Buy it if you really want only this car
Transmission - sometimes it jumped to Neutral without reason.
Big comfortable car, but after problems with the transmission began, I decided to get rid of it. Also, there was lot of small annoying problems (strange sounds, kicks etc.).
Only great thing is the engine - it runs perfectly.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 4th July, 2012
Like the space, don't like this problem
My car lost power steering, then the power was lost. Serpentine belt was hanging from the engine.
Would not jump start, and when it did, would not stay running.
Changed both serpentine belt and water pump belt; squeaking and the belt fell off several times while driving.
Replaced pulleys.
Squeaking continued, then belt broke off and car died. Took to a mechanic, who said the belt went off the pulley behind it and tangled with the timing belt, and could have possibly messed up timing and valve/pistons. Was told that the timing belt cover stretched, and pieces of the belt, as it was shredding, entered the timing cover from behind the waterpump camshaft. Another mechanic said no such thing could happen.
I was told that it may or may not work after the work has been done, so it might be a waste of my money to fix.
Uses a lot of gas.
The dashboard lights and warnings come on and off.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 20th December, 2010
Expected longer life, nice job while here
Air conditioning compressor went, but was only a $500.00 buck fix.
Rotors had to be replaced 2x. The 2nd time we decided to rid ourselves of the vehicle.
Had some funny electrical problem that was getting worse, whereby certain dash lights would blink. Perhaps stop. Then blink again. Which made it hard to ascertain when the A/C was on. But it was a manageable problem.
Oil simply started to pour of the car about 7,000 miles ago. I tightened up the pan bolts and drove it like it was the Exxon Valdex for the last 6 months. Yes. Sorry folks we deployed a lot of oil on the highways, thank god I don't live in a Watershed area. But being close to the Hudson River, I am certain that GE's PCB's and my oil may be getting swiped about the same time. Frankly, the car was "wet" underneath early on - about 30,000 miles, yet, the car wasn't so bad. It did its thing for a growing family - our oldest is 17 this year, I was hoping it would make it for his deployment to college, but it just couldn't hold out these 6 months. It just got traded in 2/16/2009. It rusted somewhat badly as well. We were the original owners.
It was a very comfortable car. Probably as comfortable to drive as a Cadillac Deville. It was a decent value and what I loved about it was its utility. I tied fencing to the top. 6x8 fencing. About 25 sections are about my house and they all came home 3 or 4 at a time atop our Grand Caravan.
Loved the wheels, they are still an attractive set of Rims. Matter of fact, had I found another one very recently, would have kept the rims and put them on the replacement.
Great in the snow. I am a skier, I ski instruct, best snow car I have ever owned and nothing stops me, I typically drive fwd 4 cylinders. A/C was icy cold. Tire wore OK. We were on our 3rd set which had been on since 65K and they would have passed inspection at 137,000. The original good years wore way to quickly.
Kids loved it. Wife loved it. We loved the captain chairs in back and bench at far back. Great way to split up arguments amongst a family of 5 on short or long trips. Went hiking in the car, drove to ballgames.
Wish it would have lasted longer. While I change my own oil and do so religiously, this car really showed signs of wear way to early relative to how it was driven. I wish Chrysler could have put it together and taken out the great attributes and combined it with 30% better shelf life. The American people deserve it.
We traded for a Pilot, I feel like part of the problem but American car companies failed me. We have had ONE truly American car, (we also owned a Vibe) these two cars represented the only new cars we purchased new since being married 19 years ago. Sorry Chrysler, but your 1998 Grand Caravan was outlasted by; an 85 Volvo 740 5 spd wagon, Nissan 89 Sentra 5sp coupe, 1994 Grand Caravan, 4 Hondas 84 Accord coupe, 86 and 89 Accord Sedan 5spds and 07 Accord, 2 Subarus, 1991 and 1984 wagons with 5spd, Pontiac 04 (Vibe) oops, wait a minute. Our 2000 Saturn L1 was worse.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 17th February, 2009
19th Feb 2009, 15:18
"Sorry Chrysler, but your 1998 Grand Caravan was outlasted by... (a 2007) Accord (and a 2004 Pontiac) Vibe."
What do you expect? Do you really expect to be throwing a TWO YEAR OLD HONDA to the junkyard BEFORE your TEN YEAR OLD GRAND CARAVAN?
One other note: Pontiac, with the help of Toyota, (or Toyota with the help of Pontiac) designed the Vibe (Toyota Matrix). People say that Japanese cars are made better and last longer, but if you do the maintenance (from the tires to the plugs to the battery to the gasoline and cleaning the contact points of the seat belt), is it really?
I understand that a massive oil leak would warrant you to get rid of the vehicle, but brake rotors ARE regular maintenance.
Remember: It isn't as if you bought a used jalopy at ten years old and with 200,000 miles on it that has already had three owners. If you bought it new, something must have been overlooked maintenance wise. From reading reviews on all model years of that generation Grand Caravan, I would say you got good life out of it.