Hi,
I'm new to the forum and new to owning a mini van. I bought a 2011 Grand Caravan as a second vehicle for hauling stuff, and for use as a weekend camper. So far, I like the vehicle. It has 167,000 km and the body, motor, transmission and front end seem solid. I haven't driven a Dodge since my 1986 Aries that I owned while a university student in the early 90s. I loved that car. I learned so much about car repair from it.
I've driven Mazdas, Toyotas and Subarus in the intervening time, so there was some weird adjustments like the wiper switch being on the wrong side and the just some adjustment moving from a compact car to a van. I've flailed a bit looking for the gear shift and got some sticker shock filling the gas tank. It also took a while to figure out the stow and go, despite the labelling of the straps in order of yanking.
At this point, I just want to understand the vehicle better. It doesn't seem to be that well equipped. I'm fine with that. There are less things to go wrong. Is there any way by looking up the VIN to tell me what trim level it is?
I do want to make some minor changes. The first one is to add a hitch. It doesn't seem like an expensive or difficult job and the other is adding an aftermarket stereo. The aftermarket stereo worries me a little. In my previous cars, the CANBUS did not touch the stereo so an aftermarket head unit change was a dash kit and wiring harnesses for the stereo and steering wheel controls. My research on the Chrysler stereos have me confused. Wiring seems to range from asimplw haness to complex kits. I want to make sure that I get things right initially so installation is a few screws and popping in some connectors. I have a single-DIN dash kit and was thinking of getting a cheap Chinese Android head unit for bluetooth, maps, media apps and a reverse camera. I'm just confused on what wiring harnesses I need. I have the base radio with Sirius, but Uconnect is not installed. I'd prefer a double-DIN Stereo, but I don't want to hack my dash and ruin it, so the single with a sliding screen will have to do.
A spring job is also going to be making a removable bed frame. Camping season here in western Quebec is not until May, so I have loads of time to figure that out, There's plenty of advice on that and proper ventilation on YouTube, so I'll figure that out as needed.
Here's a pre-carwash photo of the new-to-me van:
I'm new to the forum and new to owning a mini van. I bought a 2011 Grand Caravan as a second vehicle for hauling stuff, and for use as a weekend camper. So far, I like the vehicle. It has 167,000 km and the body, motor, transmission and front end seem solid. I haven't driven a Dodge since my 1986 Aries that I owned while a university student in the early 90s. I loved that car. I learned so much about car repair from it.
I've driven Mazdas, Toyotas and Subarus in the intervening time, so there was some weird adjustments like the wiper switch being on the wrong side and the just some adjustment moving from a compact car to a van. I've flailed a bit looking for the gear shift and got some sticker shock filling the gas tank. It also took a while to figure out the stow and go, despite the labelling of the straps in order of yanking.
At this point, I just want to understand the vehicle better. It doesn't seem to be that well equipped. I'm fine with that. There are less things to go wrong. Is there any way by looking up the VIN to tell me what trim level it is?
I do want to make some minor changes. The first one is to add a hitch. It doesn't seem like an expensive or difficult job and the other is adding an aftermarket stereo. The aftermarket stereo worries me a little. In my previous cars, the CANBUS did not touch the stereo so an aftermarket head unit change was a dash kit and wiring harnesses for the stereo and steering wheel controls. My research on the Chrysler stereos have me confused. Wiring seems to range from asimplw haness to complex kits. I want to make sure that I get things right initially so installation is a few screws and popping in some connectors. I have a single-DIN dash kit and was thinking of getting a cheap Chinese Android head unit for bluetooth, maps, media apps and a reverse camera. I'm just confused on what wiring harnesses I need. I have the base radio with Sirius, but Uconnect is not installed. I'd prefer a double-DIN Stereo, but I don't want to hack my dash and ruin it, so the single with a sliding screen will have to do.
A spring job is also going to be making a removable bed frame. Camping season here in western Quebec is not until May, so I have loads of time to figure that out, There's plenty of advice on that and proper ventilation on YouTube, so I'll figure that out as needed.
Here's a pre-carwash photo of the new-to-me van: