Hey, need some feedback on purchasing a 98 grand caravan se with 145K on it. Reading about horror stories about tranny and other issues...........think I am getting a good deal at 3K?? Give me some feedback. Thanks Eucker

A few things to keep in mind:

It's true these vans have a less than positive reputation for transmission problems. Same goes for electrical systems. The real story is that's true for minivans in general, regardless who makes them.

Have you heard the saying, "the squeaky wheel gets the attention". For every minivan owner with a complaint there are many who don't have a problem but, you never hear about them.

My 96GC has 198K miles on it, still has the original tranny, and it has never as much as hickup'd. Keeping your foot out of it and regular fluid changes help. That's not to say I haven't had problems ie, new radiator, starter, and a $700 tranny fluid leak are the big ones. That IS to say, don't take everything you read as gospel.

Based on 3+ years of cruising forums and experiences with several Chrysler minivans, the 3.3 and 3.8 ltr engines are bullet proof. The 3.0 ltr has it's problems.

Plug your info in at www.KBB.com to get a good price on your GC. Try to get some level of a maintenance history and take it for a long test drive. Ideally have a trusted mechanic look it over.

I'm looking to buy a van too and I like the Caravans. Yeah, they do have transmision problems. Like RIP said, have a mechanic check it out first. The transmissions like to leak. RIP said his had a $700 leak. I don't know about prices, but I've repaired 5 or 6 that had a leak inside the bell housing. We don't repair them where I work, we take the transmission out and send it to a tranny shop.

The electrical problems aren't as common, but boy are they tough to track down sometimes. The caravans have had some weird ones. I can remember 1 that ended up taking me about 10 hours to find the problem and I'm pretty good with electrical stuff. You just hope your car doesn't end up being that car. But it can happen no matter what you buy.

I also like the Toyota Siennna. The ones with the engine where the engine should be and not under the drivers seat. Those are a big hassle if you're going to do a lot of your own repairs. I own 2 Toyotas and swore I wouldn't buy anything else. But the used Caravans are priced better.

My wife has a 96 with 228k, now parked because she got a new car, but we keep it around for backup. I would drive this thing anywhere. I've done some stuff to it, oil leaks, rad fan motors, axles, and yes the trans with a trans-go shift kit. I've been an ASE master tech for over ten years and worked on a lot of vans and would hands down recomend a 96+ caravan with a 3.3 or 3.8 over any other domestic and most imports. Honda Odesy is good but high purchase $$$$$, Toyota is good to, but high repair $$$$$$. The Caravan has a good purchase price, parts are usually reasonable, (rockauto), and is suprisingly easy to work on (compared to an Astro, Windstar:evillol:, or Venture and clones). You can get temp subscriptions to alldata, just visit their website, and forums like this one can help you keep it on the road for many miles. Just remember anything you buy will have its problem areas, just some more than others. I would stay AWAY from a Windstar:evillol: no matter what a good deal it is.

hueroloco - Feel like telling us about your 10 hour electrical job? Sounds interesting. I'm an aerospace electronics tech by trade and many are having electrical headaches on these vans. May help.



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I have a 98 Grand Voyager, and when it is running, it is great. I got rid of my S-10 when my wife upgraded and kept her Voyager because I had alot more comfort and better gas milage. But that is when it is running.

I have had two major transmission repairs totaling about $2k, a pully that cost about $400 to replace and fix the damage done when it went flying through the engine compartment, three starters, I have recently had to replace the radiator, the fan relay and it has sat about 6 months out of the last two years for various other problems. In addition, there is a nagging electrical problem that has been recurring for about three years that now has it sitting becuase it has progressed to the point of not running.

I agree that overall it has been good to us, but had it not been the wife I would not have bought a new one ('05 Grand Caravan). I am even having problems with the '05. The satalite radio has been going out (but of course the dealer cannot find the problem) and the electric door on one side has stopped working ($300 to repair).

Should you get it, hard to say because you will have problems with any vehicle. Make sure you look it over carefully and keep this site in your bookmarks.

Thanks for all of the info, will pick it up tomorrow. Just had it checked out and appears to have a rebuilt/new tranny in it--that could be good/bad I guess but I am going to go for it! Even if if only last 2-3 years. Have 2 boys ages 13 and 16 and are running to sporting events all the time. Please continue to give feedback and I will do the same when I get the vehicle. Eucker

RIP, there really isn't much to tell about the 10 hour nightmare. It was so difficult because it was intermittent. It had to be fixed because it would die while driving a few times a week.

As far as I recall it had a cam sensor code. We replaced that and it didn't fix it so we replaced the computer, that didn't fix it. We actually returned it to the customer after replacing the sensor and we thought all was good. Then about a week later, it was back.

I checked powers, grounds, looked for rodent damage, water damage, anything I could think of. The thing that got me was that every time I tested the continuity of the wires, they tested good.

So out of desperation I removed the battery and some other components so I had access to the entire harness and pulled and yanked on it while reading ohms and I finally found an open. Underneath the battery in a large wire harness, the cam sensor wire (8 volt reference wire if I remember right?) is spliced into a circuit with 2 or 3 other wires. It's a factory solder and it had just come loose. Just loose enough to not work a few times a week and to read good continuity every time I tested the wire.

So that was about it and that kinda stuff could happen on any car, but the
Caravans have gotten the reputation of having electrical problems and my most time consuming electrical problem just happened to be a Caravan ...

RIP, there really isn't much to tell about the 10 hour nightmare. It was so difficult because it was intermittent. It had to be fixed because it would die while driving a few times a week.

As far as I recall it had a cam sensor code. We replaced that and it didn't fix it so we replaced the computer, that didn't fix it. We actually returned it to the customer after replacing the sensor and we thought all was good. Then about a week later, it was back.

I checked powers, grounds, looked for rodent damage, water damage, anything I could think of. The thing that got me was that every time I tested the continuity of the wires, they tested good.

So out of desperation I removed the battery and some other components so I had access to the entire harness and pulled and yanked on it while reading ohms and I finally found an open. Underneath the battery in a large wire harness, the cam sensor wire (8 volt reference wire if I remember right?) is spliced into a circuit with 2 or 3 other wires. It's a factory solder and it had just come loose. Just loose enough to not work a few times a week and to read good continuity every time I tested the wire.

So that was about it and that kinda stuff could happen on any car, but the
Caravans have gotten the reputation of having electrical problems and my most time consuming electrical problem just happened to be a Caravan ...

Hey thanks. In Saudi during the Gulf War I would tend to be assigned to the hard broke jets. We had one jet with an intermittent flight control problem it kept aborting for. I was delayed by another jet so another team worked it two days without much luck. It took me three more days but, about 4 in the morning of that third day I finally found the problem by - you guessed it - shaking a wire harness. Found a wire loose inside a splice. We were using every piece of cutting edge test equipment you can think of trying to track it down. It took a monkey move to find it. Different machine, same fix.

I've read of folks having that wire harness bite them. Read about one guy who said it looked like battery acid got into the harness and trashed a group of wires. Unfortunately, most spend days and weeks and in many cases, big bucks working problems before they get to that harness. Your post may save the next guy a lot a hassle. Cheers!

...Based on 3+ years of cruising forums and experiences with several Chrysler minivans, the 3.3 and 3.8 ltr engines are bullet proof...
I gotta agree with RIP about the motor comment... I've got 257K on my GC/LE and the 3.8L motor is the best I've ever owned, bar none... and that includes anything and everything I ever bought that was made in Japan (2 Corollas, a Celica, a Cargo Van [pre-Previa Toyota] and a Datsun 280-ZX).