[bostonretailservices]

Making a full time camper. No ,ore than around 6K budget for van. Any places allways seeling Grand Caravans or T&C's?
What engine would ne nest? I have 3.3 now with 170m on it and Florida car till 100m, no rust yet but in New Hampshire. I would travel for a good rust free van from a place with solid rep. Every 4th gen I had with all diffferant engines had close to 200m iwth no biggies, 1 had whatever mode that I had to re-set computer for $800 but that was the biggist problem with 6 GC's I owned, all got totaled, everyone but me can't drive I guess. Any certain years to keep away from? Thanks for the info!

 

[gravitylover]

It's not going to come down to what year is best until you raise your budget. At $6k you'll probably be relegated to earlier than 2015 with fairly high mileage.

 

[s1120]

They made a lot of improvements over the years I have seen. I did really like the early 3.8l vans... they ran for ever, but and a lot of other issues not running related. Seems the later 3.6 vans had a lot of bugs worked out. Id me looking for a 15+ one myself. [and I did.picked up my 17 GT used] Really though fiding a low mile, rust free 15+ van, your way short on your budget,

 

[2019GTlife]

I agree with the previous posts, way low on budget. I purchased a real nice 2019 last September for 20k and that was a low price in my area. Also at some point you are limited to the Pentastar 3.6 and the 62TE trans with no other options, I cannot remember what year that happened.

 

[Long_Voyager94]

2015+ is best.
They got the bigger brakes.
The rocker issue was "fixed".
At some point gearing in the transmission changed.

The big issues here are your price point and miles/maintenance.

In your price point, I would just find a clean/low mileage 4th gen and call it a day. 5th gens are damn stout vans, but they don't take well to neglect, and finding one that hasn't been neglected is next to impossible.

 

[Jeepman]

Some 2015s, plus 2016s and 2017s have an extended warranty on the power sliding door lock actuators because of a Class Action lawsuit.. Regardless of the year, these lock actuators are likely to fail. They are a bear to replace (expensive labor) on the 5th Generation.

Sliding door won't unlock.

2016 DGC, regular non-power sliding doors. The drivers side sliding door won't unlock so I can't get it open. I didn't close it last, so I can't be sure it didn't close on something. I removed the plastic cover inside around the latch handle. I can grab the lock rod, but it won't budge...

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On the above basis a 2015 to 2017 is recommended.

If you want to avoid the 3.6L engine, go for a 4.0L engine or 3.6/3.8L during the years 2008 to 2010.

 

[YotoWerks]

I have a very trouble free 2011 with now 160k miles and also a 2013 with 162k miles both started at 135k.

With that said, sometimes you will find a one owner, repaired at the dealer kind of cars with high millage but totaly well cared for and I would go for one of those all day long. I recently almost got a 2012 with 205k miles, 1 owner, no rust, highway miles.

FB market place seems to be the place to shop for these vans!

 

[Gymkata1998]

I have a 2015 SXT with 138,000 miles that I bought for 7K about 4 months ago. It is running great and I always use high test gas in it.

 

[Jeepman]

Mine will squeal the tires every time I take off if I allow it. No high test gas required.

 

[bostonretailservices]

A lot of info. I am scared of the transmissions, all the others I can fix for the most part. I can't swap a motor but regular parts I can change though I hate doing mechanical stuff. I used to beat cars with a darn hammer but have learned to calm down a bit. The rust buckets up here are so aggravating. Torch, sawzall = hammer time.. Within 3 years 6 thousand won't buy crap, what a shame. I bought a 2005 Florida GC 92000 miles for $2500 3 years ago, absolutely mint. Drove it to a friend with plates off my car. Drove through Lawrence and got hit in back, chased him but he was crazy and didnt care so I let off. Police said a stolen plate on his, darn it. Rear bumper and pass side ruined on my previously mint mobile. Lesson learned I hope. Thanks for all the suggestions, all good. Maybe just new tranny in mine when it comes time but I have no stow and go, could it have that space underneath covered up?

 

[Long_Voyager94]

A lot of info. I am scared of the transmissions, all the others I can fix for the most part. I can't swap a motor but regular parts I can change though I hate doing mechanical stuff. I used to beat cars with a darn hammer but have learned to calm down a bit. The rust buckets up here are so aggravating. Torch, sawzall = hammer time.. Within 3 years 6 thousand won't buy crap, what a shame. I bought a 2005 Florida GC 92000 miles for $2500 3 years ago, absolutely mint. Drove it to a friend with plates off my car. Drove through Lawrence and got hit in back, chased him but he was crazy and didnt care so I let off. Police said a stolen plate on his, darn it. Rear bumper and pass side ruined on my previously mint mobile. Lesson learned I hope. Thanks for all the suggestions, all good. Maybe just new tranny in mine when it comes time but I have no stow and go, could it have that space underneath covered up?

Find one that has record of regular transmission service, you won't have an issue.
They fail because no one maintains them.

 

[Scot_W]

A lot of info. I am scared of the transmissions, all the others I can fix for the most part. I can't swap a motor but regular parts I can change though I hate doing mechanical stuff. I used to beat cars with a darn hammer but have learned to calm down a bit. The rust buckets up here are so aggravating. Torch, sawzall = hammer time.. Within 3 years 6 thousand won't buy crap, what a shame. I bought a 2005 Florida GC 92000 miles for $2500 3 years ago, absolutely mint. Drove it to a friend with plates off my car. Drove through Lawrence and got hit in back, chased him but he was crazy and didnt care so I let off. Police said a stolen plate on his, darn it. Rear bumper and pass side ruined on my previously mint mobile. Lesson learned I hope. Thanks for all the suggestions, all good. Maybe just new tranny in mine when it comes time but I have no stow and go, could it have that space underneath covered up?

