ignorant wrote: Can't you get the same mileage out of a full size van though? From my experience the 4.3 is a pig around town.
Put 60k on one back in '94-95, got 17mpg city (Houston) and 19 highway even when it was only getting 300 miles to a quart of oil.
I think if you can stand the ergonomics and the doghouse, they are a good vehicle. Amazing utility. And this is coming from a guy who loves caravans (owned 5 so far, starting a project on one tomorrow) so to compliment another kind of van from here means something 
They have annoying repair tasks here and there.. but not really any worse than an f-body.
For those that thing an Astro is NOT reliable, heaven forbid you ever have to maintain the other 92% of the trucks and vans that are less reliable. (ok, so I made that statistic up)...they have a few problems here and there, but they're more reliable than a hell of a lot of other less-than-fullsize vans out there.
Bryce
oldopelguy wrote:ignorant wrote: Can't you get the same mileage out of a full size van though? From my experience the 4.3 is a pig around town.Put 60k on one back in '94-95, got 17mpg city (Houston) and 19 highway even when it was only getting 300 miles to a quart of oil.
Maybe my old colleague's van was a little tweaked. He couldn't manage more than 15 around town.
I got 16.2 mpg out of an E250 last week with mixed driving. That's not average though. Turn on the AC and it will go into the 12-13 range.
i think my astro just got exponentially cooler according to JB
I bought this 4.3 V6 Chevy Express cargo van (for race car towing duties) this week. Based on experiences from others, it'll be fine for towing my Sprite or A35. It replaces a 3.9 Freestar (that gave me excellent service with 40+ race tows) but I need something bigger. Chevy has a great incentive deal on these '09 vans right now, but they're really pushing the V8s so it took me a while to find a V6. So far (it has 219 total miles) the fuel economy computer in it reads 15.1 mpg.
Yes, I now own three, white 2-seaters!
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