2000 Dodge Grand Caravan

We rented this car...errr...van, errr...Caravan last summer driving around the East Coast. We put a total of 2,500 miles on it in two weeks. Originally the rent-a-car company told us that we couldn't get an Intrepid, so we'd be getting the Stratus. Trust me, we weren't looking forward to being that close to each other for so long with so much luggage. Luckily for us, when we got there, they were out of Stratus', we got a Caravan for the same price.

Pro's:
Room! Does this minivan ever have it, it sat a family of two adults and two mid to late-teenagers very comfortably, we never complained once. The two sliding doors were very nice, giving access to either side.

The two bench seats were nice, we never had to take one out, but I took one out just for the heck of it to see how easy it was. Very easy.

Minivans will give a lot of sports cars a good run. Nobody believed me when I said this car had some guts, I think the 0-60 time was between 10-11 seconds, surprising for a mini-van.

The climate control was nice, with control in the rear seats as well as the front. In the mid-90 degree temperature, we never suffered inside.

Looking under the hood, I found everything well labeled so your mechanically challenged spouse doesn't put engine oil in the coolant container and vice-verse.

Neutral
Dodge sports the only vehicles that I have ever driven that will roll backwards in drive. Not a good thing, but not too bad either. Just keep your foot on the brake on inclines.

Con's:
The first thing I noticed when I got in the drivers seat of this van was that you can't see the hood! This made my first few parks nerve-racking. After a while though, I got used to the distance between the bumper and me and was able to park confidently.

This minivan could be an ideal sleeping platform if the middle seat would lock in backwards and the seatbelts folded out of the way.(Listening Chrysler?)

The left side sliding door simply decided to stop working from the inside, and soon it also stopped working from the outside! We discovered that if you pushed on the back of the door from the outside it would open. Too much work.

I can't remember the gas mileage, somewhere around 20 I think, not too great for an economy family vehicle.

The cruise control does not monitor speed above what you have set it at. And boy does this vehicle like to run. On a downhill run with the CC set at 55 mph I found my self touching 90 mph without even pushing on the throttle. This definitely needs to be fixed by Chrysler!

One of my friends owned a 1998 Grand Caravan, he dropped the transmission at 25,000 miles, but he has also thrashed a 1999 Ford Ranger in less than 10,000 miles, so this can't be a valid test of reliability.

Overall

If I'm ever forced to purchase a minivan, I will definitely compare this van to the Venture before making my final decision. We were comfortable, had a lot of pep for something so big and had an overall good time in the Caravan.