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Road Tests: Long-Term Test
Long-Term Test: 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan
September 2001
By editors at Edmunds.com
Date Posted 02-01-2003
Video highlights of this vehicle
After our Grand Caravan returned from its summer
vacation with Senior Editor Christian Wardlaw (having still failed to find
favor with our staff veteran), it was about 3,000 miles overdue for its 15,000-mile
service interval, so we rushed it into the dealership.
Our usual service provider, Santa Monica Dodge, closed up shop over the summer,
so Wardlaw took our minivan to the next closest dealership, Buerge Chrysler/Jeep
in West Los Angeles. We're no stranger to Buerge, which has serviced our 2001
Chrysler PT Cruiser and our now departed 1999
Jeep Grand Cherokee -- suffice it to say that our experiences with this dealership
have been mixed. Wardlaw expounded upon the details on the Grand Caravan's service
appointment in the logbook:
"I had an appointment and arrived on time. The service drive was
backed up with cars, leaving waiting customers on the street. Nobody approached
me or asked me if I needed help for 15 minutes. Finally, I was introduced to
a service advisor, who was not the person with whom I had the appointment.
"When asked what I needed done, I whipped out the maintenance schedule for the
Grand Caravan (the one that came with the manual) and told the service advisor
I wanted exactly what was listed on the schedule, no more and no less, but with
a tire rotation tossed in for good measure. I also told him about the errant
airbag warning light.
"The service advisor became somewhat befuddled. Apparently, he couldn't figure
out what I wanted done from Chrysler's own service schedule, so he grabbed the
price sheet for the dealer's service schedule, which included a whole bunch
of stuff for which the factory didn't call. I told him the van was leased, I
wasn't keeping it at the end, and I only wanted done what was in the schedule
provided with the van, plus a tire rotation. Then I pointed those items out
for him:
- Oil and filter change
- Inspect tie rod ends and boot seals
- Check PCV valve and replace, if necessary
- Replace spark plugs and ignition cables
- Inspect exhaust system
- Inspect brake hoses
- Inspect front suspension and CV joints
- Check coolant level, hoses and clamps
- Rotate tires
"Only half of the items landed on the service request -- my fault
that I didn't catch this until later. The airbag diagnostic system recorded
no error codes, so the dealer couldn't pinpoint the source of the airbag-light
problem I experienced as I drove cross-country. We were charged $85.38 for half
a proper 15K service.
"I did not feel that I had a good service experience at Buerge Chrysler/Jeep.
They could improve as follows:
- Know the factory service schedule and how to read the documentation that
comes with the vehicles you sell. That way, when a customer resists your push
for the dealer package, the advisor will seem professional and knowledgeable.
- If you're going to go through the trouble of scheduling service, make sure
someone is available to at least greet a customer at the appointed time."
After a quick stop at Paintless Dent Professionals (PDP) to have a liftgate
dent repaired, the Grand Caravan spent the rest of the month with Associate
Editor Erin Riches. Inevitably, Riches found herself entangled in some heavy Labor
Day weekend traffic, and during the two hours that she spent in the Grand Caravan
on a hot afternoon, she enjoyed the van's comfortable, supportive seats; automatic
climate control; and Infinity sound system. "Yes, I was stuck," she wrote, "but
our loaded minivan was luxurious enough to keep me relatively pleasant. I really
like the sound system -- it's incredibly bassy for a factory system. Some of the
buttons on the head unit are oddly shaped, but the cilial nubs do help one identify
them."
While Riches often admires the stereo controls mounted on the back of the steering
wheel, she finds herself using them less frequently than she did in our '99 Jeep
Grand Cherokee (which also had an Infinity sound system). The Jeep had a different
steering wheel design with higher spokes that ostensibly made the buttons more
accessible to the driver's fingers.
Our associate editor wasn't as pleased with the automatic transmission's performance
in the stop-and-go traffic: "I often needed quick bursts of acceleration to catch
the holes in traffic, and I grew tired of the transmission's slow, sludgy downshifts
that impeded my progress. This engine has ample torque for situations like these,
but the transmission doesn't always oblige."
Later in the month, she finally tried the transmission's Autostick function and
concluded that for all its shortcomings, it does lessen some of the annoyance
of driving in thick commuter traffic: "One of the most irritating aspects of freeway
travel in greater Los Angeles is that one minute you'll be moving along at a brisk
clip and the next minute the pace has slowed to about 30 mph. In a heavy vehicle
like the Grand Caravan, I find myself on the brakes a lot. Using the overdrive
on/off switch obviously helps (by providing for engine braking) but only so much.
The Autostick can work better in these situations, because you can click the shifter
switch and go from third gear to second, and second to first -- and engine braking
increases progressively with each downshift. As everyone slogged through the Santa
Monica Mountains, I found it quite easy to control the van, as I continually shuffled
between the first three gears -- I never had to brake hard and I descended upon
the west side of Los Angeles confident that I had put less wear on the brake pads."
Riches noted that the transmission downshifted promptly in Autostick mode -- this
isn't always so in "D." Other minivans may allow you to shift into lower gears
(first and second, that is) by moving the shift lever, but once you move the DGC's
shifter to Autostick, you need only hit the switch to move between the lower gears.
The Autostick is part of a large option package for the front-wheel-drive ES model
that includes the 3.8-liter V6 engine, so a lot of owners will end up with it
whether or not they want it. It's probably most useful for those who live in hilly
or mountainous regions with heavy traffic.
Once she had settled into suburbia for the weekend, Riches took advantage of the
minivan's multitude of grocery bag hooks. "They're on the back of every seat,
and they work great with plastic grocery bags. Ordinarily, when I go to the farmers'
market, fruits and vegetables manage to liberate themselves throughout the trunk
or cargo bay -- but not in the Grand Caravan."
