I wouldn't say I "love" my 2008 GC, but I would say I'm satisfied with it and for the price I paid for it used I still think it was a bargain. Maybe it's because my van doesn't have as many of the bells and whistles of modern minivans - it has a bench 2nd row, no power doors/liftgate, basic radio/CD player, 3.3L, 4 speed, etc. I have had some rear brake issues but I haven't had any problem in over a year. I have had other problems with the car but not enough to consider it "junk". Right now my biggest complaint is the low MPGs - I'd be lucky to get 20 MPG - and some regular oil loss. And I'm not going to lie - ever since I got it I've been slightly paranoid about the tranny because of multiple reviews I've read and because of previous experience (see below).

By comparison the 1989 Caravan I grew up with blew the tranny at 6 years, 68k miles. The van was still under warranty when it happened (my dad paid extra for a 70k warranty), so we got a new tranny on Chrysler's dime and had no other major problems in the 7 years we had it after that.

When it comes to cars, car sales, and car service, every car, dealership, and mechanic has some horror story. Many car models have some systemic issue or problematic individual vehicles, but that's not always a reason to call the entire model "junk". If you go on consumer complaint/review websites, of course you're going to see a disproportionate number of complaints about the (Grand) Caravan, because 1) there are so many out there, and 2) people are more likely to go to a website to complain than to leave a compliment.

When my wife and I first had kids I was set on getting a Sienna when we had the money. Before we "had the money" we totaled the sedan that we were using as a family car. We stumbled across our GC in the used section at the local Ford dealership and its asking price was about the same as many sedans we were looking at. I remember having a hard time accepting that I was getting a Caravan, but 3 years later I don't think I've ever said "I wish we had gotten a Sienna".

TLDR: I would not go gaga in recommending the 5th generation (2008+) Grand Caravan, but I wouldn't recommend against it either. Like with any car you should do due diligence and don't fool yourself into thinking it's not going to have problems.

 

Like the old saying goes " A happy customer will tell 2 People, A unhappy customer will tell 10."
From 2008 to 2013 dodge has prolly sold 500,000 minivans.
Im sure there are far more satisfied customers than not.
Also Im sure Honda and Toyota have their problems too.
Check out their forum.
Those minivans are nice but the cheapest Honda is around 30k.
The most expensive GC is around the same price.
To me the comparable honda is not 10k better than the GC.
Even though I have only have 2500 miles on mine the biggest problem for me is not the van but the ****ty dealership I bought it from.
If I dont buy another dodge it will be for that reason.

 

You might want to factor in the much lower resale that the Chrysler vans have in comparison to the Odyssey and Sienna.

 

People don't waste their time to come on the internet and check in regularly about how happy they are...with ANYTHING. You have to resist the urge to take everything you read as the standard for every owner's experience.

A significant number of people will call something "junk" because they can't believe they broke it by jumping that median, have a hole in their piston because a piece of their 175K mile spark plug rusted off and fell "down in the hole", their transmission couldn't make it to 200K on the factory fluid (that cheap ****, how dare they!) or that sliding door should stand up to my 7 kids slamming it over and over for years, heaven forbid I make them stop. You get the idea.....

But, the best one is...

""Those GD engineers designed it to break as soon as the warranty expired! SOnofA !!! I'm GONNA SUUUUUEEE !! ""

 

I have had good experiences, 2 vans and 15 years later. I don't drive mine like a racing car or treat it like a punching bag. Things will break, no matter what vehicle you get. The large number of Caravan incident reports that can be found online only indicates the large amount of Caravans out there compared to everything else. If you read between the lines, you will see it is NOT indicative of a large number of per capita failures, but rather it is an indication of a large total amount of vehicles out there. People that think otherwise are just fooling themselves.

1998 (sold) - 230K mi. last driven
2007 - 100K mi and running great

I hear from a couple different friends that the 2013 model, after the Fiat acquisition, is spectacular as far as Caravans go.

 

Believe or not, the product has gotten better over the years since the mid 1990's. But the dealership on the other hand has been a problem with most mopar owners. I have notice that is also starting to change for the good. But you will still have a few bad apples. This forum has been a great outlet for most of the mopar employees to share their information and help the owners that own the mopar product. It also works the other way too. They also learn the problems that you are having and may not have seen the problem yet. Keep up the good work everyone!

 

Don't forget: this generation came out in 2008, when Chrysler was heading for bankruptcy. It was like Chrysler had money or time to check everything and they have to go with older powertrains.

In 2011 this generation had an extensive makeover, and it was badly needed.

