Has parts availability ever made driving a still solid car unfeasible for you? I like the 4th gen Chrysler vans (2001 - 2007), and have considered getting a 2007 from a salt-free location, but question whether that is going too far back to be practical.
Swapped engines in my wife's Grand Caravan
- Thread starter The_Eric
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Has parts availability ever made driving a still solid car unfeasible for you? I like the 4th gen Chrysler vans (2001 - 2007), and have considered getting a 2007 from a salt-free location, but question whether that is going too far back to be practical.
Good question! I would consider buying another 4th-gen Grand Caravan if I could find a low mileage rust-free one. Parts availability had not been an issue so far, and a local junkyard still has a bunch of them.
Not so far. I try to choose vehicles that are common. As nice and/or luxurious and well optioned some cars are, they can be a hassle when they get older (ex Cadillac or Lincoln) because they may only have a couple years of certain electronics or suspensions. I had an 05 Lincoln Aviator that had limited availability on suspension parts - I sold that and bought an 07 RX350 for $500 that needed an engine - there were lots more of them. The 09 Grand Caravan replaced the RX - and there's metric tons of those out there ensuring that I can find parts in junkyards and on store shelves for years to come. My 97 Buick is getting to the point where parts/repair availability is getting sketchy even though it's 3.8/4T65 is a super common powertrain. For example, the automatic climate control module is very limited and the folks out there who can repair it are getting few and far between which is why I have my eyes open for it's replacement.. hopefully a surprisngly clean 2005 Civic in need of an engine.
The 4th gen vans were super common, so there should be good availability on them for years to come - just be wary of the glam options like the infotainment screens they could be optioned with or the fancy climate controls. If you can find some of those parts cheap and you're committed to the platform, I wouldn't feel bad about buying spare parts. Some view it as a waste of money but when compared to the cost of a new or much newer vehicle, it's a drop in the bucket and a good way to ensure that you are able to keep your cheap vehicle viable and continue saving money.
I can't believe it took this long for someone to ask!
Castrol Euro 5w40 and a NAPA Gold 1348 (after reading about their supplier switch). I had been running Mobil 1 0W40 but the old engine consumed it at a higher rate than I liked, somewhere around a quart every 1500 miles. For reasons that I can't remember I switched to Castrol and the consumption dropped considerably.
After getting the P0344 a couple more times I swapped in the sensor from the old engine and did another cam/crank learn and the code hasn't returned. I did have a bit of an oh %$#@ moment when I pulled it in to look at the sensor - the oil pressure light was on! I broke out the gauge set and found that it had 25psi at idle and 60psi revved up when good and hot - so no problems there. It must have been a junk sensor - I had bought a Standard Motor Parts sensor as I was cleaning and resealing it to save the time and mess of swapping the old one. Well now I had to swap it anyway. Oh well, it worked fine and the light hasn't returned.
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