'97 Caravan/Voyager-Good Buy?

Hi Deven,

My family purchased a Grand Voyager last September. It was the 97
model year and the base model with the driver side sliding door. It
had ABS cuz all Voyagers have it standard. Also, we got the 3.3L V6
with the infamouse 4-speed auto.

Anyway, I must admit the fit and finish is not first class, but it was
on par with my expectations for the price we paid for the car.
Everything has worked relatively well. There were a few problems
(defective rear suspension were making noises so it was replaced free
of charge, and one of the tires were damaged due to road hazard so we
are now using the full size spare.)

Overall, the van is a very convenient, does its task very well. Never
had a problem with the tranmission. The van has about 16K miles on it
now and it shifts better than the 94 Lexus GS300 my father drives.
The tranny has been virtually bulletproof for now, we've driving from
Los Angeles to Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego (more than 10
times) under heavy and light loads and the car performed flawlessly.

That said, the 3.3L doesn't give you a lot of high end power, just
tons of low end torque so freeway passings take a while. The
transmission develops a high pitched whinning sound when driving from
70-80mph, and the steering wheel has a clicking sound when it's
turned. These are all annoyances and nobody seems to know what to do
about them. Even Chrysler has no idea how to fix the whinning sound.
I've been lazy about taking the van in for the clicking sound from the
steering wheel cuz it's not really THAT annoying and I heard it was a
simple fix so I'm saving it for a weekend.

It's an average van, but an above average value. The Toyota Previa we
looked at were $10K more than we paid for the Voyager. It's a
terrific people/stuff hauler.

It's your choice. Read the reviews and test drive one yourself. With
the incentives going on right now, this van is a great deal.

Alex

My 1990 Voyager started whining about 2-3000 miles. Took it to the
dealer who said they all did it (he let me drive a demo which did it
also) and said it was due to the straight cut (as opposed to helical)
gears. That never bothered me much. When the tranny failed and left me
stranded (3 weeks ago at 96K miles), now that bothered me. I have seen
recent Chrysler warranty data that indicates the 4 speed tranny (no
called 41TE instead of A604) was their #1 warranty problem in 1996
running 4.5 repairs/100 vehicles. That's a horrendous number in the
auto industry.

Lee
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Remove .nospam to reply.

We have a 96 Voyager . So far we love it . Only have about 8K on it but it's
one of the few new vehicles that I have not had to take
back to the dealer for one thing or another . If you are looking at the
short versions I highly reccomend getting the 3.0 V6 with the 3 speed
automatic . The 4 speeds reputation is less than stellar even after
9 years in production . You won't miss the extra gear , it will cruise
all day at 70 mph and not even breathe hard . The 4 speed still seems to
be the weak spot on the minvans or even the cars for that matter except the Neon which
runs the 3 speed auto . Nicest riding vehicle I have owned . Hopefully
the reliability will be ok as I did not get any extended coverage for it .
So far so good with the van.

Deven, If you're looking for a cost-effective people hauler that
out-slicks a Cadillac for comfort and a Z-28 for handling, one of these
Chryco vans could have your name on it. I'm now using a Grand Caravan
with the "performance" suspension package with 16" wheels, etc. for my
personal company car, and with the exception of one glitch with wipers,
have been more pleased with this vehicle than any in recent experience.
We operate from the Texas hill country near Austin which is blessed
with roads ranging from intestates to serious twist. One of my boy-racer
engineers has a '96 Z-28 which can't keep up with this "pod" on the back
roads, and from my personal comparative experience with a Cadillac
caterra, the caravan has better creature comforts for long-haul
"doing-business-en-route" work.

Gas mileage stays above 20 mpg until in excess of 90 mph and if you can
find places sufficiently devoid of fuzz the thing will run at 100 mph on
cruise for hours and live through it. The Michelin MXV4 OEM tires aren't
happy going faster than 90. Even with pressures ~38-40 psi still shake
going fast indicating shape change.

