Poor Investment
Have had three serpentine belts replaced in past two years. Yesterday my wife and daughter were stranded on the highway after sepentine belt came off. Tow company told my wife that this was the second Caravan that day that had the same problem.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 7th March, 2004
Excellent
Recharge of air condition fluid
Replacement of brakes
Changed motor oil every 3000 miles + Filters, oil and gas.
Just normal stuff.
This engine is powerful, interior is just beautiful, I have nothing bad to say about this car.
It rides almost like a Limo. You can add more than 250,000 miles to this engine without a problem.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 26th February, 2004
The best value in America!
The cup holder in the center console broke, as did the cup holder under the first row of bench seats. (Apparently we are HEAVY drinkers - ha ha)
Additionally the passenger front speaker has quit working.
Finally the little plastic hooks that hold the sun visors in place have broken too.
This is the best vehicle I have ever had. With the exception of the minor problems listed above there have been no concerns at all!. It has performed like a champ for about 90,000 miles and still is going strong!
The van is more than adequate in highway travel, as I have gotten it up to over 100 M.P.H pretty easily - it cruises well at 80 MPH.
The van's seats are not hard to remove, in that I can remove and replace them by my self (I actually do it regularly) With the seats out I have plenty of cargo room to haul most things!
I love this van and do not plan on parting with it anytime soon!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 15th January, 2004
I am also very happy with my Dodge Caravan. I purchased it at 69,000 miles and am close to 105,000 now. It held up great through our recent 3500 mile round trip and just ran out of a/c charge about 200 miles from home - just when we hit the high country. It handled great on 4% grades going downhill and uphill (got into some pretty scary country a few times and was a little worried - but our Caravan held up like a trooper). It's very roomy and reliable and pretty good on gas, too. I've also been able to transport many things in it, with and without the seats.
The only work done on it was the front brakes at about 80,000 miles.
Comfortable, but not a quality car
Passenger side electric window switch would not work although the driver's switch could still move the window - replaced under warranty.
Battery problems - could not leave the doors open for any length of time with out needing a jump start.
Steering rack broken - replaced under warranty.
Brakes worn at 30000km.
Build quality is not good - the occasional rattle and weird untraceable squeaks are a little irritating.
The air conditioning smells continually. Can't figure out what to do with it now...
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 24th May, 2003
A reliable, comfortable and versatile family vehicle
Rear power vent-window motor disconnected from crank.
Fuel-filler interlock failed, causing a broken filler door.
Brake pads seem soft, wear out too quickly.
Poor quality OEM stereo.
So far, this car has been extremely reliable and pleasant to drive and own. My son originally used the car for his delivery job, so for the first couple of years it was not treated very gently. The kilometers really piled up quickly, but we've had no major problems, other than the brakes seem to wear out a bit faster than they should. Also, the fuel-filler interlock failed, causing a broken filler door when the driver's-side sliding door was opened.
The Caravan is still solid, with no squeaks or rattles and it drives every bit as well as it ever did. I've had pretty good luck with other Chysler products and this vehicle seems to continue that trend. It's just been thoroughly checked by a mechanic and no problems were found, even the timing belt was still in excellent condition at 120,000 Km's. The car has lots of electric accessories (power windows and mirrors, cruise, etc.) and they've all functioned without a hitch so far.
My 3.0 liter Caravan gets excellent fuel mileage, much better than my brother-in-law's 3.3, with not much of a performance penalty. It's comfortable, quiet and reliable and it drives much more like a car than other mini-vans I've tried. It's versatility is also hard to beat. I'd definitely buy another.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 15th March, 2003
The 3.0 will get better gas mileage on level ground, but is under power for the weight it must pull going up grades. However the 3.3 and 3.8 get much better distance when it comes to engine oil, it burns just trace amounts that isn't even noticeable. The 3.0 will give you about 180 miles a quart and is more likely to fail emission inspections in some states, given in those states dealers at the time didn't even offer the 3.0 liter engine.
Go go gadget smoke screen!
17th Jun 2005, 10:46
Has your mechanic looked anywhere else besides the belt for your problem? It's very possible you have a bad tensioner or idler pulley, both of which are not uncommon problems to have on these cars.