I have a 2005 Grand Caravan that has a badly dented driver side door and both sliding doors are badly rusted out. The local junk yard has a number of same-coloured Caravans that I'm thinking about buying replacement doors (driver's side - $65, sliding doors- $90 each, Canadian pricing).

My question - do I need the exact same year for the doors to fit my vehicle? Would a Caravan have the same doors as my Grand Caravan?

 

Well, that is a "4th Generation" Caravan which ran from 2001-07, so doors from those model years should work. I'll have to do some digging on the Caravan/Grand Caravan question.

 

Okay, near as I can tell, they are the same. Quick call to a body shop or dealer's body shop and you can confirm that. Also I would expect the junkyard [auto recycler] to be able to answer that themselves. Just depends on their level of expertise.

 

I agree, yrs ago I had a buddy that owned a junk yard. He had a big fat book that listed the parts that would interchange between different vehicles. I'd expect a modern day junkyard to have the same albeit digital.

 

Thanks for the responses!

1. How hard of a task will this be to swap out these doors? I've been looking for YouTube videos on the topic.

2. I have noticed that the driver doors on different years have different interior panels and door controls, will this be a problem? I was planning on using my panels and controls only if I have to. The junkyard sells the complete door (including the glass) in their pricing. I asked if I could get it cheaper if I just bought the steel door and nothing else but was told they are sold as a complete unit.

3. Parts book referencing comment - the junkyard I'm buying from has a very cute girl selling the parts (fortunately), but doesn't know a whole lot about the actual parts, (unfortunately). It is a good suggestion that I should call a body shop.

 

They will be heavy, so you'll need help. I've never done a side slider door. I suspect it may be a bit more involved, but not necessarily rocket science.

I would expect the door carcasses to have generic mounting and interior panel attach points, things like that. It would be costly to have completely different doors for multiple sub-model types instead of one door type that they can attach multiple different door panels and such depending on the level of the sub-model.

Reason they won't sell just the door carcass is then they would have an interior panel which may or may not be difficult to sell by itself.

As Mark said, years ago this was a common item at a junkyard. Can't remember the name of the book, but everyone knew what you were talking about.

I'm guessing you won't have much trouble finding the doors, Chrysler only sold about a billion of them.