After long deliberation and hesitation.... I need to get a ~$2-3K minivan to haul kids/dogs/camping gear. Reliability is key as the dear wife will park the 318ti to drive it (mostly in the summer).
I've heard that some Mopars crap their trans @100K. Which ones?
Latest model Aerostar you can find. 
93celicaGT2 wrote: Latest model Aerostar you can find.
I may be in this same boat come summer... why the Aerostar over anything else? (I'm a Ford guy, so the DeathStar was my first inclination, but I'm curious why less biased people would suggest it).
93celicaGT2 wrote: Latest model Aerostar you can find.
I've never found an aerostar with seats I could sit in for any length of time. I don't know exactly what the issue(s?) is. But after 20 minutes in one I'm sore, and by the time I've been in it an hour I think I'd rather walk even if I had to carry whatever I was hauling in the minivan...
A shame too, I'd kinda like one, but don't really want to be doing a bunch of work just to make a minivan livable for me.
My vote would be 1st gen Odyssey
ReverendDexter wrote:93celicaGT2 wrote: Latest model Aerostar you can find.I may be in this same boat come summer... why the Aerostar over anything else? (I'm a Ford guy, so the DeathStar was my first inclination, but I'm curious why less biased people would suggest it).
They're GIGANTIC inside, especially if you get your hands on an XL. They run, and run, and run, and run. If they've been up north, they rust like nobody's business.
They aren't fun at ALL to drive. They're slow as hell. They have the handling characteristics of the Exxon Valdez.
But they're about as close as you can get to a commercial van without giving up all the creature comforts that you need for long trips and dealing with your screaming spawn in the back seats.
Put it this way... they were originally slated for death in 1995 i believe? The people revolted because they didn't like the Windstar at all (who can blame them) and Ford decided to carry on the Aerostar for a couple years. If there was that much of an overwhelming response of fury when it should have died, it had to have done SOMETHING right.
The RWD versions are TERRIBLE in snow, snow tires are a necessity, and there is NO weight over the back wheels, so you WILL be putting huge bags of salt, concrete, whatever in the back. They can be had in AWD, but i don't remember if you could get the long version with AWD or not.
I'd buy a van to fit a whole bunch of crap in. Not much fits the bill better than this.
keethrax wrote:93celicaGT2 wrote: Latest model Aerostar you can find.I've never found an aerostar with seats I could sit in for any length of time. I don't know exactly what the issue(s?) is. But after 20 minutes in one I'm sore, and by the time I've been in it an hour I think I'd rather walk even if I had to carry whatever I was hauling in the minivan... A shame too, I'd kinda like one, but don't really want to be doing a bunch of work just to make a minivan livable for me.
The butt part of the front seats is a little too soft for some people. You sink in a bit too far, and that's where the problem arises.
Aerostar+recaros+side-exit cherry bombs+ Limited slip diff+ oil cooler+ supercharger+ripshifter+megasquirt+"My Child Beat-up Your Honor Student bumper-sticker.
beaterworld wrote: Aerostar+recaros+side-exit cherry bombs+ Limited slip diff+ oil cooler+ supercharger+ripshifter+megasquirt+"My Child Beat-up Your Honor Student bumper-sticker.
That statement tells me that you've never seen the underhood of an Aerostar.
I know of an Odyssey that might be available in VA for near the top of your range. Where are you?
93celicaGT2 wrote:beaterworld wrote: Aerostar+recaros+side-exit cherry bombs+ Limited slip diff+ oil cooler+ supercharger+ripshifter+megasquirt+"My Child Beat-up Your Honor Student bumper-sticker.That statement tells me that you've never seen the underhood of an Aerostar.
THAT statement tells me you've never heard of hood bulges...
93celicaGT2 wrote:keethrax wrote:The butt part of the front seats is a little too soft for some people. You sink in a bit too far, and that's where the problem arises.93celicaGT2 wrote: Latest model Aerostar you can find.I've never found an aerostar with seats I could sit in for any length of time. I don't know exactly what the issue(s?) is. But after 20 minutes in one I'm sore, and by the time I've been in it an hour I think I'd rather walk even if I had to carry whatever I was hauling in the minivan... A shame too, I'd kinda like one, but don't really want to be doing a bunch of work just to make a minivan livable for me.
err, ever heard of recaros?
er, isn't that $1000 worth of seating in a $2k minivan?
Just throwing a Previa in the mix.....
honestly, my pick would be a 98-00 3.8L long wheelbase chrysler minivan, preferably a sport model with higher stall converter, 17" wheels, autostick on the shifter, monotone paint all over, honeycomb grille treatment, fog lights, etc.
That generation of vans is massive on the inside, especially if you take the seats out. It'll hit 20mpg on the highway. Its decently powerful, too. The comparable (2g, the first VAN one) odyssey isnt as large inside, and while it may be faster, imo it has just as much tranny issues as a 604 (a604 transmission) caravan.
I worked in a transmission shop for about 2 years and rebuilt a lot of transmissions. Im a real fan of the Caravan design. My boss and many others complained about r&r on caravan transmissions, but i think they were my favorite FWD that would come in. The transmissions arent hard to rebuild, either. But i guess you're saying you would not want to get to that point, right? 
