The 1989 Dodge Caravan has 2 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 1,274,000 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 236 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the power train. Last updated July 5, 2026.
INBOARD FRONT SEAT BELT BUCKLE ASSEMBLY STRAPS CAN SUFFER FATIGUE FAILURE OF THE STRAP NEAR ITS ANCHOR POSITION.
FATIGUE FAILURE OF SAFETY BELTS IN A SUDDEN STOP ORACCIDENT CONDITION RESULTS IN INCREASED LIKELIHOOD OF INJURY TO SEAT OCCUPANT.
REPLACE FATIGUED STRAPS OR RETROFIT STRAPS WITH A REINFORCEMENT PLATE AND REMOVAL OF AN ANTIROTATION TAB TO PREVENT FATIGUE FAILURE.
THE ENGINE VALVE COVER GASKET MAY DISLOCATE AND ALLOW AN ENGINE OIL LEAK AT THE GASKET.
THE LEAKAGE OF OIL IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT COULD CAUSEA FIRE.
REPLACE GASKET COVER WITH REVISED COVER, AND RTV SEALANT WILL BE APPLIED IN PLACE OF A GASKET.
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.
“There has developed an unusual and unsafe condition in the front passenger door lock mechanism that on a regular basis causes the door to lock by itself whereby it is unable to be unlocked by any means from inside the vehicle. The only way to unlock the door when this happens, is from the outside…”
“Consumer received nhtsa recall 89v237000. Consumer took vehicle to dealer, as well as made several appointments to get his car serviced. However, to this day his car has still not been serviced.*ak”
“While driving at 30 mph and with no warning check engine light came on, then the vehicle shut off. Consumer has made contact with dealer. *ak *nlm”
“Fuel injector leak sprays high pressure gasoline on top of intake manifold. Large amounts of gasoline leak from injector onto hot components of engine. Leakage increases dramatically with decrease in ambient temperature. Injector: bendix deka 4418213”
“No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak”
“Wire strand that holds spare tire onto vehicle is defective, it snapped, causing spare tire to fall off.*ak jlg”
“The transmission has failed repeatedly after a new one was installed, initially the vehicle experienced the breakage of two axles, main axle, vac pinion and both front bearings (r4761821-aa transmission-41t 2100 2001). Nlm”
“We were driving on rt 1 in smrna delaware and it felt like the engine lost compression. I pulled to the side of the road turned off the van got out and saw fire under the hood. This incident happened on 3/17/2002 at 8/30 pm within minutes the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames. *ak”
THE PETITION ALLEGES THAT THE CHRYSLER CORPORATION FAILED TO PRODUCE A QUALITY TRANSMISSION IN ITS MODEL YEAR 1989 MINIVANS, WHICH CAN FAIL IMMATURELY
There is no summary currently available
There is no summary currently available
LIFTGATE LATCHES IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES HAVE FAILED IN LOW AND MODERATE SPEED IMPACTS RESULTING IN OCCUPANT EJECTIONS, INJURIES, AND FATALITIES.THERE ARE TWO FAILURE MODES ASSOCIATED WITH LATCH FAILURE: FORK BOLT-DETENT LEVER BYPASS, AND INERTIAL UNLATCHING.NHTSA ANALYSES OF CHRYSLER AND PEER MINIVANS TOOK THE FORM…
===
There is no summary currently available
===
There is no summary currently available
There is no summary currently available
There is no summary currently available
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1989 Dodge Caravan as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.