2010 Dodge Grand Caravan - Quality Review

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The Grand Caravan is more solidly built than before, and offers so many interior configurations, it would be the top-ranked minivan for comfort and quality-if only its plasticky interior felt and looked better.

All three rows of seats in any Grand Caravan have ample head and shoulder room, with third-row seats offering acceptable space for adults, due to a long 121.2-inch wheelbase. According to Cars.com, the 2010 Grand Caravan comes in a myriad of configurations; there's a "standard second-row bench seat and a manual 60/40-split folding third row," while covered cargo holds in the second-row floor; "Stow 'n Go second-row captain's chairs with the manual folding third row," which hide those second-row seats in the floor when not in use; and Swivel 'n Go, with its "rearward-facing second-row seats with the manual third row." The Grand Caravan, unlike the Ford Flex and others, doesn't offer a power-fold option for third-row seats.

By all accounts, at TheCarConnection.com and around the Web, storage in the 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan is excellent, especially with the available Stow 'n Go and Swivel ‘n Go systems. Along with other sources, Motor Trend admires the newly optional "Swivel 'n Go second-row chairs [that] flip around 180 degrees." Cars.com also appreciates the Stow 'n Go second-row seats, "which fold into the floor"; Car and Driver calls them "a masterpiece of accommodating design." Autoblog remarks that the third-row seat "flips backwards for tailgate seating that's more comfortable than any bare-metal pickup truck bed." MotherProof considers the seating "fun," but the writer has difficulty removing the optional table that fits between the second- and third-row seats. The Swivel ‘n Go option is only for use by children; adults will find the face-to-face configuration cramped.

As for quality, the interior is slathered in hard plastic and carpet that's a nod to the durability needed by families-but a distinct step back from the 1996-2007 minivans that felt richer and looked better than the current Grand Caravan. Most reviewers come down hard on the materials used on the dash and door panels of the Dodge; the interior "has a cheap-motel look about it, too, with plastic gestures everywhere-obvious plastic, blatant plastic," says Car and Driver, adding that the big center console is "rickety." Motor Trend likes the "convenient LED reading lamps [that] dot the cabin, and there's an available overhead 'halo' light that bathes the interior in soft blue." The Washington Post feels much more charitable, calling the Caravan "luxurious ... like being in your living room or a family room." ConsumerGuide acknowledges the Grand Caravan as "possibly the quietest minivans."