Those Caravans are either lemons or 300,000+ mi. cars, vast majority being the latter. I know people who use them essentially as their low riding, covered work truck.
Even though they don’t make them anymore the Grand Caravan with a towing package is the vehicle I intend to replace my Trailblazer with.
“my new guy (probably long term) wants me to buy a new car.”
Guys are all about efficiency and utility in vehicles so this is a red flag. IMO he is either bi-sexual or is working an angle. He may be using you to do something for himself. Red flag.
My advice: Keep the Caravan. Look into him being bi. Ask for a Hep-C test.
Thank you for your thoughts on my 1996 Caravan with 107,000 miles. After a serious talk, my guy is now teaching me how to drive his stick shift Honda so that we can take turns driving on long trips. We can keep the Caravan for trips to Lowes, Home Depot, and the dump. His main angle is that he wants to be able to use my one car garage when he is in town, which is most of the time. When I explained that my NEW car would live in my garage and that he would have to get a license with much higher costs to park in my jurisdiction, that seemed to make the difference. We have been friends for 38 years, and we have been an exclusive item ever since a year after my husband’s death in 2005. He and I are both compatibly tight with our money. I believe we will be together for the rest of our lives. Thank you for caring.
One more thought. I really like the good mpg on my 4 cylinder Caravan. I was thinking of eventually replacing with a 5 to 10 year old Sienna van. I don’t know if they make a 4 cylinder. If I have to get 6, is that a good replacement choice, and do you know how I can tell a good used one from a lemon? I realize that if there is a repair history, that is a good thing to check.