Topic: Dodgy Dodge or a Real Gem!

[Ontariodriver]

I see all these Dodge products on the road and wonder why or who buys Dodges. Are they any good. Press reviews are less than stellar. They sales seems to be up and they are tons of them on the road mostly brand new. We hear a lot from GM owners but not dodge owners. So what's the deal. Tells us your story of Dodge ownership.

[RunsinLight]

Although I know people who have been very happy with their high mileage Dodges, personally I avoid them. Only one I'd remotely considering buying is a Wrangler.  As for how many are on the road, is that because of price, incentives?

[Fobroader]

I wouldnt buy a Chrysler.....we have a Wrangler, not a bad vehicle, but it would be a lot better with a drivetrain swap. I love the cummins diesel, too bad it has that growth of a dodge truck around it.

[revalations]

All the Dodge owners I know are fairly satisfied with their vehicles, but the Dealers are terrible! On other forums I frequent there have been many entire threads dedicated to poor dealings with Dodge dealerships, the other day I stumbled upon a new Facebook group trying to run a local Dodge dealer out of town. They seem to be really problematic in Alberta.

[phazotron]

Well, if you are really looking for a Dodge story: My dad bought a new 1986 Caravan for ~16k (all in) in mid-line trim, with the upgraded 2.6L Mitsubishi four cylinder (~109 hp) and the 3 speed auto + air. The only other option I recall is the upgraded AM/FM radio and the larger sized fuel tank.  Anyway, in the decade and a bit that he owned it, it went to on accumulate something north of 300k (exact value unknown as the speedo/odometer cable broke near the end and he didn't fix it). Aside from the being the daily hauler, family trips included various outings to the US, including Florida, many to Montreal and the big trip to Mexico in '89. During that trip, we got robbed by a traffic cop in Mexico City and cracked the transmission case when we crossed what appeared to be a small shallow puddle but wasn't in Tampico. in crossing the puddle, we bottomed the van it left two nasty gashes on the transmission case. The tranny case held it together for the 7000km trip and died a couple of years later when the cracks started leaking tranny fluid.  The only big beef we had with it was a total lack of power (we would turn off the ac when climbing hills or passing other cars) and the fact the the heater vent practically quit on us early on forcing us to more or less freeze in winter, just enough heat to sloooowly melt the windshield. Other than that, lots of fond memories.  One funny anecdote about the engine, it had a tendency to diesel which it did once is up on the mileage and it got hot. With the carburetor and mechanical fuel pump, it would just keep going all by itself with the ignition off for a few minutes!

My dad has not bought another Chrysler product since though...

[Sir Osis of Liver]

My uncle has bough Chrysler products since his late 1950s Coronet. He currently has a 2011(?) Journey (can't remember if it was the SXT or R/T). He doesn't seem to have much by way of problems now. Back in the 1970s and 1980s though, some of his cars were trouble prone.

[Ontariodriver]

My dad has not bought another Chrysler product since though...

Sounds like your got money's worth. So not all bad. Even though he doesn't want another. 

[revalations]

Well, if you are really looking for a Dodge story: My dad bought a new 1986 Caravan for ~16k (all in) in mid-line trim, with the upgraded 2.6L Mitsubishi four cylinder (~109 hp) and the 3 speed auto + air. The only other option I recall is the upgraded AM/FM radio and the larger sized fuel tank.  Anyway, in the decade and a bit that he owned it, it went to on accumulate something north of 300k (exact value unknown as the speedo/odometer cable broke near the end and he didn't fix it). Aside from the being the daily hauler, family trips included various outings to the US, including Florida, many to Montreal and the big trip to Mexico in '89. During that trip, we got robbed by a traffic cop in Mexico City and cracked the transmission case when we crossed what appeared to be a small shallow puddle but wasn't in Tampico. in crossing the puddle, we bottomed the van it left two nasty gashes on the transmission case. The tranny case held it together for the 7000km trip and died a couple of years later when the cracks started leaking tranny fluid.  The only big beef we had with it was a total lack of power (we would turn off the ac when climbing hills or passing other cars) and the fact the the heater vent practically quit on us early on forcing us to more or less freeze in winter, just enough heat to sloooowly melt the windshield. Other than that, lots of fond memories.  One funny anecdote about the engine, it had a tendency to diesel which it did once is up on the mileage and it got hot. With the carburetor and mechanical fuel pump, it would just keep going all by itself with the ignition off for a few minutes!

