eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

That would be good, seeing as my 94 Dodge Caravan died while I was driving on the Interstate 2 years ago

mmarshall

Transmission? The '90-'95 models with the 4-speed Ultradrive transmission were notorious for crapping out.....newer models somewhat less so, but still worse-than-average.

geko29

I agree with you on the first half. The lifetime powertrain warranty will lure more buyers. But VERY few people will be getting their trannies replaced at 250k miles, for two reasons:

1) People don't generally keep their cars that long, and the lifetime warranty only applies to the original buyer.
2) People don't remember to send in rebates on something they bought last week. You think they're going to remember to take their car to the dealer within a month of it's fifth (and tenth, and fifteenth) birthday? Because if they don't, the warranty is null and void.

Chrysler worded their warranty statement carefully enough to eliminate more than 95% of all possible claims. They're not THAT stupid....

Mr Johnson

During the late 90s the Dodge Caravan sold 300K units by itself. Chrysler owned around 500-600K minivans each year. Sales have plummeted.

This iteration of the van looks worse to me than the previous. The seating is somewhat gimmicky so I'm glad to see it is optional. The materials look really cheap (cheaper than previous gen) and the subjective styling meter falls with this gen for me as well.

IMO.. Not Good. Look for continued falling sales for Chrysler.

Mr Johnson

Yep, I had one of them crash and burn on me. I always love driving with the windows open and hearing that "grunking" sound as an Ultradrive transmission car stops next to me. Anyone with a Chrysler trans should know what I'm talking about. That sound never inspired confidence and it amazes me that I heard it on the 2007 Pacifica (6 spd Auto) that turned out to have a variant ("upgraded") of the old Ultradrive.

IRCRomeo

Still clunky/plastic looking American cars anymore. Even Cadillac has the same style interior.

LXotic

The interior looks cheap.Too Boxy

juniorEXE

wow. this thing makes a corolla look overstyled

Honda should have brought over this Odyssey

LexusChris

iTrader: (1)

Remember unlike Honda and Toyota they have huge discounts on top of that they do have a lower starting price for others that may find the Sienna or Odyssey to exceed their budget. Anyway I find the interior of this new generation to be innovative however I think the current interior looks of better quality.

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

funny u would say that, i have always liked the looks of some american cars such as caddilacs, lincolns, fords, and gmc's but the interior always turned me away. the eldorado was a great looking car, all through its life span, BUT the only reason i did not like any of them over a mb, bmw, or lexus is because of their interior.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, we bought it brand new so those stories weren't out at the time. That and the fact that we were a little poorer than today. I believe that we spent enough money on repairs to buy a fully loaded Camry

Stupid sentimental value

RX_330

I have an '03 Grand Caravan. While the interior quality of the materials leaves much to be desired compared to the Odyssey and Sienna, the reliability has been amazing. Never been to the dealer for any repairs or anything, except for one time shortly after we bought it when one of the mechanisms in the third row seat broke. I'm glad to have one of the good ones.

I was thinking about getting the Honda or Toyota when it comes time to replace the Dodge, but this looks very interesting. Whether or not the quality of the materials is any better than the rivals, the "innovations" look very tempting for me. Especially since I travel a lot (vacation) the swiveling seats and the table would be VERY, VERY useful for me (kids, and other passengers).

I do hope they get rid of the 3.3 and 3.8 engines soon and replace it with something else for the base engines. They're amazingly weak, although I hope pairing the 3.8 with the 6-speed helps. Too bad the 3.3/tranny remain almost unchanged. Glad to hear they added the 4.0 to the lineup though. Is this the same one in the Pacifica?