|
Road Tests: Long-Term Test
Long-Term Test: 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan
September 2002
By editors at Edmunds.com
Date Posted 02-01-2003
Video highlights of this vehicle
Last month, we received an anonymous letter to the editor titled, "Edmunds.com treatment of Chrysler minvans." It read:
Many people say you give a wrong impression of the Chrysler/Dodge minivans, but they don't want to address the specific points, and that is what I'm going to do.
First of all, this will also regard how you favor the Honda Odyssey, so much so that everyone thinks Honda pays you to advertise its product.
In your reviews of this product, you go on and on about how this van lacks a folding third-row seat, but you never say this about the Ford Windstar or Toyota Sienna, neither of which have this feature. True, it is useful, but it's not the most important feature that a minivan should have. Secondly, you always talk about the bad reliability of Caravans (this is not even true), but you never mention the Windstar, which is widely known for bad reliability. If you take the Windstar's consumer rating (7.1/10), it is the lowest and much lower than the Grand Caravan's (8.3/10). Also, you shouldn't say the Honda Odyssey is reliable, because its past record is no better than the Dodge's (probably not worse either). Also, the Honda Odyssey is on the Lemon List at lemonlaw.com (aren't you surprised). Obviously, the Windstar is, too, and it is the fourth one from the top. No Chrysler minivans are on the list; if you don't believe me, go to lemonlaw.com.
Thirdly, you say the Grand Caravan is "potentially pricey," while the Odyssey is "a bargain at sticker price." The Grand Caravan's eL model has an MSRP $1,500 lower than the Odyssey's. In the Dodge, you get three-zone ventilation control, a trip computer, captain's chairs, an excellent stereo, tons of cupholders, an excellent driving experience and superb comfort. The Odyssey only gives you the folding seat, a lousy stereo, a boring interior and a less interesting driving experience, not considering that you have to pay about $1,500 more (excluding Honda dealer markup).
These are only a few of the wrong facts in your article, as I just wanted to address some of them. Please post my letter on your site, so that minivan buyers can have some correct info, and if you think my letter contains wrong info, feel free to address it in the reply you will post on your site.
We couldn't let this one slide without a reply. Therefore, we replied back in our Letters to the Editors column with:
We stand by our evaluations of Chrysler's minivans. Regarding reliability, we can report with firsthand experience that the Honda Odyssey is more reliable. We've had both as long-term vehicles and evaluated both for periods of two years. For the first seven months of 2002, this is what has gone wrong with of our 2001 DGC: 1) The driver and front-passenger windows stopped working; 2) there was a recall to reprogram the power controller for the rear climate control; 3) the front suspension became loose and the front struts had to be replaced; and 4) the air conditioning stopped working.
In contrast, here is what we've said about our 1999 long-term Honda Odyssey minivan's reliability:
"Our long-term Odyssey certainly lived up to our expectations for Honda reliability. Aside from scheduled maintenance (every 7,500 miles for normal duty), it required very little. We had three recalls performed, but all were minor and addressed in short order. Additionally, on one occasion while the van was residing in Detroit, the rear hatch wouldn't open. This was repaired by a dealership the same afternoon and covered by the 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty. The front brake pads were replaced at 23,000 miles. And the rear window developed a rattle near the end of our lease. That's it [over the two years]."
We don't disagree that the Chrysler vans have a nice interior and excellent driving characteristics. We stated so in our 2001 Minivan Comparison Test.
As for hammering on the Grand Caravan for not having a fold-flat, third-row seat, this isn't just about Chrysler not offering it. It relates to Chrysler not including it as part of the 2001 redesign. Honda had it in 1999. Mazda had it in 2000. But Chrysler left it out of the 2001 redesign. Wanna take odds on whether the next Sienna and Windstar will have it?
Pointing a finger at the Ford Windstar (a four-year-old design, by the way) is fine, but it doesn't change our opinion of the 2001-and-later Chrysler minivans. Oh, by the way, you might want to know that Chrysler and its subbrands buy considerably more advertising on the Edmunds.com Web site than does Honda.
To its credit, our long-term Dodge Grand Caravan went through a trouble-free September. We put about 1,000 miles on it during both city and highway driving. As with most months, it came in handy when we needed to haul extra people, such as when we made a lunch run or chauffeured a mom's club meeting.
Early on in the month, one of our drivers noticed that the van was consistently pulling to the left. A visual inspection of the front tires showed very heavy wear, which means the alignment (and possibly the air pressure) had been off for a significant amount of time. Later in the month, we took the van to a local alignment shop for inspection.
Indeed, the front end was way off. Both wheels had positive camber (the specs call for negative), and total toe-out was about 2.5 degrees more than it should have been. The most likely culprit? We surmise that when Buerge Chrysler-Plymouth replaced the front struts in June, the dealership neglected to perform an alignment after installation.
New front tires and a proper alignment have put the DGC back on its feet for October, and hopefully the five remaining months of the lease.
Current Odometer: 34,257
Best Fuel Economy: 18.6 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 15.0 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 18.0 mpg
Body Repair Costs: None
Maintenance Costs: $444.09 — includes two new Michelin MX4 215/60R17 tires ($179.95 each) and front-wheel alignment ($50)
Problems: None
|
