Thanks for the info Jim. Mine in finally "on the rail" so we'll hopefully have it in a couple of weeks. Do you have pictures of the 2 areas that had problems?

 

Thanks jimgansett. Glad to hear the dealer took care of those smaller problems. That's interesting to hear about the suspension. I hadn't heard about them switching to twist-beam.

Otherwise, I'm glad to hear your enjoying your Caravan. Are there any new features your particularly enjoying? I've read some review of people driving the 4.0 V6 who have been impressed with the speed.

 

Hi to Watchout and Wildbill
Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the areas that were "defective" The seals that were lubricated were the rear liftgate and the two side doors. The majority of the rattle was seemingly coming from the liftgate seal. Dealer tech was real nice, went for a ride with me driving and he sitting in the back listing for the source of the rattle.Spent a lot of time with me.I don't know how many vans left the factory without the proper seal lube but would be interested to know if anyone else finds the problem after they have the van for awhile.

The rear bumper scuff plate was warped up exactly in the center of the bumper and also midway between the middle and the left end. I actually did not notice it until looking at the rear of the car one day with the sun shining on the back and could see the shadows made by the warps.

As to the twist-beam suspension, I still do not like it as well as the previous suspensions on my other Caravans. If I understand it correctly, twist-beams ( a kind of semi-independent suspension) are cheaper than some others and allow for a flatter space in the rear floor area.

As for features, things I especially like are the stow n' go seating which is saving my back countless aches and even makes putting things in the back when the seats are up easier and more secure because of the extra depth behind the seats when the seats are up

Another great thing is the more than ample storage in the floor (we have the bench as a second row, the kids are grown!) Not only does it give extra room for various cargo, it helps to keep things out of sight, like my Magellan GPS.

The 3 zone heat/cooling is a godsend for the passengers who ride in the back! My other vans didn't have it and people either roasted or froze!

Of course, we love the fact that it has 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS, variable force airbags in the front, curtain airbags around the sides, traction contol, ESP, BAS, etc. It's nice that they beefed up the safety features as standard.

One thing I don't understand, tho... my particular Caravan doesn't have the remote controled mirrors, which is no big deal in and of itself but it would of been nice if there was a stick inside to adjust the mirrors manually instead of having to literally push the mirrors by hand.

One last thing about the Caravans. We have found them very dependable. The last one was 7 years old and we only traded it because of the sto n' go seating available in the newer ones. The one before that we had for 12 years.

 

Well boys..... I got my van!!

I was sick (as I knew I would be) about getting rid of 300C for this minivan, but on the ride home I started to feel better as I got a feel of how nice the GC rides and handles. I'll probably wake up with the cold sweats for the next month or 2 when I realize what I did, but I'll get over it (I hope).

wildbill - I didn't have too much time to play with the my-gig, but it looks like I do have 17gb available of hard drive space. I didin't see any "music only" limitation but I'll let you know when I upload my MP3's. The system sounds GREAT (for a stock system). The nav unit has a nicer display that my 300C had and I like the touch screen better than a joystick for input. The seats are ALL very comfortable.

jim - thank you again for the update. I didn't see any warpage on the scuffplate but I'll keep and eye on it. And I'll keep an ear open for squeeks. Actually I always do that anyway cause it drive me nuts when I hear squeeks or vibrations. I swear I notice sounds that most dogs probably couldn't hear! I can't believe they don't make the mirrors powered on all minivans! That is crazy. I understand keeping the cost down and I understand you should set and forget the mirrors, but occasionally you may need to set your rear view a little lower or change it if someone moved it and now you can't. Lastly, I'm very glad to hear about you reliablilty experience. I've read about issues with the Dodge Caravans here and there and I have been a little concerned.

[IMG]local://upfiles/77577/C7DC4CAEDEF849489DE4AEFC07D22B8B.jpg[/IMG]

 

jimgansett, I agree with you on that! Funny you mention it too, because they just announced over the weekend the Grand Caravan recieved a 5 star crash rating on front and side impact crashes. You also can't do the 3 zone heating/cooling enough justice. I know exactly what you mean about either freezing or burning.

I think the lifetime powertrain warranty adds to this rep too. It's not likely, but if anything does happen to go wrong, it's good to know your covered!

17gb- not to shabby! I own a few thousand MP3s and I don't think I could ever fill that up! That's good to hear the nav unit is touch screen. That's devinitely a step up from the joystick ***. I'm sure you'll have no problem forgetting your older van after a few weeks.

Good to hear you all are pleased with the new family rides!!!

 

OK it's official...

I loaded 3,163 mp3's which was about 14gb of hard disk space and they all loaded an play fine. I very sure I could have loaded a few more gb's to get closer to that 17.3gb, but I wanted to leave room for more addresses and/or gps updates.

The only downside to the whole process was the my-gig usb system would not recognize my external (portable) harddrive. So I have to load all songs using usb flash drives.

WOOHOO!!!

 

Here is what Dodge tell s about the system. Sorry so large but you cannot read it when shrunk pm me for the pdf

 

Albert,
Great info. I know it's in our manuals, but it's nice to have it all on a page or two for quick reference.

Thank you.

PM sent.

 

I have had a Caravan in the garage since 1984 (yes, we took a chance on the 1st Gen when Iacocco was looking for guarantees from the feds. We traded the 84 at over 200,000 miles, then bought a 1997 ES SWB which we traded at just over 100,000 miles. This is by far the best of them all. The ride is great, as is the handling. We opted for the leather as we did in the 97. A yearly treatment with Meguiars Leatherproduct is all we did. We did have sheepskin seat covers though, which make seating much more comfortable. Temps here vary from low 30°'s to high 115°'sfrom winter to summer (edge of the Mojave Desert).