Hi there, I had a couple of questions about new vehicles in general. We bought a 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan last April. The first week it was off the lot we had electrical wiring problems and computer problems. Between April and the middle of June the van spent most of the time at the Dealers and us in a rental. I posted recently that we have also had some intermittent rough idling and funny clunking sounds once in a while from the transmission. So today A NEW PROBLEM!! I was sitting at a stop light, the rpm's dropped for a couple seconds and I had very rough idling, then while my foot was firmly on the brake still, the rpm's suddenly increased and the van tried to lurch forward for a couple of seconds, then it was fine again. It scared me though as I could have rear ended the guy in front of me. Has anyone else had this happen? So I will call the dealer tomorrow and get it looked at.

The thing is, this is our first new car, we always drove old cars. I thought buying a new vehicle meant we would have no issues. I thought the manufacturer provided a warranty on the off chance that something went wrong but usually new vehicles needed little to no repair for the first few years. I am not here to bash Dodge although we have been dissapointed. For all of you that have owned new vehicles, are these problems normal for new vehicles? I am thinking maybe my expectations were too high. Our last van was a toyota, it had problems to, but it was several years old so I expected some problems, they were different problems, not problems related to electrical wiring and transmission issues but still problems. I like the features of the van, I like the way it drives, hate the issues and if this is normal for new vehicles then I may go back to used in the future. Thanks for the advice.

 

I am sorry to hear your bad experience. New vehicle should have little to no problem within waranty period.
But of course, you even bought an electronic device like a Laptop, and it was broken out of the box? That's what the 3yr36k mile waranty for.
Get it fix, and your van should be problem free. for next few yrs.
Good luck

 

When you come to a forum all you read about are the problems. Reality is the overwhelming majority of new cars are free of serious problems. Some unfortunately, are in that minority. Let the dealer take care of the problems. If they don't, many states have some degree of a lemon law. They get three chances to fix a particular problem. If they don't you get compensated sometimes with a new vehicle. Good luck.

 

Hi guys, thanks for the advice. I called the dealer this morning about the current issue. They told me unless a code has tripped the mil light they won't be able to tell what is wrong since it only happened once. They said it could have been a fluke. Well, we'll see, seems doubtful to be a fluke.

Devin D

 

So they want you to what and see if you almost have another accident? Ya, that's a dealership for you. That's "Chrysler customer service". Makes you wonder how anything got fixed prior to OBDI and no check engine lights. Unfortunately, too many shops and dealerships are paralyzed without a code to guide them.

File a complaint with the NHTSA. They are the folks who dole out recalls if a manufacturer doesn't do it on their own and many times they don't. If they get enough reports on the same problem they investigate and determine if a recall is warranted. Safety issues are their greatest concern. Your near accident certainly puts you in that category. Just based on cruising several forums, though I won't say it's anything near chronic, the transmission on these new vans are starting to show problems.