# Is ABS worth $1100 in '03 Gr Caravan @ 96k? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [August 31, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953 "2007-08-31T20:57:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmcramer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/258eb7/32.png) [@cmcramer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cmcramer)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/1 "2007-08-31T20:57:27Z")
ABS pump and ABS module pooped the bed says Dealer’s mechanic. I’m leaning against the $1100 fix-it bill. Family car. Am I a cheapskate? ---
**Author:** ![TheDipstick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@TheDipstick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TheDipstick)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/2 "2007-08-31T21:08:04Z")
Yes you are! ---
**Author:** ![americar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/americar/32/42_2.png) [@americar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/americar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/3 "2007-08-31T21:17:08Z")
Perhaps you can get a re manufactured, or used/recycled one for a fraction of the cost. ---
**Author:** ![TheDipstick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@TheDipstick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TheDipstick)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/4 "2007-08-31T21:20:59Z")
Yeah, shop around for a better price, but have the ABS fixed. Your family deserves it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ranck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Ranck](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Ranck)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/5 "2007-08-31T21:56:09Z")
I’d get a second opinion somewhere. I question why you need both parts. It sounds like he’s shotgunning the problem. ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/6 "2007-08-31T22:05:35Z")
Get another price from an independent mechanic before you decide. It may be much less expensive. ---
**Author:** ![SteveF](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/stevef/32/2_2.png) [@SteveF](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SteveF)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/7 "2007-08-31T22:27:25Z")
Don’t bother fixing ABS. We have discovered it is not the miracle cure it was touted to be. ---
**Author:** ![Craig58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3da27b/32.png) [@Craig58](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Craig58)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/8 "2007-08-31T23:37:38Z")
It really depends if you (and the others that dive your car) want/need it. Personally, I would pay an extra $1100 to not have it for myself, but I would probably want it in my kids’ cars. ---
**Author:** ![TheDipstick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@TheDipstick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TheDipstick)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 7:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/9 "2007-09-01T07:54:31Z")
Yes, you can brake as good without ABS if you know how to work the brakes. But show me the driver that can keep their cool and do this whit the car on ice with a layer of water on top and the backseat full of screaming kids and I’ll rest my case. It of course depends on your driving conditions. The more damage locking brakes would do, the bigger is the reason to have working ABS. ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 10:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/10 "2007-09-01T10:34:01Z")
Dealers are no better (or worse) than independent mechanics for almost anything you might need done on your car. They will almost always charge more per hour and often more for parts and supplies. They also tend to look at repairs a little different than the independent. ``` A dealer may well recommend work that strictly may not be needed, but could be connected to the problem or maybe replace a part when a little repair would fix it ALMOST as good a new. There is no need to bring your car to the dealer for any service other than service that is going to be paid for by a recall or original warrantee. I suggest that most people would be better off finding a good independent (Not working for a chain) mechanic. ``` ---
**Author:** ![refaller](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/refaller/32/35_2.png) [@refaller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/refaller)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 11:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/11 "2007-09-01T11:57:24Z")
Agree. If it was just me, I wouldn’t care. Cars driven by my wife or children or with my children, I prefer ABS. I have also noticed in larger cars that are a little more top heavy that ABS seems to help more. In my compact car, I never felt it actuate. In this situation, bigger car, children involved, I (a fellow cheapskate) would have it done. Plus, I think PA requires it to be fixed if it was originally a part of the car. ref ---
**Author:** ![Craig58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3da27b/32.png) [@Craig58](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Craig58)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/12 "2007-09-01T13:15:11Z")
I guess ABS would be OK if you originally learned to drive with it. I just find it annoying (very annoying on motorcycles), my wife also know how to drive and does not need/want it on her cars. I’m not planning on buying myself any cars/motorcycles that are new enough to have it. I probably will buy ABS equipped cars for my kids because they will be stuck with ABS (or something like it) forever, they might as well learn to put up with it. Hopefully it will get better in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/13 "2007-09-01T15:58:17Z")
An experienced and prudent driver in a well maintained vehicle has little if any need for ABS brakes. In fact, ABS ofen becomes a Mother Goose ‘sky hook’ for drivers, giving many a false sense of security, leading to accidents in spite of the ABS. This subject reminds me of the “safety” device on my lawnmower. If the ‘dead man’ handle is released the engine immediately stops. This is to protect me from putting my hands under the deck with the blade turning… I was intelligent enough at age eleven to keep my hands away from the blade 50 years ago… Well, to be honest, I take the safety devices off my lawn equipment. It will run until out of gas even if I leave to get a ‘hair cut.’ ---
**Author:** ![Craig58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3da27b/32.png) [@Craig58](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Craig58)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/is-abs-worth-1100-in-03-gr-caravan-96k/3953/14 "2007-09-02T03:33:43Z")
I guess ABS would be OK if you originally learned to drive with it. I just find it annoying (very annoying on motorcycles), my wife also know how to drive and does not need/want it on her cars. I’m not planning on buying myself any cars/motorcycles that are new enough to have it. I probably will buy ABS equipped cars for my kids because they will be stuck with ABS (or something like it) forever, they might as well learn to put up with it. Hopefully it will get better in the future.