(Warning: self pity coming up)

So we went to take our kids to feed the ducks last night. Got in the Dodge Grand Caravan and whhiiiIIIiiirrr - no reverse gear. Great. Transfer to the Ford Taurus. Chokes a bit when changing 2-3 or 3-4th gears, which it's been doing for a few days. On the way home we turn a corner and it dies completely. Pull over with the aid of a bit of a shove and gravity and manage to get it onto a parallel side road where it's a bit safer. Try the engine a few more times: starts and then splutters. 1/4 tank of fuel. AAA come out, engine starts perfectly without him touching it. He follows us down the road: still splutters and jerks if I put my foot down but discover it doesn't do that if you accelerate gently. Tow truck disappears and tells us to call his office if it dies again. Thankfully we get home, albeit with the occasional splutter.

So: both our cars shagged in one day. From what I read, it's most likely a transmission issue with the Dodge (well known for it apparently) and expensive to fix. The Ford... not sure. AAA bloke guessed it might have been contaminated fuel or gunk-filled fuel line. To be fair the Dodge is 9 years old and the Ford 14.

So much for the pool this year. Oh yeah, Wells Fargo say we don't have enough credit history for a loan, amongst other things. I was reading that letter while the wife was trying to reverse without success.

You have my sympathies, no one likes car problems. We had a Dodge Grand Caravan (bought when we first moved over) that was all of 4 years old with minimal use that died on a side of a freeway, last Dodge we will own. Found out later that they have transmission issues and other problems. In the three years that we owned it, we replaced the brakes 3 times.

Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram vehicles are pretty legendary for poor transmission from the early 90's and for the following 15 years. A local brake-down truck once said that they were about two thirds of his business! ..... And there is a reason why they now offer 100,000 miles power train warranties .... they have to because otherwise people wouldn't trust them/buy them.

Until now nothing major with the Dodge. The Taurus is under repair, $350 so not toooo bad. Something about cams/timing/electrical and cleaning out the fuel system.

wow, that's a bad day!

A friend bought a brand new Mercedes and after 15,000 miles he had to replace the brakes. Mercedes said that was normal wear and tear. That is bad enough but Mercedes uses thin rotors and they have to be replaced when the pads are replaced. $1,500 for the 1st 15,000 miles is not that great.

Another thread recently was discussing brakes, re SultanofSwing's new Chevy Cruze, and apparently 15-25,000 miles is normal for brakes ..... My Accord had new pads at 80,000, and hasn't had them replaced since, 190,000 miles later. It had it's inspection in April and a service a couple of weeks ago and the state of the brakes wasn't mentioned either time (different service shops).

I had a Dodge Caravan's transmission go belly up at a time when I couldn't afford to fix it. That was me and the Little Lion on the bus for a while. No fun at all around here, in winter. Currently in a 2001 Kia Sephia which has all sorts of random strange electrical issues and is a bucket of rust, but the engine is hanging in and it starts up in cold weather very reliably. It's about time to swap it though. Don't know what to get. Want something second-hand, reliable, cheap parts, a bit bigger than what I have but not vast.

Duff fuel pump on the Ford?

That happened on our old Saab, random stutters and engine cutting out. A few hundred bucks for parts and labour.

$380 later, I drive home, put my foot down and... splutter. So that's going back tomorrow. Absolutely no change from what it was doing before we went in.

On further analysis on an empty, dead straight 55mph road, it seems to do it every time it hits 3500rpm. Splutters, then catches again, then splutters, catches. The only way out of the cycle is to ease off - and doing so gently will easily take it beyond 60mph. It's just the "foot on the floor" kind of acceleration - you know, the type you need to join the freeway on an uphill ramp with a short merge section.

So yeah could be fuel pump I guess... I know sod all about cars though. Windscreen wipers and spare wheel is about as mechanical as I get.

General consensus seems to be a shagged transmission on the Dodge. Engine revs in reverse but no power; you can feel the gears changing though. Is it going to be ok to drive anyway, obviously avoiding anywhere where reverse will be required?!

Sounds like a blocked fuel filter, or a problem with the engine management system, though your earlier post sounded like those were the things the repair shop were already looking at.
Driving forward shouldn't be any problem at all, ..... at least until forward gears fail too.

Yes, well, I'm not exactly happy with them! Let's just say a big national chain shall we, eh boys?

Thanks. Just for a week or so while we sort out a replacement. Suggestions for:

• Budget ~$15k on the road
• 7 seat people carrier - sliding doors would be good
• Middle bucket seats rather than bench
• Overhead/seatback TVs would be nice
• Not too thirsty on the fuel

Town & Country would be an obvious choice, however, "that" cousin has one so the wife doesn't want the same.

So you have two reasons not to go for the T&C, therefore top of your list has to be the Honda Odyssey. For $15,000 you probably looking at a 2008-2009 or higher mileage 2010.

If you can find a few $000's more, you should be able to find a 2011 Explorer, it'll be a higher mileage (80,000-100,0000) vehicle, and you'd be foregoing the sliding doors, but you'll still be buying a seven seater, and what is effectively a people carried (2011 was the first year of the unibody CUV Explorer), and a dämn sight cooler than a minivan! ..... An earlier Explorer would be cheaper, but was built on a chassis so you'd forego sliding doors and lose out on gas mileage, but still have seven seats.

That or maybe a leaking / split vacuum line?

Two reasons? Or same transmissions issues being almost the same vehicle?

Honda Odyssey, hmm our landlady had one of those - did look rather nice and spacious. I'll keep an eye out for those. Did happen to notice several 2012 Dodge Grand Caravans for about $16k...