Problem: How can I move six people and their luggage from Los Angeles to San Francisco?
Solution: 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT.
Yes, this was one of those rare instances when a bunch of people (my parents and my two sons) were all going to the same place at the same time. A poor option would have been to take two vehicles. Instead, we all piled into Big Red and hit the road...
And we even stopped for a picnic lunch at the "Sideways" bridge near Gaviota (pictured).
It's amazing how, when you use a vehicle such as the Dodge Grand Caravan, for its intended purpose, your admiration of it grows. Even an uber SUV wouldn't have done the job as well.
A real hit with my Dad were the swivel seats. He spun around and grilled my son about his college courses and life in general. In fact, my Dad several times enthused: "This is a great van!"
I wasn't excited about driving the DGC since it's kind of roly-poly in the curves but, hey, it isn't pretending to be a sports car. I didn't like the dash mounted shifter and once, in the mountains, manual shifting for engine braking wasn't convenient.
On the open road I kept the speed to about 70 mph and, amazingly, didn't get passed. I think folks have made the connection between speed and fuel economy. I averaged 21.2 mpg over 1,244 miles and spent about $263 on fuel. On one tank we were able to go a total of 368 miles -- a record for our Grand Caravan.
Philip Reed, Edmunds Senior Consumer Advice Editor @ 8668 miles
cruiserhead1 says:
02:00 PM, 06/18/08
My sister's family has the 08 and they love it. I asked about the crappy panel fit, quality, etc and surprisingly, it was not an issue for them.
What they care about is all the thoughtful storage and accessability, the swivel seats, etc, etc. Even my nephew thinks it's "cool" because of all the features.
What they said was a big problem was a shreiking wind noise above 60mph. Some type of windshield air leak.
It is a company car and more than several other Caravan users in the fleet complained too.
Dealer line is that it is "normal".... uh, yeah.
Have you guys had any issues with noise?
lvranger says:
02:26 PM, 06/18/08
Hey, this isn't the R8 and there is no pictures of strip clubs or mention of beads! This is simply not allowed on this blog.
estreka says:
02:43 PM, 06/18/08
I just got back from Yellowstone Ntn'l Forest this morning and I saw at least 200 of these (no exaggeration). I dunno if they're selling like hotcakes or if a certain rental shop got mad business, but I was amazed at the sheer numbers.
ahightower says:
03:19 PM, 06/18/08
Obviously needs a bigger gas tank. I know you don't often go more than 5 hours without stopping, but I love having at least 550 miles range with our 31-gallon Yukon (XL). Probably a bit more on a good day, but I've never pushed it that far. It let's you plan less, and just stop when and where you like. Sometimes the place you stop for an emergency pee break is a rest stop only, or a crappy gas station that you don't necessarily want to buy fuel from. And sometimes if you can get the kids to sleep, you want to keep going until they wake up, and not worry about whether you'll find good gas soon enough if you go past a major city without stopping.
firstwagon says:
05:57 PM, 06/18/08
Nice to see a post where they don't whine about the interior plastic.
Sure, we get it, Dodge interiors have gone from middle of the road to bottom of the pile.
Once you get past the superficial, it's a good van. They are everywhere around British Columbia largely because they start at $21K (CDN)while the Honda and Toyota (nicer trim but no better as a family van)start at $31K.
If money was unlimited I would buy the Honda but for the price, it's a great family mover.
hondacura4 says:
04:48 AM, 06/19/08
"Once you get past the superficial, it's a good van. They are everywhere around British Columbia largely because they start at $21K (CDN)while the Honda and Toyota (nicer trim but no better as a family van)start at $31K."
As a 05 Odyssey Touring owner, even given the Dodges price/feature advantage one has to ask... if the interior material quality is that bad where else on the vehicle was quality simply put on the back burner. As I always say, its the details that count.
cx7lover says:
11:06 AM, 06/19/08
The Sedona/Entourage are MUCH better picks than the Dodge.
kurmat says:
10:56 PM, 07/ 4/08
My 2008 SXT also has a high speed wind noise which probably comes from a leak at the A-pillars. A friend got theirs worked on several times and finally the dealer sealed around the outside mouldings. Don't know if it worked for them yet, but I'll be taking mine back next week for the same treatment.