Odyssey vs Caravan

A friend asked me for my opinion on these two vehicles. His wife likes
the seats in the Caravan better and they can get a "real deal" from the
dealer. I stopped by a DC booth at a local festival and this dealer
sold both DC and Honda.

The rep I talked to turned out to sell DC and said the reasons to buy
the Caravan are:

Less expensive
More sold than Odyssey (?)
Caravan will accomodate a 4x8' sheet of plywood
More seating options

Other than being less expensive - I see no compelling reason to buy the
Caravan - CR clearly favored the Odyssey for reasons of frequency of
repair.

Did I miss something?

 

You missed nothing at all. CR is correct; Caravan is a proven piece of
junk. Although past Odyssey's had tranny issues (which Honda acknowledged
and worked to fix), Caravan has still had a higher rate of tranny
failure--and that is just one problem out of many that you are likely to
experience. Unlike Honda, Crapsler has never acknowledged those problems.

Bite the bullet and get an Odyssey or a Toyota Sienna.

 

Other than being less expensive - I see no compelling reason to buy the

In the long run, the Ody is "less expensive." Less depreciation, less
time getting repairs, much better vehicle. In 5 years, the Caravan is
junk. The Ody is just getting nicely broken in.

 

I agree with Mr. Misfit with the following exception; if you plan to
keep the car for only a few years the Caravan should be reliable
enough.

However, if you plan to keep the car until the wheels fall off I'd take
the Sienna or Odyssey (in that order of preference).

 

Yeah. I'm sure he can.

Those people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

 

--------------------------------------

---> More sold than Odyssey (?)---- TRUE

They sell lots of toilet paper too. Caravan is like toilet paper.
Relatively cheap, You have to have it, but it's not worth much after
it's USED.

'Curly'

 

I have a 2000 model and it still, like all Hondas I've owned for long periods,
seems like it's 1 day old. I have a 96' Accord that still rides and (almost)
looks like a new car. This is what you get when you buy Honda. They are
great long-term investments.

 

Well first, don't believe all the bullshit being blown about here... while I'm
an admitted Honda man (love my '87 Accords), I can tell you, my wife's '96 Grand
Voyager (Plymouth cousin to the Dodge Grand Caravan) has been an excellent
vehicle for the five years and couple hundred thousand km we've had it. No
major mechanical issues; the 3.8l V6 and auto tranny have performed just fine
and it has excellent fuel efficiency for the size of the motor and the weight
that it's lugging around. It's a great vehicle to drive, as far as larger
vehicles go (I prefer smaller cars, personally).

We looked at the Odyssey when we were shopping for this van, but for a similar
feature set (air, cruise, power everything, and the wife was adamant about
quad-seating - captain's seats in the middle rather than a bench - and dual
sliding doors) the Honda was SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive.

As far as "frequency of repair", the only work we've had done in this time is an
A/C recharge and consenser replacaement (came from the dealer needing that),
regular maintenance, a new battery, and a couple brake jobs, one within a few
months of getting it (the shop said the previous owner had apparently had cheap
pads put in, which wore out faster with the heavier vehicle), and one after it
carried my wife and son and two friends on a Vancouver-Chicago road trip.

Yes, there were known problems with the transmissions in '95 and earlier
Caravans, but from '96 on Chrysler had pretty much taken care of that problem,
which is why we looked specifically for a '96 or later.

 

No doubt.

And I've no doubt that I can find a lemon Honda, too.

But what are the odds that any random buyer walking into any random
dealership buying a random Dodge minivan will get one like yours?

Likewise, what are the odds that any random buyer walking into any
random dealership buying a random Honda minivan will get a lemon?

OK, so buy a new Dodge minivan. Come back in 4 years and tell us all
about how it is.

 

I know quite a few people with '96 and newer who had tranny problems. And
that is just one problem out of many. You were very, VERY lucky with yours.

 

Hmmm, we bought a '96 Chrysler Town & Country (the top of the line van)
and they never could make the thing work correctly. After six months we
finally got a 100% refund by using a lemon law attorney.

Sure there must be a few good Chrysler vans sold and there have probably
been some bad Hondas, but the statistics are highly in favor of the Honda.

Also, much of the price premium of the Honda will come back to the owner
down the road in residual value. The US minivan values drop like a rock.

If you some reason you must buy a Dodge, then buy a used ex-rental one
and save that first big depreciation hit. DaimlerChrysler pushes those
things into the rental fleet by the truck load.

If price is the #1 issue, they get a Hyundai/Kia. At least with them
you get a long powertrain warranty in case the fickle finger of fate is
against you.

If you want one of the best vans made, then Toyota and Honda are the
places to shop.

John

 

THe one reason to buy the Caravan is the fold down middle row seats. If you
don't need those get the Honda.

 

Most of those tranny problems are lube places putting in wrong AT fluid.
CHrysler was one of the first to go with software AT's and multiplexed
wiring in the chasis so they had teething problems. But with the right
fluid, most chrysler AT problems are $30 to replace a input or output
sensor, unless you go to a rip off AT shop who sells you an unneeded
replacement.