general problems of the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan

Was driving home from work (on city streets) and noticed that the engine seemed to be idling higher than normal rpms. Van would not shift from first gear and would not accelerate beyond about 30 mph, very sluggish, while rpms rose above 3k and engine made a grinding/whining sound. No warning lights of any kind came on while driving or while stopped. While stopped at a traffic light, heard several loud clunks from under the hood and van had difficulty accelerating from stop. Was able to get it to the shop where they diagnosed transmission failure - the mechanics couldn't get it out of first gear by the time they were done looking at it and had to push it off the lift. Total cost of a remanufactured transmission plus new hubs and axles because they couldn't get the old ones removed without damaging them to remove/replace the transmission was $5600. Van has 128,000 miles.

There is a creaking noise in the front end of the Dodge caravan. Upon inspection at a service station, it was identified as a bushing that was partially missing on the front subframe crossmember attachment to the chassis. When attempting to purchase a replacement bushing from Chrysler it was discovered that the bushing was no longer made for this vehicle. Instead Chrysler now makes an entire new subframe crossmember with fasteners, that will need to be purchased and installed. It seems like this the bushing part was defective and therefore Chrysler made an adjustment which is now going to cost a lot more money to repair. This should be a recall and not an expense to the consumer.

The steering and wheel alignment of the vehicle is habitually misaligned and pulling drastically to the right. The vehicle has been serviced and aligned multiple times, and the auto mechanic shop says that the alignment can no longer be set properly. They charged me extra for some additional part to help correct this and allow the vehicle to be aligned, however that did not help. Although the steering wheel appears in alignment, the front wheels continue to pull sharply to the right, causing a safety issue because the vehicle is constantly trying to move to the right.

The contact owns a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that the front driver side wheel had become bent. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the driver side front bearing had failed causing damage to the front axle. The contact indicated that the damage had occurred while the vehicle was parked. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 23,000.