I am looking at a 2000 grand caravan with 68000 Kilometers. It is a sport with the 3.8 engine, very good condition on the outside and inside. is there anything that I should watch out for or is it luck of the draw. the milage is low for the age but believable. I have been reading some of the posts here and wondering if I have to really watch out for the transmission to give out, is this a given or are there some out there with 10 years of driving on the original unit without major repairs, or should I be ready to buy a new tranny around a 150000 km

One of my 89 Caravans is still on the original tranny, 16 years with no maintenance besides checking the fluid, not even a filter change. The other 89 went about 8 years, then needed a rebuild. My 88 had a rebuild in 94, then it failed twice more in the same year, was rebuilt again at no cost by the garage that did the first rebuild. My 94 lost it's tranny in 2003, I opted to put a junkyard tranny in that one, it is now starting to slip and be balky about going into reverse when cold. So I think it's luck of the draw as to whether your tranny will last or not. I haven't had any fail at less than 140,000 miles. The 16 year old original equipment one is nearly 200,000 miles now.

Here are the problems I've had with my 2000: Tranny, motor mounts, power steering , cluster panel not working, air bag and horn not working( recall on spring behind steering wheel did fix this problem). These are constant problems, not just happening once or twice. The van is serviced regularly.

Update on my 94, I replaced the filter on the tranny and did a flush and fill with Mopar ATF+3 and it has stopped slipping and works like a dream.