Dodge Grand Caravan? Any opinions?

[tinker&belle]

We are looking at possibly buying a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. I know many people on here have minivans and I was wondering what people who have had these before felt about them? It seems like you get a lot for your money. I have also been looking at Hondas, but they run considerably higher for what you get.

 

[goofyredraider]

I had a 2009 before I traded it in on my 2011 Ford Flex. It had stow & go, and I loved it (but my interest rate was insane, and in the end, it was better to trade it in).

eta:
My BFF had a 2008 and had nothing but problems with it (brakes replaced 2x in 3 years, new tires twice, sliding door stopped working, fuse issues, coolant issues).

 

[Harters2WDW]

We are looking at possibly buying a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. I know many people on here have minivans and I was wondering what people who have had these before felt about them? It seems like you get a lot for your money. I have also been looking at Hondas, but they run considerably higher for what you get.

We had a 2006 that we loved. We got in a bad accident in Oct. 2010 and it honestly saved my husband's life. So, we bought a new 2010, which we love even more. We have two young girls (2 and 6). The car is great for them. Each van took one trip to WDW. We drive a lot of long distances and it does us well. Make sure there's some kind of coverage on auto doors. We had problems on our 06 right before the accident, but that was it! Can't beat it for the price!

 

[foltzy]

I drive a 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan. It's getting old so we're selling it. There's some transmission problems. I'm looking at possibly getting another one but one that's a little newer.

 

[Psychodisney]

We've had Grand Caravan's for the last 10 years. I have a 2009 SXT model and love it. I did have problems with my 2006(?) power slider doors. The later models improved upon what they initially put in. Love all the space and how it drives.

 

[Disneylush]

on our 3rd one!! we love them... but i think our 2006 was made much better then our 2010.

 

[wgeo]

We have a 2006 grand caravan - popular year I guess! Love it, love absolutely everything about it. Did have an issue with the ac, but it was covered under warranty and that's it. Love it.

 

[nilseks]

We had a 2004 and hated, hated, hated it. I cannot say enough bad things about it. It was our 4th Dodge, had pretty good luck with the others. But after that vehicle, you could not PAY me to own a Dodge EVER again. After spending thousands upon thousands of dollars to do the same repairs over and over, we sold it for a loss this past May. If I had not bought it used, I easily could have invoked the lemon law on that car.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but if I could do it all over again I would want someone to tell me to RUN far, far away from a Dodge Caravan. That stupid car caused me so much stress!

 

[VirataMama4]

We have a 2005 (bought in 2007) that we had nothing but problems with the first 3 years. Not all the problems were strictly the van, just bad luck. 4 sets of tires, 3 minor accidents (none our fault), etc. But I think we've finally gotten all the major work done on it and now it seems to be doing good. We've taken it on more road trips then I can count and we love the space a minivan provides. I love having a minivan, just wish we would have researched it more before we bought it... Make sure to check for recalls, any major issues people have had, and make sure to get a carfax for that particular van!

 

[swilshire]

We had so many problems with our last one that I swore I'd never buy another Chrysler product. It was a disaster.

Sheila

 

[tar heel]

We have a 2000 with 228,000 miles. It has had a couple of major repairs, but still, that's a lot of miles! The a/c is broken and we don't intend to have it fixed, plus I inherited an essentially new car, so it will probably leave our family soon. Overall, it's been a very good, reliable vehicle. We bought it on 2002 with under 30,000 miles.

We had a 1994 before this one. We put a rebuilt transmission in it and got rid of it when it needed another transmission around 165,000 miles.

 

[DisMomme]

We have a 2007 grand caravan and love it. We have the towing package and tow our pop=up behind it. It also has the stow & go seats and we love the extra storage under the seats when they are up. The only thing mine doesn't have are the middle windows that roll down. We don;t really mind though.

 

[julieanddanny]

We LOVED our 2005 Grand Caravan and traded it in for a 2010 last year and love that one too!

I say do it!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Consumer Reports lists the 2008 Grand Caravan as worst for used car prediction. It has the listed price range as $8,775 - $14,075.

It lists the Grand Caravan from 2001 to 2009 as a used vehicle to avoid.

For the Worst of the worst: These models, listed alphabetically, have multiple years of reliability that's much worse than average among 2001 to 2010 models. The Dodge Caravan and Grand Caravan are both listed.

Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey are listed as best minivans.

 

[Boardwalk Gal]

i still have my 1997 Dodge Caravan and it still runs great!!!

 

[blondietink]

We had a Chrysler Town and Country .... worst vehicle we have ever had. 2 transmissions within 75,000 miles. Power steering problem, brake problems, etc. You could not pay us to buy another Dodge/Chrysler product. The only thing I can say good about it was the inside was nice.

We now have a Hyundai Entourage. Great vehicle! Too bad they don't make them anymore. Our next mini-van will be a Kia Sedona. We drove a Toyota Sienna as a rental for 1500 miles once. YUCK! Drove like a truck, lots of road noise, not as much room as our Hyundai.

 

[Southernmiss]

We had a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan that I loved. I actually cried the day we traded it in, but it had 147,000 miles and had started to nickel and dime us with repairs. The last straw was when the mechanic said the transmission was going.

We had looked at the Town and Country model to replace it, but went with
a 2008 Toyota Sienna. We bought it the day after Christmas 2008. I love that van more than the last one. It just feels sturdier and more reliable to drive. We bought it because of the reliability of a 1994 Toyota Camry that we bought brand new and owned until our DS forgot to put oil in it this summer and burned up the engine. It had 290,500 miles on it--twice what we got out of the Grand Caravan and had our DS put the oil in it, it would still be running today.

 

[NYCDiane]

I have a Dodge Grand Caravan SXT --- and I will NEVER AGAIN in my life own another Dodge/Chrysler vehicle. This thing has been nothing but one headache after the next. Problems with electrical system, problems with brakes constantly needing replacements, problems with the steering, etc etc etc... I could go on and on and on.

I wouldn't recommend any Dodge/Chrysler to anyone, especially a Grand Caravan. The ONLY good thing about this car is the "stow & go" seating. Other than that? Garbage.

 

[drinkme]

We just donated our 2002 Grand Caravan yesterday! The first transmission was replaced at 5 years, then this transmission was slipping as of 2 weeks ago. It had around 115,000 miles. So, it should have lasted longer. I read the Grand Caravans have bad transmission issues, but that's the older years I think.

I really like Dodges. We currently own an Avenger and a Journey.

Do research on some consumer sites and see what it says about the year you are looking at. I saw a real nice 2009 Grand Caravan at the used lot the other day when we were picking up our Journey. It had TWO dvd players in it, the swivel seats, and all of the bells and whistles. They were asking around $20,500 for it. We're out of the minivan stage right now, otherwise we would have looked into it! lol.

HTH

 

[Shelly888]

I have a Kia Sedona, and it has been so great! 76,000 miles still under waranty until 100K and it was bought certified pre-owned. You might want to look into it, seats are extremely comfortable, and 5 star safety rating. The only feature I really miss is a moon/sunroof...I would hvae had to get the whole fancy package with sliding doors/trunk etc and I didn't really need all of that...oh, it also does not have an iphone port to connect through my speakers, but I believe the newer ones do...mine is a 2007.