2012 Dodge Grand Caravan Maintenance Service

Mark: Hi, it’s Mark, Top Local Lead Generation; we’re here with Mr. Bernie Pawlik, the famous Bernie Pawlik of Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver, 16 times winners of Best Auto Repair in Vancouver as voted by their customers, how’re you doing Bernie? Bernie: Doing well. Mark: So we’re going to talk about a 2012, so fairly recent Dodge Caravan Maintenance Service, what was due for the service on this van? Bernie: It was, it’s fairly low mileage van, 40,000 kilometers so it was due for an oil change service and a comprehensive inspection, we like to call it a M2 Service and so what that entails is obviously changing the oil filter, this vehicle uses synthetic oil so it’s got a longer oil change interval than, than previous generations and, and comprehensive inspection so we, during our comprehensive inspection we basically look the vehicle over from front to back, we’ll take the tires if needed, we inspect the brakes thoroughly, we inspect the steering suspension, we test the battery and charging system, pressure test the cooling system, we lubricate the door locks, hinges and latches and look at a whole bunch of other items on the car at the same time; provide a full report; it’s 150 point inspection so it’s very thorough. Got a lot of clients compliment me you know when I go through the inspection, they go wow, I’ve never, I’ve never had such a thorough inspection on my vehicle so it provides a lot of value. Mark: So did you find any additional items from your inspection? Bernie: Really uhh, only two items, one the air filter was dirty which is kind of par for the course and we replaced that and the only other item we found that needed service was the brake fluid had about 4% water. We have a tester where we can test water content to brake fluid and 4% water is very high which, but it happens over time when brake fluid’s not flushed. I’ve mentioned before about brake fluid, I mean it should be flushed every two to three years and the water basically comes out of the air, it just gets absorbed into the brake fluid. Brake fluid’s called a hygroscopic fluid, it’s a type of fluid that absorbs water so it, it loves water and it’s good to get it flushed out every couple of years. Mark: So how are these newer Caravan’s, I know they’re incredibly popular, they had a bit of a bad reputation in the past, how are the new ones? Bernie: They seem to be pretty good, we haven’t worked on a ton of them but I think they’re definitely a better product than they used to be. I don’t know how the transmissions are, I mean Caravan’s over the years have had a reputation for bad transmissions and I haven’t known these to be bad yet, um, but I mean overall they’re nice vans and I think, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. I think they’re pretty good. Mark: So any further thoughts on Dodge vehicles? Bernie: Um, overall they’re pretty good. I, you know, just sticking with the Caravans I mean they’ve had a lot of competition; at one time they almost owned the minivan market, they were so, they were so popular, but there’s a lot of competition for Japanese, you know, the Japanese Honda Odyssey, the Toyota Sienna, and there’s the Kia and Hyundai make minivans but I’m not sure if they’re American, I’m just trying to think what other American competition but there’s other, there’s other Ford and GM competition but I think the Caravans are, they’re well priced. Sienna, a Sienna Van is an amazing van, very reliable but you pay a lot more money, like substantially more money for Sienna, so you know, if you don’t want to fork out the capital cost, Caravan is actually a good value. Mark: So if you’re looking for service on your Dodge vehicle, Pawlik Automotive 604-327-7112, get ahold of Bernie, book an appointment or go to their website at pawlikautomotive.com. Thanks Bernie. Bernie: Thanks Mark.