My dad has not bought another Chrysler product since though...

You're story brought back lot's of memories! Our family had a LOADED 86 caravan, complete with woodgrain siding and wire wheels! It had the same 2.6 mca engine. First trip was to Vancover with four adults and two kids, we were chugging up hills at 30km/h with semi's and motorhomes whizzing by! That Van was so terribly underpowered it wasn't funny. It holds a special place in my heart though, it was the vehicle I first learned to drive in (legally) when I was 14. It too in the later years started the dieseling trick, on occasion, you would turn it off, it would diesel for 30 seconds, and then it would let out this eardrum shattering backfire and then stall. Fun times at the co-op parking lot when it did that!

[phazotron]

My dad has not bought another Chrysler product since though...

Sounds like your got money's worth. So not all bad. Even though he doesn't want another. 

On second reading, my last sentence does have a negative vibe.  It should have read that he hasn't bought another Chrysler product since but not because he's absolutely avoiding them.

Another observation about that Caravan vs my swb Montana SV6: they are both about the same size but I have about twice the power, two sliding doors and much better crash protection  - that Caravan didn't have headrests!

[Arthur Dent]

Our 2000 Neon was a fantastic car. But we bought it used and let someone take a depreciation beating.

[Firm]

Only Chrysler we ever had in the family was a 1985 Jeep Cherokee Wagoneer....My dad bought it used 2 days after I was born to use as a kid hauler. It was loaded with just about everything available in 1985, even the fake wood and some really cushy leather seats. But it was probably the most unreliable vehicle I've every been associated with...Constantly in the shop with driveline issues, if I remember correctly a lot of them were linked to the "select-trac" system which allowed you to shift in and out of 4x4 while driving along - apparently that was a big deal back then.

[revalations]

Only Chrysler we ever had in the family was a 1985 Jeep Cherokee Wagoneer....My dad bought it used 2 days after I was born to use as a kid hauler. It was loaded with just about everything available in 1985, even the fake wood and some really cushy leather seats. But it was probably the most unreliable vehicle I've every been associated with...Constantly in the shop with driveline issues, if I remember correctly a lot of them were linked to the "select-trac" system which allowed you to shift in and out of 4x4 while driving along - apparently that was a big deal back then.

I had about the same vintage Jeep, just before the 4.0 Inline six came out. Mine had the gutless GM 2.8L V6, the select trac was problematic. It was all vaccum operated and hardly ever worked properly. It had 180,000 km when I got it, it spun a bearing when I pushed it too hard coming home from a mountain biking trip in Kananaskis.

[phazotron]

My dad has not bought another Chrysler product since though...

Sounds like your got money's worth. So not all bad. Even though he doesn't want another. 

On second reading, my last sentence does have a negative vibe.  It should have read that he hasn't bought another Chrysler product since but not because he's absolutely avoiding them.

Another observation about that Caravan vs my swb Montana SV6: they are both about the same size but I have about twice the power, two sliding doors and much better crash protection  - that Caravan didn't have headrests!

Lets see, your comparing vehicles that were manufactured almost 20 years apart, I would hope that your van would be better. 

Sheesh! I know my van has some improved tech. I just pointed out a couple of obvious observations, sorta like those articles that mention how certain V6's today produce as much hp as some v8's from not too long ago.   

