Wiper or washer failure on the 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan
Only 6 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When wiper or washer failure gets reported
There are 56 reports of wiper or washer failure on the 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan, 6 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 80,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 84,900 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $120–$800 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 8 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2006, at a median of 45,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 95,000 miles.
By volume the 1996 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I own a 1996 dodge grand caravan. I purchased the vehicle new. I have been experiencing problems with the wipers (front and rear) on this vehicle since I purchased it. The wipers come on "magically" while driving. The rear wiper sometimes comes on and stays on for prolonged periods, especially if the rear defroster is on. I have had the vehicle in three times to fix this problem, and it is still not fixed. The dealer now tells me that the main computer of the vehicle needs to be replaced....a $700 repair!!! This is absolutely ridiculous! I can not afford $700 for this repair, or should I have to. I have owned numerous cars over the years and have never had problems with the wipers like this. There is no doubt that there is a flaw in dodge's design. These vehicles should be recalled immediately. This is definitely a safety concern. I know of others with similar problems and sometimes their wipers just stop working while driving in the rain or snow. I hope and pray that this doesn't happen to me....especially while driving at night in a rainstorm! Why haven't these vehicles been recalled for these problems? Will it take a certain…
My windshield wipers on my 1996 dodge caravan quit working. It will not work on any mode. When I pressed the wiper washer, it squirted water and the wipers cycled once. I tried it again one time and it did not work at all. It worked one time but it cycled very fast. Also, it turns on anytime it wants to. It is so unreliable that I do not think that it is safe to drive cause you do not know when it is going to rain.*ak
My 1996 dodge grand caravan wipers goes on and off as they please. I was told it could either wiper motor or computer brain box or both that cost upwards of $500. I didn't repair due to cost. I think that should be covered under a recall when it's distraction on the windshield and a safety problem. Gm recalled thier wiper problems on the chevy trucks.
Also reported on the 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Cruise control failure
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 56 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 56 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does wiper or washer failure happen on the 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan?
Across 6 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is wiper or washer failure on the 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan?
56 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed