looking for any suggestions/opinions on minivans

[mngtp]

Our Ford Contour died recently. So we are now down to our 1999 Grand Prix GTP 2dr with 221,xxx miles. We will be looking at getting another vehicle soon. We will have to stay under $2000 and between the 1996-2004ish years. We have a 6 person family and an SUV is too hard on gas for us. We are thinking of going with a minivan of some sort (perferably american brands) . Im have been thinking of a Ford Windstar, Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country, Chevrolet Venture, or Pontiac Montana. I know that the Windstar comes with a 3.8L V6, the Venture and Montana come with a 3.4L V6, and the Town & Country and Caravans come with a 3.3L or a 3.8L V6 (Im not really sure which engine is the most prefered of the two). They all get about the same fuel mileage. I was wondering if anyone has any more info, suggestions on which van is most reliable, and/or biggest trouble spots for each van? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank You.

[ericspecullaas]

well i can tell you with the venture/montana they have a weak point in the intake it warps when it gets hot to many times. The tranny on them loves to shift hard as well. also they develop a creaking in the body that wont go away no amount of lube will cure it or changing all rubber its in the metal and cant be fixed. other than that it has been a really good van and get just about as good of MPG as the GTP.

[mngtp]

Are the Ventures/Montanas known for trans. problems? Are they difficult to work on/maintain (change spark plugs, wires, oil, etc.)?

[dsmuts]

Ventures and montana's have same trans as the grand prix's. The intake on them doesn't warp the LIM gasket starts leaking because they are plastic. I'd go with a caravan personally.

[mngtp]

I have been leaning towards a caravan/grand caravan or town & country. I have always liked them for some reason. I like the looks of the caravan sports with the slightly different front end and spoiler. I just dont know what the problem areas are.

[dsmuts]

Transmission is the only problem area but can be swapped withOut having to toUch the sub frame. Make sure you get rear heat and air

[matt5112]

I have been leaning towards a caravan/grand caravan or town & country. I have always liked them for some reason. I like the looks of the caravan sports with the slightly different front end and spoiler. I just dont know what the problem areas are.

Newer boxy body style chews up rear brakes as quickly as 12 000 miles.

Because it's a Chrysler, it will likely have funky cooling tubes going every which way. They will corrode, and leak. More common on the 3.0 and the 3.3, but then again, newer engines are just that, newer. Other than that, I haven't heard or seen much.

[dsmuts]

I bought my 99 grand caravan for $500 with a blow differential. I replaced the trans in a few hours and drove it to work the next day. I've done nothing else to it in the 4 years I've had it. 180K miles on it now.

[mngtp]

I like the '96-'00 and the '01-'05 caravans/grand caravans/town & countrys. Those years are going to be in our price any way. Does anyone know if both engines (3.3L/3.8L) are good or is one better than the other?

[titanfan12]

man a gmc safari is the **** my dad has one and it just hit 230k and is a beastly machine
hasnt had to many problems at all, just make sure what you buy was mantained good.
also a grand carvan isnt a bad route either

[dsmuts]

They are both good motors

[ntreftz]

I drove 97 grand voyager (grand caravan) that had the 3.3 it was ok to drive with about 4 large adults and as a daily commuter it was relatively good on gas with only me, but fully loaded not so much. Went 823 miles on 2 1/3 tanks with a 700lb harley heritage soft-tail w/118ci motor. I thought 75 buck in fuel for 1100lbs worth of people and cargo is pretty good for 823 miles.

[burgundybullet]

I had to drive a 2005 Grand Caravan to a meeting/ class about 2.5hrs away and I hated it so much. It wasn't that bad at first I thought but then about 15 miles into the trip when it went to climb a hill it went from 65 to 60 and on the other side of the hill on the way down it got up to 72. That was on cruise control and to add insult to injury it wasn't much of a hill. I felt it was way underpowered. Heck as soon as I got back into my GP GT it felt like I was in a rocket ship. Plus it seemed to be shifting strangely and I didn't like it one bit. Just my view on it that's all. Maybe the one I got to use was just sh!t. lol

[LeadfootCJ7]

The Ford Windstars with 3.8 have headgasket problems more common than intake leaks on our motors. I had a few neighbors with them and they were always in the shop for it. My buddy with an indpendent shop told every customer that came in with that problem that he would fix it once and told them to sell it.

Dodge is known for transmission problems. When I was helping a friend look at minivans a few years back it seemed they were at a discount (we assumed because of the known transmission problems). He was able to get a much better deal on them and decided to take the chance and worse case would have a transmission rebuild at some point and the cost would be the same as buying the Ford or GM equivalent. So far no transmission problems and he is happy with it.

I would assume owning a Grand Prix you are generally familiar with the drivetrain issues (or lack of) you will be looking at with the GM minivans.

If you consider foreign. RUN from Honda. I have worked with several people who had them. Transmission crap out at 30k miles like clockwork. Honda only covers the first one if your VIN falls within their bulletin. I assume in your price range there is 0 chance of warranty. I know a guy who used to work for Honda. He said it is an internal design issue that cannot be remedied without a new case that has a different design. I never got into the details, but trust him. Considering he sold his Honda Odyssey (or however you spell it) and swears he will never own another Honda.

I think in your price range, I would seriously consider the condition as important as the specific model. A well maintained Chevy Venture might be better than a poorly maintained Caravan. I personally would be leary of the Windstar since the headgasket issues seem to be recurring, but you may feel differently.

[mngtp]

I would like to thank you all for the help/info/suggestions. Please keep posting any thoughts or info you may have. In my opinion, foreign auto makers (Honda, Toyota, etc.) should stick to making cars. I just dont trust foreign vans, SUVs, and/or trucks. I barely trust/ tolerate foreign cars. Again just my opinion/ preference. So far, I would take a Montana, Caravan/ Grand Caravan, or Town & Country. I know that the Montana and Venture are basically the same thing, but the Venture is so plain to me but I guess beggers cant be choosers. As far as the Windstars go, I like them but I dont care for the headgasket issues. Again, thank you all for the info and suggestions.

[titanfan12]

yes ford windstars are utter garbarge my dad has had 3 of them and they all have been scrapped. even the one he bought brand new 9 years ago

[matt5112]

The sample I see is pretty biased because it's mostly a GM town, but I've yet to see a head gasket called on a Windstar.

We've done them many times on the GM's, mostly because people let their LIM gaskets go too long.

[camopaint0707]

An SUV and minivan don't get that much difference in mileage.

[CapnBreakAlot]

My family has had a 99 Caravan Sport with the 3.8 and drove that thing into the ground. We owned it since new and put well over 200,000 miles on it. Fantastic van if I say so myself. We also owned an absolute base model 99 Caravan with the 3.3 that I drove for years before I got my GP. The 3.8 is definitely the better engine of the two, for a van it was still fairly quick. The 3.3 wasn't too shabby either honestly. The only bug issues we ever had were the transmissions. Other than that we drove those vans into the ground and they always treated us well.