Caravan finally gone?

People always unfairly compare the Caravan with more premium vans such as the Odyssey and Sienna, but that's not the point. For a family hauler, it's hard justify spending $50k on something that's just going to get beat up from kids running around, so the Caravan is perfect for that segment.

Always wondered what kind of sane person would buy a Dodge Journey. It seemed most people buying those were the bad credit types and that would be the only new car they could qualify for.
 
So far I love mine. I have worked mine hard for 2 years. Decent fuel mileage. I go from 7 passenger van to pickup in a couple of minutes
Love stow and go. Bought for 19k with 3k

2018 Grand Caravan
18250 miles
 
A friend at church is a Dodge/Chrysler nut and he bought a Journey brand new, a 12 maybe? Traded a Dodge truck in on it he kept it less than a year. On the flip side, a guy at work has two Journey's in his family, his daughter bought one drove it a couple years then sold hers to him and bought another but with awd. Still have them both.
 
People always unfairly compare the Caravan with more premium vans such as the Odyssey and Sienna, but that's not the point. For a family hauler, it's hard justify spending $50k on something that's just going to get beat up from kids running around, so the Caravan is perfect for that segment.

Always wondered what kind of sane person would buy a Dodge Journey. It seemed most people buying those were the bad credit types and that would be the only new car they could qualify for.
The v6 models aren’t bad... numb, but not bad. Same engine and trans that’s in the Grand Caravan. My father in law had the 4 cylinder one, had so many problems that the dealer bought it back and gave him a V6 model.
 
So far I love mine. I have worked mine hard for 2 years. Decent fuel mileage. I go from 7 passenger van to pickup in a couple of minutes
Love stow and go. Bought for 19k with 3k

2018 Grand Caravan
18250 miles
Not a bad price for a mid-range or loaded model. A guy at my work loves the GC and always gets the base SE models for less than $20K new. He racks up 60K a year and his GCs never seem to make it much past 100K without some catastrophic issue (mainly transmissions but sometimes shredded can shafts) but he seems to like them. Before he got onto the Dodges, he had a 1999 Sienna that he racked up 464K miles without issue; only reason why he got rid of it was because NYS wouldn’t let him pass the safety inspection because he had removed the rear seatbelts when he converted it to a wood pellet hauler.
 
We've had customers come and trade their Journey's in on a new Journey. There are folks that like them.
I seriously yet to meet person that did not have something uber expensive gone, mostly transmission. I mean, concept wise, looks, that car was IMO interesting, execution not so much.
 
SUVs and minivans are remarkably similar, at least nowadays. That may be an unpopular opinion, but, the 3rd row seat is said to be one of the most desireable things. And with SUVs really having car underpinnings now, I am hard pressed to tell a huge difference.

I would say a new Pathfinder is a good example of the crossing over of the genres. And Toyota still has 5 SUVs. Are they bringing back the Venza?

With Chrysler Pacifica, correct me if I am wrong but it was originally marketed as a crossover, much like a Ford Taurus X or Freestyle (one or both of which were Taurus underpinnings) .. see how jumbled and similar the segment was?
 
Originally Posted by wag123
It was the vehicle that saved Chrysler in the 80s. The end of an era. Sad.

It was impressive for its time. I remember as a very young child our family leasing a brand new Voyager van. So much space for everybody, even if just one door opened. You could spread out on trips. It could even tow a small trailer and get good gas mileage.

Sorry to jump in again two in a row, but our family optioned for a Grand Wagoneer, decided to pass on a minivan. That was a great vehicle for a family. I believe it was a 1989. It hung on until 1991. Even then.. Cherokee overlap?

Chrysler's use of Grand designation still somewhat confuses me. Cherokee and Grand Cherokee were totally different vehicle. Not sure if there was a regular Wagoneer to Grand Wagoneer, as we had. Grand Caravan and Caravan, does one indicate a stretched wheelbase? Luxury? The first Caravan was loved and an instant hit, that picture of the wood-paneled car, 3/4 view.

We could talk about if it was the Caravan, or the K-car, that saved Chrysler. Designed by Iacocca, the Caravan was.
 
Sorry to jump in again two in a row, but our family optioned for a Grand Wagoneer, decided to pass on a minivan. That was a great vehicle for a family. I believe it was a 1989. It hung on until 1991. Even then.. Cherokee overlap?

Chrysler's use of Grand designation still somewhat confuses me. Cherokee and Grand Cherokee were totally different vehicle. Not sure if there was a regular Wagoneer to Grand Wagoneer, as we had. Grand Caravan and Caravan, does one indicate a stretched wheelbase? Luxury? The first Caravan was loved and an instant hit, that picture of the wood-paneled car, 3/4 view.

We could talk about if it was the Caravan, or the K-car, that saved Chrysler. Designed by Iacocca, the Caravan was.
The Grand Caravan was longer than the Caravan, both in wheelbase (119.3” vs 113.3”) and overall length (200.6” vs 189.3”). 2007 was the last year of the SWB Caravan, “replaced” by the Dodge Journey.

The Grand Cherokee is bigger and usually nicer with a higher price tag than the Cherokee, and have usually been their own things... the current Grand Cherokee is built on a Mercedes derived chassis with a longitudinal based drivetrain while the current Cherokee is built on the FCA compact US wide platform and is transverse based.

