1995 Dodge Caravan Sport from North America

Summary:

It was a lot more reliable than I was expecting

Faults:

Oil issues, driver's seat broken, rare check engine would come on.

General Comments:

I bought a 95 Dodge Caravan just over a year ago. When I bought the van, all I could think about were the scary reviews that I had read. Anyways, I wasn’t expecting much, and to my surprise it turned out to be a great rig. It had some issues, but due to the year of the car, it is bound to happen.

It leaked a lot of oil (which has been common for me with the other Dodges I have owned).

The driver’s seat was broken (which I found out later is common).

The bench seats are really hard to get out of the van as well.

All in all, the van only stalled on me a couple of times at an intersection, but never left me stranded.

One other thing that I noticed, is if I drove it a long distance, the check engine light would come on. If I pulled over and shut it off and restarted it again, the engine light would go off.

I would probably still have it, but the oil leaks were getting to be too much, and the oil light was on almost all the time.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 24th May, 2015

1995 Dodge Caravan 3.0 from North America

Faults:

I have a 1996 dodge caravan, I had my tensioner and Serpentine belt changed and every couple months I have to change my serpentine belt because it's shredding. I would really appreciate it if someone could give me advice on what to do or what needs to be replaced.

General Comments:

I'm happy overall except the Serpentine belt problems.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 20th October, 2005

27th May 2015, 05:45

More than likely your serpentine belt is out of alignment because the pulley bracket is bent. This usually happens after the pulley seizes, throws the belt, and the mechanic forces a belt back on the pulley, which is when the bracket usually gets bent. The root cause of the belt being thrown is the seized pulley. This is not always recognized, which leads to multiple instances of thrown belts. Because the bracket for the pulley is bent, the misalignment will cause the shredding of the belt. There is a upgrade pulley kit that solves this problem. Do some research and you will find the specific kit. Do some research on allpar.com.

Tony. :P

1995 Dodge Caravan Sport 3.0 liter from North America

Summary:

Fantastic car and holding up well

Faults:

Rebuilt transmission at 110,000 miles, installed upgraded internals.

Rebuilt heads at 120,000 due to burnt valve that was originally poorly mated at factory. Was rebuilt by mechanic that worked at Dodge.

General Comments:

This has been a great van and still going strong. 220,000 miles with regular maintenance. The only other things gone bad have been outer steering ball joints at 60,000 and cruise control. Cruise control was simply cleaning the control contact buttons on the steering wheel.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 29th April, 2005

1995 Dodge Caravan Base 3.0 liter V6 from North America

Summary:

It is the best damned car I've ever owned

Faults:

Transmission rebuilt at 196 000 km.

Three water pumps 185000,250000,345000.

Three timing belts 100000,250000,350000.

CV-axle at 380 000kms.

2 sets of ball joints 174000km, 310000km.

5 sets of tires.

Three sets of rear shocks.

General Comments:

This van is a tank. It never let me down. It has some kind of masochistic personality; I beat it up with my aggressive driving and patchy maintenance and the thing keeps coming back for more. Aside from a set of valve cover gaskets and a crank seal, I never spent a penny on the engine.

My only real complaints are the sloppy steering and the bad gas mileage that started to creep up as the miles ticked off. It can still go, but it is really starting to show it's age and I'm going to retire it really soon. I'll probably replace it with another low-mileage Chrysler from the same era.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 21st January, 2005

20th Aug 2006, 19:43

Well done on this van. You did well. I may just purchase based on your comments. Thanks!