This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
As I was driving on the highway, the rear brake calipers on either side became stuck. I stopped at a traffic light, and smoke was coming from the rear wheels. The caliper stuck to the brake pads on both rear wheels and became burned on. The vehicle requires new brake pads, rotors, calipers, and caliper brackets to be installed. This is a huge fire hazard. I am lucky that nothing caught on fire under the vehicle.
We bought this van new in April of 2008 and in August 2008 and with 16,000 miles I had to replace the brake rotors pads and one caliper. Then two months later I had to replace the rear brakes which included the rotors, pads, and calipers. In late 2009 I have to replace both front and back brake systems do to failure. Now it is September of 2014 and after replacing the brakes on both front and back axles 5 times there needing to be replaced again. I have taken the van to our local Dodge dealer and was told it's just hard driving. I had to replace the rear evaporator at 89,000 along with rubber heater lines that you can only buy as a set at over $120. Now the right rear door can only be opened from the inside and the door locks only work sometimes. Went out 09-17-14 to move the van to my garage to work on it and all of the lights went out and the horn went off along with the wipers and wiper fluid pump. How long before someone is killed before they fix these issues. This is my last Chrysler product after owning 5 good ones. This is do to there inability or negligence in fixing these problems.
We are having to replace our brake pads and rotors and calipers way too often!! it started in 9-2010 and just continues to guess worse. We have taken the van to the dealership for some of the repairs and my husband who is a mechanic and has done some of the repairs himself. Either way this is a serious design flaw on Chrysler part and they need to step up and protect their loyal customers and our families!!! hello Chrysler-most of us who have a mini van do so because we drive our children in them!!! unfortunately for our family who lives paycheck to paycheck we did not know about the brakes issues on these 2008 models until about a week ago when we were researching what could keep going wrong with our brakes. I have driven Chrysler vehicles most of my life and suffered thru the "mini van transmission issues" on 2 of those but they were older models and years ago so we thought we would be safe from those issues when we purchased our "used" 2008 van but instead we just traded those problems for brake issues!!! I hate to say this because we have been long long long time Chrysler buyers, but no more~~~~~we have had this van since 2009 and never heard of this problem until I discover this web site, so cudos and thank you very much NHTSA!!!!! buyer beware!!!!
T* the contact owns a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while traveling at approximately 60 mph, the vehicle stalled. The contact applied the emergency brake and was able to restart the vehicle. The failure recurred intermittently. In addition, the contact stated that the brakes failed. The contact also stated that the ABS warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign id number: 14V373000 (electrical system). The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
When I put the van in drive or reverse, there was a loud noise coming from the steering wheel area. I brought the van to the Dodge dealer to fix it. He said a few codes had to be done and a fuel injection cleaning. I waited for the van for three hours and it was returned to me at a cost of $263. I drove down the road and the same noise was there as if it had not been touched. I brought the van immediately back to the dealer and was told it was the power brake module and that it was on back order. He took the van and told me to get a rental. It will be two weeks this Thursday (rental car totaling over $700) and I am still waiting for the van.
- Jackson, NJ, USA
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This problem has been intermittent and getting worse. Sometimes it happens when we' driving and sometimes when it's parked with the engine off. The engine dies, horns blow, wipers go crazy and lights go on. All you can do is coast to a safe spot, wait for a while, then restart the van.today as my husband drove to work, the power brakes went out. He was able to stop but it was very hard and dangerous. I don't know if it's related but we have had a problem with the blower for the air conditioner/ heater going out since about 2010. Updated 07/03/14 MA updated 07/11/2014
Wife was driving around 40 mph when traction control light came on and she lost power steering and brakes. She was finally able to stop in the middle of the intersection, luckily there was no car coming. She then turned the van off and restarted and everything was fine. She said she is never driving it again because it is unsafe. Last year we had the tipm replaced after the seemingly common problem of horn honking, windshield wipers going and solvent spraying randomly several times. Not sure how Chrysler can get away with having all of these life endangering issues without having recalls and fixing them. But what I do know is we will never buy a Chrysler product again.
The vehicle displays steering esp bas brake ABS and the esp symbol will illuminate. A 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan while driving 10 mph, the esp and traction control warning lamp was illuminated. That immediately after the brakes engaged independently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the dealer wanted to charge for diagnostics and replace steering sensor. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage is 129,700.
On occasion the vehicle will set of a signal alarm and display esp bas brake ABS and the esp symbol will illuminate - also the panel lights will flicker. I will also feel a very slight hesitation on my forward motion. It does not always happen - but always while vehicle was just starting to heat up.
