Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaneajanderson
I am going to do grille blocks and an air dam for sure. I'm pretty sure I can get away with a small kammback too, though nothing too extreme. Wheel skirts are probably out though, I might play with spats/ducting to try and help a little bit there.
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Make sure to have a coolant temp monitor or be extremely cautious on how much grille you block. A blown engine isn't worth an additional mpg or two from blocking the grille.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hersbird
I disagree, we have a 2011 Chrysler with 85k on it and not one single problem. It's only on it's 2nd set of brakes and tires, change the oil only once a year, couple air filters, couple wiper blades. As the OP found out, the 3.6 pentstar may be one of the best standard v6s ever made for economy and power, but we have had a Dodge minivan in every generation since 1988 and never have had a big problem. I also tend to buy used, our current van was a rental car first, so having a van with over 200k on it has been the norm. We did blow a headgasket on a 1990 once but drove it for a week that way, and when we did get it fixed it was one day and $400. I've had Honda buddies lose an ignition module and be dead in the water with a $500 bill, or something simple like and idle air controller take the whole van down and be a $500 bill in the end. You can still buy the "classic" Grand Caravan brand new for $22,000 which is such a deal for what you get. 6 speed, almost 300 hp, 7 passenger, cargo room better than a suburban, ability to pull 30mpg on a tank.
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85K? Come back when the car has 285K.
As said, any modern car should be able to last 100K-150K without any major troubles.
Although I do admit that some Honda Odyssey's have weak automatic transmissions. For a minivan I would go with the Toyota Sienna. 30+ MPG highway is possible if speed is kept below 70 MPH. With hypermiling I could get around 30 MPG around town. Their tall gearing really helps and Toyota makes some pretty bulletproof automatic transmissions.
I'm sure a lot of what we're all saying is brand loyalty, let's admit it.
But the proof is in the puddin', as they say, and Hondas and Toyotas are generally considered to be more reliable. But hey, that doesn't mean each individual Chrysler vehicle is bad. We had a '06 Chrysler minivan from ~150K to ~220K and its main major repair was the torque converter. It barely broke over 20 MPG while the Sienna was pushing 30 MPG. Got it for cheap though and it was still probably cheaper per mile than the Sienna was. You happen to have a Chrysler; as with any car, take care of it and it'll take care of you.
~ Happy hypermiling.