All I can say is don"t buy a Chrysler. I have had 2 Town and Countries
and the one I have had now, a 1996 has given me nothing but problems.
They company also does not back up their product and this is the most
frustrating part. If you can handle very frequent trips to the shop, then
chrysler/ Dodge may be for you.

In article < 1997 15:54:45 GMT, RMP0747 said...

Well, let me just say that internet-savvy prospective car buyers like
myself comb these newsgroups for complaints and compliments like these.
We're all real people with real problems and solutions. What better way
to synergize experiences by sharing them with others that are looking for
information?

-EJ

I am sure you, and many others do comb these newsgroups - afterall, I did
the same thing when I was ready to order my '96 T&C LXi. The one thing I
have learned - and you will have to agree - is that more people are going
to take the time to post something negative rather than something positive.
I will also add that in the past, when I have posted something positive, I
have been referred to as either a "shill" for ChryCo or on their payroll.
Go figure!

R. Phillips

Well, Jennifer

My comment is DO buy a Chrysler. I had a '92 T&C and noe have a '96 T&C
LXi. Over the 4 years I had the T&C it was in the shop 4 times. The first
two times were minor warranty repairs. The third time was to replace a
switch in the ABS (71,000 miles). The fourth time was when a pump went out
in the 4-speed tranny (72,000 miles) so the tranny had to be repaired (it
did NOT self-destruct like the experiences of some in this newsgroup). I
have had the '96 for 15 months and it now has 31,000 miles on it. The rear
brakes were upgraded per TSB at 4,600 miles. The windshield wiper switch
was replaced per TSB at 29,000 miles (it would have been sooner my my
dealer accomodated me adn my schedule). Other than that I have had no
problems. We also had a '93 LeBaron LX convertible which had to have an
electronic module replaced in the first week and never had anything else go
wrong with it in the 54,000 miles we had it (we traded it and the '92 T&C
for the '96 as I now have a company supplied vehicle and we felt we did not
have to have one vehicle sitting in the garage 90% of the time). And,
speaking of company supplied vehicle, it is a '96 Dodge Caravan SE. I took
possession of it in January of this year when my counterpart retired. At
the time it had 18,000 miles and it now had 33,000 miles. Befeore I got it
the gas tank was replaced per TSB. The rear brakes had to be upgraded but,
as the van had 26,000 miles on it, Chrysler would not fix per TSB and the
lesing company had to pay for it. Chrysler has stood behind each and every
one of these vehicles 100% (except for the brakes on the SE - for which I
do not blame them) and they have given my wife and me complete
satisfaction. I am sorry you have had problems - but there are many people
out here who have not (and very few of them take the time to read this
newsgroup - or even know of that it exists!).

R. Phillips

My $0.02 worth

Buy the Chrysler minivan.

These are the BEST vans on the road. If they were not, why has Chrysler
sold more vans in on year than all the other manufacturer's put
together. Why is it that Chrysler comes up with new ideas and all the
other mini-vans copy them!!! I have always been a Chevy person. I
thought I would never own a Chrysler after the crap they put out 10
years ago. That was a long time ago. But the new cars & vans are
different. Almost going out of business was the best thing for CC.
They have learned to build cars, trucks & vans the way people want...
They are a new car company today. Yea there are problems. But have you
driven a FORD lately or experienced the GM's... They have the exact
problems, IF NOT MORE. Jap cars is a totally different situation, but
the japs don't make vans worth a shit. If you want American made
mini-van. Stick with the experts. I have a 97 Dodge Grand Caravan ES 6
months old with 7,000 miles on it and have "0" problems with it. It has
every option Dodge had except all wheel drive. I'm sure I will have
problems, but all cars do. Even the BMW's have problems.

The comfort, ride, apperance, driveability, durability, etc. of the
Chrysler mini-vans are the best in the pack.

Go Figure!