[tooscoops]

well, i obviously have a large background of chrysler group stuff... from jeeps, amc's, dodge, plymouth, chrysler, eagle, ram....

they had their issues in the past (and i'm sure there will be some in the future... all cars will eventually break), but i've found that the build a darn good car for your buck these days...

here are the most common gripes i've had...
-transmissions (pre-2001[ish]) especially the vans
-truck front ends
-certain gens having rust issues. notably the stratus/breeze/cirrus hoods
-neon head gaskets
-base models usually underpowered
-nothing to write home about fuel usage wise
-noisy, thrashy use of cvts
-interiors, mainly from about 2004-2010. cheap, hard and poorly designed

any other older problems than those are really history, not something i'd even glance at speaking about newer models.

right now the best things they are making are the ram trucks, the grand cherokees, the wrangler (the the right people)...

the big sellers though are the value ones... the 200, journey, grand caravan... not the best cars out there, but at the prices they sell them for, it really is hard to ignore them... they are built alright, decent options and cheapest things in their classes.

i've got some biases for sure, but i like to think i'm pretty realistic about it.

[mrthompson]

The wife's 04 Grand Caravan needs swaybar/front end bushings about once a year but that's been about it for annoying repairs.  We've had the van for 3 years now.  It has 222k kms and it still runs and drives very well.  We've done brake work and a wheel bearing in that time.  It's reliable but the quality isn't top notch.   It has some underside surface rust that I must attend to, otherwise it's still solid.

Our previous van was a 99 standard Caravan.  We had it for 4 years and had to replace front end bushings yearly.  The power steering pump and lines had to be replaced.  We bought it with about 165k and got rid of it at around 220k.   The rear lift gate rusted really bad at the bottom on the passenger side.  I started grinding away the rust and a huge void appeared.  Fiberglass and bondo were called in for the fix.  It had a bad valve and it would not pass the e-test.  Instead of doing engine work, I opted to get rid of it and buy the 04.

My 1994 Cherokee Country was fairly reliable and durable.  But I'm sure getting stuck off road a few times shortened the life of some driveline components and increased the tendency for highway speed vibrations.  I replaced the water pump and every u-joint at least once.  I bought the Jeep with 170k and got rid of it 4 years later with 266k.  The engine and trans were still A1.  The body was still very solid with only a few rust spots appearing on the rockers.  The SelecTrac system worked amazingly well. 

[Firm]

Only Chrysler we ever had in the family was a 1985 Jeep Cherokee Wagoneer....My dad bought it used 2 days after I was born to use as a kid hauler. It was loaded with just about everything available in 1985, even the fake wood and some really cushy leather seats. But it was probably the most unreliable vehicle I've every been associated with...Constantly in the shop with driveline issues, if I remember correctly a lot of them were linked to the "select-trac" system which allowed you to shift in and out of 4x4 while driving along - apparently that was a big deal back then.

I had about the same vintage Jeep, just before the 4.0 Inline six came out. Mine had the gutless GM 2.8L V6, the select trac was problematic. It was all vaccum operated and hardly ever worked properly. It had 180,000 km when I got it, it spun a bearing when I pushed it too hard coming home from a mountain biking trip in Kananaskis.

Yup, ours had the 2.8L as well...Gutless, but the engine was the one part of that truck that was reliable. I think it has about 300,000kms when we got rid of it in 1998.

[PJungnitsch]

I drove the previous-gen Dodge trucks for a lot of miles in my rangeland job and they were pretty good. Mine froze up the breather in -30 once and that was about it. Not as stable on washboard as the Fords but AFAIK that was just an aftermarket shock swap fix.

[Northernridge]

My 2005 Doge was fabulous and flawless for the 102k that I owned it.

As seen at Yellowstone Lake.

[Bubba]

I've owned three Chrysler products: 1972 Dart Swinger, 2 door, 318/auto; 1980 Volare sedan, slant-six/auto; 2002 Sebring, 2.4L 4 cyl/auto. 

All three made runs down the drag strip.  None of them ever left me stranded.

The Volare was purchased new by my grandparents in April 1980.  I purchased it from Grandma in 1993 when it had 44,000 km.  I kept it for 10 years and added another 100,000 to the odometer.  I regret selling it.

The Sebring's build date was September 12, 2001 so it's 12th birthday is coming right up.  The car just past the 145,000 km mark on the weekend.  The only non-maintenance things requiring replacement have been the crankshaft position sensor and a solenoid on the trans.

I'll likely buy another Chrysler product a few years down the road.