On Labor Day, she helped a friend move across Santa Clarita, Calif., into a dormitory
at California Institute of the Arts. Having lived in a dorm all four years of
college -- and having stuffed and pried to get all of her vital possessions in
and out of an '89 Camry -- Riches was definitely curious to see how a minivan
would do. "What a difference!" she bubbled. "How much easier my life would have
been with a minivan -- anyone's minivan. Having planned for this project, I had
removed the third-row seats beforehand and stored them in the underground parking
at my apartment. The seats were easy to remove and reinstall, but even though
I regularly work out and lift weights, I found them quite difficult to
carry -- they're rather humbling. I had the task of loading and organizing everything
in the Grand Caravan, and it all fit perfectly. I was pleased to note that the
removable second-row chairs could also be folded (since I had decided not to remove
them in advance), yielding a flat surface with a protective hard plastic covering
on which I could load additional items.
"While I know that the Honda Odyssey has an even more flexible seating system,
I think the one in the Grand Caravan is easy and useful enough for most people.
But you don't have the ability to roll with the punches, so to speak. If you needed
to help someone move and then run down to the airport to pick up visiting relatives,
you would have to make a third stop at home to pick up the third-row seats. But
after half a day's work, I can definitely say that the Grand Caravan would be
one of my first choices for taking someone to college."
Later in the month, Riches decided to make a second run to Buerge Chrysler/Jeep's
service department after the power liftgate's control arm managed to detach itself
from the liftgate. Our attempts to reattach the arm were fruitless, as the portion
that screws into the gate had been stripped in one vicious yank. Fortunately,
we got on quite well without the power-lift wizardry, opening and closing the
gate manually as less privileged minivan owners do. Our other concern was the
increasingly sensitive airbag warning light, which had begun to illuminate whenever
we backed out of a parking space, made a turning maneuver at any speed above a
crawl or drove over rough pavement, freeway expansion joints or speed bumps. The
warning light's accompanying chime heightened our associate editor's awareness
that the airbags might not inflate in the event of a crash. So she called Buerge
on a Tuesday and made an appointment for Friday. Our previous service advisor
was on vacation, so we were assigned to the assistant service manager, Pat McMahon.
Although Riches arrived on time for her appointment, getting into the dealership
was every bit as infuriating as Wardlaw described. Except this time, it took us
40 minutes to get the Grand Caravan physically into the service drive.
Traffic was so backed up on the side street that it was impossible to maintain
a semblance of a line. A Jeep Grand Cherokee cut in front of our Dodge, and Riches
nearly found herself in a shouting match with the driver of a Jeep Wrangler.
Once inside, however, McMahon ensured that Riches had a pleasant service experience.
Throughout their exchange, he proved to be knowledgeable and a good listener.
A couple of days before, Road Test Editor John DiPietro had pointed out to Riches
that a recall had been issued for the airbags in 1997-2001 Dodge Dakota, Durangos
and Ram pickups. Apparently, loose sound-deadening material inside the steering
wheel can interfere with the clockspring ribbon that controls the airbag, causing
it to become inoperative and triggering the airbag light. Our associate editor
did a little more research and uncovered a technical service bulletin (TSB) on
the NHTSA site (Bulletin
Number 0801001, Item Number SB620059) that seemed to cover the same issue (if
you go looking for it, use 2001, Dodge Truck and Caravan as your
search parameters). Riches presented this information to McMahon, and he knew
exactly what she was talking about and agreed to look into this TSB -- he actually
typed it on the service receipt. And he carefully inspected the detached liftgate
control arm, even noting the scrape on the plastic trim piece that had occurred
when the arm popped out.
In spite of the overcapacity at the dealership, McMahon had the Grand Caravan
ready by 5 p.m. the same day. Evidently, the recall and TSB that we found were
right on the money, so Buerge replaced the clockspring assembly, and finally,
the dreaded airbag light illuminates the gauge cluster no more. Technicians repaired
the control arm, too, and our van has power assist once again. A replacement trim
piece has been ordered, and McMahon said that he would call when the part comes
in. Both repairs were covered by the basic warranty. Riches also learned that
the excessive crowding at the dealership was related to the closing of nearby
Santa Monica Dodge. Annoying as it was, our associate editor would put up with
it again just for the ease of working with Assistant Service Manager Pat McMahon.
Overall, Riches enjoyed her month in the Grand Caravan -- with its torquey V6
and luxurious trimmings, it's probably the best commuter vehicle in our fleet.
"I find it more satisfying than our long-term '99 Odyssey," she wrote. "Its size
is much easier to manage, its seats are more comfortable, it has more of the features
I enjoy (in-dash CD changer, great sound system) and, in most cases, its transmission
does a better job of maximizing power (especially on the freeway). And while I
used to feel ambivalent toward the Odyssey, I really like driving the Grand Caravan.
With its optional 17-inch tires and touring suspension, it feels as agile as many
midsize sedans. But I'm not the target buyer for this vehicle -- I don't have
a large family and I'm not looking for a minivan to romance me into parenthood
-- so who am I to say that you don't need a disappearing third-row seat or fore
and aft travel for the second-row captain's chairs? But this is a fine van by
my estimation, so I say get the side airbags and an extended warranty and buy
it at invoice."
Current Odometer: 19,170
Best Fuel Economy: 17.9 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 14.5 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 18.8 mpg
Body Repair Costs: $530.90 (repair of dented tailgate)
Maintenance Costs: $85.38 (15,000-mile service)
Problems: Intermittently illuminating airbag warning light, broken control
arm for power liftgate.
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