2008 Chrysler Town and Country/ Dodge Grand Caravan (Still Cool!)

  • Thread starter Thread starter YSSMAN
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My friend has an 04 Venture. All he does is hunt for parts and gripe about service. That car has about a fourth of the mileage my sedan has on it, and it's spent at least half of the last two years in the shop.

IRS, AFAIK, is important. Granted, the "more sophisticated" Japanese minivans aren't a roaring success over there, but they're bread and butter in other markets, and the Big 2.5 really has to think globally to compete.
 
I think engine power and good value (features per dollar) are a lot more important that independent rear suspension in the minivan game. You car guys often forget it's not you they're aiming at, but soccer moms and dads - they don't know what independent rear suspension is, and they certainly can't tell the difference between suspension types.
 
But they can feel the difference.

Don't get me wrong, I've ridden some leaf-sprung trucks in the past few months that have wowed me in their ability to provide a decent ride compared to some coil sprung ones, but by and large, most coil sprung rides better.

The best riding vans, locally, all have coil sprung rears, whether live axle or IRS. With increasing consumer awareness, I expect leaf-sprung vehicles to become less and less competitive.
 
They certainly should be less competitive, but I'm not sure if I'm seeing it.

Then again I said buyers wouldn't be able to tell the difference between OHV and OHC and look how that's going now.
 
harrytuttle
A shape that has proved to be impractical when?

It's a minivan. It gets lots of people from A to B. It doesn't look cool, it doesn't move quickly, it just has lots of space and hopefully lots of comforts. This one looks cool as hell inside.
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Just because it's a 'minivan' doesn't mean it has to look boring and dated on the outside - it's possible to be practical and interesting to look at.

Replace the soothing colour scheme with a primary colour version and it wouldn't look out of place in the Fisher Price range.
 
M5Power
They certainly should be less competitive, but I'm not sure if I'm seeing it.

Then again I said buyers wouldn't be able to tell the difference between OHV and OHC and look how that's going now.
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I think you're selling a lot of buyers short. besides, car magazines do play a large role in what people buy, and I'd think they know differences in technology.
 
TheCracker
Just because it's a 'minivan' doesn't mean it has to look boring and dated on the outside - it's possible to be practical and interesting to look at.
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Yeah, but heres the problem; All of the interesting minivans are sold in Europe, not in America. So unless you guys are intent on sending boat-loads of S-Maxes and Espaces, looks like our best options from minivans are going to come from DCX, Hyundai, and Honda.
 
TheCracker
Just because it's a 'minivan' doesn't mean it has to look boring and dated on the outside - it's possible to be practical and interesting to look at.
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Nissan tried that, then ran away screaming because no-one was even remotely interested.
 
the minivan looks ok. as for the arguments about other countries minivans, they dont look any better than this does. its a minivan, the person whos buying it probably thinks 3.8 liters is how much oil the engine needs. who ever is buying a minivan [ and these ugly Japanese traps that are taking over america (no offense to anyone who likes them)] doesn't care how it looks, they mostly care about gas mileage, how many people can fit in it, and the interior options.

another thing, what is wrong with leaf springs. the first thing i hear whenever someone from another country is testing or talking about an american car they always comlain about leaf springs. im gunna get on a show that tests cars just so i can say eeeew uni-body :yuck:, lol.

lastly, what is wrong with the calibur and nitro. sigh, everybody hates american engineering, even americans. :( im moving to australia with the real v8 fans. :lol:
 
YSSMAN
Yeah, but heres the problem; All of the interesting minivans are sold in Europe, not in America. So unless you guys are intent on sending boat-loads of S-Maxes and Espaces, looks like our best options from minivans are going to come from DCX, Hyundai, and Honda.
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You'd probably find them too small for your general tastes. We get the T&C/Caravan (badged here as a Chrysler Voyager) and the 'Grand' version is probably the biggest minivan, or MPV as we call 'em, available in Europe. They certainly don't sell in the same quantities as the much smaller Scénic, Zafira, Picasso or Multipla.
 
Indeed, Americans have never been interested in the smaller minivans so popular in Europe.
 
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