2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT: Creaking and Grinding Our Way to Ikea

After a few days with the Dodge Grand Caravan, I have this to say.

There's a loud snappish creak coming intermittently from the driver-side B-pillar area. It seems to happen most over bumps, and during harder accelerations and harder braking. Quick stop: CREEAK. Hard acceleration to merge on the freeway: CREEEAK. -1

Something is definitely up with the brakes: Before I took the keys, Vehicle Testing Coordinator Mike Schmidt mentioned to me that the DGC's brake rotors might be warped and that I should look out for any sound or feeling that could indicate that, so I set my Spidey senses to "tingle." The first night, I heard and felt nothing. But the next day, a Friday, I did notice a disturbing groaning/grinding sound and feeling whenever I hit the brakes. Seemed to get worse the harder I depressed the pedal. On Saturday, the noise and sensation disappeared, only to reappear on all three trips we took in the minivan on Sunday. We'll be taking it back to the dealer. It did make me forget about the B-pillar creak, though. -2

On an impromptu trip to Ikea, I was able to lay a bundle of 5-foot-long bamboo garden stakes on the seat back of the third-row seat and fit them into the space between the second-row seats (blue arrow above points to one of the poles peeking over the seatback), while tucking a whole lot of other Ikea stuff (plus the various bags and toys and things we needed for a trip to grandma's for the day) into the deep storage well behind the third row. Very convenient. We never have impromptu Ikea adventures on the way to grandma's in our personal vehicles (both coupes). +1

Stay tuned on the brake rotor issue.

Bryn MacKinnon @ 12,589 miles

Categories: 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT