Complete transmission failure on the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan
When complete transmission failure gets reported
Owners of the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan report complete transmission failure at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 85,000 miles, from 24 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 7th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 50,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 105,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 56,850 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47,550 miles | 64,250 miles | 75,500 miles | 85,598 miles | 104,400 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 $2,800–$8,000 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.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 17 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2007, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2013 at 215,000 miles.
By volume the 1996 carries the most reports, with 66; the 2016 has 43. 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.
Transmission fluid pump failed, resulting in transmission failure. Vehicle began to show signs of slippage, then became inoperable after being parked. This is my fourth dodge caravan to have this problem. Failures of the transmission pump all happened without warning at around 55,000 - 80,000 miles. The caravan also has noisy lifters which I have also replaced on 2 other dodge vehicles.
Transmission fluid pump failed, resulting in transmission failure. Vehicle began to show signs of slippage, then became inoperable after being parked. This is my fourth dodge caravan to have this problem. Failures of the transmission pump all happened without warning at around 55,000 - 80,000 miles. The caravan also has noisy lifters which I have also replaced on 2 other dodge vehicles.
While driving to work my wife noticed the van coasted to a traffic light while in drive. A loud whine could be heard when she accelerated passed the traffic light almost like a old power steering pump going bad. The van barely made it to the parking lot. That night we tried to see if the van was drivable going home. The same loud sound happened under acceleration the van would barely move again and when it finally caught it launched the van forward. Leaving the parking lot the van no longer would engage in drive and coasted to another parking lot that's where we had the van towed to the nearest dealer. The dealer installed a new transmission because the vehicle is still under warranty.
Also reported on the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan
Other electrical problem
Other body or interior problem
Other powertrain problem
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Door latch or handle failure
Other engine problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 43 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 complete transmission failure happen on the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan?
Across 24 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 85,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is complete transmission failure on the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan?
43 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 9.8 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