Dodge Grand Caravan vs Toyota Sienna: which is more reliable?
The Dodge Grand Caravan and the Toyota Sienna are level on the federal record — 75/100 against 73/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Dodge Grand Caravan
- 10 model years scored
- 4,119 owner complaints on record
- about 37 complaints per year on the road
- 41 recall campaigns, 17 safety-critical
- best year 2020 (95/100) · worst 2016 (38/100)
Toyota Sienna
- 10 model years scored
- 1,815 owner complaints on record
- about 12 complaints per year on the road
- 70 recall campaigns, 43 safety-critical
- best year 2020 (88/100) · worst 2011 (28/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Grand Caravan against Sienna
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Dodge Grand Caravan
- Electrical System — 1,688 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 671 complaints
- Engine — 596 complaints
Toyota Sienna
- Structure — 424 complaints
- Air Bags — 340 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 256 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Grand Caravan's complaints concentrate in Electrical System, the Sienna's in Structure. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Dodge Grand Caravan — avoid: 2016.
Toyota Sienna — avoid: 2011.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Dodge Grand Caravan prices at about $23,000 and a Toyota Sienna at about $23,000 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 20.0 against 21.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Dodge Grand Caravan or the Toyota Sienna more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Dodge Grand Caravan scores 75/100 against the Toyota Sienna's 73/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Dodge Grand Caravan and Toyota Sienna years should I avoid?
Dodge Grand Caravan: 2016. Toyota Sienna: 2011. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Dodge Grand Caravan and the Toyota Sienna?
The largest complaint group on the Dodge Grand Caravan is Electrical System (1,688 complaints); on the Toyota Sienna it is Structure (424).
Is the Dodge Grand Caravan or the Toyota Sienna cheaper to own?
A recent used Dodge Grand Caravan prices at about $23,000 and a Toyota Sienna at about $23,000, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.