Minivan advice.....

[Karl]

So, I've been tasked with the duty of finding a cheap, used, minivan ($5000ish) for my department at work. Any minivan's out there to stay away from?

[bonnevillain]

dodge

at least our old grand caravan had tons of problems. tranny grenaded for no reason while cruising along.

they may have improved since the early 90's though

[BlackHawk99]

If I was tasked with this, I'd stay away from the 3400 since I'm not a fan of them. They were found in the early Lumina vans, Ventures, Montanas, etc.

I'd go for any year GMC Safari or Chevy Astro with the bullet-proof 4.3!

[Karl]

If I was tasked with this, I'd stay away from the 3400 since I'm not a fan of them. They were found in the early Lumina vans, Ventures, Montanas, etc.

I'd go for any year GMC Safari or Chevy Astro with the bullet-proof 4.3!

I was looking at a few Astros.... The 4.3 is a bulletproof motor.

[crash93ssei]

For a work van, I would absolutely go with the Astro / Safari. As mentioned above, bulletproof engine / drivetrain, not to mentioin cheap. As far as utility goes, you simply can't beat 'em. You can get them in AWD as well.

[PRD2BDF]

Ditto, I adore the Astros in AWD trim

My mom had a Astro high top conversion van, lasted 150,000 miles with us and died at 190,000 miles with another owner.

[crash93ssei]

Heck, a friend of mine had an Astro that smoked like crazy, had almost 300,000 miles on it and it would still ROAST the tires off

[gonzo4191]

yea an astro would be best

Heck, a friend of mine had an Astro that smoked like crazy, had almost 300,000 miles on it and it would still ROAST the tires off

yea thats called torque

[crash93ssei]

exactly..... torque FTMFW

[Hans]

I like the astro idea. I see them as work trucks, beat to sh**. still running though.

[Karl]

If I was tasked with this, I'd stay away from the 3400 since I'm not a fan of them.

Don't the Grand Am's run 3400's? They seem to be okay.... What usually fails?

[BlackHawk99]

Intake gaskets.

[Bonneville92V688]

IMO the Caravan/Voyager/T&C trio really isn't that bad. As long as the tranny is well taken care of with the proper fluid (Mopar ATF 4+) and filter changes, as well as a added tranny cooler, it will last you a LONG time. My mom had a '88 Voyager with the V6, and she bought it with 81k miles, with a new tranny because the old one blew a tranny line. My Dad kept ATF 4+ in it, changed it at its' intervals, and added a tranny cooler, and it lasted us to 235k before the engine locked solid due to a pinhole in the oil pan. Yes it burned oil, but it kept going strong until it died.

[Karl]

Intake gaskets.

So drinking antifreeze would be something to watch for?

[radomirthegreat]

I know of a 180K mile 3400 that has had no intake gasket work, and it's still good with it Dexcool. How much longer can it last? I wouldn't risk it, but the owner doesn't want to "risk" putting in anything besides Dexcool or possibly bending/breaking something in doing the intake gaskets. Some people don't want to do the type of work that will keep a car going until it's absolutely necessary, and then it might be too late. You need to find a work van, but how is it going to be taken care of? In general, the 3400 isn't good as a fleet car engine. The 4.3 fits better in the Astro. Its spark plugs are easier to change, and as it's been said before, it's bullet proof.

You can't find a good, non-Astro/Safari van for under $1000. However, sub-$1000 Astros/Safaris are all over the place! A RWD/AWD transmission on those vans is so hard to destroy! People have swapped in GM 350 engines. That's fairly easy since those bolt right in. Crazy, crazy people out there. Not that your work would want to do a 350 swap, but that does go to show that the transmission is amazingly durable as compared to the FWD ones. It'll tow a whole lot more than a FWD van, too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x8igEt-HBg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPuc3dg3zTY