7th Feb 2009, 11:37

When my 2002 Grand Caravan Sport is not having problems, it is great to drive... I have driven it in Germany as well as the States...unfortunately, the dealer's servicing of my van leaves a lot to be desired in both countries. So far, I have had the following replaced in 60,000 miles of driving:

Transmission at 26K

Power steering pump twice

Rear brakes once

Front brakes twice

Driver side electric windows

Power passenger sliding door

Sway bars

Front wheel bearings

After van was in "alignment", front passenger tired wore through to bands after only 3000 miles - have replaced tires on van completely 4 times - averaging 15000 miles per set of tires with rotation

Whole front end suspension

After all of this, I still get grinding noises and creaks from front end - still have extended warranty for 2 months, but dealer refuses to acknowledge anything is wrong with front end... vehicle doesn't cooperate as it stops making noise when I take it in

Dealer gave me an estimate (I know it is an estimate), but when I got the bill, it was $500 higher... I worked it out with manager and we split the difference

I would not buy another one - I will buy Asian and I hope Chrysler/Dodge fails in America.

5th Mar 2009, 13:00

UK owner RG 2002 Grand Voyager 2.5CRD Diesel 102000 miles owned since new. Love it but not without faults. Rear Crank oil seal fail at 54000 miles- done on warranty. Normal Brakes/rotors - but that's normal even for previous cars (BMW). Recently knock on drive take up - hopefully not gearbox, maybe drive shaft or engine mount I hope. ABS light on. As yet not taken to dealer. Knock at back - maybe bushes. Wheel bearing noise (all of them I think).and front knock due to roll bar bushes and normally replaced every 18 months due to country roads - but £12/pair and 15 minutes to replace so no problem.

Wheel bearings £100 each, drive shaft say £100 each. I'm not a mechanic but very good DIY. Dealer service is rubbish - tried 3 different garages - all jacked car up in wrong place and it needed body shop repair. I'd buy another if not Auto and I do not like new shape - looks like a van.

So looking for something else instead.

23rd Mar 2009, 18:05

2002 Grand Caravan EX.

This car was purchased new and has been a giant pain ever since.

The #5 cylinder exploded at 45K miles. I was lucky it was under warranty since it was $6000 fix.

I replaced the sliding door motors 4 times and the rear power door motor twice as well as the driver and passenger window motors.

The power steering pump along with the addition of an extra hose to the power steering pump to fix a "design flaw" per the stealership.

The front end is always a mess:

From the sway bar to other assorted parts giving out very soon after they have been replaced. Oh and motor mounts, let's not forget those.

I have given up on this car. It is paid for and I'm done putting money into it. When the car dies, so will my connection to all things Chrysler/Dodge.

No company or car is perfect, but it won't take much to be better than Dodge.

18th Apr 2009, 13:32

Hello - I came across this site looking for some brake pads for a family member who owns a 2002 Grand Caravan. I read all the comments and can only say "wow".

He most recently had the water pump replaced and he's aware of a bad bearing in the alternator. The extent and full history of issues (if any) is unknown to me, but here's what I think...

Dodge Chrysler, GM, and Ford have been selling us junk since sometime in the 70's. It's difficult for me to have a full appreciation to the extent and amount of junk during the 70's due to my age; however, since sales of junk continued into the 80's, I was able to appreciate the knowledge of the junk more- particularly into the late 80's. Please don't ask me how I know about the junk sold during the 70's since according to my own admission, I was too young to know first hand. I believe there are some things people just "know" inherently, things you don't need to be told, things you simply know to be true, period.

Considering the amount of junk sold, by the Big 3, and the relative intelligence factor of humans, I'm shocked they've managed to survive this long, but I'm not a business person and maybe their business model permits them to sell junk for generations on end before ultimately and sadly, just ceasing to do business...

Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not implying that other automobile manufactures don't or haven't produced junk- most probably have... Porsche had the 924's, Ferrari's early Mondial 8, and so on...

But, here's what I know. I wouldn't purchase junk knowingly unless it was the only option. With the same thought, I wouldn't produce junk and expect to successfully sell it unless I was selling to those who didn't know better or simply didn't care.

So, which is it- you all didn't know better, had no other options, or didn't care? I'm curious, that's all...

I wouldn't purchase one is all I'm saying... If past experience can dictate future behavior, I probably won't ever purchase one, even if they do manage to keep from going insolvent in the coming years. Here's my experience:

1980 Toyota Cressida- ~280,000 miles. Car was given to me from family. Apparently, the windshield wipers didn't work the day it was driven off the lot, but the biggest problem was with cooling system at almost 200,000 miles, which was fixed. Car was donated when transmission started failing ~280,000 miles.

1992 Toyota Celica- ~185,000 miles. Had a bad cooling system around 100,000 miles, which fixed that. About 160,000 miles would not stay in 5th gear (currently need to hold it in that gear). Two motor leaks and bad motor mounts round out the current list of current problems and that have happened over the years... Clutch is getting pretty soft, but still drive the car and it passes the smog test every year.

2006 Toyota Rav4- ~36,000 miles. Clunking sound in steering column area, but fixed under warranty. Still drive car, no other issues.

2002 Porsche Boxster- ~60,000 miles. No problems.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to drop me a line with your thoughts: dsamaniego@gmail.com.