1991 Dodge Grand Caravan LE (?) review from North America

4spd Auto O/D now only usable in "3".

Fuel gauge goes from Full to Empty in 40~miles.

Rear left gas spring useless upon purchase - Rear Right completely GONE, bolt to main body sheared off.

Environmental controls useless - no heat in winter, no cold in summer, fan only.

Exhaust gone past catalytic converter.

The longer I think, the more I could come up with... I'll stop here!

Well, I bought the van back in late April of 2007 as an early Mother's Day gift for my wife since we'd just had a child in February. I paid $500 to a local individual, and at the time it had about 76,400 miles on it. It performed admirably during the test drive around city streets and up to highway speeds, so when I bought it, I thought I was getting a great deal.

Fast forward about a month...

After a nice road trip to Missouri to visit relatives there, and my mom's wedding in Kansas, we were getting to about 79k miles. It was going along great, until driving down the road at about 35 mph it jerked. I didn't know what happened, and then it jerked again as I sped up and I noticed it was at its shift point. So, I backed off the accelerator, and then slowly eased it back up again in speed. It shifted normally.

Well, a little while later, it did the same thing again, and again, and finally we couldn't drive it in the O/D shift position at all - we had to drive it in the "3" shift position or not at all.

I ended up taking it to AAMCO and they showed me the many chunks of metal and metal filings and shavings in the tranny oil pan, and they told me that they could rebuild it for about $2000 - 3 year, 36k mile warranty included. I'd rather just drive it in 3rd until the wheels - or gears - fall off!

As for the fuel gauge, a mechanic told me today that it was probably a sending unit in the fuel tank and they could fix it, but it would be about $200+ - nope... I'll just continue driving it and using the trip odometer to refill every 200 miles. (I figure about 20mpg all around since I have to drive in 3rd no faster than 50mph - when I had O/D and everything intact, I was getting about 30 highway.)

The rear gas springs, well, that's been an irritation since I got the van, but since I've had many a car and other vehicles that had the same problem front OR back, I'm used to a prop rod, broom handle, or whatever - no big deal. Except that now the driver's side top hinge is warped, and I am risking metal fatigue failure at whatever point it decides to go, every time I try and open or shut it, until I actually get it replaced!

The environmental controls are only an issue for me in the winter - I live in central Illinois so it does get a mite bit chilly, and not having heat in the winter... well I ended up getting a pair of heavy black cover-alls at Wal Mart for $15 when they were on spring roll-back all the way up from $50.. I wasn't messing around!

The exhaust, well, I'm surprised I haven't gotten ticketed around here yet - the noise nazis are getting almost obscene up in Joliet, Illinois with their sound censoring! I'm going to have to get some major redneck engineering done with that situation if I want to remain safe - heaven knows I can't afford the noise ordinance ticket, the tow bill, AND the repairs!

Sad thing is, if I'd have had theft coverage on my insurance, I probably could have claimed that - I just don't know if it would have worked for my deductible however much that would have been.

Now, I can't say that EVERYTHING about the van is a negative - far from it! The seats, the ergonomics in the front, the carpet, the ride, everything is awesome! It's like I'm riding in a vehicle that was almost tailor made for me as a driver (except the driver's seat could go back about another inch and a half and be really close to perfect!) If I could get #1, the Transmission; #2, the Exhaust; and #3, the environmental controls fixed and had the lump sum to do it (with warranty so it's a guaranteed fix long-term) I would not get rid of the van!!!

I wish I could put a bolt-in CHEVY HD transmission up to that 3.3L EFI engine.