Faults:

Timing belt at 80,000

Radiator at 98,000

Water pump at 118,000

Clock spring (recall item) at 100,000.

General Comments:

Overall, this vehicle has been excellent. Handled an accident very well and easy to maintain. The Caravan has been very reliable on long trips and continues to run strong, even after almost 10 years and 121,000 miles.

The V6 has been fairly fuel efficient and powerful (much better than a 4 cylinder). One complaint about maintenance: the air filter is very hard to get to and can take 30-45 minutes to change by yourself.

I highly recommend a Caravan to anyone with a few kids. Gives you room and comfort.

Faults:

We have had to replace the transmission every 2 years, which make a total of 3 times.

The parking brake doesn't work.

The automated windows in the back don't always open or close, especially in warm or hot weather.

Faults:

Built-in child seat safety belts locked and could not be pulled out anymore.

Resistor set for cool/heat ventilation burned out. This resitor set is cooled by the incoming air stream. If it burns out you get burned rubber smelling smoke from the vents. If you switch to inside air only, the resistors don't get cooled anymore. This seems a strange design-flaw.

The inside A/C evaporator leaked and needed a $1000 replacement right after we bought the van at 40k miles. The mechanic said this is common for this van.

The A/C compressor failed shortly after, another $1000.

At 80k miles the serpentine belt made a loud screeching noise. Replacement incl. the belt tensioner was $300.

A week later the water pump leaked, a $700 repair.

Windshield wiper comes on with blinker sometimes or for no reason.

Paint peels off the steering wheel.

Sky fabric fell off, cost $100 to replace in a cheapo shop, which does only sky fabrics.

Driver side powerwindow motor fell apart, a $400 repair.

General Comments:

Suspension seems very hard. I feel every little bump. Seems to come from the rear steel spring suspension, something usually only seen in trucks.

Rear seats are much too heavy to take out and put back in. Need 2 very strong people, my wife can't help me with that.

Faults:

Where do I start? For those not too sure, for mileage 100000 miles = 160000km.

Broken glove box, from day one.

Front turn signal bulbs burn out every month or so.

Taillight stays on even after vehicle turned off.

Door ajar warning goes off on bumpy roads.

Replaced many serpentine belts, too many to remember. The one time I had the dealer do it they forgot to put the a/c belt back on, another 1/2 day wasted and lucky me they did it free of charge!

Replaced 2 tensioner pulleys, one at 90000km, the other at 120000km, conveniently while on holidays.

Replaced 2 timing belts, one as per Dodge recommendations at 96000km, the other as per holidays, the serpentine belt shredded and found a new home in the timing belt.

Replaced valve cover gaskets.

Replaced shocks and struts at 80000km, dealer did this and now the ride is worse than ever.

Replaced hub and bearing today at 125000km.

Could not replace the 3 stupid sparkplugs on the firewall side.

May be insignificant, but we are on the 3rd windshield, funny my Honda at 80000km is still on the original. Makes you wonder.

All expected replacements happened far too early in the vehicles life, tires, brakes, my sanity.

General Comments:

I cannot stress enough, do not buy one of these. Heed the warnings you are reading. This vehicle will cost you thousands in repairs. Hmmmmm, Odyssey costs a few thousand more and doesn't break down every month. Lessons have been learned.

Also, do not contact Dodge. They will not help you. I described all of my heartache to them and asked for a free air freshener to call it even, they sympathized with my plight, but would not even extend that simple gesture. Once your warranty is over, they DO NOT care.

I do not understand how anyone in their right, or not right, mind could engineer something as crappy as this vehicle. If this piece of garbage was supposed to be revolutionary and the best in its class, what does that say about the standards we have as consumers? Imagine if everything you ever bought behaved as a Dodge. The handles on your frying pans would fall off, your TV tube would blow every month or so. My God, have I ever been ripped off.