2002 Dodge Van: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2002 Dodge Van
On the 2002 Dodge Van, the failure owners report most often is airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault, with 3 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 45,000 miles. Overall it scores 67 out of 100, high risk for a 2002.
High risk for a 2002 — 195th riskiest of the 328 2002 vehicles we can rate. 20 owner reports; no fleet size estimate, so rates are unavailable.
What owners report breaking
Owners have reported 15 named failure modes on the 2002 Dodge Van, and the three most-reported carry 35% of everything filed, which is an unusually even spread for one model year.
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault leads with 3 reports.
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure follows with 2 reports, median 45,000 miles.
Other powertrain problem follows with 2 reports.
By system, the reports fall mostly into airbag (3), suspension (2) and transmission (2).
The mileage the reports cluster at
9 of the reports on the 2002 Dodge Van came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 45,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 67% by 50,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 40,000 and 50,000 miles, which alone holds 33% of the dated reports.
22% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 15. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
What happens when these parts fail
Across the named modes, 3 mention a crash, 1 a fire and 2 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 5.70, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault at $300–$1,600, control arm, ball joint or bushing failure at $400–$2,200, other powertrain problem at $400–$4,500 and other body or interior problem at $200–$2,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
15% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault | airbag | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | $300–$1,600 | High |
| Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure | suspension | 2 | 2 | — | 45k | — | — | $400–$2,200 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Radiator or coolant leak | cooling | 1 | 1 | — | 35k | — | — | $350–$1,900 | High |
| Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure | electrical | 1 | 1 | — | 56k | — | — | $700–$3,000 | High |
| Brake line, hose or caliper failure | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 37k | — | — | $250–$1,600 | Critical |
| Air conditioning failure | hvac | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | $400–$2,800 | Moderate |
| Catalytic converter failure | emissions | 1 | 1 | — | 43k | — | — | $900–$3,500 | Moderate |
| Tail light, brake light or signal failure | lighting | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | $100–$900 | Moderate |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 1 | 1 | — | 75k | — | — | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Other steering problem | steering | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 1 | — | 17k | — | — | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Other speed control problem | adas | 1 | 1 | — | 60k | — | — | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
No fleet-size estimate is available for this year, so only raw counts are shown. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
There is no usable estimate of how many 2002 Dodge Van were built, so this page reports counts and not rates. 20 reports on a car that sold in millions and 20 on a car that sold in thousands are not the same finding, and without a denominator there is no honest way to say which this is.
No fleet-size estimate is available for this year, so only raw counts are shown.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
I have been researching complaints about my 2002 dodge grand caravan. There is a problem with the front suspension and steering that have been repeatedly reported, and I have the same complaint. I am experiencing a noise and vibration while turning the steering wheel. The technician informed us there is a tsb for the problem, and the repair cost are estimated at $275.00. The suspension problem is a knocking and rattling sound in the front end. The technician has said the sway bar bushings, and links need to be replaced. The estimated cost for those repairs is an additional $375.00. I have not made the repairs as they were not covered under my warranty. *nm
I have been researching complaints about my 2002 dodge grand caravan. There is a problem with the front suspension and steering that have been repeatedly reported, and I have the same complaint. I am experiencing a noise and vibration while turning the steering wheel. The technician informed us there is a tsb for the problem, and the repair cost are estimated at $275.00. The suspension problem is a knocking and rattling sound in the front end. The technician has said the sway bar bushings, and links need to be replaced. The estimated cost for those repairs is an additional $375.00. I have not made the repairs as they were not covered under my warranty. *nm
How it ranks in the 2002 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
Where 2002 sits in the model line
High risk for a 2002 — 195th riskiest of the 328 2002 vehicles we can rate. The comparison is always within the same model year, so an older car is never penalised for having had longer to break.
Across the 7 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 1998 comes out best at 59 and 2001 worst at 69, with 2002 itself at 67.
If the model year is negotiable, 1998, 1997 and 1996 score lower than 2002 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 1996–2002 generation specifically, 1998 is the strongest year at 59 and 2001 the weakest at 69.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 1996-2002 generation, 1998 Dodge Van scores best at 59 and 2001 Dodge Van worst at 69.
What this page cannot tell you
20 owner reports; no fleet size estimate, so rates are unavailable. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 20 reports, 9 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 45% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2002 Dodge Van?
The most-reported failures are airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault (3 reports), control arm, ball joint or bushing failure (2 reports, median 45,000 miles) and other powertrain problem (2 reports). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2002 Dodge Van reliable?
It scores 67 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 195th riskiest of the 328 2002 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2002 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Dodge Van is best?
Within the 1996–2002 generation, 1998 scores best at 59 out of 100 and 2001 worst at 69. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
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