2012+ Grand Caravan

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We have a few of these as fleet vehicles at work, though I've never driven one before or even sat in one. I sat in one today.

Holy cow...that front seat is Comfortable with a capital C. The cloth fabric is actually very SOFT...it reminds me of the old school velour that cars used to come with. I was mostly in the "ignore" mode on these 5th gen Grand Caravans with the new interior, but I must say...they seem to be VERY comfortable and high quality. I might need to look at these harder...
 
As far as driving position, I loved both the 3rd and the 4th generation vans. I really enjoyed driving our two 4th gen vans, I really did. We'd still have our 2007 T&C today if it was reliable. I've heard a ton of great things about the 2011 or 2012+ 5th gen vans with the new interior. Indeed...the materials seem to be exceptional. The seat comfort was also exceptional.

I think my CR-V's seats are beginning to feel just a bit cramped to me. They have rather large side bolsters and are pretty firm and confining. Obviously, there are both pros and cons to that. The CR-V handles very well, and I can hang a fast corner and the seat keeps me in place. But the downside is a "narrow" feeling that feels somewhat confining.

The seat in this Grand Caravan was just so comfy.......and I was extremely impressed with the material quality of the interior.
 
One of Chryslers best features is their seat comfort, IMHO!
I've had 4 Mopars and they were all very comfy!
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Reliability was another issue!
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I've also driven Chrysler mini vans as company vehicles, for years. Currently have a 2014..love it.

The interiors are very nice and the power side and rear gate is very handy. Love the motor, too. Lots of power.

I've put a ton of miles on these vans over the years and have had very few problems.

Only downsides are gas mileage..we average around 19...and the OEM tires are absolute garbage. They wear out fast and feel like you're riding on slicks in the snow. You may not need to worry about snow traction. Overall, love the current generation of vans.
 
You'll see them in the service bay next to all the Grand Cherokees. I've ridden in them often due to my previous Jeep (courtesy shuttle). I'm not impressed at all. 3rd row is very difficult to get into, and quite cramped (I'm not tall). 2nd and 3rd rows have less room than my Durango, and mpg is not much better. I would never be tempted.
 
Reliability? I would stick with the 01-02 years,if you can find one under 200K miles and without massive rocker/dogleg rust.Stick with the dependable,3.3 V6.The 3.8 has a tendency to burn oil. Old school? Find a 1984-1992 with manual transmission.Or even one of the couple years of Turbo/manuals.I cant stand the 96-00 generation,but you could get the 3.0/3 spd combo in those and get around the 41TE tranny,however without overdrive,you eat fuel on the highway.
 
Originally Posted By: shinyWheels
Which years are the most reliable for the Chrysler minivans?

It's hard to call any Chrysler product reliable, let alone their minivans.
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Yes, my flame suit is on.
 
We rented a 2014 Town & Country last spring to haul the family (wife, myself and our 4 kids. 3, 2, 1, and 4 months) to north Georgia. The T/C was the highlight of my trip. I found markings in it that indicated it had left the factory about a week before I rented it yet it already had 1,400 miles on it. White/ black leather, DVD player saved the trip. Kept the kids attention the whole time. I found it versatile and comfortable, the transmission seemed to hunt gears quite a bit but It was pretty heavily loaded,holding 70-80 mph. and I'm used to traveling mostly flatlands in South Louisiana not the hills we were driving through. Fuel economy via instrument panel showed 24-25 mpg for the trip.
 
I always take the caravan when I check out a car from the fleet. Its not even a Pentastar, but comfortable with reasonable power. They've only made improvements since then.

Best value on the road in basic trim.
 
Comfortable yes, but I have 7 in my fleet and you could not pay me to own one (true, I have 05-07 "government" vintage). This week might have been a first in a while with at least all of them making it Monday-Friday without some repair popping up... wait, no one had an instrument panel go out. Nevermind. Out of the 7 or so, I have one "good one" that requires less work... which puts it better than the Uplanders but not even as good as the Impalas.

Engines are normally ok-ish, save the egr... it is everything else that goes to dust, especially the electronics, paint, trim, soft surfaces, plastics, brakes, transmissions...
 
After talking with my wife last night, I decided that this battle may be too "up hill" for me to want to fight. She said, "you want another Dodge?" (referring to the two Mopar minivans we once owned). I told her that those were from 10 years ago. She's still not playing.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
After talking with my wife last night, I decided that this battle may be too "up hill" for me to want to fight. She said, "you want another Dodge?" (referring to the two Mopar minivans we once owned). I told her that those were from 10 years ago. She's still not playing.

Funny how that works... I bet a good percentage of Hondas and Toyotas are bought for playing it safe to avoid issues with the wife. My buddies $40k pilot purchase was one of these.
My wife thinks Nissan is half decent atleast, so our next SUV could be a Toyota or a Nissan...
 
Originally Posted By: FutureDoc
Comfortable yes, but I have 7 in my fleet and you could not pay me to own one (true, I have 05-07 "government" vintage).


Which are completely different minivans than the 2012+ Apples/Oranges in terms of hardware and drivetrain.

The 2012+ are comfortable for sure, but the non height adjustable seats on the lower models are annoyingly high. There's not a lot of leg room either. Even my (small/short) darling bride has to keep the driver's seat all the way back. 2nd and 3rd row legroom is tight as well. Tighter than our basic 2008 Honda Odyssey was. My bride doesn't hate the Dodge, but she would take another Odyssey in a heartbeat.

The ride, handling, power and braking on the 2012+ is just plane awesome. The Pentastar V6 and 62TE AT is the best Dodge has done yet for a minivan drive-train IMO. The brakes have been vastly improved.

The cons are your typical Dodge things. Interior/Exterior bits are cheap and haphazard. Sloppy wiring placement and random component placement sloppiness under the hood, etc.

For constant wife (
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) and kid use.. I mean abuse like our 2013 Grand Caravans sees, I can't see spending huge bucks on one. It serves it's purpose well. I swear it never cools off. We're pushing 30K miles on our 2013.
 
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Originally Posted By: JTK


The 2012+ are comfortable for sure, but the non height adjustable seats on the lower models are annoyingly high. There's not a lot of leg room either.


my parents have a 2014 caravan avp stripper that i have driven for them on several occasions, being 6 foot tall 300 lbs i've never had an issue with leg room or head room. ymmv.
 
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I find them to be great vehicles to drive. I rent them all the time and fill them to the gills. I would consider buying a new or newish T&C, but I have owned two Chrysler minivans in the past. I understand that Chrysler is a 'new' company now, but I don't think I could do it. Although, for the money, I think they are hard to beat.
 
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