Wiper or washer failure on the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan
When wiper or washer failure gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan report wiper or washer failure at a median of 80,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 97,500 miles, from 43 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 80,000 miles. It is the 7th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 35,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 102,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 67,920 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
12% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35,320 miles | 54,500 miles | 80,000 miles | 97,000 miles | 103,240 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 carries the most reports, with 56; the 2008 has 50. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
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.
Multiple problems with 2008 dodge grand caravan se, van was special ordered at advantage chrysler jeep and dodge, des plaines il from factory with mygig ves, we took delivery on feb 2008, our sales guy quit before we even got the van. Sad. _____________ first problem was within first 6 mos. Loud whistle noise coming from windshield on warm and hot days at 60+ MPH , dealer resealed but problem still same. __________________ brakes had to be redone after 14,000. This is a common problem, judging by all of the complaints, I was even more pissed off after getting a $500 bill and a dopey explanation from the shop manager at advantage chrysler jeep and dodge. We took it in for a break inspection, they did all the work without checking with me first. _________________ the next thing to stop working was the passenger side sliding door auto lock. It no longer responds to electric or remote switch. We have to lock and unlock manually. They suspected a harness but did not have one in stock, 2 months for delivery of part, I had no time to go back. _________________ just recently oct 2009 during a rain storm, the wipers stopped to function in…
Multiple problems with 2008 dodge grand caravan se, van was special ordered at advantage chrysler jeep and dodge, des plaines il from factory with mygig ves, we took delivery on feb 2008, our sales guy quit before we even got the van. Sad. _____________ first problem was within first 6 mos. Loud whistle noise coming from windshield on warm and hot days at 60+ MPH , dealer resealed but problem still same. __________________ brakes had to be redone after 14,000. This is a common problem, judging by all of the complaints, I was even more pissed off after getting a $500 bill and a dopey explanation from the shop manager at advantage chrysler jeep and dodge. We took it in for a break inspection, they did all the work without checking with me first. _________________ the next thing to stop working was the passenger side sliding door auto lock. It no longer responds to electric or remote switch. We have to lock and unlock manually. They suspected a harness but did not have one in stock, 2 months for delivery of part, I had no time to go back. _________________ just recently oct 2009 during a rain storm, the wipers stopped to function in…
Multiple problems with 2008 dodge grand caravan se, van was special ordered at advantage chrysler jeep and dodge, des plaines il from factory with mygig ves, we took delivery on feb 2008, our sales guy quit before we even got the van. Sad. _____________ first problem was within first 6 mos. Loud whistle noise coming from windshield on warm and hot days at 60+ MPH , dealer resealed but problem still same. __________________ brakes had to be redone after 14,000. This is a common problem, judging by all of the complaints, I was even more pissed off after getting a $500 bill and a dopey explanation from the shop manager at advantage chrysler jeep and dodge. We took it in for a break inspection, they did all the work without checking with me first. _________________ the next thing to stop working was the passenger side sliding door auto lock. It no longer responds to electric or remote switch. We have to lock and unlock manually. They suspected a harness but did not have one in stock, 2 months for delivery of part, I had no time to go back. _________________ just recently oct 2009 during a rain storm, the wipers stopped to function in…
Also reported on the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan
Other electrical problem
Other brake problem
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Other engine problem
No-start or intermittent start failure
Stalling while driving
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 50 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 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan?
Across 43 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 80,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 97,500 miles. 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 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan?
50 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 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