Vehicle would you choose? Caravan or Santa Fe?

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Ramblin Fever


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.


Yessir. Unfortunately that's the world we live in now. Deals can be had if you have lots of time, luck or are willing to do some wrenching.

Sounds like you've got enough vehicles in the fleet anyway! I hear you on the Rodeo. I miss my 2002! FWIW, my Santa Fe got just a few more MPGs than that truck based Rodeo 3.2L 4x4 AT.

Joel

 

[rjundi]

Your current Caravan.

You just spent $4k+ on it. It is doubtful you will spend that much any time soon.

IMHO a newer Caravan is no better. Hyundai in that vintage is iffy and has expensive timing belts to change beyond mediocre MPG.

 

[Doog]

After $4k I would fix it and drive it to 200K

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Originally Posted By: Doog
After $4k I would fix it and drive it to 200K


Me too....but it's not totally up to me to decide that. It's my Mom's van; personally, I think she's simply mad at it right now and she's fearing that more problems will keep occuring.

It probably would be different if she'd been the original owner, but the van was given to her over a year ago, the previous driver was her father-in-law and there's no telling how rough he was with it.

This van is not the typical Caravan; but rather the Town/country version, fully loaded with captains chairs, etc....it's very very nice, not too mention comfortable.

If it was me, there'd be no question, I'd keep it in a heartbeat; that said, 4 different shops have quoted over $1k to fix the blend doors/actuator for the heat controls.

My Dad's already torn half the underside of the dash apart trying to get to these parts; there's just not much more the general home mechanic can do in this regard.

 

[mva]

Do yourself a favour and buy a Toyota Sienna - night and day in terms of reliability compared to any chrysler product or Santa fe.

The Toyota will come out way ahead even if you have to go a little older or higher mileage, as long as all required scheduled maintenance has been done.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

If you buy another Chrysler minivan, you're going to run into the same issues again. Chrysler didn't just make ONE bad minivan ... they made a bunch. Everything that went wrong with this one is going to go wrong with the next one.

I liked my Ford Taurus; I did not and will not buy another one because of how bad they rust.

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: mva
Do yourself a favour and buy a Toyota Sienna - night and day in terms of reliability compared to any chrysler product or Santa fe.


And this is based on??

 

[whip]

Originally Posted By: bigjl


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

Where does this come from? I have three friends with Kias and Hyundais, and they don't seem that reliable to me. All of them have rust coming thru the paint. One has had CV joint issues within 100,000 miles, and the other has had transmission problems. The other one seems to be in the shop for small random issues about every 3-4 months.
Until the Korean cars have 10-15 years of better reliability, I'll pass.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: whip
All of them have rust coming thru the paint. One has had CV joint issues within 100,000 miles, and the other has had transmission problems. The other one seems to be in the shop for small random issues about every 3-4 months.
Until the Korean cars have 10-15 years of better reliability, I'll pass.


"Domestics" don't have these problems as well?? You could argue this all day long.

Believe me. I'm not pro Korean vehicles in any way. I owned one and had some unusual failures, but their vehicles are no worse (or better) than anything else on the road today.

Joel

 

[caravanmike]

i've had good luck with a 2001 short 3.3L caravan with high mileage.

and my brother is having good luck with his 04 santa fe 2.7L other than what was mentioned above (minor).

 

[mva]

Originally Posted By: Tim H.
Originally Posted By: mva
Do yourself a favour and buy a Toyota Sienna - night and day in terms of reliability compared to any chrysler product or Santa fe.


And this is based on??


Have a look at Consumer Report's reliability survey results (annual car issue) for the past 10 years. Toyotas consistently have the best ratings; chrysler consistently produces unreliable vehicles with poor ratings. Hyundai is a little better but still have lots of issues compared to Toyota.

I have owned a 2000 Sienna since 2001 and it now has over 300,000 km. During the 11 years of ownership it has been the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. The only things I have had to replace or fix are the brakes, battery, one timing belt and a window switch. All engine, suspension and drivetrain components are original and it has no visible rust.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

MVA - I have an 04 Tacoma; while it's been a good truck, it's not the easiest thing to do simple general maintenance on; and general parts are pretty pricey.

And one can forget buying a used Toyota minivan for $6k with less then 250k miles, no thanks.

For a 17yr old Chrysler, I have to give Chrysler kuddo's on this minivan, it's done well for it's age; we're talking 17yrs not 11yrs of age.

