Vehicle would you choose? Caravan or Santa Fe?

[Ramblin Fever]

Here's the dilema!

We currently have a 96 Chrysler twn/country caravan 3.8L V6, all bells/whistles, etc.

Van has 125k miles, was given to us 2yrs ago when my grandfather died. Van is in prestine condition, and is more then pleasurable to drive and ride in, very very roomy, etc.

In short, we love the thing and had planned to keep it a LONG time.

However....we're tired of throwing money at it!

In the last year; totaling over $4-5k

Transmission
Starter
all new front-end; rack/pinion, etc
waterpump
many more items that I can't remember now

And now, either the blower doors or the actuator motors have died; either way, we're not getting heat. Has nothing to do with the heater core, thermostat, or radiator - all of that's either been changed or looked into.

We have tried to fix it ourselves; but for the general home DIY'er it's just not feasible; dealer wants minimum 5hrs labor

Our thoughts are, do we keep putting more money into a 17yr old vehicle, or cut our losses and move on?

And, do we opt for another Chrysler mini-van or the hyundai santa-fe?

I realize these are 2 total different beasts; that said, we love the extra room of the mini-van, just don't know if all caravans are problematic?

The santa fe idea is just because a relative has one and loves it!

 

[Dakota1820]

i would get a caravan personally but if i had to pick a vehicle in your category but not mentioned i would take the ford edge or dodge journey

 

[97prizm]

I posted you a pm. From what I've read the 2010-11's are having transmission problems like crazy. It seems like the first and now 3rd gens are ok.

 

[DemoFly]

Dodge Journey with the Pentastar V6 or Toyota Sienna.

 

[Slacker]

Check your vacuum lines going to your heat controller. It's possible one has been pulled off or damaged during all the other maintenance.

 

[salv]

Hyundai quality is better, while Chysler is pinching pennies and building as cheaply as possible.
You can always bet that a newer Hyundai will outlast a newer Chrysler product, and have a lower total cost of ownership.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Originally Posted By: Slacker
Check your vacuum lines going to your heat controller. It's possible one has been pulled off or damaged during all the other maintenance.


Where would I find this? thank you for any help you can give...we're actually trying desperately to keep this van after all we've got in it.

 

[Trav]

This vehicle uses motors and no vacuum lines.
What does the system do when you turn it on? Does any air come out?
The dash has to come out for the actuator motor.

 

[95busa]

The new Grand Caravans with the pentastar are impressive. We have had ours for almost a year and a half and 33K miles. GREAT engine, a little soft on the low end, but she revs like a champ. Six speed is great. Read about the pentastar on allpar.com. 6 bolt mains....overbuilt. I have gotten up to 28MPG on the highway with ours, about 21 mpg mixed. I had an'05 Santafe, great truck, but kind of apples to oranges. The GCV has WAY more room, tows well, has comfortable seating for seven with room left over, stow and go, etc. I do not believe the Santa Fe is quite as big family oriented.

As far as the issues with your heater controls, check vacuum, but don't be afraid to invest in a cheap meter and start checking voltage.

 

[fxrider]

Thats easy- Be American Buy American (Caravan)

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Ramblin Fever
The santa fe idea is just because a relative has one and loves it!


A co-worker of mine had a 2004 Santa Fe and finally traded it with something like 210,000 trouble-free miles. I've ridden in a new Santa Fe rental and must say that I was impressed with the refinement. I've never owned a Korean vehicle, but have been looking at Hyundais more and more lately.

We had two Mopar minivans, a 2003 and a 2007. We traded the 2003 in for the 2007 and traded the 2007 off right as the warranty expired because it was eating Chrysler alive in repair bills. I saw the writing on the wall so we got rid of it. A big factor in that decision was how Chrysler corporate treated us (poorly). At the time, I helped moderate a Chrysler minivan fan club internet forum; I'll end my remarks by saying that I simply didn't have enough confidence in the new product to replace our 2007 with a newer one.

You also didn't indicate new or used. Based on your other Santa Fe thread, you are considering used. You can get used 4th generation (2001-2007) Mopar vans for cheap, very cheap. You will have to weigh the risk. The vans themselves are solid, good-driving vehicles. How much small stuff bothers you (like clunking sway bar bushings and tie rod ends) will dictate how happy you are with the ownership experience. Our '07 ate a bunch more stuff, like three A/C compressors and two alternators, but I know that it was out-of-the-ordinary bad. Most of them just chew up sway bar bushings and tie rod ends every few years. The OHV V-6 engines, while not all that powerful or refined, are bulletproof. The 4th generation transmissions are also usually pretty good.