Now we are in 2013. Most problems have been fixed. It’s been 2 years since the makeover, and 5 for this generation.

But this is Chrysler. I wouldn’t buy a totally new product in it’s two first years and not first year after a makeover.

I bought mine because I don’t care for resale value or it’s bad reputation. I intend to keep it for 10 or 12 years, I don’t drive hard and I put a lot of maintenance on my cars. I saved a lot of money, and kept some for future repairs.

 

Extensive makeover?? You mean the new rear bumper, reshaped lighting fixtures and dash console tweaks lol? There is nothing wrong with the "older powertrains" used in 2008 thru 2010. They served Dodge well for many years and kept them on the top of the charts. The optional 4.0L released in 2008 outaccelerated the new 3.6 in every A-B comparison magazine test. The new 3.6 24valve engine produces more power at peak RPM, but torque at RPM's seen 99% of the time is not improved. The new high tech motor gets about 10% better fuel economy on the highway compared to the former 3.3, 3.8 and 4.0, but offers few tangible benefits in mixed or city use. Higher tech 4 valve motors offer few advantages over conventional pushrod power. Ford learned that with the 4.6 and 5.0L as Dodge and GM conventional pushrod designs favorably compare year after year with lower manufacturing cost to boot.

Popularity drives complaints and that's what gets the press. Popularity is why Brittney Spears is both worst dressed and best dressed. Popularity is why the Caravan gets a lot of negative posts. People come here when they have trouble. The caravan is not a sports car or leasure vehicle that people buy for fun weekend playtime, so it does not have a big following of enthusiasts posting about meetings, shows and track days lol. This is why posts are skewed toward the negative end of the spectrum.

If you visit the forums for the world's #1 best selling car (Ford Focus), you will find at least two threads over 200 pages long with owners bitching about the car. It is better than average in consumer surveys, but the dissatisfied masses are the one's posting.

I have two caravans, a 2001 3.3 with over 210K mi and a 2008 3.8 6spd with 90K. They are both very reliable and cheap to operate and service. Both get over 20 MPG in average daily use. The most annoying defects on my 2008 involve prematurely failing japanese front wheel bearings and trouble-prone WIN computer manufactured by Siemens of Germany with multiple TSBs (consumer pays, no recall). The Siemens electronics issue reminds me of my most unreliable car ever, a BMW $57K 540i. The USA-sourced parts on my Caravans and assembly quality is great. The functionality of these vans can't be beat. I have never had an engine trouble or tranny trouble in either vehicle aside from a couple $40 valve gadgets.

About brakes....they last 40K mi between changes if you find a mechanic who takes the time to follow service procedure which includes cleaning and greasing sliding pins and spring sliders. The average mechanic will simply throw fresh rotors and pads on in 10 minutes. Improper service repair causes floating caliper mechanism to bind up from rust and drag which leads to frequent rotor and pad wearout and bad gas mileage. All new floating slider pins and rubber seals costs $12 at the dealer but most shops shortcut and fail to replace or even clean and grease them.

 

Thanks for all the reply's! I really appreciate it. This gave me a lot of information.

It's going to come down to what my wife wants. Every time I make a decision, it ends up being bad/something goes wrong. I told her we should get either the GC or a Sienna. I don't like the way the Nissan looks, and the Honda is way overpriced.

I'm not a Dodge enthusiast, I just like the looks of the 08+ GCs, they don't look like a stereotypical mini-van, the stow and go is one of the best things Chrysler came out with, and even though the interior is cheap, at least it's got some style. Our 2009 Corolla has a cheap interior, but it's very bland.

I don't mind some problems, but I don't want to be stranded or in the shop constantly.

 

Glad I could help.

I’m not used to write in English, I’ll do my best.

For your wife, mine is the same. She will always find something to complain about.

I too, spend a lot of time trying to decide between the Sienna and the GC. End up I rented both van on 2 weekends, to have a extensive test drive.

I hesitated between the Sienna and the GC. For my tastes, the Sienna's interior was boring.


If you think adult passenger will sit often on the back seats, make sure the second row (stow'n go) are good enough for you. Older people, like my parents don't like them. Doesn't matter to me, since they will almost never use them. And if you have child safety seat, test how they fit on both the Sienna and the GC. LATCH anchor a very easy on the second row of the GC, but it's hard to install properly a child safety seat on the third row.

If you want to sell your van in less than 5 or 6 years, you might consider the Sienna incredible resale value. Or if you think you’ll drive a lot in the city. The GC feels heavy on the city, but it’s really easy to drive on the highway. Way better than the Sienna.