Dodge Caravan Reliability by Year
Based on 2M+ real complaints filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
14,268 NHTSA complaints (1984–2020).Complaint rate: 39197.8 per 1,000 vehicles.
Should I buy a Dodge Caravan?
Quick answer from 14,268 NHTSA complaints · 1984–2020
Most Dodge Caravan years show comparable, moderate complaint volumes. No specific year stands out as dramatically worse than its siblings. The most commonly reported issue is automatic transmission. Any year within the data range should perform similarly — focus inspection on the individual VIN history rather than avoiding a specific year.
- 2019 Dodge Caravan· 3 complaints
- 2020 Dodge Caravan· 4 complaints
- 2018 Dodge Caravan· 6 complaints
Keep scrolling for year-by-year complaint trends, recall campaigns, and component breakdowns — or click any year above for a full report.
Which Years to Buy & Avoid
Years auto-clustered by complaint volume relative to this model's median.
Rankings based on raw NHTSA complaint counts. Sales volume data not yet available for this model.
Bottom line: Avoid the 1991–2000 Dodge Caravan (713 crash-related complaints). The 2011–2020 models had significantly fewer reported issues. Most common issue across all years: Automatic Transmission.
Avoid These Years
Average
Better Years
A model's reputation is just the start.
Even within the “good” years, individual cars can have hidden accidents, title issues, or odometer rollbacks. Check the actual VIN before you buy — full history report for $4.99 (vs. Carfax $44.99).
Complaints by Model Year
NHTSA complaint count per model year
Common Dodge Caravan Problems
Most reported component complaints to NHTSA. Bar length = volume; color = crash-involvement rate.
Show full table
| Component | Complaints | Crash % |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic Transmission | 1,029 | 2.7% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic:Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip | 845 | 5.2% |
| Airbags | 800 | 11.5% |
| Electrical Faults | 769 | 1.0% |
| Air Bags:Frontal | 377 | 62.6% |
| Engine And Engine Cooling:Engine | 368 | 0.5% |
| Engine And Engine Cooling:Engine:Gasoline | 336 | 0.6% |
| Unintended Acceleration | 308 | 11.0% |
| Seat Belts:Front:Anchorage | 269 | 4.1% |
| Structure:Body:Door | 259 | 0.0% |
When Each Problem Spiked
Year × component heatmap. Darker cells = more complaints that year. Reveals which model years a specific defect concentrated in — useful for spotting redesign-cycle quality dips.
Year-by-Year Breakdown
NHTSA complaint count per model year — click any year for full problems & recalls breakdown.
| Year | Generation | Complaints | Crashes | Fires | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984NO DATA | — | 26 | 5 | — | View → |
| 1985NO DATA | — | 85 | 8 | 6 | View → |
| 1986NO DATA | — | 55 | 6 | 2 | View → |
| 1987NO DATA | — | 83 | 11 | 6 | View → |
| 1988NO DATA | — | 135 | 5 | 6 | View → |
| 1989NO DATA | — | 236 | 13 | 13 | View → |
| 1990NO DATA | — | 341 | 16 | 8 | View → |
| 1991NO DATA | — | 773 | 40 | 15 | View → |
| 1992NO DATA | — | 1,126 | 60 | 14 | View → |
| 1993NO DATA | — | 1,229 | 87 | 7 | View → |
| 1994NO DATA | — | 836 | 116 | 7 | View → |
| 1995AVOID | — | 656 | 74 | 7 | View → |
| 1996AVOID | — | 2,178 | 74 | 66 | View → |
| 1997AVOID | — | 1,028 | 51 | 62 | View → |
| 1998AVOID | — | 840 | 62 | 31 | View → |
| 1999AVOID | — | 745 | 64 | 21 | View → |
| 2000AVOID | — | 613 | 85 | 7 | View → |
| 2001 | — | 341 | 9 | 6 | View → |
| 2002 | — | 326 | 26 | 11 | View → |
| 2003 | — | 252 | 16 | 6 | View → |
| 2004GOOD | — | 83 | 3 | 4 | View → |
| 2005AVOID | — | 691 | 24 | — | View → |
| 2006 | — | 231 | 13 | 4 | View → |
| 2007GOOD | — | 115 | 6 | 2 | View → |
| 2008AVOID | — | 421 | 13 | 6 | View → |
| 2009 | — | 175 | 3 | 3 | View → |
| 2010 | — | 257 | 8 | 8 | View → |
| 2011GOOD | — | 112 | 1 | 3 | View → |
| 2012GOOD | — | 116 | 5 | 3 | View → |
| 2013GOOD | — | 34 | 1 | 1 | View → |
| 2014GOOD | — | 27 | 1 | — | View → |
| 2015GOOD | — | 29 | 5 | — | View → |
| 2016GOOD | — | 42 | 1 | — | View → |
| 2017GOOD | — | 18 | 6 | — | View → |
| 2018NO DATA | — | 6 | 2 | — | View → |
| 2019NO DATA | — | 3 | 0 | — | View → |
| 2020NO DATA | — | 4 | 2 | — | View → |
Year-by-Year Breakdown
Tap any year for full problems & recalls breakdown.
Data Sources & Methodology
Complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation consumer complaint database (14,268 records for this model). Public domain data, updated monthly.
Sales data: Not yet available for this model. Complaint counts are shown as raw numbers.
Rate calculation: Complaints per 10,000 vehicles sold = (complaint count / US annual sales) x 10,000. This normalizes for sales volume so high-volume models like Civic or Camry aren't unfairly penalized.
Year classifications: AVOID = 1.5x+ the model's median complaint count. GOOD = 0.6x or below. Years less than 3 years old are marked TOO NEW (insufficient data).
See also: Dodge Caravanaccident & safety statistics from our vehicle history database.
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