Faults:

Automatic Locks on the sliding doors have frozen up in winter and required replacement.

Power window mechanism/motor had to be replaced on the driver door.

Electrical unit in dash that controls the rear wipers had to be repaired at least four times. The wipers would go on and off by them self. The last time the unit caused hot air to be blown instead of Air Conditioning in mid August. Then they finally did the correct thing and replaced the faulty unit completely and solved the problem. Of course that repair was after warranty expired and was on my dime.

General Comments:

The Grand Caravan Sport has a great suspension and ride. It has handled Michigan winters for 10 years now.

The seats are very comfortable and great for long trips. We have traveled longs distances with it fully loaded with no problems.

We have never had any problems with the engine.

Faults:

I bought the van in May 2002--had traded in my dinky Festiva because our son was 5 months old at the time and I wanted a safer vehicle.

In 2003-2004 it was starting to shred or throw off serpentine belts... went through probably 3 or 4 of them. I got the tensioner replaced on it, haven't had a problem since.

Last month the power steering pump was leaking, so that's been replaced.

My transmission was leaking fluid last year and over a period of some months we got all the gaskets replaced, no problem with it now. I was in an accident with it (not my fault) in January 2006, while it was being repaired it was discovered that the valve cover gasket needed replaced--not accident-related so it came out of our pockets.

The clockspring started to go last year or the year before, but since it was on recall I got it replaced for free.

Also last year I needed the sway bar (or was it the links) replaced. A few months ago we replaced the fuel filter.

Now the muffler needs replaced... expected out of a vehicle that old.

General Comments:

I do like my minivan... but like a lot of cars nowadays, once you've paid it off and it gets to be a certain age, you have to pay to keep it running.

Faults:

The car is falling apart.

Air doesn't work. engine fans don't come on.

The double sliding doors don't open (have to pull lever from under door panel).

Lift gate opens when it wants to and doesn't lock.

Front floor boards get soaked when it rains.

Overheats all the time (due to fans not working).

General Comments:

This van is a tank!

Its reliable and always starts.

The looks of the van are good.

Dodge did good, but to cheaply made.

Faults:

The transmission failed twice, but I guess the first time was expected, and the second time was due to improper reassembly.

The clockspring failed and we lost our cruise, horn and airbag light came on - Chrysler replaced free of charge.

Traction control malfunctioned and ruined our brake pads and rotors. This time we footed the bill.

The fuel rail started leaking gas all over the engine; had to carry a fire extinguisher with us to dealer where once again, repairs were paid by Chrysler.

The fuel pump failed and left us stranded.

Purge canister failed causing check engine light to come on.

Strange electrical problem keeps turning on the check engine light claiming something is wrong with the auto shutdown circuits.

Front windshield washer supply line came apart... easily corrected by reattaching and wrapping joint with high quality tape.

CV axle boot came off.

Replaced both tie rod ends.

Transmission input speed sensor failed.

Strange burned oil smell annoys us and baffles mechanics.

Rear passenger door fails to unlock sporadically.

Rear lift gate supports failed.

Rear fan control became inoperative from dash mounted switch.

Flip up seat became extremely hard to operate for no apparent reason.

Fuel injector o-ring failed, and once again we were riding around with a fire extinguisher.

General Comments:

The top of the line Caravan is still my preference in minivans of this era. I believe we happened to get a lemon, and maybe one with lower mileage would serve us better.

It's comfortable on trips and has a truly logical layout of controls, cup holders, armrests etc. Everything is where you think it should be.

It has very poor headlights, and I believe it is due to their very small size.

It has a heavy road feel and does not corner well or ride like anything special, with a lot of interior noise from the road and wind.

Looks better than anything else in its class, and has far more family friendly features in my opinion.