2012 Dodge Grand Caravan problems
The 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan has 818 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (41%) concerns electrical system. Next are engine (15%) and fuel system (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 818 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 41% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 8 and 17
- Injuries and deaths
- 14 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 97,000 miles 545 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 47 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 40 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 61 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 54 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 80 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 100 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 85 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 46 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 15 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 9 |
| 200k+ miles | 8 |
What the data shows
Of the 545 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 97,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 100,000 miles (179 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 8 complaints mention a crash; 17 complaints mention a fire; 14 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 85% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2012 ranks 12th most-complained-about out of 31 model years of the Dodge Grand Caravan with enough data (370 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Major problems with t.I.p. Module while driving at night the interior and head lights start to flicker and eventually go completely out. I have 5 kids and have been almost hit head on when this happens because it happens without warning. I have had to sit beside the road for hours waiting on my lights to come back on and sometimes they never have. This is a life threatening emergency and dodge wont listen to me. This is extremely dangerous and it is getting to the point the car is undrivable.
My family and I were involved in a side impact collision after sliding on black ice on a highway. We were traveling at approximately 60-65 MPH and slid into the guard rail, impacting the passenger front quarter panel, and bounced off. The passenger front tire came off of the rim forcing us into the guard rail a second time impacting the rear passenger quarter panel of the vehicle. We ricocheted off, crossed traffic and came to rest in the passing lane berm of the road near the median.
Driver rear brakes locked up on me today. Had fuel relay switch go out but had it replaced, fuel pump went out had it replaced. Someone told me the brakes system is under recall.
Bad ingnition module. Van turns randomly off by it self while driving. If you push on the fob in the ingnition it will start to run again. When van turns off you lose control of the power steering and brakes making it difficult to come to a safe stop. Same issues that dodge recalled other model years for but not the grand caravan. It has occured numerous times to us in this van.