After buying Tuna's 2011 Caravan, I find myself in a possession of an excess 05 Town and Country with 186,000 miles. This is the touring model which means it has all options except the DVD player. Leather, 3 zone climate control, power doors and liftgate, auto headlights and mirror, backup sensor and the bigger 3.8 v6 engine. Everything works as it should and it’s guaranteed to be at least 26.2% dog-hair free! Of course, most of that 26% is in the engine bay….
We've used it as our family truckster for trips back home to PA for the past 5 years, so all maintenance was done with a "I don't want to break down with 5 kids and 2 dogs" mindset :)
Under my stewardship it's had all normal maintenance such as rust repair under the rear doors, rust free fenders and hood from down south, shocks/springs/sway endlinks, ball joints, transmission fluid & filter, catalytic converter, etc. I keep a maintenance log you can inspect. I had originally intended to keep it about 5 more years, so I tried to maintain it for the long term until Tuna foiled my plans! That said, it’s a minivan; it’s not going to win any car shows and it has been in New England all its life. While not the last car you will ever buy, I suspect that it has at least solid 3 to 5 more years of life before requiring any invasive surgery.
There are a few little things about it:
- The traction control/ABS is disabled. I believe it's due to a wheel sensor, but I like it better without it so I haven't tried to fix it.
- There's a small rust hole on the bottom behind both front wheels. I was going to repair that this summer. It's currently been sealed internally and externally with Eastwood products.
- There's a slow AC leak, and I have to put 2 cans of 134a into it per year. The $14/year is still cheaper than tearing into the AC system to find the miniscule leak to me.
Craigslist Flunky asking price: $2200. GRM Friends & Family asking price: $1600.
These are great vans. We have an '02 Limited nearing 150k miles and it hasn't stranded us yet after many several-thousand mile road trips.
My A/C leak was in the passenger bottom corner of the condenser. Look for an oily patch collecting dirt. It was easy to replace, but I went ahead and did compressor and receiver/dryer while I had the system open.
maschinenbau said:
These are great vans. We have an '02 Limited nearing 150k miles and it hasn't stranded us yet after many several-thousand mile road trips.
My A/C leak was in the passenger bottom corner of the condenser. Look for an oily patch collecting dirt. It was easy to replace, but I went ahead and did compressor and receiver/dryer while I had the system open.
Good to know, thanks!
I'm hoping it'll be easy enough for the next owner, but for me when it takes less than 10 minutes per year and $20 to maintain, it just wasn't worth cracking open.
I've found a few vans of similar condition at the same price, so I'm dropping mine to try to scoop under the rest :) Now asking $2200 for GRMers.
Can vouch for the fact that this van is effective at doing your usual van things, such as traveling across town to pick up snacks in the middle of an endurance race. Free bump, Wonko :)
Figured I'd bump this up. I've had a few craigslist flunkies look at it, then, well, become craigslist flunkies. Anyone in GRM-land need a good dependable vehicle for cheap?
I have a 15-5/6 year old wanting a dog and a car. This might work except when backing up. Nobody can see behind these things
The dog hair would be great rather than owning a dog but you are too far.
It does have a backup sensor, which works quite well.
Since you're under the 2 Large ceiling, I'd post this in the $2018 classies. That's where the cheapskates hang out.
Good call. I'll have to find a mod to move it. It started @ $2200 GRM asking price, so I put it here.
Good thing this isn’t close to me. Do want.
wish it were closer.. I been wanting to do a "big block" 3.8 swap into a shadow or acclaim for a while..
I'd trust it to drive to cali tonight :) Do a fly and drive. Want compression numbers?
This isn't still available by any chance, is it?
No, sorry, it sold about a month or two ago. I didn't expect someone to dredge up this thread, so I didn't update it :)
Good luck on the search!
Thanks, I figured it was long gone, but wanted to reach out just in case!
