94 T&C purchase

I am looking for a cheap van to use for business. I was searching autotrader and came up with a 94 Town and Country. Van looks very nice, exteremely clean and with all receipts and records from the second owner. Van has a total of 161k on it, and a rebuilt tranny with 15k on it.

Besides the tranny issues, what else can be a problem with these vans? I've never held Chrysler vehicles in high regard, but these vans (90-95?) seem to be very solid, except for trannys, but lots of domestic cars in the 90's (especially Fords) had tranny problems.

I'm looking just to keep some miles off the new car I bought last year, if I can get another year or so and 250k total miles out of the van without going broke, I'd be happy.

FWIW, one guy I know has 230k on a 93 Voyager and claims never to have changed the oil, just the filter and tops off the oil. A little extreme to me, but if there's any truth to that, that's amazing.

Thanks in advance for advice.

Buying any vehicle is a crap shoot regardless of it's reputation and these vans have a lousy one. Besides the tranny issues, based on this forum they appear to have electrical system issues too. On the up side, as with any vehicle, there are many out there who are very happy with their vans. I fall somewhere in between with my 96GC with 180k miles. It's had its problems but, it's veratility and ride are what's making me hang on to it. I've replaced the waterpump, starter, radiator, idler pulleys, instrument cluster, blower relay, and had a leaky transmission. There were a couple door issues but nothing serious. Right now the A/C leaks and the rear brakes are noisy when wet. After 11 years it still runs great and gives me 18-24mpg. On a 10 scale I'd give it a 6.

I've known people that never change their oil. One has owned numerous Fords with only one engine related problem. I can't explain it. They must be blessed soles.

What mileage did you replace the instrument cluster and how expensive and difficult was it? The van I am considering has the digital dash.

How are these vans to work on in general? I had an Aerostar, it wasn't much "fun" to do anything on except oil and filter changes and air filter. Those items were easy, anything else involved cursing and scraped knuckles.

Thanks.

I can't say on the cluster. It was change by the dealer under the warranty. The orange paint on the pointers was cracking.

The toughest regular maintenance task is probably changing the back 3 spark plugs. The left plug can be accessed by pushing the alternator back. The other two are accessed from under the van. I would guess it's a pain on any minivan with a 6 banger. Changing the drive belt can be a challenge. I wound up buying a special tool from Sears designed just for it. It's just an extra long bar you can put a shorty socket on. The shorty socket gives you access in a tight space and the long bar gives you extra leverage. All the other parts I listed previously are pretty straight forward....except the blower relay. It sits by itself behind the fuse/relay panel under the dash. Great fun to get to. I think the boys at Chrysler sat around a table with a case of beer and ceegars trying to come up with a way to drive a DIYer nuts on that one. The manuals don't show it. This forum told me where it was. If you ever need help, this forum is the place to visit. These guys have saved me many headaches and a fair sum of money. Cheers!

i have a '93 grand caravan with a little over 260k miles. my grandfather gave me this van when it had around 230k and over the past 18 months i have driven it about 60 mile per day between home,work,and school. most of the problems i have had were caused by me but i have to say its alot tougher than i thought. i have had a collision with a buick at about 30-35 mph which totaled the buick all i had to do is replace my radiator and beat a few thing back into shape. ive blown a head gasket which had to be fixed, had to replace a few hoses, rebuit the brakes, and replaced the fuel pump most of which im sure was caused by driving it at about 120mph for extended periods of time but other than that i havent had much trouble most everything was easily fixed within a day. i have had no trouble from the transmission yet so i would say youll probably be pleased with this vehicle.

The thing I would be leary of is the trans. If a Chrysler Group dealership worked on it then I would say it is OK. If anyone else worked on it, I would worry that it was not done properly. These transmissions require special fluid and many shops put the wrong fluid in them and then add a fluid addative to it to make it work (for a while). The base fluid is not compatible with the clutch material and causes it to flake off, wearing the trans out very quickly. I purchased a used '00 GC about a year ago and noticed that it had been serviced with the wrong fluid a couple of months prior to it being traded in. I had the fluid and filter changed, but when it is cold, it slips some on the first 1 - 2 shift. After the 1st shift it is fine.