Dodge Grand Caravan / 1996
1996 Dodge Grand Caravan problems
Owners have filed 1,860 complaints about the 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan with NHTSA. Power train accounts for 12.7% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of electrical system at 11.6%.
Complaints1,860
Crashes40
Fires68
Injuries42
Deaths7
What owners report breaking
Power train 12.7% · 236
Electrical system 11.6% · 216
Air bags 11.5% · 214
Engine and engine cooling 11.4% · 212
Fuel system, gasoline 10.2% · 189
Vehicle speed control 6.8% · 126
Service brakes, hydraulic 6.2% · 115
Visibility 5.6% · 105
Severity
Of those complaints, 40 describe a crash, 68 describe a fire, 42 report an injury and 7 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 29 model years of the Dodge Grand Caravan in this data, 1996 ranks 2nd by complaint volume — 2008 draws the most.
Filings have fallen off, 7 in the last three years against 10 in the three before. That is normal as a generation leaves the road.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 97,926 miles.
In owners' own words
1) When you would start the van it would not go into drive for @ 5 min. Then would finally go into gear. (2) When travelling @45 to 50 the van would start to shudder bad and would lose all of its power for a couple of seconds and then would be alright. (3) When stopping at a light/ stopsign or yield the van would not go. Told at the chrysler dealership it was the transmission and torque converter. Power train
Vehicle manufactured with defective automatic transmission. First rebuild occurred in 01/1999, when transmission failed after exitting off freeway. Loss use of 3rd and 4th gears. Mileage 35258. 2Nd rebuild occured 12/2000 after loss of performance and detection of transmission oil leak. Mileage 60085. Transmission has inherent design flaw that I feel chrysler needs to be held responsible for. Power train
The transmission began to operate erratically, the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who flushed the transmission, checked the computer and installed a new stater, two weeks later the transmission totally failed, the column shift has to be wiggled in order to get the vehicle into park, half the time the light does not show up in the park indicatior so the vehicle can not be started. Nlm Power train
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…