Anyone own a Dodge Grand Caravan?

[jbell1981]

I am thinking about buying a 2002 caravan and wanted any input from anyone who owns one before I buy. Do you like it? Any major mech problems? I heard that Dodge had tranny problems in the mid 90's, anyone heard of problems on the newer ones? I am a chevy guy, so I don't know alot about about Dodge's. Any input would would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Josh

[aug495fish]

I have a 1998 Caravan and a 2005 Grand Caravan. Three years ago last November, the mechanic said that I needed the transmission replaced right away. We decided to drive it until it went and then we would replace the vehicle. We are still driving it.

We got the 2005 in July. I looked at the Venture, Uplander, Windstar, Freestar and I like the Grand Caravan the best. We have 34,000 on it and haven't had any problems.

Probably doesn't answer your question really well but just my two cents.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Jbell

How many miles? what size motor?

Here are some things you could expect to have repaired;

Evap core (a/c) - fronts are very common rears occasionally

A/C compressor - occassionally sieze up

Trany cooler hoses - leak

Input / Output speed sensors - just replaced both of mine within two weeks of each other.

Transmission - seeing less of them on the new vans '97 was the bad year if I remember correctly

Power steering cooler hoses -

Rack and Pinion - leak out the bellows

With that being said I currently have a 99 Town & Country. Our decision to buy it came down to price. They are cheap, alot cheaper than the siennas' or oddessys'.

[jbell1981]

Thanks for the replies. It has about 52000 miles and it has the 3.3 flex fuel engine.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Keep in mind that the 3.3 litre "flex fuel" engines requires a special "flex fuel compatible" oil when using the flex fuel. Do people use this oil, nope. Is it hurting anything, only time will tell. Do I use Flex fuel in mine, NO! We had a lengthy discusion on this a while back.

[fishermn]

I've had 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2005 Dodge Grand Caravans. With a wife who puts on 30 - 35K every year, the only problem I have ever had was with the 2000, the transmission failed at about 120K miles. The others were traded off at between 65K - 100K. Overall, I have been very happy with these vans. They are an excellent vehicle and have been very reliable for me.

[jltimm]

Yeah Airjer, you got to pay out the nose for them Toyota's or Honda's!But as both you and I know, owning a Toyota is well worth it in reliability and resale!

[cheesehead]

I have a 98 grand carravan with 130,000 miles and no problems other than the muffler burnt out. my opinion would be to go ahead with it.

[herdog]

Well I needed a van just for a year or so I asked my genius mechanic buddy if these were any good & he said "if you need a van what else is there"? It's a machine & might need fixing but they all do, even toyota,s & honda,s & then it will cost a lot more. I have a 02 T&C w/90,000 + miles & no problems.

[YukonDew]

Against the advice of many, back in 1996 I bought a 1994 Grand Caravan with the 3.8. I was told of all the "problems" I would have. I am still waiting for all the terrible things that I was told would happen to take place. I bought it with 35M miles and still own it. It now has just about 200M miles on it. Routine maintenance, an alternator, and a drive axle (wife hit a curb in the winter) are all I have put into the thing. I should also note that ( again- against the advice of many) I tow a 12' pop up trailer 6-8 times a summer to various state parks with this van and have never had a problem - but I did add an aftermarket tranny cooler. I keep thinking I should buy something newer, but it's worth more to me as a means to avoid another car payment then it'll ever be worth if I sell it. But it won't last forever, so I told my wife that sometime this summer we'll get something newer for her and keep the '94 as a third vehicle for now. I know I plan to buy another Chrysler van with a 3.8. But no mater what you buy, think about your long term plan, you'll want confidence in the reliability of anything you'll buy but resale value may or may not be something that is worth investing money into. In my case, if I paid more for a Toyota I would have gained nothing since I drive my stuff for ten years and resale isn't part of my math.

[CNY Tim]

I have a 95 3.0 Caravan with 129K

Waterpump/timing belt 75K

Head gasket, 105 K

I have intermittent tranny problems with it but only after driving it for 2 1/2 hours straight highway run, the tranny acts like it wan'ts to kick down when it doesn't need too. I have been dealing with this issue for about 4 years now, but it's still going.

[Horned_Swede]

I have a 2000 Grand Caravan. Overall it is a nice vehicle and great for moving people (and small boats). Other than small fit and finish items, the major problems were:

25K - AC Evaporator core

50K - Tranny

The first was under warranty, the second wasn't (bummer). On a side note, after the tranny was rebuilt, I started getting 2mph better gas milage than I had ever seen before.

I think they are fairly cheap and feature rich for the money, but they will have issues. Of course, there aren't many vehicles that don't :-)