text: We bought a new Grand Caravan in 1997 (we had a baby son and a mother-in-law who lived with us, plus a business that required a lot of space for boxes in the back), paid it off in 2002, and then drove it for another 10 years. No major repairs or extended time in the shop during the whole 15 years: just the usual things wearing out and needing replacing, fluid changes, new tires, etc. It didn't owe us a cent when we sent it to the big wrecker's yard in the sky, and there was no point when I or my husband yearned for something different. Indeed, I was sad to see it go.