrical system; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.

MOVING STALL Complete shutdown of the vehicle without warning while driving. Dash dials completely blank, loss of power steering, brake assist and engine power. Presumed loss of airbag function also. The issue first happened a few weeks ago but started to re-occur multiple times in recent days. Last occurrence captured on video (see attached GIF). Fortunately it was possible to bring the vehicle to a stop without incident in each case, but the potential for a injury is obvious. Prior to the issue a worsening problem over previous year or so was observed in that while in Accessory position, the slightest touch of the inserted key fob would sometimes cause similar shutoff ('off ' position).

The contact owns a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country. The contact stated while driving 45-60 MPH, the rear passenger side sliding door started smoking and caught on fire. There was an unknown warning light illuminated. The contact immediately veered to the side of the road and assisted his four children out of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle burned significantly down to the metal frame. The contact was able to extinguish the fire with the assistance of the fire department. The contact was unsure whether a fire department report was filed. The contact stated that two of his children were occupying the second-row seats while the other two were occupying the third-row seats. The contact stated that his son, who was sitting close to the rear passenger sliding door, sustained soot on his face. The contact sustained a sore throat, cough, chest pain, and breathing issues. Both the contact nor his son did not seek medical assistance. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

WIN Module...car goes int ACCY mode while driving and when car is turned off. Engine shuts off at random times, Can not restart car...says key not present. All kind of other electrical warnings keep coming up as well.

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.