Faults:

Transmission rebuilt at 168,000 miles.

Front crankshaft seal started leaking profusely at 170,000 miles.

Vehicle speed sensor malfunction when car was purchased, but extremely simple to fix.

Gas gauge has started to go haywire, but that could be because of the fuel pump purchased from the parts store.

Stalls from time to time, though the problems with this symptom have been addressed and corrected.

General Comments:

Very reliable engine, only had 2 tune-ups since purchasing it 3 years ago.

Transmission was strong until it had to be rebuilt, but I knew going in that the 3-speed was a weak one to begin with, so I knew it had to be done sooner or later. It was rebuilt beautifully and hasn't caused me problems since.

When crankshaft seal went out, the car was only running on about 2 quarts of oil, and even though it was clicking a lot until I could get it parked and worked on, none of the internal components were damaged.

Great gas mileage for a large, 6 cylinder vehicle.

Easy to repair, and parts are inexpensive; I do all the work on it myself..

Vehicle has never left me stranded.

Though there were a lot of things I've had to fix since I've had it, that could be just mistreatment from former owners... And most of the work was preventative maintenance or parts that would just go bad over time in any vehicle.

Since I have owned this van, everything within my control has run smoothly and efficiently because I take care of it.

Faults:

The transmission had been replaced when we bought it.

EGR valve at 160,000 miles.

Intermittent misfire at 198,000, ended up being a bad PCM that was replaced with a remanufactured unit.

Control unit for ABS- just needed repeated flushing.

Blower motor resistor has gone bad twice- easy, cheap and common fix.

Hard on front brake pads. Better with higher dollar pads.

Sometimes low fuel light comes on and chimes briefly after a fill up.

General Comments:

For the money this has been a great van. It is roomy, has decent performance and parts for it are very reasonable.

It has nearly 200,000 miles and the engine still runs very strong.

Faults:

Dodge should be ashamed of building such a piece of garbage so much for American standards, no wonder the American car market has been on the decline for so long.

I have owned Japanese and European vehicles and have never had these problems. Everything that could go wrong has, especially the transmission being replaced at least 5 times before 100,000 miles.

I will never drive anything American again in my life.

Xxxx.

Faults:

I had intermittent check engine light codes appear, all relating to the EGR valve around 140,000. The connector was deteriorated at the EGR valve, and the repair cost around $250.

The air conditioning developed a leak last season, which I have yet to have repaired.

The radio buttons no longer light up.

General Comments:

I have put over 45,000 miles on since I bought it, and have changed the oil every 3,000 miles. Only twice have I had to add a little oil between oil changes, and I've never broken down.

I have replaced brake pads once, and all four tires once. With nearly 150,000 miles now on it, it still has all the pep of a new car, has never had any fluid leaks, and has no rattles nor clunks.

I have no indication of it needing even a tune-up yet, as it idles very smoothly.

Faults:

We purchased this van in 2000 with 101,000 miles on it. We have replaced the common parts, and have never touched the tranny. The motor has been bullet-proof to say the least. We have put in a water pump, ac pump, and just last week a fuel pump (ouch). Fuel pumps aren't cheap! We had it in to the garage about 6 months ago because the front end developed a "clunk". He lubed up the sway bar bushings and said the front end is solid, needs nothing. He couldn't believe that it still had all of its original front end parts and that they were in amazingly great shape! We had the van looked at when we first decided to buy it at the local garage. Our mechanic told us then that we should be able to easily put 250,000 miles on it with proper care. I think he's right!

General Comments:

Very comfortable ride! We have recently bought a 2006 Chrysler T&C, and the old 96 Caravan is ten times the ride, quality, reliability. Our Caravan has always started even on the coldest (-25 degrees) Minnesota mornings. Recently, we have developed an electrical problem and the interior lights will flicker. Started with the drivers door lights, now has moved to the entire van. Otherwise, a real joy to own / drive. I would recommend one to anyone... and have!