No money was ever put into this van maintenance/repair wise until we got it over a year ago; so it was roughly 15.5yrs old before anything was done to it....so reliability value, I can't complain.

That being said; as some of you have stated; my Mom wouldn't be able to find another kindly used vehicle worth the same value, for $6-7k; this with me talking and showing her the costs of newer, but used vehicles in her price range, which from Chevy options all the way to Hyundai's would result in spending $9-12k for used vehicles in the 130-160k mile range.

In the end, she could end up with someone else's problems and be back to square one anyways.

On this van, the new transmission is covered under warranty for 3yrs, so aside from any major engine issues (non-existent at this time, hopefully it stays that way), it's worth keeping at least until then.

Thank you guys for all your help; I do have to say this hasn't been a *bad* minivan, for it's age, it's held up extremely well....most transmission fail long before 17yrs of age.

Problem with this van is my grand-father was taking it in to have general maintenance stuff done, but I can prove that nothing was ever being done to it; though they were charging him a fortune.

 

[cptbarkey]

hmm i'd throw in the towel on that money pit personally. get a 01-07 vintage with the 3.8L with as low mileage as you can find. they are all dirt cheap and an excellent value.

my parents have owned 4 caravans since 1990 and all have treated them well.

i went another direction with a 2011 sienna, excellent van but it is hella expensive.

 

[zzyzzx]

I also would keep driving the caravan.

 

[zerosoma]

I love the way Caravans ride but the Santa Fe is a superior vehicle, IMO.

I have a 1st Gen Santa Fe ('04) and we haven't had hardly any trouble to speak of. The electronics are the most common thing that goes out on them, and we have had a small taste of that with the seatbelt sensor not working (little red man in car seat stays on) and the ODO partly disappearing but then coming back on after a moment.

My other gripes : the tailgate door does not open sometimes due to it getting stuck. It finally got stuck for good one day so I had to pry it open with a screwdriver and (for lack of WD40), put some castrol (haha!) on the hinge and now it's really smooth and opens 100% of the time.

The accelerator is very touchy (was a TSB for it) and the slightest push will send it rocketing forward. Brakes are hard to apply due to the weight but that could just be my vehicle. I get 15 - 24 mpg mix of city/hwy.

The vehicle started on fire once due to a mechanic leaving his shop rag in there but nothing was harmed. The vehicle was on fire for 5 minutes. Had it checked out, fine. I still can't believe it didn't blow. That might have been more of a God thing, though. It smelled like mechanical burning for the next couple weeks but it went away shortly after.

We have a 4WD model and that thing is a BAJA BEAST in south dakota snows. I got it stuck ONCE and that was because I tested it to its limits and got it stuck in 3 feet of snow, high centered. That was stupidity though...had to get a payloader to dig us out.

All in all I would recommend it. Those problems/issues/critiques above are the ONLY things I could ever say about my Santa Fe. The rest has been, in the words of Kobe Bryant, "all good!"

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: Ramblin Fever

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.


Just keep looking, you will find your pot of gold. One quick but very important tip - if you buy a Santa Fe with over 60k on it, ask to see maintenance records to see if the timing belt has been changed. It is a $1200+ job or maybe $800 if you are lucky. If it snaps, you're done for.

 

[Rock_Hudstone]

Originally Posted By: Ramblin Fever
If it was me, there'd be no question, I'd keep it in a heartbeat; that said, 4 different shops have quoted over $1k to fix the blend doors/actuator for the heat controls.

Dump it.

Just because four grand has been dropped into it doesn't mean it owes them anything, and its still not fixed. Never spend big bucks on an old high mileage vehicle, too much of a gamble. Better to use that cash for a down payment on something newer.

1996 was the first year after the redesign and could be troublesome, as most first year models are. I have a 2000 GC (last year for the 3rd gen) with over 120,000mi and no major issues besides the A/C evaporator leak, a common Caravan weak spot.

If you decide on another Chrysler van, do some research, find out which 2001-07 models are more reliable, typically a couple years after a redesign when most of the bugs are worked out.

Find a clean, low miler, stay away from AWD , rear A/C models and drive a hard bargain.

Oh, don't used dealer service departments, find an honest local mechanic.

 

[2Fast4U]

My wife had a 98 stratus that i managed to string along to 175k. It was probably up on my ramps at least once a month. From paint fade to multiple ac compressors, door locks window motors starters multiple fuel pumps starter water pumps ball joints. If there is one thing I learned it is you never stop putting money in a dodge. To me they are simple [censored]. I even saw a new style charger last year that had the typical dodge paint fade.