What to look for when buying a used Caravan?

[spielightdude]

Hi everyone,

I am considering with my DJ buis. and all buying a used caravan but before I go out hunting are there any tips or tricks I should know about "what to look for or avoid, overall reliability of the diffrent engine options?"

I am looking to spend upto around 4-5000.

It has to be a sturdy rig as I am also a full time college student and money is tight.

Thanks everyone!

[mwrobe1]

If its a 97-99 4-banger, make sure that it had the headgasket replaced...the factory ones were faulty those years.

For any year...make sure the tranny shifts correctly and the fluid isn't burnt.

For 97-00? make sure the strut towers arent rusting away.

For any 3.0's...be really anal about checking for ANY kind of oil leak...stay away from any that look like they've been seeping oil (I know thats an obvious check for any used car...but its my $0.02)

[Stretch58]

I have had really good luck with a 2000 Grand Caravan, of course, I take really good care of it. I like the 3.0 engine, it is a timing chain as opposed to a timing belt engine. Mine has 111K on it now. As always, have someone you trust look it over real good including on the rack. Look at the fluids and see if they are reasonably clean. Watch at the rear and make sure there is not a puff of smoke when it is first started(oil burner). Look at the inside real good for signs a slob owned it.
Look it up using the VIN at www.carfax.com to get a history of the title to see if it came from the gulfcoast(flooded) or maybe a salvage title. It is not a free report, but may save you from getting screwed.
Good Hunting
Stretch

[doratheexplorer]

I'm biased toward the 3.0 with the 3-speed ('95 Voyager 102K miles): it's been easy to work on. My advice is get a prospect inspected by a mechanic before commiting, and budget $1K to $3K for years '94 - '97. I'd walk away from a prospect if it smokes (white, blue, or black).

[spielightdude]

Thanks everyone,

Thakfully i have used carfax in the past and helped my sister avoid a neon that had been a fleet car and when she test drove it had a weird smell and you could hear water sloshing around in the body panels of the car!

I live in CT and was able to track it from North Carolina to Indiana to South Carolina but from there it had no record of it getting to CT so we were a little iffy about that one.

I would be using the caravan to haul some heavy DJ equipment so the 4 banger I am affraid to buy as I have never had good luck with 4's and fear that a 4 will not last as long as a 6.

I like the thoughts of a timeing chain vs. a belt!

I must admitt I like the looks of the newer sloped front end look vs. the older "snub nose?" front ends. Don't really know how else to describe it.

How would I be able to tell if the tranny fluis is burnt is it a smell or color?

Thanks to you all and if I have any other "?"s I'll post them here but for now its off to the hunt for 1!

Thanks again,

Joe

[neon_rt]

A lot of people seem to have trouble with these vans, I have owned 3 and have not experienced these problems (205K miles combined since '99). My latest '00 GC I bought used. It had 85K miles on it and the trans slipped some going into 1st gear. Turns out the a quick oil change place had flushed and filled the trans with the wrong fluid shortly before I bought it. I changed the fluid (2 times) and filter. I have not had any trouble since then. A mechanic I talked to said that 9 of 10 trans failures are from the wrong fluid being put in. Of the trans that actually fail from other causes (10%) half of those are pre-mature failure due to an electronic problem that is not corrected by the trans shop. The trans shop rebuilds the trans and it fails in a short time, over and over again, until someone fixes the computer/solenoid pack problem.

[Bernard Feltzer]

You should be looking for a large bottle of aspirin in the glove compartment.
When you buy a used car, you get somebody else's headaches.