2010 Dodge Grand Caravan - Styling Review

See more photos

Shopping for a new Dodge Grand Caravan?

SEE LOCAL CLASSIFIEDS

The 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan is the latest example of a fundamentally sound idea that continues to resonate with families on the go, more than 25 years after its introduction. Not a full-size van, but certainly not a station wagon, the Grand Caravan minivan offers enough seats for eight passengers, a carlike ride, smooth acceleration, and reasonable fuel economy.

Available only as a long-wheelbase minivan, the latest look for the Dodge Grand Caravan is squared-off and edgy, compared to the Clorox-bottle shape of the previous generation. It's more integrated with the muscular look of other Dodge cars, but the T-squared lines somehow make the Grand Caravan seem less impressive and less upscale than previous editions. It's also harder to tell the Dodge apart from its Chrysler Town & Country counterpart. From the front, though, it's obviously a Dodge; the sporty cross-hair grille telegraphs the family links to the Ram truck and the Charger sedan.
Cars.com says Dodge "really hit the mark with the new styling. It didn't go overboard trying to make it look like something other than a minivan." Kelley Blue Book calls the look "masculine," while Motor Trend chimes in, describing the influences of "Dodge's 'masculine' Charger and Magnum." They also note its "broad shouldered...handsome, expensive presence...[it] actually looks mean looming up in a rear view mirror." On the flip side, Edmunds deems it "unpretentious," and CNet says the shape "doesn't break any new ground," while Autoblog damns it by stating, "the last time we saw sheet metal this flat and unadorned was on a UPS truck."

Inside, the boxy theme prevails again, with lots of hard plastic corners and imposing rectangles dominating the cabin. Light-colored upholstery helps, along with big glass areas, but the interior's moved into a cheap-and-cheerful territory that Dodge had all but superseded with the previous Grand Caravan. MotherProof says the inside of the 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan is "rather space-shuttley with its boxy, line-y interior design." The review also notes, "This square theme abounds in other Dodge models; it's not exactly warm and inviting."