People who say they're morning people are liars. It takes two things to get me from my garage to the office: Coffee and some sort of talk radio (usually Adam Carolla). Take away either of the two and I'll give up, turn around and go back to bed. With those parameters in mind, guess why I was dreading my ride to work this morning.
A) Was my coffee maker (a French press) broken?
B) Was the radio in the Grand Caravan broken?
If you guessed B, you win!
Last night the radio in our Long-Term Dodge Caravan died. Not the entire radio, only the volume control. Neither the knob nor the buttons on the back of the steering wheel worked. They didn't even bring up the volume graphic. Nothing. I even tried the rear-seat entertainment system but the result was the same. No volume. The only sounds were the cacophony of squeaks and rattles rarely often found in cars with only 7K miles and the engine (which has been described previously as being powerful but sounding like it was "full of rocks").
I tried shutting down the system a few times. (They don't offer ctrl alt or delete keys on their nav screens yet.) Turning it off, removing the key, exiting the car, waiting between 2 and 15 minutes, and then going back into the car and restarting. I let it cycle through ACC mode. I tried yelling at it. Nothing worked.
Until I parked it at Ralph's (A supermarket chain here in SoCal) that is. I was in and out in less than ten minutes, when I got back to the car I had full audio controls.
Maybe it's only happy if it's being minivaney doing minivan things.
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 7,134 miles
drtzil says:
11:39 AM, 06/11/08
unplug the battery and wait
should totally cut power to it i would assume
frazier500 says:
12:01 PM, 06/11/08
I always figured a vehicle with that many reconfigurable seating arrangements, cubbies, and lids to those cubbies wouldn't be able to conceal a lot of noise.
johnmarco says:
12:05 PM, 06/11/08
You know what I hate about my french press? It's a pain to clean it. Makes a royal mess. But I commend your dedication to properly brewed coffee.
stephen987 says:
12:22 PM, 06/11/08
The stereo in my Dodge Ram does that too. Then again, it's fourteen years old.
jriz says:
12:37 PM, 06/11/08
That picture is an appropriate representation of the last thing a 4-inch person would experience as they plummetted to their death over the Caravan's precipice center stack.
dougtheeng says:
12:58 PM, 06/11/08
That stack looks like a Dell computer tower was duct taped to the middle of the dash.
desmolicious says:
02:00 PM, 06/11/08
Man does that stack say $40K or what?!
anilpunjabi says:
02:16 PM, 06/11/08
AUTHOR: anilpunjabi
DATE: 06/11/2008 02:16:05 PM
EMAIL: lexusap@aol.com
anilpunjabi says:
02:16 PM, 06/11/08
or like most Chrysler's products its a POS(piece of $&!))I look at the plastics used and ask myself why would a car company even choose that - toys made for 3 yr old looks better made. Ill stick to my hotwheels lol
zoomzoom22 says:
04:58 PM, 06/11/08
I bet Chrysler/Dodge did this on purpose as a foreshadowing of what's going to happen to itself in the next fifteen to twenty years. But then the radio comes back to life because they don't want to piss people off while they're still alive. Just a little hint, if you will.
briancam says:
06:06 PM, 06/11/08
Oldham's rant is gaining credibility.
billt9 says:
07:12 PM, 06/11/08
Find its minivaney sensor and tape a picture of a shopping cart and 4 kids over its lens!
bimmerjay says:
10:44 PM, 06/11/08
I'm surprised that so far this thing seems to be more disliked than the Compass. That's quite a feat, bravo Chrysler.
dragonflight says:
07:08 AM, 06/12/08
@bimmerjay:
I think that's what happens when you nearly double the price and provide an equally inferior product.
Magnify this by the fact that Edmunds has 4 VERY capable 7-passenger CUVs (Enclave, CX-7, Veracruz, Rondo), and you get the current (well-earned) animosity towards the Caravan
crowb says:
09:37 AM, 06/12/08
I look at this van and it just screams to me: "Ramp me! Full on Dukes of Hazard style. Ramp me!"
prndlol says:
08:51 PM, 06/12/08
Yikes, it may just be the navy/grey/black colour combo, but aside from the nav screen that photo appears to be taken inside a twelve year old shitbox.
firstwagon says:
02:45 PM, 06/13/08
Hmmm, I see to feel there a consensous of opinion here.
They selling really well here in Vancouver but I think that's because with a starting price of $21K they are undercutting Honda and Toyota by $10,000.
I hope the Dodge's new owners are paying attention because appearances aside, it's a good van. Give a upscale looking interior instead of a Rubbermaid one and it would be in the running agin.