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Author Topic: 98 Grand Caravan LE  (Read 1440 times)

Offline darth_paul

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« on: May 16, 2005, 09:56:13 pm »
Me again.

I am looking at a 98 Grand caravan.  3.8 l, V6, 173530 kms.

Any know problems?!?

Thanks for advice on the 96 Windstar.  We passed on that one.

Darth Paul
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Roadrunner

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2005, 10:23:21 pm »
Darth, have you done a search for any of these vehicles you want to know about?
You can, just scroll to the top of any page and hit the 'search' button, type in what you're looking for and set the back-dated search for one year.
There aren't many (if any) Caravan owners here.
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Offline barrie1

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2005, 11:16:49 pm »
Unfortunately they share some of the same problems that the Ford's did with the transmissions. Overall they were not a bad vehicle but the trannyproblems have been a major item. The torque convertors are a real bugbear in them as well.
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Offline slybry

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2005, 08:23:19 am »
To be honest it seems you are leaning towards high mileage vans that do not have a good reputation for reliability. Both the vans you have asked about are listed as used vehicles to avoid in Consumer Reports magazine. GM vans are also to be avoided.

  I suspect what is atracting you is the low resale price. The bad rep and high mileage is reason for low price.  

  Not much saved if you get it cheap and then face maintenance costs that empty your pockets.  

  I would advise you to look for Honda Odyssey or Toyota Avalon. These vans have a much better reputation. Even with these you do not want to buy a beater. You want to find one that has reasonable mileage, original paint, complete maintenance records. It would also be great if you found one being sold by original owner.  

 Cars are so expensive to fix it makes more sense to spend money up front for a good van instead of going for a bargain that will cost you more in long run.
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Offline mrthompson

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2005, 09:07:45 am »
FYI...the Toyota Avalon is NOT a minivan.  The Toyota Sienna IS.  
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Offline johngenx

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2005, 09:19:18 am »
A 1998 model is just about 8 model years old.  At 25K per year, a 98 might have 175-200K at this point in it's life.  I disagree that 173K is high.

However, that Caravan is another problem looking to happen.  They also suffer terrible tranny problems and AC systems are also prone to breaking.

The ONLY reliable mini-van that can be had at a "bargain" price is the 2000-ish Mazda MPV.  For some reason, they depreciate LOTS.  You'll pay top dollar for the Honda or Toyota, and it's because they're the cream of the crop.  The Mazda is the only non-Honda/Toyota worth investigaing in the segment.  And yes, I thought of the Quest in that statement.  It has a poor rep, too.
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Offline barrie1

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2005, 01:06:56 pm »
If you look at the GM's the Astro with the 4.3 engine is the best. They are the best of the domestics. The tranny's are fairly reliable as long as they have been serviced.
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Offline weebl

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2005, 01:21:02 pm »
Chrysler slushboxes are notorious for failures, especially from the late '80s to just a couple of years ago.  You will find the exception to the rule out there, but why chance it?

Fords have that plus a host of other problems.

GMs can be a little on the spotty side, but do your homework in finding a better powertrain combination and a well maintained vehicle, and you should be okay.

Other average choices besides the GMs would be the Quest/Villager twins or the MPV.  Even better choices are the Toyota or Honda (were they still wannabe vans at the age range you're looking at?).
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Offline safristi

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« Reply #8 on: May 18, 2005, 10:03:43 am »
Join the flight ta MAZDA......!!! neighbour bought a 2003 MPV and is over the moon about it's handling(by comparison) and he's a 12 year veteran of the minivan users club...says it has lots of get up and go at a fraction of the Honda/Toyota van prices....
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Offline maritime_storm

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« Reply #9 on: May 18, 2005, 03:42:00 pm »
May'be it's a local thing but local cab companies{both of them} stopped purchasing anything but Chrysler for minivans because they had discovered they were saving approximately $1000 a year per vehicle on their operating costs. Take it for what it's worth.
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Offline mrthompson

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« Reply #10 on: May 18, 2005, 03:53:52 pm »
That's cause they have a yard full of 'donor' parts vehicles.  
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Offline maritime_storm

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98 Grand Caravan LE
« Reply #11 on: May 18, 2005, 04:15:01 pm »
Moncton has a law requiring taxi's to be less than 10 years old and NB requires them pass 2 safeties a year same as commercial vehicles. As a result most O/O's are running new or near new{2000 and up) vans. Up until a few years ago we saw a lot of GM FWD minivans, now may'be one or two of them are still around. I was chatting with an Owner/Operator at the shop the other day who commenting that his 2000 Montana was being replaced by a new Caravan sometime in the fall. He was telling me about the O/O's switching over to Chrysler due to them being cheaper to operate over the long haul.
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