 

[supton]

What kind of transmission replacement was it? I'm wondering if it was a quality rebuild/new unit. I have to ask, because if you've fixed all the other issues, you might be just one or two issues from having it work properly, and for a long time to come--and still be cheaper than a new(er) vehicle. [Of course, if you want to move on, it you might have a decent vehicle to sell.]

No local, trustworthy independant who can look into this?

 

[Azeem]

Originally Posted By: fxrider
Thats easy- Be American Buy American (Caravan)



Chrysler(FIAT) is not American anymore AFAIK

If it was me, I'd probably go with C-Max but then again I like Ford Products.

 

[bigjl]

I would go Santa Fe, the same vehicle in the UK is called a Voyager or Grand Voyager, they have never been know as a reliable vehicle, hence why a lot of people now own/use Ford Galaxy, little smaller but more reliable.

The only issue with the Santa Fe that crops up a lot is a rattly top end at start up on the V6 models that have had poor maintenance.

Hyundai now offer a 5 yr new car warranty, even the Police in London have started to use the i30 hatch as a general purpose vehicle, they are last years shape so may have been bought at a bargain price, but they were still trialled for a year prior to the big order going in.

Korean built cars will slowly take over from Japanese built cars in the reliability stakes, if they haven't already.

So A vote for Santa Fe here.

 

[JTK]

I love minivans, but a 1996 Caravan? Not so much. I'd take a nice late model Dodge Caravan or equivalent if the deal was right.

OTOH, the Santa Fe is a nice vehicle. I owned a 2008 2.7 GLS AWD. Very safe, comfortable, roomy and easy to do regular maintenance on. The ground clearance is nice. 2007-2009 would be my choice on them. No way I'd want the too many speed automatics they have on 2010+. I'd recommend 2.7, 4spd AT or 3.5 which only comes with 5spd auto.

Joel

 

[hypervish]

I sold my Grand Caravan a few months ago, I too got tired of throwing my money at it.

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted By: fxrider
Thats easy- Be American Buy American (Caravan)
West Point, Georgia, is America, is it not?

 

[Ramblin Fever]

I must admit, I DO love the van...it's VERY comfortable and roomy.

If we were to part with this van, it would be the cash from it and slightly more that would purchase something else; thus irregardless of vehicle purchased, it would be in the 05-07 range most likely.

Can't afford anything newer; been there and done that with car payments....no more. Everything's paid for and I like it.

For those that mentioned other vehicles, I appreciate the suggestions, but I'm only interested in either keeping the van, purchasing another *Dodge or Chrysler* or a Santa-Fe....I have no interest at all in Fords.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I can't imagine anyone sticking particularly to Chrysler products. We've had nothing but extremely poor luck with Chrysler products ... except for the 99 Caravan that made it to 250K with almost no maintenance.

The Santa Fe's are nice. I haven't been in the recent model Caravans, but the interior on the first generation Santa Fes is in line with the 99 and down Minivans.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
I can't imagine anyone sticking particularly to Chrysler products. We've had nothing but extremely poor luck with Chrysler products ... except for the 99 Caravan that made it to 250K with almost no maintenance.

The Santa Fe's are nice. I haven't been in the recent model Caravans, but the interior on the first generation Santa Fes is in line with the 99 and down Minivans.


IMHO...if I had it my way and *Isuzu* was still in production; I'd jump on another newer rodeo in a heartbeat!

I still currently own 2 rodeo's, a 91 with 355k miles and a 97 with 205k miles - both trucks have never had more then normal maintenance.

My concern is finding a reputable used vehicle, appears both the 02-06 santa fe's and the chrysler vans both have expensive/common issues...the more researching I'm doing, it appears the santa-fe's have front-end clunking problems, resulting in expensive repairs and the transaxle repairs can be sky high and complicated and cost as much as a new transmission, this failure seems high as well.

Not only that, I can't find any 04-06 Santa fe's in my area without a million miles for $9k or less.

Honestly, I don't know which road to go, or if we should just keep what we have....just don't know if it's worth continuing to put money in a 17yr old vehicle.

Seems no one offers a good, used mid-sized vehicle for less then $9k without major miles....ridiculous that our world has come to this.