Seems to me that from haunting the Dodge/Chrysler minivan forums for the 2008 plus generation that the consensus was that MB de-contented the pee out of the vans... I don't think that crowd were fans of MB's acquisition in 1997 and the subsequent bleeding of Chrysler.
From 2003 on, several used to be standard features on the vans were made optional or dropped altogether. Here's a Chrysler minivan forum post from 2008: "Hi All, I'm about to replace my beloved '98 T+C LXI AWD (130K), simply because if I wait any longer, clean '04s with AWD will be very scarce. The van still runs great, and I love it. I finally found a nice '04 that fits the bill, but I was really astonished by all the de-contenting! I knew they started in '03, but WOW...
Right side power seat no vertical movement, visors have no variable light adjustment and only one light, stereo doesn't sound nearly as good as my '98, only one flood on the tailgate, no instantaneous gas mileage readout on the VIC, no pull handles on the ceiling lights, no windshield deicer grids, leather seems cheaper. Some of this stuff is not too bad, but I'm wondering...Is there anything else I'm missing?"
An answer:
- The body side moldings on the long-wheelbase models extend beyond the back of the sliding doors in 02. In 03, they end on the door (they are the same as the short-wheelbase moldings).
- Interior door panels may be cheaper.
- At some point during the 03 model year, they switched from having a bin with a lid in the third row on the right side, to just having a slot.
- The door for the jack is more flimsy in my 03 than in earlier models I have seen
- Sometime after 03, they may have reduced the number of models that had multiple power ports in the dash. My 03 has 2 (plus one behind the second row seat on the driver's side).
- AWD was not available after the 04 model year (it looks like you know that already)
- the 05 models no longer have the "eyebrow" above the instrument cluster; The high-beam indicator and turn signals are integrated with the other instruments.
- Sometime after 03, the insulation attached to the underside of the hood was no longer offered.
- Starting with the 04 model year, each taillight has only one bulb, which combines turn signals and brake light functions, whereas previous years had two bulbs, one for turn signals and one for brake lights. End of copied portion of thread.
Not sure about Dodge trucks but I doubt that MB understood North American needs for torquey V8's. Sure they had the over-complicated AMG motors but who'd want one of those in a truck for reliability and repair costs?
moparinsiders.com
