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1999 Dodge Caravan
Very Reliable and Economical
We bought this 7-passenger minivan used in July, 2001 with about 62,000 miles on it. It now has 198,091 miles, mostly highway, and has been extraordinarily reliable for us as a daily driver and family vacation/road trip car. It still fires right up, idles quietly and runs smoothly. The engine pulls strongly at all speeds and does not leak or burn oil. We purchased a newer ’02 Caravan two years ago and this van feels as good as the new van. I wouldn’t hesitate to jump in the car and drive it cross country today. If you need a lot of space but good mileage at a low price, this minivan is for you!
We are non smokers; van has never been smoked in as far as we know. No strange kid odors, either.
I drove the van daily after we got the new van, until last year when I purchased a Ford Escort for better gas mileage on my commute. Our last long trip in the caravan was to Texas at the end of 2006 and got 27 mpg hwy with the cruise control on. When I was using it to commute, I was getting 20-22 mpg. The car has been mostly sitting since.
The original plan was to sell the minivan when I go the Escort, but then my wife decided she wanted to keep the old van as a backup car, since it had been so reliable and we had two, less familiar cars. Our cars have been reliable for the past year, so we decided it was time to sell the older minivan. The pictures were taken last year after I convinced the kids that washing cars was fun. The van has been garaged for the most part, but has been parked outside for about the last few years.
The Good
The van has been amazingly reliable and would make a good, dependable daily driver. It’s a seven-passenger van, but we usually drove it with the middle (2 passenger) seat out, and moved the back (3 passenger seat) into the middle position, so we always had a ton of storage space for our family road trips. Interior is very clean and shows almost no wear and tear. The car has been to many locations around Michigan, several trips to Tennessee, and several trips to Colorado.
AC blows cold (new compressor 10/2006), and everything on the inside works fine: cruise control, intermittent front and rear wipers, AM/FM cassette with nice sound from the speakers, dual power remote mirrors, rear defrost. It also has dual sliding doors, which are pretty darned convenient.
I changed the oil and filter every 3,500 miles up until the van hit around 170k miles. Then, based on the mostly highway driving I was doing, and research on how the newer, better oils lasted longer, I switched to a 5,000 mile oil filter change interval.
This is a flex-fuel vehicle and the 3.3 liter V6 can run on regular gas or E85. I only used regular gas. Contact me if you want to test drive the car, but let me know well before the auction ends so we can work out a time.
The Bad
The van is due or almost due for many routine maintenance items, which is one of the reasons we are selling – we couldn’t justify spending money on a vehicle we rarely drive. These are things that I would take care of if I were driving it regularly.
Most of them are things you would/should do anyway when you first buy a used vehicle any, such as changing the fluids. However, none of them are things you must do immediately.
The tires are also getting worn and should be replaced. I had planned on getting new tires before last winter but ended up buying the Escort instead. Also, once in a great while, there is a little wind noise from the driver side front window. If I roll the driver’s window down a half inch and roll it back up, that stops the noise. The battery is from 2002.
These are the service items that I have receipts for, available on request:
Platinum spark plugs @ 132,094 miles on 7/29/04 (50k replacement interval) Serpentine belt @ 132,094 miles on 7/29/04 (I believe it’s a 60k or 75k interval but have to check to be sure) Rotate tires @ 170,318 miles on 5/12/06 New A/C compressor and O-rings, EGR valve @ 183,342 miles on 10/24/06 4 Wheel alignment and 10 point inspection @183,640 miles on 10/31/06 (this was right before our Texas trip)
I couldn’t dig up the receipts, but I believe the transmission oil was changed around 100k. I also believe the air filter was changed just before the Texas trip. The right rear wheel cover is missing – it fell off or was stolen somewhere in Texas. The gas cap is a Stanton replacement - someone stole our gas cap while at a rest stop coming back from Texas.
Also, the parking brake needs to be adjusted. It will engage and disengage fine, but will not hold the car on an incline. I live and park in flat areas, so I keep forgetting about it. You can feel the brake engage, but it doesn’t hold. Front brakes have plenty of pad left.
