Question Dodge grand caravan/chrylser town and country

1stTimeDad

New member
Does anyone have any experiences with a newer (2010 and newer) dodge caravan or town and country? This is what I want to know....how has the reliability been so far. Consumer reports doesn't speak too fondly of them but i want real opinions. DW and I test drove the minivans and liked the way the dodge felt a second best to the Nissan quest. Sadly the Japanese vans are out of our price range unless we go with an older one. We'd have to make payments so we want something I the 2010 range. Thanks in advance everyone!
 
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aept

New member
We have a 2010 grand caravan. So far we had to have our ignition thingy (just the external part the key fits into) replaced because of a recall. People with lots of stuff on their keychains were having problems with the van suddenly shutting off so they made the whole thing harder to turn (basically.) After the "fix" we did have a problem with our van not working properly as it would get stuck in the "starting" position until we had them fix it again. The lights and radio and some other accessories would still be off although the van was drivable. We took it back in. I suspect the dealership installed the new part backwards or upside down because once they fixed it (the second time) it looked like all they did was turn it around!
We also had the rear brakes need replacement at 25k miles. Yes, you read that right. Basically there was a known problem with the calipers causing the brakes to stick and wear too quickly. However, it was not covered under warranty. We filed a complaint about it but apparently the "known problem" didn't happen to enough people to cause the need for a recall or to have them reimburse us.
Other than that it's been fine. We bought it used in late 2010. It had been a rental and was six months old and had 12k miles in it. We saved about ten thousand dollars buying it used vs. a new one if the same model year. It was the same price to buy a 2010 grand caravan (SXT?) as it would have been for a base model 2008 Toyota sienna.
Now we have about 34k miles on it.
There are some quirks for installing car seats in it (third row mainly) and the third row isn't the greatest for boosters. But the flexibility of the stow and go seats is very nice and we love that our van has bonus features like the backup camera and dual DVD screens.

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tarynsmum

Senior Community Member
We have a 2011 T&C. I was really nervous about reliability, but for our price range it would have been a 6-years-older Sienna. Because of the changes in the model year, I felt comfortable with our choice (and that we only have 2 kids, so never really NEED the 3rd row for boostering). We've had wrong issues.
 

daniele_ut

New member
We bought our 2010 Grand Caravan in October 2011 with 30,000 miles on it. We have had a few issues but they have all been covered under the warranty. The van seemed to be burning oil and fouled a spark plug not long after we bought it. The dealer said the 2 things were unrelated and the oil consumption was fine. When it fouled another spark plug in the same cylinder almost a year later I made them look harder at it and they found that the valve stem seals had gone bad and oil was getting onto the spark plugs, causing them to foul. It has been fine since.

We also had to have a new transmission installed at 48,000 miles when it suddenly wouldn't go into reverse at all anymore. I still really like our van a lot, but I am torn as to whether I'd buy another one down the road. We saved a small fortune on it (spent $15,900 vs 28,000 for a similarly equipped Honda) and haven't spent anything out of pocket in repairs thus far. It has only been in the shop those 3 times in a almost 2 years. Our company motor pool buys Dodge vans exclusively and the repair manager says they have been decent vehicles.
 

1stTimeDad

New member
Thanks to all for the replies. We ended up leasing a Nissan quest. Love it so far. The dose dealer here could not match miss and lease offer here. We decided to lease to get the newer model quest that we fell in love with. Thanks again for all the replies.
 

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