Rented a Caravan for the 10 day family trip to Washington DC this summer.
The good. It swallowed 5 people (4 adults and one 14 year old) their luggage and a few items we took to family with whom we were staying in Bethesda, MD.
Drove it for just under 2000 miles and according to the on-board computer, it averaged 23.7 MPG.
(As an aside, I finally found a use for E85 fuel, filling the tank to return it full.)
We clipped along at 70-75 MPH, or about 5MPH over the posted limit. We took the I64 route.
What I liked. Seems well thought out. Lots of storage areas. Plenty of room to swallow luggage, other items and a large cooler for picnics and drinks along the way.
Never thought I would appreciate the automatic tailgate, but it was nice to push a button and the tailgate swings up.
The van came equipped with a DVD player, so the kids watched movies during most of the trip. I was disappointed that the USB port on the head unit could not connect to oilBabe's iPhone 5. I did play a few podcasts through the aux port. I did not take advantage of the built in hard drive. Apparently you can upload music to the hard drive so it's stored in your vehicle.
Visibility was good, the ride was comfortable and the engine seemed adequate.
In the mountains, the six speed auto didn't seem to know which gear it wanted at times, and the few times we drove in the district, it seemed slow to downshift when called for by stepping on the throttle. Then when it would finally downshift, it would drop several gears, making loud engines sounds to accompany the acceleration.
Besides the transmission hunting for the right gear, the throttle had a pretty aggressive tip-in, leading to breaking traction on a few launches from stop lights.
At about $750 for 11 days and unlimited miles, it seemed a bargain to rent rather than own a van we wouldn't use most of the year.
Minor complaints, but it seemed to be holding up reasonably well as it had over 13K miles on the clock when I turned it in. I observed no oil used as I checked it on the way out and before we returned.
The good. It swallowed 5 people (4 adults and one 14 year old) their luggage and a few items we took to family with whom we were staying in Bethesda, MD.
Drove it for just under 2000 miles and according to the on-board computer, it averaged 23.7 MPG.
(As an aside, I finally found a use for E85 fuel, filling the tank to return it full.)
We clipped along at 70-75 MPH, or about 5MPH over the posted limit. We took the I64 route.
What I liked. Seems well thought out. Lots of storage areas. Plenty of room to swallow luggage, other items and a large cooler for picnics and drinks along the way.
Never thought I would appreciate the automatic tailgate, but it was nice to push a button and the tailgate swings up.
The van came equipped with a DVD player, so the kids watched movies during most of the trip. I was disappointed that the USB port on the head unit could not connect to oilBabe's iPhone 5. I did play a few podcasts through the aux port. I did not take advantage of the built in hard drive. Apparently you can upload music to the hard drive so it's stored in your vehicle.
Visibility was good, the ride was comfortable and the engine seemed adequate.
In the mountains, the six speed auto didn't seem to know which gear it wanted at times, and the few times we drove in the district, it seemed slow to downshift when called for by stepping on the throttle. Then when it would finally downshift, it would drop several gears, making loud engines sounds to accompany the acceleration.
Besides the transmission hunting for the right gear, the throttle had a pretty aggressive tip-in, leading to breaking traction on a few launches from stop lights.
At about $750 for 11 days and unlimited miles, it seemed a bargain to rent rather than own a van we wouldn't use most of the year.
Minor complaints, but it seemed to be holding up reasonably well as it had over 13K miles on the clock when I turned it in. I observed no oil used as I checked it on the way out and before we returned.