The Ugly
The exterior has many small dings, scratches and blemishes as you might expect from a 9 year old family car. Most of the pain is in solid condition. The bottom of the passenger side rear view mirror has a small chip out of the plastic housing. There are three major body blemishes: Windshield has a crack, about 6” long, in the lower left driver side. See picture with yellow arrow. This occurred several years ago and was treated with one of those window crack kits (acrylo-cyano-something or other). The crack is still visible in most lighting but does not obscure driver vision. The crack has not gotten larger over several years of driving at an average of 20k + miles a year. Driver’s side passenger (sliding) door has a deep scratch from late 2002. This is when I first started parking in an underground garage. There is short metal guard that covers a wire and sticks out next to a support post that I did not see when pulling into the spot. See picture of door below. It has a small amount of surface rust but has not gotten noticeably worse in the past 6 years. Rear hatch has a dent, from when I was rear-ended at a stop sign by an SUV in late 2003. The high bumper of the SUV hit the rear door instead of my bumper. The dent also has some surface rust and is just now beginning to bubble under some of the surrounding paint. See picture below. This should be bumped out from behind, sanded down, primed and repainted.
The Not So Fine Print – Terms and Conditions
By bidding on this item, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to all the terms and conditions.
There is a $400 NON REFUNDABLE deposit due via PayPal within 72 hours of the auction close. Payment is due in full via cashier’s or bank check, personal check* or cash (in person) within 14 calendar days of auction close. Please do not bid unless you can pay for the item. If you are unable to pay, you will be reported as a nonpaying bidder. I will not release the title before you pay for the car, let you “borrow” the car until you can get the money, allow you to make payments, or any of that other nonsense. I am not a dealer, car rental company, nor a bank. The NON REFUNDABLE deposit will be used to cover my eBay listing re-listing expenses in the event that the buyer wins and can't pay.
*If paying by cashier’s/bank check, you agree to contact me ahead of time with the details of the check so that I may independently call the issuing bank to verify the funds. If paying by personal check, you agree to contact me ahead of time with the checking account number, check number, and name on the check so that I may call the issuing bank to place a hold on the funds. If you do not wish to provide the information but still want to pay via check, you agree to wait until the check has cleared both banks before receiving the car and title.
You agree to meet with me at a MI Secretary of State office to transfer the title – they will require ID and check to see if you are a repeat offender. I will drive the vehicle to meet you there and you can drive the vehicle home, provided you have paid for the vehicle. If you are from IN or OH, please contact me first. I may be willing to drive to an IN/OH DMV office near the border. Canadian buyers must provide required driver license information and are responsible for import/brokerage fees, taxes, etc., to bring the car to Canada.
Vehicle is sold AS IS with no warrantees express or implied. I have tried to describe the vehicle to the best of my ability, but I may have missed or forgotten something. Also, although everything is mechanically fine as described above, that is not a guarantee that a check engine light won’t come on tomorrow, that the engine or transmission won’t suddenly self-destruct, or the flux capacitor needing 1.7 gigawatts to recharge. You agree to hold the seller harmless for any loss or damages as a result of this auction, and for any errors, defects or omissions in the description of the item.
The terms may sound a bit harsh, but this is the third vehicle I have offered on eBay. The first two were successful transactions with happy buyers. However, the first car had to be relisted because the buyer couldn’t come up with the money, wanted me to sign over the title while she made payments on it, then wanted me to let her drive it while she made payments on it with me holding the title. Read the terms, look at my feedback, and decide if you agree to everything BEFORE you bid. Do NOT bid if you do not agree with everything.
Also, I will not ship the car overseas, nor will I accept a cashier’s check that you happened to have from some previous deal and give you difference for over the amount , or do anything with W3stern Uni0n or m0ney 0rders*. Old scams, but scammers are optimistic. Please don’t waste my time or yours.
*Apparently, I can't use those words even to say I won't accept those types of payment, so I had to replace some letters. Sorry for the l33tsp34k.
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