1992 Dodge Caravan 2.4 Inline 4

Summary:

A fun-to-drive, solidly built van

Faults:

The air conditioner has been repaired on several occasions.

The master cylinder required replacement about 2 years ago.

Paint peeled badly; had to be repainted.

A few minor recalls.

General Comments:

This car has been in the family well before I've owned it; this car has been through cross country moves, and I've always liked it.

People have complained of transmission problems with Dodge Caravans many times; I have to say this van has held up surprisingly well. As a family car, it ran fantastically, and it continues to do do so even today.

I have a tendency to push my van a to extremes in some cases. I frequntly pop it into first, hold both the break and gas, release it, take off, pop it into second, and cruise into drive; I might not always win, but it's fun to race a van. The way I fool around with the gears, if the transmission was going to die, it would have done it by now. The transmission has never had ANY work done to it whatsoever. I can get zero to sixty in just a few seconds if I gear it right... I love the transmission. It can run in drive for daily use and gives a great burst of accelleration when used correctly in first and second. The engine could be a little bigger, but the transmission's better in my van than a lot of my friends' higher-performance cars... maybe I just got lucky.

I would easily buy another Dodge Caravan if this one was stolen; it runs well, has lots of room, and (in mine at least) has a very good, versatile transmission.

I honestly think these vans have gotten a bad rap on the internet; I know numerous people with Dodge Caravans that run great; mine always surprises me in what it can do.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd April, 2002

27th Feb 2004, 12:00

The reason you have had few problems is because you have a three speed automatic trans. The four speeds are the ones with all of the problems.

11th Aug 2006, 22:38

Yeah, you obviously have the three speed transmission, because I can GUARANTEE you, if you had done the same things to the 4-speed transmission, you would have replaced it numerous times by now.