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The end of my 04 Caravan

5K views 41 replies 16 participants last post by  technician440 
#1 ·
Well at just under 368,000 kms, its time I retire the old van. While the engine and trans are good, everything else around the van is falling apart.

Leaking gas tank, leaking radiator, leaking crank seal, failed headliner, bad Front control module, rotted body and much more...

My mom bought it back in 2008 with 78,000 kms and I've been using it since 2014 as my daily. Unfortunately it will cost too much to keep on the road now.

I have just made the purchase on a 2018 Grand Caravan GT and will be sending the ol van to car heaven. Great vans, did more than I could ask and took all the abuse I could throw at it.

Definitely gonna miss this van. But, nothing lasts forever, especially in the Salt belt.
 
#3 ·
Good to hear from you, sorry for your loss but happy for your gain. What are you doing these days?
 
#5 ·
Congrats on the new van. The GTs are nice. Your old '04 served you well.
 
#6 ·
Well at just under 368,000 kms, its time I retire the old van. While the engine and trans are good, everything else around the van is falling apart.
Could get a good bit for those to help towards paying for the new van. Not a fortune, but a couple thousand.

You'll love the 5th gens.
 
#7 ·
My mom bought it back in 2008... Unfortunately it will cost too much to keep on the road now.

I have just made the purchase on a 2018 Grand Caravan GT and will be sending the ol van to car heaven.

Definitely gonna miss this van. But, nothing lasts forever, especially in the Salt belt.
Good move.

When a vehicle is not worth to fix it, get rid of it and buy a newer one.

No, you are not going to miss it, believe me.

Some will tell you to strip it before you get rid of it. Unless you have a lot of empty space and want to keep useless parts forever (you will have to throw them away eventually), you are better off to just get rid of it.

Congrats on your new purchase.
 
#8 ·
^^^
Good advice from a guy that has a yard full of old vehicles, including a Bricklin or two. :)
 
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#9 ·
Who better qualified to know, eh? 🤣 But, yeah, I get what he means. I've got tons of Toyota parts including an engine that will likely sit in my garage - taking up space - for years. I even have parts for vehicles I sold long ago. Time for some housekeeping!
 
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#13 ·
When my '81 GMC Sierra Classic was at that point, 350 engine and tranny still worked, a hole in the cab floor that I covered with my foot in case I dropped something, exhaust Y-pipe completely rotted and disconnected from the muffler, washer pump gone, lots of body rust, etc., I knew that a wrecker would give me $250 for it, so I advertised it for $500. 15 minutes later calls and text messages started coming in. I sold it to the guy who responded first for my asking price, but probably should have asked $1200 to sell it for $900-1000. I'm definitely not saying your '04 minivan will have the same appeal, but I wanted to tell my story. 😁
I bought a 5-speed transmission for my '97 Saturn, but ended up selling the car before installing it; it's still tucked in a corner of my garage. :confused:
 
#14 ·
I'd try to sell it for $3,000.
Human psychology, people will assume it's nicer if the asking price is higher. People will be more willing to pay a haggled down price than an asking price, because the excitement of getting a deal. Finally, if you wait long enough, some honest SOB will actually pay asking price

I'd list it for double what it is worth, try negotiating in $500 increments. Be honest about the shortcomings. Give lots of pictures, the good and the bad. Detail the inside before selling it.
As an example, if you want $2000, ask for $4000. Everytime they make an offer, only go down $500. Push hard at $3000. "Let's split the difference" at $2,500 if they don't accept $3000. Don't accept anything below $2000. "No thanks". Anything above what you want or think it's worth, is extra cash, it's worth the hassle of negotiating or waiting for another buyer.

Watch out for low-ball scammers. People will use their friends or different phone numbers to flood you with absurd offers, like $500. Then the original scammer will come back and offer more, still way below asking price, and you'll think "this is a good deal, everyone else is offering less, I need to jump on this offer while it's still on the table". Don't do it. If you're patient, somebody will come along offering more. You have nothing but time to get those extra hundreds and thousands of dollars.
 
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#15 ·
I'd try to sell it for $3,000.
Human psychology, people will assume it's nicer if the asking price is higher.

