I recently purchased a 96 caravan SE in perfect condition minus the major transmission problem and the airbag light on. It is beautiful inside and out. 175K miles.

I bought it with the intent of pulling the tranny myself and having it overhauled at the tranny shop my dad has used for years with no problems. There is no way I could have bought a van this nice for $500 plus the cost of a tranny overhaul. I figure with a total investment of $1700 I now have a van with a strong engine and a practically new transmission. What kind of van could I get with $1700? Probably one with lots of problems or a van with lots of miles on the engine and transmission. Auto Transmissions rarely last more than 200K miles. With a good transaxle under the hood, I can repair anything else myself.

This transmission is not slipping or acting like a transmission normally would from being old and tired. It is working fine in first gear. Second and reverse produce no power to the wheels at all and makes a loud whine. It is somewhat high pitched. It almost sounds like a grind. There has been no loss of fluid and it hasn't leaked out a single drop. The lady I bought it from said that it was a sudden thing while driving down the highway. I haven't gone fast enough to get it into 3rd gear, so I don't know how it behaves.

Any thoughts on the transaxle or airbag light?

 

I have a 1997 grand caravan in perfect shape needs nothing loaded LE model forsale and I'd happily take $1200 for it. Only flaw is it has 195,000 miles but I'd trust it to drive cross country over and over again. and the trans is 2yrs old and still has a year on the warrantyI also have a 1999 town and country forsale with 117,000 miles for $1800. So if you think $1700 is a good price on a basic van with a new trans it could be. Oh and automatic transmissions can easily last 200,000+ but then there's ones that didn't even make it off the assembly line (true for ALL US manufacturers)Air bag light is covered FREE under a recall

 

eah. I think mileage is a lousy way to judge the condition of an automobile.

When I was living at my dad's house, I had a brand new car. He lived 30 miles outside of town. It was a strait highway. There were only 2 stop signs on the way to town. The rest of the trip was 60 miles an hour. No shifting, 5 th gear the whole way. (minus the two stops) Then I was also driving to Coos Bay, 250 miles away, once a month. I drove that car 60 miles/day, 5 days/week. That is 1200 miles daily driving and 5oo weekend all on the highway at 60 miles/hr. 1700 miles a month total of nothing but cruising at 60. Out of the 25,000 miles I put on that car the first year, only 5k were city driving. This car still gets 34 miles per gallon, (average is 30) at 160K.

My lady had a job delivering papers in the hills of West Linn. She couldn't keep a car working for more than 3 months with this job. Very hard on trannys and brakes. 30k miles on that job would destroy that car.

Living in Beaverton, you spend more time at stop lights than actually driving. It takes me 20 minutes to drive 3 miles from school and I go through a total of 14 lights. Obviously, this would also be much harder on a vehicle than my old country driving.

The most mile-limiting part of a car, in my eyes, is the auto transmission 1st, engine 2nd. Clutches, wheel bearings, breaks are normal wear items. I value a car based on the body, the transmission, and the engine. This van has some serious giddy-up still. With a new transmission, It will be much cheaper than any kind of a car payment.