Anyone buying a used Grand Caravan should always have the notion that eventually the transmission will fail at some point keep in mind not to overpay on these vans especially if they have high mileages. Now in your husband defense these transmission can go without much notice take it from my personal experience I came back from a road trip the van worked fine a couple hours later went to go to the store I barely made it 300 yrds from my driveway it started whinning by the time I made back I notice it was slipping. My van was a late model leftover demo I never towed with it or hauled heavy loads I did the fluid and filter change at 90,000 vs the Chrsyler recommended schedule 120,000 miles. I had 128,940 miles on it when the torque converter failed a debris clogged the filter my options were just change the torque converter get the unit rebuild or a used a transmission. I opted to get the transmission rebuild as I would get new better clutch bans than OEM plus the updated lower compound drum and a more robust torque converter all options require to remove and reinstall the transmission. The Chrsyler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan and VW Routan uses all the 62TE transmission as long it's 3.6l engine they're interchangeable the ones who were fitted with the 3.8l and 4.0l engines have a different final drive ratio. The cost of a rebuilt is usually $2,500-$3,000 depending on the transmission shop a scrapyard used transmission are around $ 1,000 - $1,500 depending on mileage. Most transmission shop have a one year 12,000 miles warranty the shop that rebuilt mine offers one year unlimited mile warranty most scrapyard usually offer 6 month money back guarantee but they won't cover labor so you're stuck paying to get it out and put another one in.