KnownCarProblems2012 Dodge Caravan Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 87 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Dodge Caravan, most often about the electrical (54% of complaints, typically around 69,000 miles). It is 10th of 18 Caravan model years by number of complaints.
Most common 2012 Dodge Caravan problems
Electrical
47 complaints · 54%Half of these problems showed up before 69,000 miles.
Installed a curtis towing hitch and wiring harness for trailer lights, two wiring harness modules for trailer lights have gone bad after only a short time of use, curtis manuf. Says that they are experiencing this problem only with certain Dodge models and seems that mine is one of them. They said that a recall may…
"takata recall" when driving the van the engine shuts off from time to time on the freeway, streets anywhere we have almost gotten rear ended one then once. We have been stuck in the middle of the highway and street I have small kids and I need help with this please. This is a on going problem
Engine
19 complaints · 22%Half of these problems showed up before 108,000 miles.
Van shuts off and completely loses power while moving without warning. Must be placed in park and sometimes restarts. Has been taken to dealer who could not find speific reason for this particular problem.
Takata recall',I am complaining about the engine,the right side rockers are making noise when running pretty bad. I thought there was a recall on that
Brakes
9 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 31,000 miles.
Rear brakes worn out, scraping metal. Called dealer and they said there was nothing they can do under warranty. I've been a mechanic for over 40 years and this is just plain equipment failure. The calipers are bad and chrysler will not admit it because they don't want to pay for a recall. Very dissatisfied with…
Rear braking system worn out, need them replaced prematurely. The brakes were grabbing, not releasing, vibrating and not stopping like they should. Took it in and sure enough I need to have the rear brakes, router and a piston/ sensor replaced 30,000 for brake wear out. Highway driving not city driving I was told rear…
Other or unspecified
8 complaints · 9%Half of these problems showed up before 126,000 miles.
The key is stuck in the ignition and dealer states it's wind module issue wich was a recall for 2008-2010 Dodge caravans but excludes 2012 Dodge caravans perhaps this should be looked into.
2012 Dodge Caravan suddenly shuts off while driving losing the ability to brake or steer, with no warning signs from the vehicle. After research, this is a common problem for Dodge caravans resulting in serious safety concerns.
Fuel system
6 complaints · 7%Half of these problems showed up before 99,000 miles.
Fuel pump continues to stay on when vehicle is off with no key in ignition. This is causing battery drain and hard starts after jumping battery. Car also is stalling at times while in motion. I have seen a recall for other males and models of same year from mopar vehicles, such as durango. It seems to be fuel pump…
Van had engine stall while going down highway. Lost all power due to this..was only going about 45 so was able to maintain control and get to side of the road. Was in the rural area so traffic was light...daughter and granddaughter was in van with me ...this could have been tragic if I had been on interstate or on…
Air bags
4 complaints · 5%The contact owned a 2012 Dodge Caravan. The contact stated that the vehicle was involved in a crash and the air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed and one injury was reported. The vehicle was destroyed.the manufacture was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,488.
The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Caravan. The contact stated that the air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the computer chip was replaced; however, the failure recurred multiple times. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer twice, where the air bag sensor and the air bag…
Transmission
3 complaints · 3%The vehicle had been pulled out of the garage put in park, turned off but did have the key left in it. This was intended to only take a moment while we moved a lawn tractor into the garage ahead of the parking spot for the minivan. While we were busy moving the lawn tractor the minivan rolled about 30 yards away from…
The problem with my 2012 Dodge Caravan is driving along easily on city streets because with this problem it cant be put on the interstate, when getting ready to go up a hill and it goes out of gear, the RPM hand goes as far as it can go, sometimes easing of the gas the RPM hand will go down to 1 and the transmission…
Wheels and tires
3 complaints · 3%The contact owns a 2012 Dodge Caravan equipped with kumho tires, size: 235/60r16. The contact stated that the low air indicator illuminated on the instrument panel, informing her that one of the tires was low on air. The vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop and the contact was informed that the front…
After smelling brakes during a 10 mile trip to local store I looked at rear drivers side rotor to see it glowing cherry red in the night. Extreme heat was coming from the wheel well and wheel camber appeared to be affected from excessive heat. Working on trying to get it in for a warranty check, but to me this is…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2012 Dodge Caravan recalls
NHTSA lists no recalls for this model year.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Totally integrated power module failure
Summary
In a letter dated august 21, 2014, the center for auto safety (cas) petitioned the national highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA) to initiate a defect investigation of alleged failures associated with the totally integrated power module (tipm) installed in chrysler SUV?s, trucks, and vans beginning in the 2007 model year. The petitioner alleges that tipm defects may result in engine stall, airbag non-deployment, failure of fuel pump shutoff resulting in unintended acceleration, fire, and other symptoms. On september 25, 2014, the office of defects investigation (odi) opened dp14-004 to evaluate the petition for a grant or deny decision. Odi analyzed complaint data provided by cas as
Questions about the 2012 Dodge Caravan
- What are the most common problems with the 2012 Dodge Caravan?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: electrical (47 complaints, typically around 69,000 miles); engine (19 complaints, typically around 108,000 miles); brakes (9 complaints, typically around 31,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2012 Dodge Caravan have?
- NHTSA lists no recalls for the 2012 Dodge Caravan. Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls in case one is issued later.
- Is the 2012 a bad year for the Dodge Caravan?
- It is 10th of 18 Caravan model years by number of complaints, with 87 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.