2001 Dodge Caravan - Consumer Guide Automotive

Category	SE, 4 cyl Rating (See All Ratings)	Minivan Average Rating

Acceleration	2	3.6

Fuel Economy	4	3.9

Ride Quality	4	4.8

Steering/Handling/Braking	4	4.6

Quietness	4	4.6

Controls	6	5.7

Room/Comfort/Driver Seating (front)	7	5.9

Room/Comfort (rear)	6	6.7

Cargo Room	9	9.2

Value within Class	7	5.5

Total Score:	53	54.5

Ratings: Maximum 10 points per category

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2001 Dodge Caravan Review

America's perennial best-selling minivan is redesigned for 2001 with new styling and features, including an available power liftgate. Caravan offers regular-length and extended-length Grand models. All seat seven and have two sliding side doors. Caravan again shares its design with the similarly revamped Chrysler Town & Country and Voyager.

Front-wheel drive is standard. All-wheel drive is available on Grand Caravans. Regular-length models use a 4-cyl engine or a 180-hp 3.3-liter V6. Grands get the 3.3 V6 or a 215-hp 3.8 V6. All use automatic transmission, and the Grand ES model is available with Chrysler's AutoStick feature, which facilitates manual shifting. ABS is standard on all but the base regular-length model. Front side airbags are optional.

Grands offer power operation for both side doors, regular-length models for the right door only. A minivan exclusive shared with Voyager and Town & Country allows the side doors to be closed or opened by hand during the powered phase. The Grand's optional power liftgate is a minivan first and is shared with Town & Country. The new center console with internal power outlet can be placed between front or 2nd-row seats. And a new rear parcel shelf has floor- and mid-height mounting positions and popup storage dividers. The 3rd-row seats don't fold into the floor, but there's a 50-50 split 3rd-row bench available. Each portion weighs 55 lbs and can be removed, reclined, or folded flat. A rear-seat video entertainment system and a navigation system are dealer-installed options.

Competition

Though the competition has heated up, we feel that the new Dodge Caravan is still one of the best minivans you can buy. It offers all of the creature comforts in a pleasing package at a fair price. Our other Best Buy is the Honda Odyssey. It's a little bit smaller than the Dodge, but more sporty to drive, and it has a super-convenient flip-and-fold-away rear seat.

Trailing at a close second are the Recommended Chevy Venture, Ford Windstar, and Toyota Sienna. Though these vans are comparably priced and offer loads of neat features, we feel they can't match the road manners of our two Best Buys. Also garnering Recommended ratings are the Chrysler Town & Country and Chrysler Voyager. Though they are mechanically similar to the class-leading Caravan, they don't offer the breadth of model choices.

News

Caravan calendar-year sales slipped below 286,000 in 2000, a modest 2.5 percent decline from 1999. This was partly due to the late-year changeover to new-model production, but also the year-end economic slump. Styling may be another factor, say some observers, who have criticized Chrysler for being overly cautious.

These new-generation minivans have also been criticized for having too many gadgets and being much costlier to build than previous models, which means higher sticker prices that hinder sales--not what you want for a trademark money-spinner. And indeed, the new Caravans and their Chrysler sisters have been fairly slow to move off dealer lots so far. That's why the company slapped on rebates last winter, unusually soon for a brand-new model.

Chrysler will reportedly try to boost demand further by shifting some current standard features to the options list, thus allowing lower sticker prices. Other such measures may be in the works too--including more rebates. Meantime, industry sources say Caravan will get its first navigation system as a 2003 option. However, these and other plans could well change if Chrysler Group's current financial crisis doesn't yield to the massive cost-cutting and restructuring program now getting underway. In light of that, we'd expect few significant changes in any of Chrysler's minivans for 2002.

2001 Dodge Caravan Road Test >

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