I was wondering about the stow and go space in my C/V, I removed the aluminum floor and yes, huge gaping space underneath. I would like to make a new floor cover with hatches so I could store some stuff in there, one of these days.

 

[ProfD]

A lot of info. I am scared of the transmissions, all the others I can fix for the most part.

Most of the preference of model year is anecdotal, unless there’s hard statistics on performance and reliability. I took a college course years ago on manufacturing statistics and thus reliability of things like car parts. It’s actually a very fine science such as rating the number of times a part can be stamped out before the mold warps even a micrometer.
I’d love to see the ISO 9001 stats on the major plastic parts and the parts of the 62TE transmission. Chrysler clearly evaluated and made improvements over the years to increase reliability, but let’s just focus on the transmission.
For a minivan, that has to pull 5000+ pounds using a car unibody frame, and all the power train parts in a small, very hot front compartment is an invitation for long term reliability issues. The 62TE, in my limited experience, is a OK part, if it’s maintained early and often, monitored like an hawk, and not driven hard. They won’t survive 100k without leaking from the cooler lines, and just look at every-other advertisement for-sale of these 5th-Gens and they’ve all got rebuilt transmissions.
I think the 3.6 Pentastar engine is a leap forward, but mis-matched for the 62TE. It could be a hot-rod with a higher ratio 1-2-3 gear and then the longer jump to 4.
I have a ‘12 Caravan, well taken care of, but it’s that way because I am a hawk in the transmission, fluids, noises, everything—and only some people can stand for that.

 

[s1120]

Most of the preference of model year is anecdotal, unless there’s hard statistics on performance and reliability. I took a college course years ago on manufacturing statistics and thus reliability of things like car parts. It’s actually a very fine science such as rating the number of times a part can be stamped out before the mold warps even a micrometer.
I’d love to see the ISO 9001 stats on the major plastic parts and the parts of the 62TE transmission. Chrysler clearly evaluated and made improvements over the years to increase reliability, but let’s just focus on the transmission.
For a minivan, that has to pull 5000+ pounds using a car unibody frame, and all the power train parts in a small, very hot front compartment is an invitation for long term reliability issues. The 62TE, in my limited experience, is a OK part, if it’s maintained early and often, monitored like an hawk, and not driven hard. They won’t survive 100k without leaking from the cooler lines, and just look at every-other advertisement for-sale of these 5th-Gens and they’ve all got rebuilt transmissions.
I think the 3.6 Pentastar engine is a leap forward, but mis-matched for the 62TE. It could be a hot-rod with a higher ratio 1-2-3 gear and then the longer jump to 4.
I have a ‘12 Caravan, well taken care of, but it’s that way because I am a hawk in the transmission, fluids, noises, everything—and only some people can stand for that.

Its not so much even the fear of failing. IMHO they just shift so darn bad. With all the gears, you would think at some point it would find the right one... Frankly the tranny in my old 02 Honda van while also failure prone, shifted AMAZING. Nice smooth, but firm up, and down shifts. Nice engine braking under a load, and just enjoyable to drive. While I love the GC, and the motor is amazing, it feels like the tranny case is filled with pudding.

 

[Long_Voyager94]

Its not so much even the fear of failing. IMHO they just shift so darn bad. With all the gears, you would think at some point it would find the right one... Frankly the tranny in my old 02 Honda van while also failure prone, shifted AMAZING. Nice smooth, but firm up, and down shifts. Nice engine braking under a load, and just enjoyable to drive. While I love the GC, and the motor is amazing, it feels like the tranny case is filled with pudding.

They shift perfectly when you don't drive them like old people.
Take em out and run em hard, it keeps them out of the sloppy shifting.
Mine hits the right gear every time it downshifts, pulls seemless downshifts for engine braking on hills, and only starts to show any clunkiness when it's getting close to it's fluid change.

 

[Cal T&C]

Be aware of the Oil Filter housing and dreaded rocker tick. Never had a transmission problem in 136K miles and 9 years.

 

[s1120]

They shift perfectly when you don't drive them like old people.
Take em out and run em hard, it keeps them out of the sloppy shifting.
Mine hits the right gear every time it downshifts, pulls seemless downshifts for engine braking on hills, and only starts to show any clunkiness when it's getting close to it's fluid change.

Ill have to give that a shot. Really my only use is short trips in the winter. [ I work 3 miles from home] and long highway trips in the summer. Ill have to take it out once and a while, get it warm, and ring it out a bit.

 

[Long_Voyager94]

Ill have to give that a shot. Really my only use is short trips in the winter. [ I work 3 miles from home] and long highway trips in the summer. Ill have to take it out once and a while, get it warm, and ring it out a bit.

Short trips kills the shift logic as the transmission never gets warm enough to shift properly anyway.
Highway trips kill the shift logic as the transmission settles into a sloppy/lazy cruising pattern.
ECON mode adds to both of these issues as well, along with a whole different slew of things if you happen to be running that.

 

[Cal T&C]

IMO: ECON mode was just added to meet the MPG ratings to be competitive.
The only thing I noticed is that it delayed downshifting when you went to accelerate.
At a steady 70 on the interstate 26/28 MPG has been possible.

 

[Long_Voyager94]

IMO: ECON mode was just added to meet the MPG ratings to be competitive.
The only thing I noticed is that it delayed downshifting when you went to accelerate.
At a steady 70 on the interstate 26/28 MPG has been possible.

Econ mode was only there to game the EPA test cycles.
Real world it does nothing for economy while tending to cause premature transmission failure due to the excess load on the TC and clutches from premature lockup.