Instead of taking the kid to play today we went to the Kia Dodge Chevy dealer to sit in some cars. Weird combo of brands, but it made it convenient for one stop.

Anyhow, what was nice was they had a new 011 Caravan, Journey, and Durango in the showroom.

So I got to sit inside and look around a little. Kid was acting up so I didn't get to poke and prod too much. But still it was easy to see that there were some nice improvements.

The Durango was the first one. I still think its sorta bland inside and out but the quality of the interior is pretty good. I would say the plastics are very good, maybe a little tiny bit above average for the class. Better plastics than the Lambdas for sure. Even the cloth was pretty good. The sticker was 40k, at 40k I might think leather is deserved. But it certainly is not cheap by any means inside. It's pretty roomy and it seemed like it has a pretty good cargo hold behind the second row. The third row looked tight but I didn't climb back there. The seat bottom looked really low and looked like there wasn't much knee or footspace, that was only looks though. I'll have to try getting in one at the auto show soon. The Front two rows are really roomy. They did a nice job on it and it has a trucky feel to it so the old Durango fans should like it very much.

The Grand Caravan had the new interior and to be honest it's not really an upgrade of much over what was already in the Routan as far as dash materials. But they added some padding on the armrest and the gauges and steering wheel and center stack are big upgrades. Of course compared to the 010 Caravan the improvement is huge. The layout has an interesting and simple design that is attractive. The change in the shifter design alone is huge as it feels nicer in the hand. Seat cloth is not burlap now, its a decent mouse fur type of stuff. Most of the interior improvements are in the dash and front row. They changed the second row seats to have more support and sit a little higher with a nicer curve. I did not sit in them but they looked to be more natural than the 010 model in the second row. Really there is nothing to note as a problem on this interior now. It should help them gain sales. The dash plastic was still sort of hard to the touch and maybe looked a tish cheap but because there is so much plastic inside a van you gotta cut them a little slack. Its perfectly acceptable now whereas before it was ghastly. In tan even I bet it looks really nice.

The Journey's new interior was the best one. It totally transforms the vehicle. Good quality plastics. It's shocking how terrible and different the old interior is compared to the new one. I think the center stack display screen has a cheap face on it, but all display screens do, its just because its so large and picks up light so you see all the smudges and stuff. No complaints otherwise. Everything is laid out very nice, it's interesting. Nice room, good cloth. The silver dash accents are a nice theme. I sure hope they get an increase in sales. The Journey they had had a 29k sticker with the v6 and I don't recall if it was AWD or not. Dodge should be pleased with the nice upgrades they did in the Journey. In a way, its hard to see a lot of foks buying the huge bulky van when the Journey is available. Likewise, it's tough to see the appeal of the Durango when the Journey is almost as spacious and is a lot cheaper, because the Journey has the third row. I can tell you the Journey's interior is better quality than the Equinox, even though the Equinox has the interesting center stack. I think the Journey will have a really long shelf life now, it would be nice to see them put a stylish new beak on it now.

Just a couple Kia comments. The Optima does not look quite so nice inside in cheaper trims. Mouse fur seats and more cheap grey plastic. With tan leather and accent upgrades like piano black the Optima inside looks a lot richer. The base car has a cheap cheap feel to it inside and out and I am already tired of the new exterior. I don't like that back door window weirdness. The Forte hatchback looks clumsy. The Sportage has a nice roomy interior but its really too bad the seats don't feel right and they really should have spent more on the interior plastics and carpets and stuff. The Sorento has a nice bland but solid interior, too bad the exterior is so freakin dull and plain.

Anyways, Dodge's interior improvements are not just lip service. THey have done a good job making the needed improvements.

Edited January 27, 201115 yr by regfootball

Agreed, the Journey interior is much improved. I'm less impressed with the minivans; while their materials are better, the build quality still seems a bit iffy. The handles for the seats feel brittle and clunky, the glovebox door doesn't really fit properly, and you can still jiggle some of the rear plastic panels around. In other words, it looks decent, but when you start moving things around, its cheapness reveals itself.

The vans are so immense, to improve all the materials inside would be a huge expensive undertaking. So the fact that they improved your overall impression, by just concentrating the improvements in the most noticeable areas, shows good thought.

I think Dodge and a lot of makers will have to rethink the minivan in a few years. A Mazda5 is too small. The Caravan is just a beast now. IMO, there has got to be a sweet spot in size in between somewhere.

Yeah, it was the 1996-2007 van.

It's called the Journey.

But for those dying for a right size minivan, fear not. The next Caravan will ones again come in two lengths according to allpar.

Yeah, it was the 1996-2007 van.

it was a nice size, but for some reason VANZILLAS ruled the roost then.