Help me find a van

I'm looking to add to my carrying capacity (the Miata is tired of carrying shelves and washers sticking out the top).

We need something that is going to meet a lot of different uses, a work van, but work can mean hauling people too.

Criteria: Cheap, cheap as possible Space for carrying furniture with seats out Space for carrying several people, seats in Used for band touring purposes, so needs to have cheaper parts, get decent mpg. Easy to work on would be nice of course. Able to carry 4 plus some band equipment No heavy towing required

I have been considering Astos, Aerostars, or Dodges, or I could try the Japanese offerings, as I like their fuel thirst and less truck like manners. I like the look of the Astros, but I tend to trust Fords more for some reason. I saw a manual (!!!) aerostar recently that looked appealing, but imagine they are rare.

If it's not out there, let me dream for a bit... Thx

There were also manual Astros in the early years mated to a 2.5L, Iron Duke 4 cyl. Totally gutless.

JohnRW1621 wrote: There were also manual Astros in the early years mated to a 2.5L, Iron Duke 4 cyl. Totally gutless.

How could anything called Iron Duke be gutless?! :)

What about Plymouth Minivans? Might be a little small, but with the seats out if might work, the mpg is probably better: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/4096882301.html

Or if I go big, and forget mpg what about an old Dodge Ram van: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/4090062685.html

The 4L60E in the Astro is practically bulletproof behind the 4.3, even more with a cooler.

4cyl odyssey?

Whats the price range? And what do u consider good gas mileage? And would a full-sized wagon work? Like a older volvo or one of the GM offerings from the 80'-90's?

Dajiban anyone?

The answer here is obviously turbo caravan.

Heh, I had an aerostar for my first car that was manual. 3.0 V6 got ok mileage (18-20 on freeway driven the speed limit) and the engine seemed fine at 212K when I got rid of it. Not going to win any speed contests, but reliable. for 4 people, you might be better off with a larger engine, either a 4.0 in the aerostar or go the chebby route.

Vans are awesome!

Really liking the AWD astro we picked up in the spring. Aside from few minor annoyances it's been great. Got near 18 mpg on the last six hour trip loaded with dogs and stuff.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: The 4L60E in the Astro is practically bulletproof behind the 4.3, even more with a cooler.

I had heard bad things about one of the transmissions, maybe it wasn't the 4L60E.

Price range is as cheap as possible basically, or in other words, I need to make the money back on the purchase of this van fairly quickly. I'd like to spend 1,500$ or less to be honest, I'm crazy. How much does a 4cyl Odyssey go for? Probably out of my range.

Turbo Caravan! What is that?!

VWCorvette, what year is your Astro, what motor/trans does it have?

In reply to Brokeback: These Aerostars appeal to me, glad to hear it didn't have too many issues.

Any reason why aerostars and not econolines? I've never gotten 20mpg with my old one but it has certainly been extremely reliable and the space is endless.

In reply to Rufledt: Oh I'm open to Econolines, how do you like yours? What are the biggest maintenance items and tourble spots? Just how low is the mpg?

1994 Subaru Legacy wagon. Unkillable drivetrain. Lots of room inside.

Van Criteria : cheap / good mpg / easy to work on. Pick any two, I seriously doubt that you will get all three in one GRM priced package.

Personally , I would forget about the mpg' s and exchange that for reliability. I'd look for a straight 6 powered econline, or the newest, best kept Astro that you could find. I'm not a big fan of the Arostar, they drive pretty nice, but are a big PITA to work on.

1988, 72k miles, needs heater core. $1450.

NMNA.

http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/3985330481.html

I had a 94 4.3L Chevy G20 short wheelbase for several years. reliable as gravity (I put 100k miles on it in a few years). got about 15mpg everywhere.

I would probably consider any of the "big 3" vans to be about equal when it comes to reliability though.

Something in ths area??? I saw this aluminum body step van and thought it was kinda cool with roll-up doors on both sides. Too bad the motor is kaput.

1995 Chevrolet Mechanics Box Truck with roll up doors - $2500 (palmetto)

Mine is fairly old but mechanically it has been pretty great. Mine is actually one year older than he one pictured, so depending on the drivetrain, it could be extremely similar to mine. My 302 engine has been extremely reliable, it even starts in sub 0 temperatures. It has also had a heater core replaced (about 15 years ago) and water pump twice (only get 13 years out of one before it starts leaking it seems, though the pump 2 and 3 aren't ford parts). The a/c needs charging once a year on mine, too, and it's definitely 1980's ac, not too powerful, but the windows roll down just fine.

About a month ago I took a road trip from New York to Wisconsin and back, and I got about 16 mpg with about 50% a/c use. It's not as good as the 18mpg the window sticker claims, but not awful.

My dad used econolines for work for years (still does) and his only gripes about the older ones were that it goes through brake pads faster than he'd like, and he can't seem to get more than 200k (all city) miles from a v8. Keep in mind, though, he overloaded them to the max, floored it constantly, and changed the oil whenever he got around to it, so ymmv. To be fair, they all still ran when he sold them, just not well. I've replaced brakes once in the past 5 years of van ownership.

It's not a ball joint suspension, so you don't have to worry there, and I've never needed wheel bearings which were both regular problems on my dad's one single Chevy work van (2003 express box truck). I've known people with older Chevys and that say they are reliable like the older fords, but I have no personal experience. My parents also had a 4wd Aerostar and said, other than being gutless, it was very reliable. Again, my parents think anything with less than 300hp is gutless, so ymmv. Though I think my 302 van AFTER being modified is still fairly gutless. It is filled with seats and oak wood, though, so it's a good deal heavier than it could be.

Also, I'm told the auto in my van isn't very sturdy, but after all those years of towing, it still works perfectly, so I'm not sure on that.

Hope this helps.

CyberEric wrote: Turbo Caravan! What is that?!

http://www.turbovan.net/van.html

In reply to Rufledt: Very helpful, thank you!

914Driver wrote: 1988, 72k miles, needs heater core. $1450. NMNA. http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/3985330481.html

That looks just about exactly what I am looking for I think. If it were a wee bit closer!

Someone mentioned a Subuaru. I like that idea, but it won't hold furniture and so forth. I need something that can haul almost like a truck, but isn't.

HappyAndy wrote: Van Criteria : cheap / good mpg / easy to work on. Pick any two, I seriously doubt that you will get all three in one GRM priced package. Personally , I would forget about the mpg' s and exchange that for reliability. I'd look for a straight 6 powered econline, or the newest, best kept Astro that you could find. I'm not a big fan of the Arostar, they drive pretty nice, but are a big PITA to work on.

Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks!

In reply to Gasoline:

How else do you do magic disappearing tricks with a van!