Rumor is the new Wagoneer will start at a lower price and try to compete with the Tahoe/Suburban while the Grand Wagoneer will go after the Escalade.
 
The first Grand Cherokee was slated to completely replace the original Cherokee as the new Cherokee in 1993 I believe. However come replacement time the old one was still selling hand over fist. The decision was then made to keep the original and slide the new one in as the "Grand Cherokee". The old one hung on until finally getting the axe after the 2001 model year, a cult classic Jeep still.

I've had three Jeeps and my original XJ Cherokee (a 99) was my favorite of all.
 
The Grand Caravan was longer than the Caravan, both in wheelbase (119.3” vs 113.3”) and overall length (200.6” vs 189.3”). 2007 was the last year of the SWB Caravan, “replaced” by the Dodge Journey.

The Grand Cherokee is bigger and usually nicer with a higher price tag than the Cherokee, and have usually been their own things... the current Grand Cherokee is built on a Mercedes derived chassis with a longitudinal based drivetrain while the current Cherokee is built on the FCA compact US wide platform and is transverse based.

Rumor is the new Wagoneer will start at a lower price and try to compete with the Tahoe/Suburban while the Grand Wagoneer will go after the Escalade.

So... Chrysler/FCA will have a Cherokee (Fiat Panda/500, if I remember right,) a Grand Cherokee (not a Fiat,) and launch a Wagoneer.. AND a Grand Wagoneer?

What are they doing with the Durango/Aspen?
 
So... Chrysler/FCA will have a Cherokee (Fiat Panda/500, if I remember right,) a Grand Cherokee (not a Fiat,) and launch a Wagoneer.. AND a Grand Wagoneer?

What are they doing with the Durango/Aspen?

The new Grand Cherokee platform (not the WK2) will be an FCA platform, and I assume the Durango will share it. Like with the DT truck platform, this may actually be an improvement, as much as I love my WK2, but we'll see. I expect that like the DT, there will be some issues with early production vehicles that get resolved in relatively short order at which point the expectation is that it will be excellent.
 
Lot of memories of the 89-91 Caravans from working at the car dealership. The below was by far the most sought-after Caravan....we couldn't keep a turbo Black Cherry Caravan in stock. When we got one, you better have gotten a good look because it would be gone the next day. The soccer moms & dads flocked to this color. They were semi-entertaining to drive before they got so bloated. Can't believe they're going away.

Caravan.jpg
 
Lot of memories of the 89-91 Caravans from working at the car dealership. The below was by far the most sought-after Caravan....we couldn't keep a turbo Black Cherry Caravan in stock. When we got one, you better have gotten a good look because it would be gone the next day. The soccer moms & dads flocked to this color. They were semi-entertaining to drive before they got so bloated. Can't believe they're going away.

View attachment 29919

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It just may be a new Life Mission of mine to get one of those. Pretty sure I could find one if I drove to Texas, Florida or Georgia. Maybe Tennessee or NC/SC.. looks cooler than the stupid A-Team van.

Does AutoTrader show any for sale ?
 
We have bought a new minivan every ten years for the last 3 decades. Chrysler, Chrysler and currently a '14 Dodge. We sold/traded in the first two and got decent money for them. The previous vans both had more than 150k miles on them when we moved onto a new one. The issues were front brake rotors on both, rear A.C. on both and electrical rear door harnesses on the '04. I solved all these issues through the aftermarket. Current van has had the leaking filter housing issue and again rear A.C. I like them and they are a true bargain. Never had a transmission problem but I do/did change the fluid/filter every 50k miles. Best bang for the buck......ever.
 
Sorry to jump in again two in a row, but our family optioned for a Grand Wagoneer, decided to pass on a minivan. That was a great vehicle for a family. I believe it was a 1989. It hung on until 1991. Even then.. Cherokee overlap?
The Wagoneer started in the 60s as a smaller alternative to stuff like the Travellall/Suburban in both 2WD and 4WD, it was for all intents and purposes a lifted station wagon. Clean, sleek and relatively comfortable.

In the 70s with the start of AMC era the Waggy went through many styling and drivetrain changes. The Cherokee was introduced as a 2-door basic spec trim, the Chief as the 4-door, the Wagoneer and Wagoneer Limited topped the range. “J” pickup trucks were also offered.

The Cherokee was retired in 84 for the XJ which had its own “Wagoneer” trim and so the old one was renamed to the Grand Wagoneer, dropping all engines but the 360. Even by the end of the 70s the it had already become the tacky wood paneled monster we all know and remained incredibly popular with old money for another decade. Chrysler issued one last facelift in 88 and finally shut the doors on that fossil in 91 as the ZJ rolled out.
 
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My FIL had a 2 door Cherokee Chief. It had a 360/TH400/BW1339 full time case and had vacuum actuated center diff lock via a knob in the glove box. The 1339 low range shifter was under the seat.
 
Back working during the Big Dig in Boston, we were running Chevy Astro vans. They were OK and easier to drive than E150's, but then we started moving towards Caravans and they felt much better getting in and out of traffic and alleys. IMO, they were pretty quick too.
 
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