I have had to replace the brakes on my Grand Caravan two times so far. I had to replace them after approximately 18,000 miles and next at 44,000 miles. I do mostly city driving and only put around 10K a year on the car. Currently there is a grinding sound. I will need to have it looked at by the dealer. At least three times the caliper stuck and you could smell the burning of the brake pad. In the most recent instance the heat was so high on the right drivers side front brake, that it melted the valve stem plastic cap. I have paid now approximately 1,800 dollars to the replace brakes. After the last time I paid for them to install some sort of adapter to help with the known brake issue on this model. Obviously, it did not work. The heat generated is very high and could be dangerous. This is an issue that is well known against this model year and car....updated 10/7/2014
The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated while driving 10 mph, the esp and traction control warning lamp illuminated immediately after the brakes were engaged. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage were 127,000.
The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while driving approximately 54 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated to 80 mph with the illumination of the electronic throttle and traction control warning lights. The contact attempted to stop the vehicle but the brake pedal could not be depressed. The contact was able to stop the vehicle and discovered that the accelerator pedal had become stuck. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the defect but no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 96,000.
The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that after stopping the vehicle and attempting to accelerate, the brakes engaged and released several time before operating normally. The contact indicated that the electronic stability program and the brake assist system warning lights were illuminated during the incident. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified but no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 125,000.
On going problem. I've never had so much trouble with brakes. I change them out atleast twice a year, which in my opinion is crazy. I have had a set replaced for free due to the lifetime warranty on the brakes. I have changed out rotors and all. Something needs to be done about this.
As I was driving on the interstate in atlanta, my vehicle ABS eps bas and esp light came on. At this time I was unable to use cruise control. Now it comes on intermittently and slows my vehicle down at odd times. I have taken it to the mechanic and they say they don't see anything wrong with it. I travel a lot and would hate for this to happen to me again especially with my children with me.
Heavy vibration coming from front brakes when braking from highway speed. Squealing in rear brakes also. Had to replace all 4 rotors and all pads. We are now at 95,000 miles and currently on the 4th set of rotors and pads both front and rear for the same problems every time. Each set of rotors and pads only lasted about 20,000 miles. Each time the problem happened we took it to the Dodge dealer and were told all 4 rotors needed replacement as well as all pads at all 4 corners. The very first set was replaced free of charge for some reason, but every set of rotors and pads after that was out of pocket cost for me. This is excessive at best.
As I was driving, the dashboard on the van went absolutely insane! then it just shut down completely. Everything is locked up, even the brakes. It won't even let me take the keys out of the ignition! it started working after about an hour. I have had nothing but problems from the months of owning it!!! Chrysler is not much help at all either. They can make a nice car but they have never stood behind the problems they have, I know that because I have owned 3 Chrysler in a row!
I purchased my van in March of 2009 from lee Chrysler. It was a one owner with some warranty left on it. A week or two, maybe less my husband and I had problems with the keyless entry keys not opening the van. After several trips to the dealership that problem was resolved. From that time on, every few months there was another problem. I have all the documentation, as to when all the work was done and what. When I purchased the van the previous owners had already replaced the brakes and starter. I found this out when I had to replace the brakes October 2011 and the starter in the spring of 2012. Since these items were under warranty in 2008, the first time they were replaced, I think it was the dealerships place to tell me that this work had been done. In July 2013 the ignition stopped working and I had to have it replaced. Lee Chrysler doesn't have cars to loan, I had to rent one at my expense. They ordered and repaired the ignition, then my keys would not program to the new ignition, so I had to wait, paying for the rental another 3 days for them to order new keys, at my expense. The company should have know that old keys, the type I have, would not program to a new ignition. This is just the things that I have receipts for. The recalls I don't have all of them, but you have that list. I think since the company sold me a bad van in the beginning that they should help me get into a vehicle I could afford to replace this one. Ok I know you say why didn't I contact you or someone before now. I did write to Chrysler co. In 2010 and they said they were sorry I was unhappy with my van, but there wasn't anything they could do. I also sent them a E-mail. They will not do anything, my van only has 70,000 miles on it. Thank you for your time.
While driving on the freeway, the traffic was very heavy, hence I had to apply the brakes frequently over a distance of approximately 15-20 miles. As a result of overheating of the brake drums, one of the brake calipers 'froze' (I.e. the brake piston stuck in extended position) and created even more overheating and excessive wear on the brake pad and rotors. In extreme cases, this can cause the rotor to lock up with loss of vehicle control. In my opinion, the brakes design is insufficient for the weight of the vehicle. This is confirmed by the fact that Chrysler replacement procedure/parts now specify a semi-metallic brake pad, similar to what is often used on race cars to handle the excess heat.
I have to have my brake pads and rotors replaced many times. I just had new pads put on in July 2012 and will need new pads again in December 2012. My pads don't even last a year. This is very unsafe as the brakes start to deteriorate so rapidly I need to have them checked every three months during an oil change.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Leesburg, VA, USA