Dodge Grand Caravan Questions
Car-and-Safety.com
Dodge Grand Caravan
Fri, 04 Mar 2011
I purchased a new Dodge Grand Caravan from Bankston Dodge of Grand ...
I purchased a new Dodge Grand Caravan from Bankston Dodge of Grand Prairie, Texas in May of 2008. Less than 8 months after that (around 12,000 miles) my front brakes went completely out with no indication whatsoever of any problems (The device that was supposed to audibly warn us rusted and didn't work correctly). Due to the severity of the problem we were forced to replace the Rotors, Drums, pads, calipers, basically the entire braking system on the front brakes at a cost of $600. At the time Dodge refused to pay, but eventually did after I reported the same type of problem with my vehicle less than a year later with my rear brakes..more on that later. A few short months later the mygig radio system in my car began to inexplicably turn itself on and off, thereby becoming useless for random periods of time. I took it in to be checked a few times during the warranty period but the could not find the cause of the problem. This problem still exists today. About a year and a half into the ownership of my car my battery blows a cell while on vacation, stranding my family on the side of the road in an unknown town while I hitch a ride with a kind stranger to a WalMart to purchase a new battery at a cost of about $80. A few months after that I am forced to replace my rear pads, drums and calipers due to ANOTHER brake system failure. This time I was able to catch it in time and they were able to sand my rotors down to save my costs. I had just gone over my warranty by 500 miles so Dodge refused to pay for the damage. In December of this year my Air Conditioning unit quit working. Due to money concerns I was unable to have it repaired until the 28th of February, when I took it into the local Dodge dealer and learned that a hose had broken. It cost me $445 dollars to replace a $71 dollar hose. On the way home from the dealer I had traveled about 10 minutes when I started hearing a squealing sound and smelled something burning. When I stopped at a traffic light one block from my local brake repair shop I saw a HUGE amount of smoke coming from the rear of my vehicle. I was able to coast in to the repair facility, where they immediately put my car in a bay. Upon inspection the technician discovered a complete brake failure. I had just had these brakes replaced less than 6,000 miles previously at this facility and the pads were completely destroyed. The calipers were destroyed, and the bearings had to be repacked because they had froze up. They were able to save the rotor by sanding it down, but the entire process ended up costing me an additional $234! My vehicle has 46,000 miles on it, but it was only 6,000 miles ago that I had the rear brake system serviced!! I have also had to have the line that delivers windshield solvent to my rear wipers replaced TWICE within 15,000 miles of each other.
Almost forgot...The panel that runs along the outer left side of my car that you are supposed to be able to rest your foot on broke about 6 months ago, as well as a part of one of the passenger seats, and a plastic part on my driver's seat. This car is less than 3yrs old and falling apart, and DODGE is unwilling to do anything to help me get out of this car and into one that won't consistently break down.
I contacted Dodge regarding the myriad of problems I have had with this car, and the only issue they would even consider helping me with was the brake problem. They stated that since the repairs were done at an independent facility they would only cover PART of the cost of the parts, and not any of the labor. When I spoke to them about all of the problems I have had, and told them that my car is LESS THAN 3 YEARS OLD they informed me that I was over the 36,000 mile warranty and that I should have purchased an extended warranty agreement. They would not comment on whether it was "normal" for a car less than 3yrs old with 46,000 mostly highway miles to have this many problems, but the case manager said that "the past is behind us now, and I refuse to comment on what is normal with our cars"
Either Dodge needs to do the right thing and help me get out of this crappy car! They have screwed over a lot of people and I would think that someone would be considering a class action lawsuit..if anyone is interested in starting a class action lawsuit PLEASE contact me!
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