Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Video highlights of this vehicle

When our Road Test Coordinator was last assigned to the Dodge Grand Caravan in May 2001, he had high praise for its stellar handling, more than adequate engine performance and even the transmission's fine shifting ability. Overall, Neil loved driving it, which was surprising considering his "SINK" status (Single Income No Kids).

When he was assigned the Grand Caravan again this month, he made use of the spacious Dodge to move several loads of furniture. Since Edmunds currently does not have a pickup in its long-term test fleet, the Caravan got the nod. Once the seats were removed, it became apparent that our minivan would work just fine for the job at hand.

Neil says that the seats were easy to remove by pulling on two different handles and then yanking them up from the floorboard. But even our burly tester thought they proved to be somewhat heavy and cumbersome. "I can't see anyone petite removing these seats, as they are not light," he said. Luckily, once you remove the seats from the van, they have rollers that allow you to push or pull them wherever you want them to go.

And after removing all of the seats, Neil was left with an extremely spacious area. Just how much room did it have, you ask? Enough to swallow one huge seven-drawer dresser with the full-size mirror detached, one medium four-drawer dresser and a computer desk (after separating the hutch from it).

Neil said he could lay the desk's hutch on top of everything else and still have room for a few more boxes. He wrote in the log, "Who needs a pickup, when you have enclosed carrying capacity like this?!" The only downside was that several of the Grand Caravan's interior panels have some scratches on them from previous hauling experiences, including a tailgate panel that is going to be replaced on the next trip to the dealer.

If you have been following along with our Grand Caravan adventure, then you'll remember that we had been waiting for the dealer to get a new interior panel in to remedy a previous tailgate actuator incident.

We got a call that the part was in, as well as a replacement power steering hose to correct a steering issue. Apparently, the power steering hose was an updated part from Dodge to correct an acknowledged steering shudder concern. We also had a new problem, though, as the passenger-side front window was no longer operational.

Luckily, when the window decided to stop moving, it was in the up position. Shortly before our dealer visit, the driver-side front window started to act erratically and sometimes wouldn't go up.

We called Buerge Chrysler/Jeep and made arrangements to bring the Grand Caravan in to fix these problems. The window situation turned out to be the window regulators, and the dealer elected to replace both under warranty. Neil asked the Chrysler service representative if this also was a known concern, like the steering hose issue, and he answered "no." In the next sentence, though, he stated that other Chrysler vehicles had had a number of problems concerning in the window regulator.

Our service visit went smoothly, with all four issues being resolved in one day. Better yet, everything was covered under warranty. Our main concern is that, at 24,621 miles, we are starting to see a number of warranty issues. Other than that, the van is still one functional and fun-to-drive vehicle. It always gets the nod whenever we need to carry more than five people, and everyone on the staff seems to appreciate that it drives better than most minivans. We're continually surprised by how attached we become to it after driving it for only a month.

Current Odometer: 24,621
Best Fuel Economy: 21.8 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 11.6 mpg
Average Fuel Economy: 18.3 mpg
Body Repair Costs: None
Maintenance Costs: None
Problems: Driver-side power window slow to go up and intermittent operation, also a passenger-side window that was inoperative — both repaired under warranty.