I find it ironic you mention statistics at all since you’re basing your argument on a sample size of two.
It’s also notable that one of the vehicles was purchased used, with 100k miles on the clock, with unknown history of maintenance or care given during that prior ownership.
No manufacturer is immune to issues or duds. Just because the Caravan had some issues does not mean that Chrysler or their parent company doesn’t have some stellar offerings. Condemning any brand based on one vehicle or even market segment is unwarranted. I’m sure Chrysler makes some pretty competitive cars that have decent reliability ratings. On the other hand, Honda has some cars falling down in the reliability ratings but does that mean their entire brand should be tarnished?
@TT Unwarranted? So, after having the experience that I had, I am supposed to go back many times for statistical proof? How funny. That is not how people do. Nor should they. Anyone who has an experience that bad with a make of car is more than justified if he decides never to own another vehicle of that make. I am actually surprised that any rational person would make such a suggestion. Anyone who had an experience like I did, and who ever bought another Chrysler product, needs to be caged for the protection of the community.
Fairness is not a purchasing issue. To even suggest it is, is hilarious. In fact, this is well known marketing reality, and the intelligent car makers well know it. That is why Toyota/Honda have such good reputations. I have never heard of Toyota or Honda cars which require repairs every time you pull into a town, and I am sure you haven’t either.
I owned other Chrysler cars in the past. That was in an era when it was considered a miracle for a motor to run 100,000 miles if you changed the oil very 1,000 miles. And, Chrysler stuff was like the Big 3, work on them all the time after a few tens of thousands of miles. In comparison to makes available today, they were best described as junk.
By 1989, the Japanese vehicles were easily running 100’s of thousands of miles on a motor. Chrysler was still back there, work on them all the time.
And, yes, if someone gets a Honda which needs a mechanic at only 150,000 miles every time it stops for the night, that owner should never buy another Honda. How many examples of this can you give? I wait with bated breath.
2002 was a good year for the Toyota minivan but not for Honda. Carcomplaints shows 216 transmission complaints for the Honda Odyssey, 11 for the Caravan.
Yes, it is funny. YOU brought up statistical aberration in YOUR post and then proceeded to tell everyone about your experience with TWO cars, one being used with 100k. That’s funny.
Are you in the same discussion? Where was this ever mentioned at all, even remotely?
Sure, if the owner doesn’t take care of them. They are not immune to issues. You bought a WELL USED caravan. Maybe the prior owner was completely ignorant of any maintenance requirements.
Well, that’s true of all cars! No big revelation there.
Unless your living under a rock, there are many examples of people who are unhappy with CERTAIN vehicles made by both Honda and Toyota throughout the years you mention. Try visiting other boards sometime…
Back in 1962, I replaced my 1947 Pontiac with a 1955 Pontiac. The 1955 Pontiac was on Consumer Reports list of recommended used cars. The Rambler dealer from whom I bought the car had just overhauled the engine. The car did not show any rust or accident damage. This should have been a good bet.
Unfortunately, the reality was different. In 1955, an oil filter was an option on the 1955 Pontiac even though the engine had hydraulic tappets. The overhaul consisted of new rings and a valve job. The studs holding the rocker arms continually sludged up and then the rocker arms would chirp. The car had a manual transmission. This should have made it reliable, but I had to have the rear bearing replaced in the transmission. The shift linkage (this was a column shift 3 speed) was always hanging up.
On the other hand, I owned a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander. I bought it in 2006. It was a.GM program car with 16000 miles. Consumer Reports statistics Indicate the Uplander is trouble prone. Yet.in 200,000 miles, the Uplander hasn’t had a major repair and has no rust.
Now,.overall,. statistics have meaning. I knew people who had 1955 Pontiacs and found them quite trouble free. There are probably owners of Chevrolet Uplanders that have had problems. However, statistics don’t apply to a.sample of size 1.
Maybe it makes sense to buy a vehicle that had a poor repair record in its first three years. The defective parts would have been replaced. On the other hand an older car with a good repair record may be at the point where many parts need to be replaced.
Consumer Reports uses a ranking system to make it easier for most of the buying public:
Much better than average
Better than average
Average
Worse than average
Much worse than average
The top four of those have fewer than 4% of owners reporting problems. That wasn’t the case 30 years ago when the disparity between the groups was much larger. Because vehicles are generally much more reliable today and the difference between almost all brands is so small, I’m willing to consider almost any brand. I’ve saved a lot of money in the last 20 years buying new GM cars instead of the more popular and more reliable Asian brands. I’m not knocking the Asian brands. I’m on my second Accord since 2005. I bought them becasuse the cost was attractive and reliability was a secondary consideration. If I wanted to buy a luxury sedan, it probably would have been a Cadillac CT6. Great car, and attractively priced compared to the competition.
How in the world would somebody’s political affiliations–be they progressive, middle-of-the-road, conservative, or…other… have any bearing on their real-life experiences regarding vehicles and their reliability?
Your off-topic response makes me wish that this forum had an “ignore” feature, as many other forums do.
What about Nissan? Lol. I’ve got a running Nissan Quest minivan at the scrapyard that was sold as scrap with 158k miles. I assume Quest’s suck. It appears maintenance was not a priority for the owners, to be fair.
@Markwnjr, for the second time, please cut out the liberal snowflake thing. It insults the actual snowflakes that fell down in my area this morning, which have banded together really densely and are showing no sign of melting.
I missed the continuation of this thread. It has been quite a while.
If someone here wants to buy a make which gave him problems, in the name of fairness or whatever personal logic is involved, that is certainly their right and I would never criticize them.
But, I do not and will not. There are too many good cars out there to even think I have to use fairness as a criteria for buying a car.
I had the same experience with a Datsun 510. I bought it used and every time I spent a dollar on gas, it cost me a dollar for repairs. And, they were not maintenance items. Things like a switch down inside the air conditioner cooler (under the dash), such things like that. Not motor; not transmission. Not wheel bearings. Not drive train. Not brakes. Parts that properly made should last almost forever.
Fairness is not a useful parameter when one makes decisions based on your personal experiences.
And, whether I am a statistical aberration is not even relevant. That car was horrid and i will never voluntarily own another Chrysler product if I can have a choice. Nor a Nissan.
I am aware that Nissan has a relatively good reliability rating, though not in the range of Toyota. But, that 510 was a horror. And, as I said, why mess with an opinion of a car when there are so many other choices. If Nissan were the only choice, yes, I would buy one. There are a lot of Nissans in Mexico, especially in cities as taxis. Out here in the boonies, they tend to use, I think, Korean, with the strange twisted H logo.
And, as negative as my view of Chrysler is, if my finances drop way low and all I can afford here in Mexico is an old Dodge, I would probably bang my head against the wall and buy one. Billions of miles have been driven on Chryslers, just not without problems.
