Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

Dodge Caravan

What it says about you

Opinion

The vehicle that invented the segment. Somebody's entire childhood happened in one of these.

Not measured, not from the data, and offered in fun. Everything below this is not.

12 model years on record, 1,453 complaints filed.

The years to look at closely: 2008 (electrical system), 2005 (locks). Everything else drew a normal number of complaints for this model.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • electrical system 2008, 2009 peak 36.4% of that year's complaints
  • bags 2008, 2009 peak 22.9% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2017 1 recall 1 complaints
  2. 2016 0 recalls 2 complaints
  3. 2015 0 recalls 23 complaints
  4. 2014 0 recalls 20 complaints
  5. 2013 0 recalls 30 complaints
  6. 2012 0 recalls 87 complaints
  7. 2011 0 recalls 78 complaints
  8. 2009 2 recalls 118 complaints
  9. 2008 electrical system 302 complaints
  10. 2007 4 recalls 82 complaints
  11. 2006 6 recalls 173 complaints
  12. 2005 locks 537 complaints

What does a Dodge Caravan say about you?

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Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.