Cars.com's Bill Jackson takes a look at the 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT.
Transcript
(rock music) <v Narrator>cars.com AUTO REVIEWS (fun guitar music) Hi, I'm Bill Jackson with cars.com and we're here with the 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan.
As you can tell, it's a minivan, and minivans aren't as popular as they once were, but we're gonna run you through some of the features that help keep this popular, as well, some things that are new for 2009. (upbeat music) Now, the first thing Dodge offers are two choices of second row seats. One is called, "Stow-N-Go" and what that means is, is this seat just folds flat into the floor, giving you a nice, flat, low floor from front to back. Our van has SWIVEL 'N GO and what that means is that you can take the second row seats and spin them around (seat clicks) so that you face towards the back, if you wanna talk to the people back here. There's even attachment for a table, so you can have a nice little picnic. The thing to remember is, as you can see, we got this seat spun around, but to do it, we had to take this seat and run it all the way forward, so that's not exactly ideal if you wanna sit up here. (joyful music) Now, since we have the SWIVEL 'N GO seats, one of the things you get are these bins right here behind the first row, and you can obviously use them for carrying a lot of things but what it comes with straight from Dodge is the, the table for the picnic between the second and third row. One thing though, is you can see, we've got the front seat still run all the way forward and that makes it a lot easier to get into these bins here. If you actually had this set for an adult or a taller person, you would have a harder time getting into the bins. (bouncy music) Like we said, there's a table here that goes between the second and third row, and obviously, it comes out. The thing to remember though, is that if you carry a lot of cargo, things like plywood, or mattresses, or anything that could easily be damaged, the table comes out, the seats come out, but this ring in the floor that supports the table does not. Again, for the things I carry, it's not a big deal, but if you think you have something that could be damaged by the ring, unfortunately, it's in there for good. (bouncy music) Like we said, there are a few things new for 2009 on the Grand Caravan, one of which is a sports suspension, which our model has, that's optional on the higher trim levels. To be honest, I didn't really notice it being a too firm of a ride, but it's gonna be one of those things you're gonna wanna check out. Another new option for 2009, also on the higher trim levels, are a Blind Spot Warning System. What this does is, there are indicators in the mirror to let you know when you're driving on the highway or wherever, that somebody's back in your blind spot, it sort of lights up, it's kind of a nice touch. (bouncy music) Like we said at the beginning, minivans aren't as popular as they once were, but they still have some features like power closing rear doors, that crossovers and SUVs can't match, and hopefully we've outlined a few of the ones that make the GRAND CARAVAN unique. <v Narrator>For more car related news go to cars.com, for our blog, KickingTires.net.
