Dodge Grand Caravan evaluation: The most effective used minivan for many households

This hardworking minivan simply handles quite a lot of household duties and different wants, and it provides extra room than most crossovers. Right here’s why it’s on my listing of the 10 finest used automobiles in Canada.

Is the Dodge Grand Caravan automotive?

Appears that method, if the gross sales volumes are any indication. The Dodge Grand Caravan has been round for many years—refined for every era—and it was the strongest-selling minivan available on the market by a substantial margin.

The principle attracts of this car are its measurement, area, options and versatile inside. Current-model Grand Caravans include loads of options, too, together with Dodge’s confirmed Pentastar 3.6-litre V6 engine, distant begin, energy sliding doorways, a motorized tailgate, a heated steering wheel, a sunroof, rear-seat leisure consoles, premium audio methods and multi-zone local weather management (on some fashions). The Grand Caravan additionally has sufficient storage bins, compartments, cup holders, energy shops and media hookups to maintain the entire household organized, related and charged up on the go. It’s exhausting to think about a extra family-friendly car. 

The Stow ’n Go seats can flip, fold away into the ground or exit the car altogether, simply turning it from a individuals mover right into a cargo provider in a jiff. Except for household transportation, many house owners use their Grand Caravan as a piece truck, a supply car, a pet hauler, tenting headquarters, a cellular workplace and extra. Even pack rats will discover a place to retailer all their stuff. 

How does it drive? The Grand Caravan’s lengthy wheelbase provides smoothness and stability, whereas stretching out the cabin to clear room for 3 rows of seats. Its suspension and experience are properly suited to long-distance driving, although experience consolation stands up properly on rougher roads, too. Drivers can anticipate a commanding driving place with a beneficiant ahead view—a perch that conjures up confidence with out towering above the highway.The minivan’s superior security gear contains adaptive cruise management, a backup digital camera, stability management, automated excessive beams and a pre-collision warning system. Rear cross path detection, if outfitted, alerts drivers to approaching autos as they reverse out of a parking area or right into a laneway. Options like these add confidence for fogeys, in addition to peace of thoughts when youthful drivers begin to borrow the household car.

The Dodge Grand Caravan powertrain: What makes it tick?

The used Dodge Grand Caravan you’re contemplating has a tried-and-true powertrain configuration that’s helped promote numerous minivans. Underneath the hood is a V6 engine, related to the entrance wheels by an automated transmission.

Newer used Grand Caravans will run the three.6-litre V6 engine. Dubbed the Pentastar, this award-winning engine offers the car a 283-horsepower punch. All fashions include automated transmission, and all are front-wheel drive. The V6 engine is among the most mass-produced engines on the highway at the moment, with thousands and thousands of models constructed. 

Dodge has been constructing and tweaking this powertrain group for a few years. The identical engine can also be used within the automaker’s crossover SUVs and pickup vehicles as a result of it’s a time-tested workhorse.

For those who use ECO mode and drive light-footed, there’s not often a have to get this engine working exhausting—it’s arrange properly for low-RPM efficiency and most gasoline effectivity. There’s beneficiant punch accessible when wanted, although largely, the Grand Caravan’s drivetrain does its finest work when being pushed in no explicit rush, as its fuel-saving tech works to reduce your gasoline invoice.