1999 Dodge Caravan Base review from North America

Serpentine belts and tensioners seem to last about 1 year or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first. Unfortunately, they seem to go right outside of the Mopar part warranty, and Chrysler refuses to stand behind such an obvious defect.

Wobble in front suspension has come back several times. Have been told it's the tires and have installed two new tires on the front each time.

Reclining mechanism in driver's seat broke. Now it's stuck.

Replaced headlight and wiring harness broke in my hands. I wasn't being rough with it... it was just brittle insulation that snapped, taking wiring with it. Cheap materials at work here.

Brakes seem painfully small for the weight of the vehicle. Aggressive braking at all will cause brakes to prematurely wear (luckily I have developed better braking patterns for this reason, and as a side effect I have gotten better gas mileage).

Sway bar bushings made a creaking sound around 110K miles. Sound is starting to return intermittently. I've been told it's a weakness on these cars.

Plastic straps that keep the glove box from spilling it's contents to the floor snapped a couple of times. Luckily they're cheap from the dealer and easy to replace yourself, as long as you don't mind salt residue on your registration and insurance information.

Rear window vent motor went out around 120K. Bought the part online and replaced it myself. Not a big deal as long as you're somewhat mechanically inclined.

Despite a lot of these small issues, it has never quit on me and has been a fairly reliable car. Just expensive to maintain. Much more expensive than my 1992 Plymouth Voyager with 220,000 miles on it. I do enjoy the ability to roll the seats out and have a really versatile vehicle at the drop of a hat. It's a very comfortable vehicle, especially for long trips. Mileage isn't too bad for a big vehicle, I got about 19-20 MPG with my normal driving. However, I decided to move on and recently purchased a 2004 Dodge Stratus.