Love this! Nearly 190k, may it rest in peace

This is the "soccer mom" review. If you want a technical rundown of every facet of the vehicle this probably won't satisfy you. If you want to know how we felt about it after ten years and 190k - it is.

We purchased it after our beloved Saturn sedan was struck by a garbage truck. Listening to my three-year old daughter screaming in terror as the truck dragged our car across the pavement and the driver, finally, jumped out yelling "I didn't even know I'd hit you!" -- convinced me to get over my mini-van hating self and drive something bigger.

There were no tanks available on the market in our price range so the Grand Caravan would have to do. Our then five year old son hopped in the back, sat down and said "I feel safe." Sold! It said "sport" on the side so I figured that would keep my street 'cred (which exists only in my own mind). :)

Our '98 was the true "family van." We drove it hard (I'm really tough on cars, spouse says I've never seen a pothole I didn't feel like speeding up to hit :) We camped in it, went to soccer in it, and drove it long and short distances for nearly another five years and an additional 100k+ miles.

We did regular oil changes, brakes, and tires as needed but otherwise only minor things here and there. I think we put a battery in once.

There is a pesky issue where the serpentine belt flies off in the rain. After dealer couldn't fix it (Google this one yourself for more info) my handy spouse just rigged up a splash guard.

The other issue we've noticed on numerous vans of this style is a tendency to rust on the lower right of the rear lift gate/hatch. Of course, our van was 9 years old when this happened and we live in the Northeast.

We also noticed rust on the shock towers shortly after purchase so if looking at one please do check your shock towers carefully.

The temp sensor on the overhead display went wonky (I doubt it was really -42 degrees) but the DTE, Miles, Hours, and Directional indicator soldiered on.
The van finally died (the ominous transmission failure) but at nearly 190,000 miles can we really complain?

We had the V6 3.3 (I think?). Very nice power for a vehicle that size. Roughly 20 mpg. It handles very well for a family room on wheels. It's not the Firebird I drove at 23, obviously, but it's not like trying to manhandle my husband's truck either. Easy to park, easy to back, easy to hold your head high at soccer and PTO. :)

We took it over hill and dale and pretended it WAS a truck ("honey is it supposed to drag the ground like that?")

Other bonus: GC models barely change so most people had no idea it was as old as it was. You don't feel like you're driving an "old car."

I am almost reluctant to rave because we just brought home our second used GC a few days ago and I fear I can't get lucky twice. All in all we LOVED our Grand Caravan Sport and hope to have the same great luck with the replacement.

Update: Re: the "Service Bulletin" for the serp belt problem. We've heard rumors of such a thing but alas, much like the existence of Sasquatch, it's hard to prove. The well-respected dealership in our area professed to have 'never heard of this' and sold us a part to "fix it" that didn't have a thing to do with that portion of the vehicle. We found more info on Google which basically led us to believe that Caravan owners across the country were having the same experience.