Buying a New Caravan--NOT!

Time to look at a new van since the old Plymouth is from 1996 and

110,00+ miles. So, I visited a local Dodge dealer earlier in the week. Nice non-pushy sales guy. Looked at the Caravan's and all the features I'd like and there was the one thing I wanted, the E85 option but that's as far as it went before things really got wierd.

First, I think Chrysler used a color-blind graphic designer. No one puts

10pt white type on a yellor and orange background making things about as unreadable as they could possibly be.

Then on to the pages with the engines, options and various packages available. Two models the SE and SXT and only the SE has the E85 option and the biggest part is they now call that a "base vehicle" and virtually none of what today are normal requested options are available. You have no choice but to upgrade( or is it being upcharged????) to a bigger engine(less fuel efficient) with no E85 in order to get the options you would want, which in my case are pretty normal, remote start, individual AC controls, stow-and-go(no captains chairs and table etc.), upgraded sound system with no DVD, mag wheels, and so on. Can't get it even as a custom order.

Just yesterday on a radio show when they were talking about the auto industry and sales they were pondering Chrysler and the opinion was the soon, in the next few years there might only be 2 US OEM's, with Chrysler out of the picture. So, you'd think Chrysler would be paying more attention in this day of alternative, renewable fuel, and not act as if the E85 thing is only offered for them to "appear" to plug into the "Green movement" when they are in no way encouraging folks to purchase an E85 vechile, but instead upcharging folks to a non0-green solution and in a more than transparent way.

It's indicative of the problems at Chrysler LLC and if it doesn't change, they will be left behind in today's marketplace.

Damn.

Reply to
Thomas Bates
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I guess it costs money to make an engine E85 compliant, so automakers don't do it for many. In Chrysler's case, it's the 3.3 L V6. I don't think any other maker does it for many engines either.

You can get stow-n-go and remote start on the SE. (See

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you can build your vehicle.) They're in Package H. With Package G or H, you can get as an option MyGIG, with a hard drive, upgraded speakers, and a back-up camera; and a special appearance package, with alloy wheels.

It looks like the main thing from your list you can't get on an SE is the separate driver and pass AC controls.

Reply to
Lloyd

The dealer didn't offer any bto options so...maybe I should try another dealer.

Reply to
Thomas Bates

GO WITH THE TOYOTA OR HONDA you will not regret it.

Reply to
Bentracer and Bentrider

I won't purchase a foreign vehicle. Been in them and I don't like them.

Reply to
Thomas Bates

Definitely do. I am waiting on delivery of a special order SXT as I write this. I dealt with (as recommended by my Credit Union) the Fleet Mgr and got an outstanding price, no hassles, no going back and forth with the sales/finance/floor manager. I did my research, did a test drive, then talked to the fleet mgr. Ordered from the most convenient location after I compared similar offers from the competitions fleet depts.. I got exactly what I wanted. The models the factory is sending to the dealers stock in my area seem to be either totally stripped, or loaded with the rear DVDs, NAV, etc. Perhaps the salesman you dealt withr was more interested in selling off the lot than selling you a car. In addition to credit unions, AAA has arrangements with the fleet depts at select dealerships. Check the websites of local credit unions and auto club.Not sure if it's true, but I have been told that you need to be a member of the referring organization to get the fleet prices.

Reply to
QX

The problem the auto companies have is customers are quite different.

For example I wouldn't want:

-E85

-upgraded sound system

-Captains chairs

Nice to have for me, in my priority, but not a deal breaker:

-mag wheels

-individual AC controls.

-remote start

What I definitely need and which will break the deal is:

-A full sized matching spare. It's sad how many vehicles no longer can stow the mounted tire size. Not only do I need a matching spare, because of my long drives with no service available, but I and many others need a place to stow the flat.

Reply to
who

Second that about fleet sales. Bought my first GC through fleet sales. To find what I wanted they traded with another dealer 400 miles away. For the second one I had a better fleet sales director; we sat together at the computer and he built my GC option by option.

It was even possible to get a ES model without a roof rack, though I opted [thankfully] for it anyway. Took about 3 weeks for delivery - plus I already had the "dealer" costs, so there was very little price haggling, since I didn't expect them to sell below cost.

Virtually same experiece for my Saturn, custom ordered - and cheaper than what we could have picked off the lot. for example, we like the manual shift and with the savings added in the leather seat option with heaters. That particular combination wasn't available. Or you could go with a automatic tranny and the V6 engine.

I doubt I will buy a new car off the lot ever again.

QX wrote in news:5emuo3tdeqrqrpvf6lgo04ugfbsg5567mu@

4ax.com:

Reply to
Steph

If I had the money for a new van what I'd want is a manual transmission stick shift, coupled to a turbo diesel. Unfortunately, it's not available in the US.

A full size spare is nice, but in some vehicles the space that the donut spare is located in is large enough for a full size, and if failing that, any competent metal worker with a welder could custom-build a rear rack that you could bolt on to the tailgate that would carry a full size spare. I wouldn't consider that a deal-killer.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

I'm self-employed with none of my associations, etc., having fleet deals. Oh well....

Reply to
Mike

My credit union only requires five dollars to join (plus a five dollar membership fee). It may be worth it to invest a few bucks to save in the long run. Check the websites of the local CU"s for membership details & benefits. Many CU's have "Open Community Charters" that no longer require that you be part of a "select" group to qualify for membership. My CU only requires that you live in the same county the CU is based in.

Reply to
QX

So where do you put the full size flat??? BTW carrying an ugly spare on the rear is not in my plan. I did that with a full sized van I converted into a motor home, but not again.

If you want to see a (compact) spare bad joke, look for it in the Chrysler seat stowing van. Well at least it has a spare of sorts, something the Saturn VUE hybrid doesn't have at all.

Reply to
who

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