Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Video highlights of this vehicle

Have you heard the news? Chrysler is in deep trouble. Since the much ballyhooed merger with Daimler-Benz, the company has lost its "Dream Team" of forward-thinking executives, sales are down the toilet despite hefty incentives and rebates (even for SUVs and trucks — not a good sign), and German managers have seized the reins and decreed massive layoffs and cost-cutting. We've even heard rumor that one of the company's lauded concept-to-reality projects has been shelved until the red ink stops flowing. And now pundits have the economy headed for a recession. D'oh!

Chrysler's redesigned minivans (the Chrysler Town & Country, Chrysler Voyager, Dodge Caravan and Dodge Grand Caravan) aren't helping to reverse the company's fortunes, effectively serving as a glass of ice water tossed in the slumbering corporation's face. WAKE UP! the sales charts exclaim. Automotive News recently reported that in January 2001, sales of Chrysler-brand minivans were down a whopping 36.6 percent from what they were during the same period last year, an unprecedented statistic given the overwhelming popularity of this van in past years. Chrysler may have given birth to the segment and served as the benchmark since 1984 when the first Voyager and Caravan rolled off the assembly line, but it seems that today, consumers are voting against DaimlerChrysler's newest iterations of the minivan.

Marketers launched the van with a strong tagline, supported by the findings of an independent company (no doubt contracted to perform the study by DCX): "The Best Minivan Ever" pssst...read the fine print. It doesn't seem to be helping, though Edmunds.com did purchase a Dodge Grand Caravan last month to drive for two years and at least 35,000 miles.

We decided to subject the redesigned 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan ES to a long-term test for a number of reasons. First, our long-term Honda Odyssey, for two years considered the new minivan benchmark by both the press and consumers, is going away soon, so it made sense to give the new Dodge a chance to prove the marketing gurus accurate. Is it the best minivan ever? We'll see.

Second, the first production year of a Chrysler minivan redesign has gained notoriety for poor quality. For example, in 1996, when the Grand Caravan was solidly fixed in the benchmark minivan position, it had a tendency to chew up and spit out its transmission prematurely. We want to see if first-year quality of this new Grand Caravan is as good as our Honda Odyssey displayed, not to mention our 1998 long-term Dodge Intrepid (which was a pleasingly reliable steed).

Third, if the 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan proves dependable and manages to win over our staff, we'd like to be able to recommend it to consumers.

However, if first impressions are any indication, the prognosis is not good. Our loaded ES stickered a hair north of $35,000. That is unacceptable, especially when you consider the fact that this van doesn't have an on-board entertainment system. Not that you can't get one. Any Dodge dealer will be happy to install a Mopar-approved system for $1,400 (plus applicable sales taxes). Our van doesn't have one for two reasons: 1) for $35,000 we expect the price to include one from the factory and 2) Chrysler Financial, who wrote our lease, wouldn't residualize the system. That means they wanted us to pay for the entire thing, install it in the van, and then either leave it in the van or rip it out when the lease was up. That's stupid, so we didn't get the entertainment system.

Speaking of residuals, we're almost embarrassed to tell you what our monthly payment is. Before we do, keep a couple of things in mind. First of all, when we negotiate a deal, the dealership doesn't know who we are until after the selling price (capitalized cost of the lease) has been set in writing. In this case, we paid invoice, letting the dealer keep the $1,000 rebate and whatever portion of the factory holdback that was still available. Once the price is set, we reveal that the vehicle is going to be used for an Edmunds.com long-term test, and that the lease will be of the corporate variety. Corporate leases have lower residual values than those written for general consumers, so our payment always ends up higher than what you would pay. Then, we ask for a two-year, 35,000-mile lease, which is an unusual term. That costs us more, too, because we roll the upfront cost of 5,000 extra miles into the contract.

Given all these variables, you now understand how it is possible that this van costs us more than $900 per month. Yowza! But that's nearly twice what we paid for our significantly less expensive Honda Odyssey each month. Not only was the Honda's sticker price lower, but also the Odyssey carries a much better residual value, which means its expected resale value is equally impressive. Our Grand Caravan's residual after two years, for a corporate lease, is a dismal 42 percent.

Chrysler has been quick to react to charges that the new minivans are too expensive by releasing new EX versions of the Town & Country and Grand Caravan. EX models have the big engine, the power side doors and liftgate, alloy wheels and enough goodies on board to match the Odyssey EX in terms of content, and are priced to compete against that increasingly popular Honda van. The problem is that the Chryslers still lack the easy configurability of the Odyssey, the reputation for reliability, proven resale values and top-notch crash-test scores (NHTSA and the IIHS have not tested the 2001 Chrysler minivans at this writing).

Now that you've gotten an earful about why we're driving a new Grand Caravan for two years, let's see what our editor-in-chief, Christian Wardlaw, had to say after his 30-day stint behind the Dodge's wheel.

He says our new minivan impresses at first glance. "It looks good, and it's got a refined demeanor over the road, with a quiet ride, plenty of low-end punch, and responsive steering and brakes. Handling is surprisingly good, too."

But when you take the sticker price into consideration and take a good look at what you're getting and what you're not, Wardlaw says the Grand Caravan loses plenty of appeal. "This van has no on-board entertainment system, no navigation system and no reverse sensing system, like loaded vans from the competition. The transmission shifts poorly in stop-and-go traffic, exhibiting slushy gear-changes and occasional free revving between gears. Beyond that, the 3.8-liter V6 is breathless at higher speeds."

Wardlaw finds the power liftgate to be a gimmick, more entertaining to his three-year-old than useful to his family. He also notes that the side doors don't offer the convenience of power operation with a yank on the handle, like our Honda minivan. Furthermore, he pointed out, there's no third-row "magic" seat (or the accompanying grocery well), no multi-configurable second-row seats that can be either a bench or captain's chairs and no side windows that roll down.

Dodge does give us grocery bag hooks, a four-disc in-dash CD changer, tri-zone automatic climate control, a removable center console, a trip computer, the best satellite audio controls in the business and rollout seating. "Big deal," says Wardlaw, "none of these are substantial enough reasons to select the Dodge over other models on the market."

The Grand Caravan also doesn't contain all the safety equipment that it could. Our top-of-the-line Grand Caravan doesn't have stability control or brake assist technology, both of which are available from parent Daimler. (FYI: The less expensive 2001 Toyota Sienna can be equipped with both and receives highly regarded crash scores.)

Beyond that, we're skeptical about our van's kid-friendliness, surprising, given the company's Fit for a Kid safety campaign. Wardlaw couldn't install his kids' car seats in the second row without removing the headrests, which are canted forward to provide an actual place to rest one's head, but don't articulate out of the way when you're installing child seats. The problem he had was that the top of the car seat rested against the headrest, keeping it from being cinched down flush to the seatback. Also, he couldn't get the seatbelt retractor to lock in place, which resulted in slack in the belt, making it easy to wiggle his toddler's seat loose (his three-year-old's booster seat could be tightened down without a problem). Plus, the front seatbacks are hard plastic with a grab handle jutting out. Wardlaw asks in the logbook, "What happens in a rear-end crash if the front seatbacks fail and land in your kid's lap? At least Toyota and Honda seatbacks are soft cloth and padded."

More on shortcomings: The dash is a lovely padded material muted in terms of gloss (and containing a seamless passenger airbag), but the A-pillar covers (a hard grained plastic) reflect light like Christmas tree garland. On top of the driver's door panel is a wide ledge to rest your arm, but right where Wardlaw's elbow falls is a lock assembly that juts up, even when the doors are locked, making it painful or awkward to rest his arm on the door. There are holes and screwheads littering the floor of this van, just waiting to collect the kinds of detritus any minivan owner knows will accumulate in them. Finally, there is precious little leg and foot room for adults in the second row; the second row seats offer no fore/aft seat travel or both bucket and bench seating arrangements like innovative vans from Honda and Mazda.

And these are observations gleaned from just a couple hundred miles behind the wheel, Wardlaw noted. No, things don't bode well for the Chrysler minis, once rulers of all they surveyed. Lousy residuals, high prices and a lack of innovation will conspire to kill the market share dominance DCX has enjoyed since it created the segment in the early '80s. The new models are clear proof that Chrysler got blindsided by the Odyssey and Mazda MPV, and by the time the company can roll a better minivan onto showroom floors, buyers will also be choosing from new models made by Ford, GM, Nissan and Toyota. Whoopsee.

DaimlerChrysler's saving graces will be the superior driveability of the new vans and, if proven over time, substantially improved reliability over the old models. Decent crash test scores won't hurt either, and Chrysler Financial, the company underwriting our lease, needs to residualize the dealer-installed on-board entertainment system.

Chrysler's Grand Caravan EX model, designed to battle with the Odyssey EX in terms of content and price point, might help matters. Somehow, though, it seems like too little too late. "This van," Wardlaw sums up, "should have been a home-run smash, but it's not."

Current Odometer: 1,703
Best Fuel Economy: 19.4 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 16.2 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 17.4 mpg
Body Repair: None
Maintenance: None
Problems: Right sliding door seal pokes out at lower edge when door is closed.

See what DaimlerChrysler thinks of our Dodge Grand Caravan introduction