Great van overall

After three years and 40K miles, I can say the Grand Caravan has been a good choice. After test driving the new Odyssey from Honda, I did not feel that it was superior to the Dodge. Furthermore, Chrysler was offering $1500 factory incentives and Honda was at full list. I did not consider the Sienna because after owning several Toyotas, I believed their reputation for reliability was overrated.

The Grand Caravan strong points are its cargo space, walk through interior, ergonomic dash design, great handling, durable 3.3L V-6, dual zone climate control, concealed passenger airbag, sliding doors that latch open, and smart body electronics. The battery rundown protection feature, smart windshield wipers, and keyless entry system are very well thought out. If you or your kids leave a door ajar or forget to turn off one of the interior lights, the body control module will shut off the lights after a few minutes to save the battery. The intermittent wipers are well designed too. When selecting a shorter delay time, the wipers respond immediately to that input rather than wait for a full time cycle. The engineers probably figured out that if you select a shorter delay period, you actually need it immediately as well. The wipers also always end up in the down position regardless if you shut off the vehicle in the middle of a sweep. If you arm the vehicle while a door is still open, the factory security system will remember to lock it once its closed. These things may seem trivial individually, but they sure add up to make the vehicle a joy to own.

Now on to some negatives. 1) The a/c evaporator sprang a leak and was covered under the basic warranty. The dealer here is very good. The entire repair experience, starting from the service writer to the shuttle service, was excellent. 2) The plastic clips for the sunvisor don't last. 3) The front disc brakes could be beefier with a larger swept area to make them last longer. The pads will need replacement at around 45K. 4) The serpentine belt can be noisy at times, and Chrysler doesn't seem to have a fix for this yet. 5) 17.4 miles per gallon. Lots of stop and go.