I'd list it for double what it is worth, try negotiating in $500 increments. Be honest about the shortcomings. Give lots of pictures, the good and the bad. Detail the inside before selling it.
As an example, if you want $2000, ask for $4000. Everytime they make an offer, only go down $500. Push hard at $3000. "Let's split the difference" at $2,500 if they don't accept $3000. Don't accept anything below $2000. "No thanks". Anything above what you want or think it's worth, is extra cash, it's worth the hassle of negotiating or waiting for another buyer.

Watch out for low-ball scammers. People will use their friends or different phone numbers to flood you with absurd offers, like $500. Then the original scammer will come back and offer more, still way below asking price, and you'll think "this is a good deal, everyone else is offering less, I need to jump on this offer while it's still on the table". Don't do it. If you're patient, somebody will come along offering more. You have nothing but time to get those extra hundreds and thousands of dollars.
Watch out for Low-ball scammers when you are instructing him to be an scammer himself?

He already told us, that vehicle is not worth fixing it.

Yes, if you can sell it as a whole by all means do it, but don't try to take advantage if others.
 
#17 ·
Thanks to all that responded. Plan is to scrap it, not worth my time trying to sell. Only things I'll be removing before scrapping it are the tires/rims (lots of thread- rims in great shape), alternator (year old), and a few other miscellaneous parts that I know are worth selling and are relatively new.

I pick up the new van next Saturday- cant wait!
 
#18 ·
Consider donating it. I donated a 94 Camry 8 years ago to the Purple Heart Foundation. Got a $400 tax credit. Very easy. Came to my house and loaded it on a flat bed even though it was running. Many orgs accept car donations. Here's another one:
 
#21 ·
Where do you live? Our 2002 T&C AWD doesn't have a spot of rust and looks almost new at 274K miles, other than a few dings and drags from idiots in parking lots (why I would never buy a new vehicle). If the clear-coat is failing here in sunny California, I can't tell against the silver paint. I too would give up if significant rust. Vehicles don't last long in the rusty North, though better than they were in the 1970's.
 
#22 ·
I live in the Toronto area...so lots of rust out here and lots of up and down weather. Dont get me wrong, the engine and transmission itself is very healthy and I'm confident that it would give me another 100,000 kms...but with everything else around it failing, it's no longer worth fixing.
 
#23 ·
Update- called the wrecking yard and they will give me $350 for it. Once the new van comes, ill use the old van to do a few more run around and have the insurance on the 04 cancelled by December 6th.

Things I'll remove from the 04 before it goes:
Tires/rims (like new tires still)
Taillights
Trunk struts ( installed a few months ago lol)
Alternator (installed last year)
Battery ( 5 months old)
Driver side mirror
6 disc DVD player and radio/CD player
Aftermarket dash speakers and tweeters
All the bulbs ( most of em are LEDs anyways)

I'll probably pull most of the fuses/relays cause it's always good to have spares kicking around lol.
 
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#24 ·
For those of you that are asking of pics of the new van...click on the link

 
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#32 ·
Well guys, the wreckers came and took the old girl last week Saturday. I will say, it was a sad day seeing it go. Resting odometer was 367,605 KMs.

I stripped every good part off of the van, most of which sold before the wreckers took the van. Great vans, this one ran great right up to when I took it all apart. When the wreckers came and got it, I was told it'd be crushed first thing Monday morning.

Here's a few final pics of me putting her to work and before dismantling
60556
60557
60558
60559


60555
 
#35 ·
:cry: Poor van, you defaced it. May it rest in one piece. :)
 
#36 ·
Well, thanks for posting those final pics. Baron is right, should have saved that grill, I would love to have that grill on my van. I never saw a grill like that one before, with the chrome inserts. The body on your old van looks better than most of the Gen4 vans around here! I'm a bit worried though...You scrapped yours at 367,605 km which converts to 228419 miles. Mine has 248,000 miles and is still my daily driver...how much longer will it last??? Seriously, best of luck with your new one!
 
#37 ·
The grill inserts came off a 2003 GC ES. It was a direct fit on my van and matched the rest of the chrome that came with the anniversary prep package.

Like I said, the engine and transmission would have given me easily an extra 100,000 kms ( and I do agree, the body wasn't in too bad shape- rustproofing helped). If it wasn't for everything else failing around it, I for sure woulda kept it. But what it came down to was it worth fixing, and in my instance, it wasn't worth sinking the money into it.

There's no real expiration date on these vans lol. They just keep going until they can't. I hope the new one gives me the same kind of service the 04 did.
 
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