A local private seller has a 1999 Dodge Caravan SE for sale. Anyone have good luck with this model year? This model has the V6 engine. I know there have been tranny issues on some of these vans. It never happened with my
1992 which has 151,000 on original tranny. But maybe the 1999's have issues. Any opinions appreciated. The 1999 has 90k on it, but I am not worried if it has been maintanined well. I bought my 1992 at 88k seven years ago. It had been taken care of by previous owner.
A 1999 should have fewer transmission issues than a 1992, all other things being equal. But are things REALLY equal? Your 1992 may have the three-speed, and the 1999 almost certainly has the four-speed, which was problematic when introduced in the late 80s, but has improved over the years, to the point where it was about typical for reliability by
We have a '99 Grand Caravan Sport & are the original owners. The only problem we've had in regards to the transmission was a leak due to a gasket. That was at about 75k miles. It was covered under warranty, so no biggie. Overall, I feel we've gotten good performance & reliability from it. We've put close to 90k on it as well.
I bought a 1999 Plymouth Voyageur which is the sister vehicle. I was told when I bought it that they had corrected the transmission problem. I was not even aware of this. I certainly didn't need any additional problems after buying a 1995 Ford Windstar.Well I bought the warranty just to ensure I didn't have any problems with it this time. Guess what happened! Two weeks after buying it the transmission dropped out of it! I am glad i had the extended warranty. It had 95000 KM which is about 60,000 miles on it. I now have 187,000 km on it and the only major problem that I have had with it is always replacing bearings in the front end. I am told that is because they stopped putting grease nipples on them so it would not be constantly greased and would wear out faster.
I have a 99 with the 3.3 liter motor. All in all for what it is, this Caravan is a good value for the money. Sure there are some issues with these vehicles. I will only list what I've experienced with mine (excluding normal stuff like brakes wearing out, rotors, wipers, etc):
Brake issue at 32,000 miles; rear wheel cylinders leaking brake fluid ruining the "like new" rear shoes
Battery failed at 50,000 miles (very good life for OEM battery)
Transmission input sensor failed at 62,000 miles
Serpentine belt fell off at 83,000 miles (no warning, or squeaks before failure). Eventually had to replace belt, tensioner, and water pump. I used aftermarket tensioner from Riley's. The AutoZone and OEM are junk. The one I used has a spring with large round wire instead of a flat ribbon spring. This is a MUST PAY ATTENTION TO IT ISSUE. If you ignore this, the belt may pop off pretty much anytime it gets wet. Having good pulley alignment is essential, and all new parts don't guarantee it. For such a big issue, mother mopar forgot to include this in the PM guide. When the belt pops off, you lose power steering immediately, and then over heat in about 5 minutes if you don't shut down. It happened to me when taking my wife to the ER during a medical emergency. Not good.
You will get help from this group with issues if you are a do it your self repairman, or maybe if you want to be more informed so that you can ask intelligent questions from whoever your mechanic might be.
One caution though, there are those here who take it very personal when you vent about some aspect about a Dodge. The response you get just might make a sailor blush.
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