Anyway, i think the 604 is a very good transmission that's gotten a bad rap for a few reasons.
By 96 (96-00 is the generation of van im recommending), that was pretty much sorted out.
The other thing that kills them regardless of year is heat. You NEED a (cheap and easy) tranny cooler on your 604 minivan if you expect it to last. Vans with tow packages or cooling packages came with one. My parents just traded in a 97 caravan with a trans cooler on it at 230k, and the transmission still worked. I took it out at ~205k and put new seals and clutches in it because the seals were getting hard and it wouldnt run right when cold, but thats the same anywhere you go. There were no hard parts failing, and if the seals hadnt aged it could have kept going. Between myself, a few friends, and my parents, we've owned a lot of 604s and ive found them to be among the better transmissions out there.
Just put a cooler on it, change the fluid occasionally, and you should be good for a long time. Ive also done probably 4k miles of towing with GVW over 7000lbs with that tranny. So you can definitely flat tow or dolley tow a light car with one, or a light car on a light trailer.
oh and the 3.8 is dead nuts reliable, and you can get them in AWD.
I've had both a high mileage Voyager and Aerostar. I had an 97 Aerostar XLT (long!) and a 92 Voyager. Both had their ups and downs, both died in accidents when other idiots decided to swerve and hit the only minivan on the road. Neither were in bad shape, despite me putting 50k miles on them in the two years I owned either.
If you're looking for room to store crap, the aerostar is your answer. Get the 4.0 XLT (like I had) and you won't have too many problems. It's not a speed demon, but it'll work for the job. Unless you want to pioneer a Cummins 4bt swap.
Can I just put in a word for the Mazda MPV? 261*** km on ours, and mostly going strong. Has a weird tendency to freeze the sliding doors when it's Canadian-style cold outside, but no real issues apart from that. (I can stand it if they freeze shut; what really frosts my cookies is when they open just fine and then won't close until they think they're warm enough, which on occasion has been the next day. Grrr.) I like the seats I sit on, I LOVE the 3rd seat that disappears, and my kids love the rear windows that actually go down. The smaller (than the Caravan) form factor is great in the city, and we've never felt the need for more space.
Vigo wrote: oh and the 3.8 is dead nuts reliable, and you can get them in AWD.
The engine itself, yes. But the electrics, not so much in my experience. I had a 95 Grand Caravan 3.8 AWD that I used for courier work. Great van - lots of space, plenty of pep, and the AWD was awesome for that inevitable emergency blood bank delivery in a blizzard. 
But then the van started blowing the main fuse on a regular basis, until it decided not to - until the next time it did. I'm horrible at electrical stuff. I had the van at two different shops, for a week each time, and neither of them could figure out the problem. Finally, when I ran out of money between not working and paying shops to NOT fix my van, I gave up on it.
While it lasted, however - awesome van. I took it out for a little, er.... "practice" at a couple of Boston BMW CCA ice time trials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7iPZHdhc3k
mercury on a nissan chassis or nissan quest ,,,, you can take all seats out haul everything . Got a 2 inch reese hitch on back so i can tow or throw one of those rear tailgate things . rear ac ,,,, I got mine for $178.81 at police auction plus 200 for title
I had a first gen Mercury Villager I liked a lot, and should have kept. It had the piston slap problem that the early ones had, but it still ran fine, and drove very nicely. They are small inside compared to newer minivans, but they're also smaller on the outside, so do a lot better in parking lots, etc. Nissan Quest is the same van.
and you can let quest/villager timing belts snap because they have valve reliefs in the pistons, unlike every other VG.
I like Astros myself. The list of vans I wouldn't buy is much shorter than the list of ones I would.
Vans to not buy: Windstar
'95 and older mopar
MPV's (ive had poor experiences with them, old and new style even though they're completely unrelated)
I haven't seen an Aerostar van in YEARS up here in the rust belt. Astro's are fairly common, and would be my utility vehicle of choice if I had to tow something. That said, I actually (!!!) like the Caravans.
Nathan
beaterworld wrote:93celicaGT2 wrote:THAT statement tells me you've never heard of hood bulges...beaterworld wrote: Aerostar+recaros+side-exit cherry bombs+ Limited slip diff+ oil cooler+ supercharger+ripshifter+megasquirt+"My Child Beat-up Your Honor Student bumper-sticker.That statement tells me that you've never seen the underhood of an Aerostar.
You haven't said anything to refute my statement yet.
I'll throw in the Chevy Venture. The Wife drives a 99 that just rolled over 175K. The only problem is the lower intake manifold gaskets. I have had to change them once. The wife drove it for a few weeks with a 50/50 mix of oil and water in the crankcase with no adverse effects. The motor is just about indestructible. Drives good, rides good and will get 26+mpg even when hauling 2 GM 4200 I6 engines back from Miami.
She abuses the hell out of it, and it just keeps going. They can be had for pretty cheap. I think I paid about $3600 for ours 5-6 years ago with only 80K on the clock. They don't have the Yuppie tax that the Honda vans do.
You'll need to log in to post.
