Learn me Dodge Caravan

Im currently driving a 2019 caravan rental. Picked it up with 5 miles on it, new as new gets. Its pretty awful. Probably my biggest gripe is the absolutely horrible radio/infotainment. Its quite a battle just getting the bluetooth to hook up. If you manage to get it happy, then turn off and get back in, you are greeted by loud radio static. It does not stay in aux or “media” mode. Ive had it freak out and drop, could not reconnect and had to turn off the van and restart to get it hooked up. The power seems ok very low, it will try to spin the tires easy, then pretty flat until like 5500. Taking off its very jerky. You either coast or people think your trying to race them. The power doors are terrible. Slow and just terrible to deal with. It has a 2nd knob for passenger temp control but no override option to have it follow the main temp knob. The dashboard gear shifter is goody. Tried to put the back seat down, wont budge. 

Seat is fairly comfy. Lots of room in the back. Looks ok as far as mini vans go. I like that the sliding door windows roll down. 

Ah. New gripe. Just had a customer call me so i select to answer with my phone as the bluetooth seems to be pretty crummy. Answer on phone, start talking and BOOP it shoots automatically to crummy bluetooth. Lovely. Pretty happy i get to drop this pile off tomorrow. 

In reply to TJL :

Bummer--- sorry for your trouble.  My 14 has the standard (non nav) radio with Bluetooth and it works flawlessly.  Very easy to use and way more intuitive then most systems.   Sounds good too. 

All the seats should "stow" easily.  There are grab straps numbered to let you know the sequence.  Perhaps your's has something jammed, as they usually fold remarkably easily. 

In reply to Joe Gearin :

I agree - the seats should practically take your hand off trying to fold into the floor.  At least mine have in both my '08 and '17.

Having a well-optioned van is something of a double-edge sword.  Some things I like (heating steering wheel? Where has this been my whole life???). And other things are nice to have compared to my old van that had few options. That said, the power sliding doors I could do without.  The passenger side definitely has something wrong with it.  I can't get it to open at all.  And I agree it's slower than I'd like compared to simply just opening the door manually. I haven't tried the blue-tooth in my van since I don't really use the phone as part of my ICE nor do I typically take calls when I'm driving.  The in-dash navigation sucks compared to Google-maps on my phone, so I don't use it.

In reply to TJL :

I rented a new 2800 mile Caravan today too. Not bad, not great.   I drove from Nashville to Alabama.   For a boring work car I could drive one but then again I’m driving a minivan - not the worst thing in the world.  

In reply to Ian F :

I don’t even know why they make nav standard in cars anymore. It’s “dated” by the time the car hits the showroom.

Had the radio been more intuative like every other rental i get, i wouldnt have hated it nearly as much. The only USB i could find is on the radio so you will have cables running around. 

Not sure if i mentioned it but the radio used voice recognition for setting up bluetooth and it will finish all its options before listening to you. It was quite funny, it repeats the device name you say, so i was pissed and cussing, the thing confirmed that the device name was “BERK YOU”.  No option to just go to setting, click bluetooth, pair device, done. 

And the transmission was definitely whining when i dropped it off with about 440 something miles on it. 

I only got the van because the 2018-2019 jeep wrangler they gave me at first stank of cig smoke and there is no way im living with that. And since nobody wanted a mini van, they offered a free day credit if i took the van. The jeep felt so cheap and uncomfortable. And had the same crummy radio. Safe to say im very much so not a chrystler fan. 

I figured out what was up with the back seat, maybe. The pull lever numbered “1” should be 2. 1 should be put the seat back down. If you just grab pull rope #1, you get nothing. 

Either way its been dropped off and im on a plane leaving Houston Hobby airport(hello Mazduece and other houston area  folks) from a layover.

In reply to TJL :

Mine had the engine that turns off at stoplights.   I don’t like that feature.  

Ian F said:

In reply to poopshovel again :

Mine is an ex- Enterprise rental, but seems to be OK.  Had less than 25K miles and came with a CPO warranty from a dealer.  It does have a couple of issues, but nothing I can't live with for now. Otherwise, it's mechanically fine.  It securely hauls my bikes around and comfortably covers long highway drives with aplomb, which is exactly what I need.  

Mine is an ex-rental as well. We are at 89,000 miles now and it’s all just oil changes and tires to this point. Doing a trans service and brakes next week if I get two days off together. 

My ‘91 Voyager has a potent factory stereo with working cassette deck that I still use regularly. The factory stereo in my ‘15 GC leaves me begging for more when a good song comes on. 

Aside from a weird blend door issue the ‘15 does everything the Swiss Army knives of daily drivers should do.

I joined the club a couple weeks ago with a 2011 Routan SE with 89k miles. Yes, the 2nd row seats do not stow into the floor but do offer more bolstering and comfort, and you still get the massive cubbys in the floor where the seats fold on other models. I have read the firmer VW suspension is really just the chrysler tow package suspension option as standard on the VW. Handling is actually kind of tight for such a large box on wheels, no ridiculous body roll taking turns quickly. 

The headlights are kind of terrible. Im hoping a better set of bulbs takes care of that. I scooped up an oem fog light kit from ebay for $72. Downside is the foglight option needs to be programmed at the dealer in order for it to work. Dealer put on new front pads and rotors when i bought the van, but the 2012 brakes are larger and I think bolt on, will probably upgrade to that spec when these wear out (and I hear the 11s and earlier go through brakes alright). Other than VW specific bits its all typical dirt cheap american van parts pricing. 

I thought in some way I would be compromising with this vehicle and I would just have to tolerate it because it was the right choice for the family at the time.  Honestly though I kind of love it.