What's a good 5-7 year old minivan or small SUV?

Guess I've been lucky with the Chryslers. I owned a 1987 Grand Caravan for
10 years, sold it to friends that drove it for 5 more years. If it weren't
for the 3.0 Mitsubishi oil burner, it would still be running. I believe it
had about 160K-180K before the Mitsubishi engine needed major work.

The current one I own is a 1997 Grand with the 3.3 V6. Going on almost 9
years now. Every single device on it still works perfectly <knock on wood>.
I do worry about the 4-speed tranny. But, I've done the fluid flush and
filter changes at 20K intervals. So, fingers crossed that will extend the
life of the tranny. My only complaint is the inferior headlamp lens
material. I will soon need to replace the assemblies since they are hazed
so badly that polishing them to keep them clear no longer works. Chrysler
should replace those bad-boys for free! No excuse for going on the cheap
with the acrylics there!

Neighbor across the street has a 1996 Caravan with 195K miles on it. He did
have the tranny replaced on one occasion.

My brother has a 1997, replaced the tranny at 97K miles a couple of years
back. But I don't think he did the recommended service on it.

By the way, the Jeep is a Chrysler product.


"Fred" <testing.DeleteThis@testing1212mouse.com> wrote in message
news:BVf9f.1868$hp5.951@trnddc04...
> I'm in the market for a 5-7 year old minivan or small SUV.
> Last one was 93 Aerostar and I couldn't be happier with it
> until it died.
>
> I've been talking to the local shops and this is what I hear
> so far.....
>
> Good - Toyota, GMC, Chev
> Bad - All Chrysler products.
>
> Others got yes/no comments, but not enough for me to form an
> opinion.
>
> How are the later Aerostars or Jeep basic Cherokees (not
> Grand or Larado)?
>
> Fred
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: What's a good 5-7 year old minivan or small SUV? 

Thanks, James. By golly, I might just try and find one of
the Chrysler minivans myself and see what happens. I do
really like the smaller size than the Aerostar and others.

What kind of gas mileage do you get with the Grand Caravan?

"James C. Reeves" <jcnospam.TakeThisOut@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:JPCdnTUwM7TgvvXeRVn-rg@comcast.com...
> Guess I've been lucky with the Chryslers. I owned a 1987
Grand Caravan for
> 10 years, sold it to friends that drove it for 5 more
years. If it weren't
> for the 3.0 Mitsubishi oil burner, it would still be
running. I believe it
> had about 160K-180K before the Mitsubishi engine needed
major work.
>
> The current one I own is a 1997 Grand with the 3.3 V6.
Going on almost 9
> years now. Every single device on it still works
perfectly <knock on wood>.
> I do worry about the 4-speed tranny. But, I've done the
fluid flush and
> filter changes at 20K intervals. So, fingers crossed that
will extend the
> life of the tranny. My only complaint is the inferior
headlamp lens
> material. I will soon need to replace the assemblies
since they are hazed
> so badly that polishing them to keep them clear no longer
works. Chrysler
> should replace those bad-boys for free! No excuse for
going on the cheap
> with the acrylics there!
>
> Neighbor across the street has a 1996 Caravan with 195K
miles on it. He did
> have the tranny replaced on one occasion.
>
> My brother has a 1997, replaced the tranny at 97K miles a
couple of years
> back. But I don't think he did the recommended service on
it.
>
> By the way, the Jeep is a Chrysler product.
>
>
> "Fred" <testing.TakeThisOut@testing1212mouse.com> wrote in message
> news:BVf9f.1868$hp5.951@trnddc04...
> > I'm in the market for a 5-7 year old minivan or small
SUV.
> > Last one was 93 Aerostar and I couldn't be happier with
it
> > until it died.
> >
> > I've been talking to the local shops and this is what I
hear
> > so far.....
> >
> > Good - Toyota, GMC, Chev
> > Bad - All Chrysler products.
> >
> > Others got yes/no comments, but not enough for me to
form an
> > opinion.
> >
> > How are the later Aerostars or Jeep basic Cherokees (not
> > Grand or Larado)?
> >
> > Fred
> >
> >
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: What's a good 5-7 year old minivan or small SUV? 

"Fred" <testing RemoveThis @testing1212mouse.com> wrote in message
news:4Jfaf.1418$5R2.1327@trnddc08...
> Thanks, James. By golly, I might just try and find one of
> the Chrysler minivans myself and see what happens. I do
> really like the smaller size than the Aerostar and others.
>
> What kind of gas mileage do you get with the Grand Caravan?
>

Just make sure you do the routine tranny service (filter change and flush)
at least as often as the schedule indicates (which I think is 30K
miles..although I have it done every 20K miles).

I keep a fuel purchase log on the fueleconomy.com web site of all my
vehicles. It's a easy way to log gas purchases and keep track of gas
mileage from anywhere I happen to be. And the nice graphs show trends when
something might be going wrong. Anyway, the current average MPG, over the
last 2 years, is 20.3MPG with a high of 27.1MPG and a low of 17.3MPG. The
EPA rating was 18/24. I would estimate it is used 60% highway and 40%
"in-town" driving since we tend to take it more often on "road-trips".
 >> Stay informed about: What's a good 5-7 year old minivan or small SUV? 

Thanks very much, James. I have heard several people
(non-newsgroup) say that their transmissions were a trouble
spot. But there are so many of the on the road, it could be
that it's the sheer numbers. 1% of 50MM would be more
reparis than. 25% of 1MM is less, for example.

Ditto on the good maintenance records -- they are definitely
groovy. With my last car, put everything on excel and you
can sort by this and that and keep up with it pretty good.

"James C. Reeves" <jcnospam.TakeThisOut@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:6N-dnQnZJfXrpPHenZ2dnUVZ_tGdnZ2d@comcast.com...
>
> "Fred" <testing.TakeThisOut@testing1212mouse.com> wrote in message
> news:4Jfaf.1418$5R2.1327@trnddc08...
> > Thanks, James. By golly, I might just try and find one
of
> > the Chrysler minivans myself and see what happens. I do
> > really like the smaller size than the Aerostar and
others.
> >
> > What kind of gas mileage do you get with the Grand
Caravan?
> >
>
> Just make sure you do the routine tranny service (filter
change and flush)
> at least as often as the schedule indicates (which I think
is 30K
> miles..although I have it done every 20K miles).
>
> I keep a fuel purchase log on the fueleconomy.com web site
of all my
> vehicles. It's a easy way to log gas purchases and keep
track of gas
> mileage from anywhere I happen to be. And the nice graphs
show trends when
> something might be going wrong. Anyway, the current
average MPG, over the
> last 2 years, is 20.3MPG with a high of 27.1MPG and a low
of 17.3MPG. The
> EPA rating was 18/24. I would estimate it is used 60%
highway and 40%
> "in-town" driving since we tend to take it more often on
"road-trips".
>
>
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: What's a good 5-7 year old minivan or small SUV?