If you take really close and objective look at J.D. Powers and Consumer Reports on the Dodge Caravan versus Toyota and Honda and Nissan, you will see that Nissan is about par with Dodge while the Toyota and Honda scores a a bit better. However take a closer look at the incidence of problems (a measure of how much better) and you'll discover the difference between the very best and very worst vehicles on the market is about 30%, not some big night and day number. This means you may see 5 troubles in the Dodge in the same timeframe as you will see 3 or 4 on the best Japanese vehicles. This is not what I'd call "always in the shop" or "never breaks", where the difference in reliability might be 2x or something actually noticeable. Yes, Chrysler is not in the top 3, but neither is Nissan. Are you really willing to pay $10K to save 1 or 2 extra trips to the shop in the span of couple years? What is a few hours of inconvenience worth?? I'd rather spend my extra $10K on a trip to Europe or a new roof for my house instead of a couple less trips to the dealer.

Ironically, the same folks who rule out domestic Dodge vehicles for so-called negative reputation or actually scoring very slightly lower than average will flock to foreign-sourced BMW, Audi, Mitsubishi and VW which consisently scored even worse on the same fleet quality and reliability surveys with a much higher price point ....weird. Bling always trumps reliability and common sense.

 

2013GrandCaravan, we were also going to rent one! We're going camping for Memorial Day at the end of May, so we figured it's worth it to get an "extensive" test drive.

We probably wouldn't be getting anything brand new. Our price range is like $14k MAX, but I don't know that we could even afford that, given that the Corolla would be traded in and, unfortunately depreciated very fast. So it would have to be tacked on to the new loan.

It is funny to see people who automatically rule out anything American, opting for foreign made, which in reality is about the same reliability/quality as anything. It's no better. Not to go on a rant and get off subject, but we've learned this on our Corolla.

It's lost most of it's value. It's not the "best". The interior is cheap plastic. Idles rougher than my 87 Chevy pickup. Bogs down in the cold. Tranny jerks and bangs. Front end knocks and makes odd noises.

I'm disappointed in the quality, because I expected the "best". The latest? It slips in reverse going up a hill. (Which I've read the new GC does too)

 

My wife and I have owned three Caravans from new....2004, 2008, and 2012. We continue to come back to them for two simple reasons. The first is stow and go. To me this feature is worth its weight in gold. I cant tell you how many times I have been thankful for this feature that ALL seats fold flat into the floor. My wife also is thankful since the time on the 2004 she had to take it to our mechanic when I was out of town to get the seats out for a trip she was going on. The second is price. You can get a FULLY loaded van with the color you want for $10-$15,000 less than a similar equipped Honda or Toyota. Are those 10-15K better than the Dodge ? I have never owned either of those but I do have good friends who own both and trust me they have their fair share of issues as well, AND dont have the fold flat rear seats !!
Reliability has never been a big issue, or at least one I can abide with. the 2004 ate sway bar bushings for breakfast, lunch and dinner. the 2008 went through brakes fast and burned a little oil. So far the 2012 has been a champ with no issues (knock on wood)
I have never had an issue with the tranny or engine on any of mine. Every van we had has been driven city driving most of its life, and all my vans have towed a meduim sized pop up camper, 3 kids, two adults, and all our camping equipment every spring/summer/fall. Again NEVER a single issue with the powertrain. Now that all my kids are getting older with their own cars, my wife has already stated she wants another minivan in about 3 years.....go figure.

 

Lsc man knows his GC's His has drilled and slotted rotors with 19in wheels lowered with a supercharger

 

Shadwell1020 : I had a lot of luck with my van. An old (very rich) aunt offered it. I would never have bought a second car. She asked us to choose a van under 45 K (can), and she would pay. She was scandalized because we used to travel with our 2 kids in our 2009 Focus, and she thinks it’s way too small for family.

Are you sure you need a van? While I like my R/T, I’m wouldn’t use it on a daily basis: in the city, it a real gas-guzzler and on most days, commuting by bicycle is faster than driving. We are lucky, it's not our main drive.

 

If she thought you were bad in a Focus with 2 kids, she'd hate to see us, 3 kids in a Corolla.

I'm definitely in mini-van territory. My kids are 5, 3, and 2 years old.

 

I can't speak as an authority, as I have never owned a Caravan until I got my 2013, which only has 2,000 miles at this point. But I do have a number of friends who own or have owned Caravans or T&C's dating as far back as 1988. Without exception, they love them. Only one has been problematic, a '92, which had transmission problems and ABS problems. Fortunately, the cost was covered by an extended warranty, and despite the problems, that car, too, is in daily use and has been dependable since those initial repairs were done.
Honda & Toyota owners tend to treat the same problems that American brands experience as if they are expected maintenance. A whole lot of this foreign is better mystique comes right out of the pages of Consumer Reports. Do yourself a favor and go to the Allpar website and search for the discussion on Consumer Reports repair records for cars.
Also, as someone pointed out, there's a tremendous difference in initial cost between a Sienna or Oddity and a Caravan. If the Caravan costs a little more for repairs (which may or may not be true), the $5k-$7 saved on the purchase will pay for a lot of repairs.
And finally, the Stow & Go feature is enough to sell me!! I think the new Nissan has a version, finally, but the price on one is horrendous.

 

For the record, I have owned a GC with 17's on it for 8 years. I have also run $180 racing brake pads, 13"+ rotors, turbos and superchargers on the track. However these were on cars that actually had some potential (Vette, Mustang, Viper, Porsche & BMW).

Aside from winter months my '01 GC does have factory original 17's mounted on it with Z rated 225/55's. The Z rating cost me $0, chosen to reduce chance of blowouts when my wife hits potholes, not for sustained speeds over 150 MPH. In the winter I run 15" snow tires on all 4 corners so I don't have to worry about my wife getting stuck. The 17's cost the same as 16's and my wife needs season-specific tires, so I opted for them. Believe me, it was not a vanity bling modification.

 

For $14K, finding a used 2011 with 3.6L and clean carfax will be quite tough. You might find one or two every month or so, but they will likely be high mile, rebuilt wrecks or white cargo work vans with no interior. The better move may be to take a loan and pay $20K for brand new because cost of ownership will be less than a used one only 2 or 3 yrs old. The resale value is simply too high.

At your price point, you are dealing with the identical situation as I had. You're probably better off looking at 2008 and 2009 SXT models because they all had full stow-and-go with the 3.8L 6spd. A 2010 is identical, but you pay a premium for the model year with same condition and miles. Autotrader showed me 35 or more 2008 and up SXT's to choose from under $12K with lower miles within a 300 mi circle. This means you can easily find one with desired mileage and condition. I paid $9750 for a 2008 SXT with 85K mi, clean carfax and 100% original paint. If you want under 50K mi., you'll need to pay an another $2K or so.

In the 2008 thru 2010 era the SE was a strippo van without second row stow-and-go and they all came with the underpowered 3.3 and old wide ratio 4spd. They sold new for $16K in 2009.

I wouldn't get too caught up on the high tech 3.6L 24V DOHC motor, unless you trade-in every 3-5 yrs. It provides 10% better gas mileage on highway, but little more. In city and mixed use, the pushrod 3.8 and DOHC 3.6 offer similar economy and usable powerband. They have the same transmission too. The higher tech 3.6L has not yet proven that it can reach 300K+ mi without rebuild, as 3.3 and 3.8's have been doing on a regular basis since the early 90's. It is a lot more complicated and spark plug changes and other service will be a total nightmare, because it's literally shoehorned in. It will likely add more service headaches once warranty expires.

I am a performance driving school instructor with 50K track miles and occasional maturity and road rage issues, yet my 3.8L has not seen anything close to wide open throttle aside from one test beat run prior to purchase. It has more than enough power for full loads, steep hills, ramp merging, behaving like an idiot etc. After a month of daily driving, my trip average is 20.5 MPG in mixed commuter and shopping use (not highway). On the highway it's hovering around 22.5 to 23 MPH at near 70 MPH in somewhat hilly PA terrain. On flat ground in Ohio, it gets almost 24 MPG. It frankly gets about the same fuel economy as my lighter 3.3L 2001 GC which still runs like new with over 210K mi. The difference is the 3.8 pulls like a john deere at 2000 RPM and seldom downshifts on hills while the 3.3 is gutless and always downshifting on hills with tach hovering over 3K.

 

Thats the selling point. The GC and T&C offer so much more in features than anyone else that its almost an automatic draw to them. I was surprised to find when we got our Honda Odyssey that half the features I had on the T&C were an upgrade! So yes, we compromised and lost some really cool things (we had swivel seats, not stow..rear aux/120v outlet, DVD player) but gained some others (sunroof, leather, UNPRECEDENTED RELIABILITY).
Yes, I am a little bias because I hated my previous van so much but it didnt start out that way. Im not a Chrysler-hater. All before the Honda we have owned 2 PT Cruisers, SRT-4 , Dodge Charger, and 2 Dodge Rams. I really really gave the Town & Country a shot but too many issues within a short period of time really lost our confidence in it. Im glad to hear others are working out...Im sure not everyone has issues..unfortunatley, mine did and it persuaded me enough to look elsewhere