20th Sep 2008, 17:30

I have to say I love Dodge.

My first car was a 1961 Polara that cost me all of $50. The front seat was made of electrical tape and that thing was like a moving tank. I was safe as a babe in her mom's arms in that thing.

Then I got a brand new from the factory Chevy Malibu - to make my parents not worry. MISTAKE. I broke down so much in that junker, it spent more time on the hook than on the ground. I got stranded in two blizzards back in the 70s and bought more starters than I care to admit. The carb was the problem. But my hard headed husband refused to believe me. DUHHH.

I got smart and went back to Dodge. Got a 1978 Magnum and adored it. Never gave me a moments worry. Not one dime other than maintenance on it. I sent it off to car heaven in 1998 with less than 40,000 miles on it. I had really no use for it and it rusted away in my drive. The frame eventually cracked and it was quickly snapped up for parts. It was a great car.

Now I have a 1992 Dodge Minivan. I bought it used so I know the old saying. After 100,000 is when the car started giving me problems. It's been radiator, transmission, headlights, brake lights, turn signals, starter, oil leak, did I mention starter?, tie rod, tie rod again, lets make it three tie rods, front end alignments, and several thermostats. Are we being unreasonable to expect/hope for cars to outlast 100,000 miles anymore?

I'm divorced now and maintaining the car on my own. Tonight after the engine cools I have to replace another thermostat. :( It's what you have to expect to own a vehicle. Sometimes it costs money, but I still love Dodge. It's basically a pretty reliable machine. Better than I could say for my ex. And he was a Dodge mechanic!

15th Jan 2009, 12:55

Yeah sorry, I bought a Caravan, I have an 06 with 26,000 miles on it. Just picked it up from a service today, I brought it in because the brake light stopped working, turns out the brake switch at the pedal was bad and needed replacement. However while it was in service, they also replaced front left and right tie rods, and a new water pump because they saw my water pump had a leak. So I got charged for radiator fluid, even though I was only low due to the piece of junk leaky water pump at 26,000 miles. So I guess by the time this thing hits 10,000, I will need a few more sets of tie-rods... This SUCKS.

22nd Feb 2009, 21:34

I have a 92 Chrysler Town & Country. I bought it 10 years ago with about 40,000 on it. It has over 150,000 now. I have exactly the same experience as the original writer. This car is nothing but a nightmare. It is always in need of repair. Nothing holds up. My Chevy Suburban and Tahoe (both bought as high mileage vehicles) never seem to need anything while the tired old minivan just constantly needs hundreds of dollars more work. We would've all been better off if we had just let Chrysler go belly up the first time they asked the gov't for money. I HATE my minivan!

5th May 2009, 00:33

I'm helping a friend work his 97 Caravan, because the fan relay went out. The night we fixed it, the tranny went into limp mode, I have the good scanners and tools, but codes read out for the tranny. According to my friend this is the 3rd time, says it's always something.

I myself drive a 64 El Camino, 64 Chevelle, and a 69 Chevelle (my wife's hot rod). I have had my run ins with 4, yes 4 lemons. All bought brand new, 98 Dodge Dakota, 98 Dodge Club Cab, 98 Chevy Silverado, and a 00 Silverado, All piles of junk.

I bought an 02 F-350 in late 01. This truck went 359000 miles and all I did was replace a 30 cent O-ring on the external oil pump. Traded for a family rig, 05 Ford Excursion, big mistake, this truck is a bigger pile of junk than all the others.

My point is simply this, there is no PRIDE left in the term AMERICAN MADE, like there used to be. Nothings hand torqued, it's all done by machine, The same way it's done in Japan. So why are ALL the American manufactures putting out junk. They need to go back to basics, so us consumer don't have to worry if were getting a Friday Car (guys in a hurry to leave work) or a Monday Car (hungover or just don't want to be there).

Even with all these problems, I still buy American, but I buy OLD SCHOOL!

24th Sep 2009, 02:52

Let me add to this in the following manner: I have a 1993 Mitsubishi Eclipse (the lowest model) and a 1993 Dodge Caravan LE (limited edition) with tons of fancy crap on it.

The only things that went bad on the Eclipse were brakes, tires, a battery (once in 10 years), a thermostat once, tie rods three times (I beat the crap out of that thing, so I expected it). Oh, and a transmission, but it just happened to fail the day after I took it to be inspected, so it had to be the them.

I've overheated it many times, ground out the bottom many times, ran it low on oil many times (it leaks), I only get an oil change once a year, a deer hit it while going 45 and it just crumpled the front left fender and door (nothing broke). I honestly didn't expect it to last more than 5 years so I didn't bother to take care of it well. It's 16 years old now and the only reason I'm getting rid of it is because the windshield is cracked and it'll be $400 to replace.

The Caravan, on the other hand, I've been meticulously taking care of all the fluids and regular maintenance. I baby the thing while driving. It's needed two fuel pumps, a radiator, a radiator fan, the alignment needs to be readjusted every year, the rear wheel bearings go out every two years, starter and alternator went bad, the radio went out, three of the speakers died. I can't remember what else needed to be done, but I've spent a lot of time with it on jacks.

So to bottom line it, the Eclipse has twice the miles and abuse and half the work needed. The Caravan has half the miles, better care, and twice the work.

25th Sep 2009, 13:57

I love it when people buy cars, and then when it comes time to do maintenance, it's a piece of junk. Or they buy one that has high miles one it already, and the second something goes wrong, its junk. Whatever. I've owned numerous Dodges, as well as GM's and Fords. Never any problems. All these people that claim they maintain meticulously are probably the ones who complain when they have to change their oil.