Chrysler mini vans

I've been thinking of possibly buying a Chrysler / Dodge minivan. Do any
of you have anything good or bad to say about them ?

I am thinking of buying a new one, but could possibly buy used if it is a
good van.

Thanks in advance.





--
Dr. Skeezix LaRocca, D.B. (Doctor Of Buffoonery)
Registered Linux Novice & Abuser #526706
We aren't cheap, but we're reasonable
No appointment needed

On 12 Aug 2012 13:54:35 GMT, "S.LaRocca" > wrote:

>I've been thinking of possibly buying a Chrysler / Dodge minivan. Do any
>of you have anything good or bad to say about them ?
>
>I am thinking of buying a new one, but could possibly buy used if it is a
>good van.
>
>Thanks in advance.

I own a Dodge intrepid and I have been trying for years to pry parts
and repair CD's from Chrysler. They will sell you a out of date
printed manual for a ridiculous price. Look elsewhere for
transportation and cooperation.

On 8/12/2012 11:22 AM, wrote:
> On 12 Aug 2012 13:54:35 GMT, "S.LaRocca" > wrote:
>
>> I've been thinking of possibly buying a Chrysler / Dodge minivan. Do any
>> of you have anything good or bad to say about them ?
>>
>> I am thinking of buying a new one, but could possibly buy used if it is a
>> good van.
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>
> I own a Dodge intrepid and I have been trying for years to pry parts
> and repair CD's from Chrysler. They will sell you a out of date
> printed manual for a ridiculous price. Look elsewhere for
> transportation and cooperation.
>

And of course the manuals are all over the web.

On 8/12/2012 9:54 AM, S.LaRocca wrote:
> I've been thinking of possibly buying a Chrysler / Dodge minivan. Do any
> of you have anything good or bad to say about them ?
>
> I am thinking of buying a new one, but could possibly buy used if it is a
> good van.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
>
>
>
They are highly rated for features and performance, but nowhere near
Honda, Toyota, or even Kia in reliability.

On Sun, 12 Aug 2012 14:04:41 -0400, "Tony D." >
wrote:

>On 8/12/2012 9:54 AM, S.LaRocca wrote:
>> I've been thinking of possibly buying a Chrysler / Dodge minivan. Do any
>> of you have anything good or bad to say about them ?
>>
>> I am thinking of buying a new one, but could possibly buy used if it is a
>> good van.
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>They are highly rated for features and performance, but nowhere near
>Honda, Toyota, or even Kia in reliability.
Depends. If you maintain a Chrysler reasonably well they are about
on par with a reasonably maintained Ford - and significantly better
than a GM. They may have a few moer "minor issues" than Honda or Kia,
which may have a few more than Toyota.

For the significant price difference you can afford a few "minor
issues" on the Chrysler and still come out ahead.
Body fit and finish on the Mopar is not as good as the imports, and
you WILL lose the odd trim parts - that has been a Chrysler hallmark
for at least 2 decades.

"Tony D." > wrote in message
...
> On 8/12/2012 11:22 AM, wrote:
>> On 12 Aug 2012 13:54:35 GMT, "S.LaRocca" > wrote:
>>
>>> I've been thinking of possibly buying a Chrysler / Dodge minivan. Do any
>>> of you have anything good or bad to say about them ?
>>>
>>> I am thinking of buying a new one, but could possibly buy used if it is
>>> a
>>> good van.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>> I own a Dodge intrepid and I have been trying for years to pry parts
>> and repair CD's from Chrysler. They will sell you a out of date
>> printed manual for a ridiculous price. Look elsewhere for
>> transportation and cooperation.
>>
>
> And of course the manuals are all over the web.

Where? Serious question as we have two (04 and 06) higher end van.
Everything I've found
is a) pricy b) more incorrect than correct.

Most recent problem had to do with O2 sensors. Dodge made a mid production
change and can't (or won't) provide the correct parts.

Dealer tried to help but no joy.

On 8/12/2012 2:52 PM, wrote:
> On Sun, 12 Aug 2012 14:04:41 -0400, "Tony D." >
> wrote:
>
>> On 8/12/2012 9:54 AM, S.LaRocca wrote:
>>> I've been thinking of possibly buying a Chrysler / Dodge minivan. Do any
>>> of you have anything good or bad to say about them ?
>>>
>>> I am thinking of buying a new one, but could possibly buy used if it is a
>>> good van.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> They are highly rated for features and performance, but nowhere near
>> Honda, Toyota, or even Kia in reliability.
> Depends. If you maintain a Chrysler reasonably well they are about
> on par with a reasonably maintained Ford - and significantly better
> than a GM. They may have a few moer "minor issues" than Honda or Kia,
> which may have a few more than Toyota.
>
> For the significant price difference you can afford a few "minor
> issues" on the Chrysler and still come out ahead.
> Body fit and finish on the Mopar is not as good as the imports, and
> you WILL lose the odd trim parts - that has been a Chrysler hallmark
> for at least 2 decades.
>
The problem is most people don't want a few "minor issues". I have a
Magnum AWD because there was nothing like it and didn't worry about the
"few issues" (though mine has been mostly trouble free). But the average
Joe does not want to save $1000 and then spend 5 years with scrambling
around, dropping a car off for service, etc, etc. My friend has had 10
Hondas or more and just did gas and oil changes, etc. For several things
(like water in the tailight at 85K, He said it has 85K but water REALLY
should get int a tailight), Honda fixed it out of warranty for nothing.
Things that American car mfg fight you tooth and nail on. My friend had
a PT Cruiser that developed an engine shake at idle. The dealer did all
kinds of stuff, even a valve job, etc, etc and had the regional rep on
the case. Chrysler eventually said "That's too bad". My Ford Taurus had
the paint fall of it just after warranty. Ford offered me a $500 coupon
on a new Ford. American mfg also seem to have no control over their
dealers. You get the line "The dealer is an independent businessman who
...... We suggest you take it somewhere else." My friend with the Honda
had them put a slight scratch on the dash when they did a radio upgrade.
Fixing it required replacing the whole dash and they refused. He called
American Honda and the NEXT day someone from the dealership called and
said "Gee, we're sorry you're not happy, bring it in tomorrow".

