9th Nov 2004, 13:39

I testdrove a used Dodge Caravan (we are looking for a second vehicle in our family and we cannot afford a new one) and I noticed the same problem with the brakes. I got the van on the highway and it failed to stop properly 3 times, first time in my life I came so close to a major accident and saw the back of the car ahead of me SO CLOSE!!! I got the car back and was told that the brakes had just been done by the dealer. I am too scared of ever touching the same type of van again!

18th Dec 2004, 16:52

I too own a 2002 Caravan SE. It has 35000 miles on it. The rotors have been replaced, the steering rack, air conditioning compressor, power steering reservoir and pump, power steering hoses (three times) now at this mileage the front brakes need replacing and I am told the front struts and strut plates are bad. If you own one sell it otherwise get to know your mechanics by first name.

10th Jul 2005, 23:45

2002 Dodge Caravan SE. I just bought my used 2002 Caravan SE in March 2005 with 55Km on the odometer. Since I bought it, it always had a "hissing" sound coming from under the passenger side dashboard. Luckily it's still on an extended 425 Gold Plus Warranty and the dealership just replaced the AC compressor at 58,000 km, a 12 hour job! But, it still hisses!! Turns out that Chrysler engineering knows about the problem, but a recall has not yet been issued. It is very annoying.

JC

28th Oct 2005, 03:44

My wife and I bought a used 2002 Dodge Caravan. So far we have replaced the transmission at 60000 miles, the brakes have been replaced several times, the A/C does not work at all, there is a nasty smell coming from the engine into the inside of the car, the water pump has been replaced, the engine was leaking oil so we took it to the mechanic and they fixed it, the windshield wipers hit each other and they get stuck, and now when I step on the accelerator you can hear loud explosions coming from the engine and not allowing the van to properly accelerate. I don't know how much this going to cost me, but I need the damned car.

1st Nov 2005, 12:46

I have a 2003 Grand Caravan Sport (3.3 Liter Engine). The power steering pump was replaced by the dealer in 2003 with 43,000 miles on the vehicle. Now, approximately one year later with 61,000 miles on the vehicle the power steering pump is failing again.

4th Nov 2005, 22:57

I bought a 2002 dodge grand caravan sport 3 weeks ago with 36900 miles on it, it was fine when I got em, but now with 37400 miles the engine malfunction light stays on...

11th Nov 2005, 18:25

We have a 2002 Grand Caravan. At around 25,000 miles we also thought we were having transmission problems. Sometimes when accelerating from a stop, it felt like the transmission was in neutral then it would slam into gear and the tires would spin and squeal. Then I noticed that the problem was even worse if the roads were wet. So we replaced the original Goodyear Integrity (I think that was model) tire with different Goodyear tire Regatta II. We now have 65,000 miles with no more slipping problems. The old tires still had good tread so I think it was just a poor design.

25th Jan 2006, 22:21

We have a 2003 Dodge Caravan SE we bought new. Over all it's been a pretty good little van but, we have had some minor problems with it already. First off I had to put it in the shop twice this past summer due to cracked hoses leading to the emission canister. This was giving us a "check engine" light and causing it to fail the state inspection. Also, when we first got it home I noticed a short hose under the hood was dried and cracked so I replaced it. Now I'm hearing a loud popping noise coming from under the hood only when one side of the car hits a bump or dip but, not the other. It's worse on colder days. I'm thinking it's sway bar bushings, but, I'm taking it back to the shop while it's under warranty to let them fix it. Could this be a sign of "lot rot"?

6th Mar 2006, 12:25

2002 Grand Caravan. Front end makes noise going down hill. It sounds like a hissing noise with a vibration. Dealer can do nothing to fix. The belts always make noise and the dealer fixes it every time we bring it in for an oil change. I'm selling this Van in the summer.

13th May 2006, 09:26

I bought a new 2002 Caravan SE in July of 2002. A few months after purchasing, I heard a faint noise in front end. When hearing noise, acceleration power would decrease slightly. Noise was intermittent, sometimes faint, sometimes louder. I had to take it to dealer 3 times for anyone to hear the noise. I finally had to take the service manager, a technician, and the service writer for a ride. The (female) service writer was the only one who could hear it. Turned out that the exhaust manifold (cover?) was loose.

At approx 45,000 miles, I had a broken sway bar link. Now (at 60,000 miles) the transmission failed. Hopefully that will be covered by the 7 yr/70,000 mile warranty.

6th Nov 2006, 12:16

8 months ago, we purchased a 2002 Grand Caravan which had 46K on it. Soon after the purchase, we noticed a groaning, much like a power steering problem. We took it to the Dodge Dealer, (we had purchased from another dealer, but felt maybe an actual Dodge dealer could better service the car) and asked them to go over the van real good, while checking the power steering, and fixing a recall on an air conditioning hose that was leaking into the cabin. According to them, the groaning is a common occurence in these vans, and it was nothing.

Jump forward about a month and 1/2, and the check engine light comes on. We get the codes checked, and it turns out to be the torque converter. While trying to figure out what to do, my husband was replacing a blown fuse, and the check engine light went off, and never came back on. Thinking it was just a computer glitch, we went along our merry way for another week or so.

Last night, on the way to church, we left our transmission somewhere along the interstate. As we were driving, the van jerks horribly, and it felt as if we had run over an ac unit. Earlier in the day, it had done the same thing, a lot softer, but you could tell "This was the Big One", as Fred Sanford would say, at 55K.

My mother had 3 transmissions put in her 1989 Grand Caravan, and I would have thought that was old news... Hopefully we can sell it without losing too much money.