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Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan 2005+

1446 messages,  Last post on May 15, 2013 at 8:51 AM

You are in the Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan Forum.

What is this discussion about? Chrysler Town and Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, Van

Messages Page 117 of 145

#1157 of 1446 2005 town and country problems by eggi541

Mar 14, 2006 (8:07 am)

We got our van in October 2004 with 200 miles on it being sold as a brand new van. We have had in to the dealership many times for repairs. The first issue was an interior flaw where the rubber molding around the passenger door was not installed correctly. Took the dealership 3 times to fix it. The next issue was when we would back you the vehicle would sometime make a weird noise and shake. They said it was the vehicles callipers. after taking it in 3 times for repairs on that it still makes the noise. We are on our 2nd dvd plaer and now it has to be replaced again because it has stopped playing dvds and will only play cds. afew months ago it was rainning really bad and my windshield wipers stopped working while i was driving on the highway. I pulled off the road and turned the car on and off and they worked fine after that. The newest thing that has happened is i had the carr in park idling on a flat surface while i went to run into a local store and the van drove 3 feet into the wall. i went back to the car and it was still in park. I put it in reverse and it made that noise that it would sometimes make and the van shook. then when i put it in park again the van started to go forward again. so i turned off the engine waited a couple minutes then started the van and it appeared fine, but because of that i had the van towed to the dealer and we have been without a second vehicle for 2 weeks now. Chrysler had an independent inspecter checking the van 4 days ago and yesterday we got a call to from the dealership saying the inspecter is finished with the van but told the repair department he will have a report on his findings sent to chrysler and can not tell them anything. The van just hit 20,000 miles on it the day before that happened.

#1158 of 1446 Re: EXCESSIVE BRAKE DUST [dodgeball2] by gman73

Mar 16, 2006 (6:29 pm)

Replying to: dodgeball2 (Mar 12, 2006 10:32 pm)
Luckily, I purchased the 100,000 mile extended warranty with the van. Our sales person has left the dealership, but may be advising us on how to enter into arbitration to have the van replaced (a friend of our did that on her Caravan a few years ago). If we come to that, I will definitely not buy another GC, but unfortunately may be forced into another Chrysler product.

#1159 of 1446 Problems with 2003 power steering by shirlie

Apr 06, 2006 (11:18 am)

We have a 2003 Town and Country which has been making a "whinning" noise for a while I took it to be serviced today to be told the thing needs replacing! It is only just out of wararenty and has done 31000 miles can nayone help?
Thanks

#1160 of 1446 Re: Problems with 2003 power steering [shirlie] by backy

Apr 08, 2006 (6:16 am)

Replying to: shirlie (Apr 06, 2006 11:18 am)
I thought the 2003 DC vans still had the 7/70 powertrain warranty?

#1161 of 1446 2003 GC experience by mojdodyr

Apr 08, 2006 (8:21 am)

I had my 03 GC SE for 2 years and 8 months. Great Van with very comfortable and pleasant drive. I had bought it from the auction for 14.4k when it was 1 y.o.
Transmission had to be rebuilt at 48k - but yes, it was covered by Chrysler 7/70 extended warranty (we had to pay 100$ deductible). When I had tried to use it as a trade-in for 06 Sienna I was only offered 4k for the van 2 months ago - needless to say, it ruined the deal. I had just sold it for 9900$ via internet, but it took awhile.
My take on that - I would never buy a new Dodge or Chrysler minivan, but might consider 1-2 years old if they come with extended warranty. It is a shame that Chrysler can't fix their reliability problems. They should really get their act together or they would eventually follow the path of GM and Ford. How come Hyundai can offer 10/100.000 bumper to bumper warranty and Chrysler can't even keep their 70k powertrain one?
Otherwise - great van. Love the exterior look and drive. But I just can't be sitting on the ticking bomb and wait for something to go wrong with it (and expect to pay a fortune for a fix).

#1162 of 1446 Re: 2003 GC experience [mojdodyr] by spectraman

Apr 08, 2006 (8:33 pm)

Replying to: mojdodyr (Apr 08, 2006 8:21 am)
Mojdodyr shared:
"My take on that - I would never buy a new Dodge or Chrysler minivan, but might consider 1-2 years old if they come with extended warranty."
 
Even better than what you advise is to simply take Chrysler up on one of their $229 per month "Sign-and-Drives" on a *new* fully loaded SXT Dodge Grand Caravan for 27 months like I did. I actually am paying $195 per month, but I paid the $800 start-up fee up front (tax, 1st month's payment, etc.)
 
My van has everything but the leather and DVD player. All the power vents, sliding doors, rear hatch, rear heat/AC ,etc.
 
In 27 months I simply hand the keys back and say "Go away!"
 
I know that this deal is $1.5k more costly than your experience, but the combination of a more feature-laden vehicle and guaranteed entity to hand the van back to makes it worth it. Another thing going for us is that my wife doesn't have to commute too far... otherwise leasing wouldn't be practical for us then.
 
-SM

#1163 of 1446 Sign and Drive? by mojdodyr

Apr 08, 2006 (9:23 pm)

It does sound very attractive - no doubt about it. For almost the same price you got to drive brand new van and don't have to bother about getting rid of it. I just can't find anything close to that deal in my local Denver papers, nor on Dodge website. Is it a national program? Is that how they call it -"Sign and Drive"? So, you had paid 800$ up front and than 195$ per month? Almost sounds like too good to be true deal.

#1164 of 1446 Extended warranty by dm3

Apr 08, 2006 (9:55 pm)

Have an 06 GC SXT, 7k miles on it, no problems, great van so far. Much better than a 05 Sienna I recently ditched.
 
But I would feel more comfortable with an extended warranty. A 7yr/100k miles bumper to bumper $0 deductible manufacturers warranty on a 06 Sienna costs ~$800 discounted on the internet. Lowest price I've been able to find online for the Chrysler is ~$2500.
 
Does anyone know of any places (dealers) which give deep discounts on the Chrysler extended warranty?

#1165 of 1446 Re: Sign and Drive? [mojdodyr] by backy

Apr 08, 2006 (9:56 pm)

Replying to: mojdodyr (Apr 08, 2006 9:23 pm)
Unfortunately I think the great lease deals on the GC SXT expired on April 1. I have seen the lease payments shoot up since then. Before March 31, I was seeing $99/month with $2990 down, or $219/month with nothing down. Now it's more like $179/month with $3000 down.

#1166 of 1446 Safety ratings comparison by mojdodyr

Apr 08, 2006 (10:06 pm)

bummer. Anybody knows where can I find a comparison between Toyota, Honda and Dodge safety wise?

Messages Page 117 of 145

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