Years ago American vehicle were not even on the same planet compared to
Japanese and European makes. Every year they've gotten better and the
cars themselves have even become competitive, but they are not quite
there yet. The Koreans used to make absolute junk that when reviewed the
magazines would say "buy a 2 yr old XXXX instead", but Hyundai, for
example, has made each new model a GEOMETRIC improvement over the
previous one. Junk doesn't sell anymore, and the major reason for buying
the domestic is the $3k off in July and 0% financing.

On 8/12/2012 3:10 PM, NotMe wrote:
> "Tony D." > wrote in message
> ...
>> On 8/12/2012 11:22 AM, wrote:
>>> On 12 Aug 2012 13:54:35 GMT, "S.LaRocca" > wrote:
>>>
>>>> I've been thinking of possibly buying a Chrysler / Dodge minivan. Do any
>>>> of you have anything good or bad to say about them ?
>>>>
>>>> I am thinking of buying a new one, but could possibly buy used if it is
>>>> a
>>>> good van.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>
>>> I own a Dodge intrepid and I have been trying for years to pry parts
>>> and repair CD's from Chrysler. They will sell you a out of date
>>> printed manual for a ridiculous price. Look elsewhere for
>>> transportation and cooperation.
>>>
>>
>> And of course the manuals are all over the web.
>
> Where? Serious question as we have two (04 and 06) higher end van.
> Everything I've found
> is a) pricy b) more incorrect than correct.
>
> Most recent problem had to do with O2 sensors. Dodge made a mid production
> change and can't (or won't) provide the correct parts.
>
> Dealer tried to help but no joy.
>
>
>
>
There are manuals online or links to downloads on most dodge forums (ie:
dodgeforum.com). People also take the factory dvds and copy them and put
them on ebay. I bought one of these for my Magnum for $40, but when I
joined lxforums.com, there were d/l links for it if you have the
bandwidth for a big d/l.

"Tony D" > wrote in message
...
> On 8/12/2012 3:10 PM, NotMe wrote:
>> "Tony D." > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> On 8/12/2012 11:22 AM, wrote:
>>>> On 12 Aug 2012 13:54:35 GMT, "S.LaRocca" > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I've been thinking of possibly buying a Chrysler / Dodge minivan. Do
>>>>> any
>>>>> of you have anything good or bad to say about them ?
>>>>>
>>>>> I am thinking of buying a new one, but could possibly buy used if it
>>>>> is
>>>>> a
>>>>> good van.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>>
>>>> I own a Dodge intrepid and I have been trying for years to pry parts
>>>> and repair CD's from Chrysler. They will sell you a out of date
>>>> printed manual for a ridiculous price. Look elsewhere for
>>>> transportation and cooperation.
>>>>
>>>
>>> And of course the manuals are all over the web.
>>
>> Where? Serious question as we have two (04 and 06) higher end van.
>> Everything I've found
>> is a) pricy b) more incorrect than correct.
>>
>> Most recent problem had to do with O2 sensors. Dodge made a mid
>> production
>> change and can't (or won't) provide the correct parts.
>>
>> Dealer tried to help but no joy.

>>
> There are manuals online or links to downloads on most dodge forums (ie:
> dodgeforum.com). People also take the factory dvds and copy them and put
> them on ebay. I bought one of these for my Magnum for $40, but when I
> joined lxforums.com, there were d/l links for it if you have the bandwidth
> for a big d/l.

Thanks, I have the bandwidth for a big d/l but am getting tired to doing
that spending the time digging through pdf's and other documents only to
find the info is obscured (matters not if it's intentional or not). The
latter is a reference 'to see illustration' with no reference to which or
where the illustration might be. Often as not there is NO illustration.

I tried the lxforums.com and the search options are very limited as they
return results that are far too broad.

I've no doubt the information is there but if the search does not work it
takes far too much time to dig through the horse s*** to find the pony.

I have no problem paying a fair or even an inflated price for the
information I need but to pay a price for the wrong information is an
exercise in mental self abuse.

I am on my third one. The first was a 1984 Dodge Caravan LE, the first
of them. Kept it until it had 240,000 miles on it. I traded it on a
1997 Dodge Caravan ES. The 1997 was traded at 125,000 for a
2008 Dodge Grand Caravan 4.0 SXT.
Need I say more?
Service is performed, without fail, as per the "severe service"
parameter in the manual.