Full size passenger van

californiamilleghia said:

Here is the 2009 Express van press kit

https://media.chevrolet.com/media/us/en/chevrolet/vehicles/express-psgr/2009.html

Thank you very much ! 

californiamilleghia said:

is that the normal size one and not the extended ?

if you have a picture of the sliding door , the rear edge of the door is only a few inches from the wheel well arch.

YAh not extended 

standard 

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

mr2s2000elise said:

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

Which brand tires did you buy? 

I got Kumho Adventure -AT51's from Tire Rack. 

Thanks! That shows as best seller 

Mr_Asa said:

My not-really-a-brother-in-law just picked up something in this range.  He usually flips vehicles.  Lemme talk to him and get specifics. 

Excellent 

thanks ! 

Some of the tire wear issues can be caused by a halfassed alignment. In the older, ones if I recall correctly, you had to add shims to the control arms. Which was a pain in the ass. 

The newer ones may (?) have cams on the control arm bolts, like full size trucks. Still a pain to adjust in the rust belt. 

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

If AWD is a feature you really want, that is a GREAT find. You do know the van AWD transfer case is computer controlled clutches and full time, not like 4wd trucks, right. Cool van. 

03Panther said:

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

If AWD is a feature you really want, that is a GREAT find. You do know the van AWD transfer case is computer controlled clutches and full time, not like 4wd trucks, right. Cool van. 

Awd is cool to have. But not $30,000 cool. So that's out of the running 

the first truck that I made the post for (rwd 3500), he wont negotiate at all 

so will keep searching. 

mr2s2000elise said:

03Panther said:

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

If AWD is a feature you really want, that is a GREAT find. You do know the van AWD transfer case is computer controlled clutches and full time, not like 4wd trucks, right. Cool van. 

Awd is cool to have. But not $30,000 cool. So that's out of the running 

 

the first truck that I made the post for (rwd 3500), he wont negotiate at all 

so will keep searching. 

I always considered these Church buses , Most were Dodge or Ford and had the extension off the back which made them tail heavy and they lost control and crashed a lot , 

Chevy solved that but exstended the wheelbase which made a much better van , 

I wonder if you searched ex church van if you could come up with something ?

In reply to californiamilleghia :

Is there a special sites those are sold? 

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

not that I know of , 

I saw 10 of them at Long Beach college today , still being used but another thing to search for , 

mr2s2000elise said:

Mr_Asa said:

My not-really-a-brother-in-law just picked up something in this range.  He usually flips vehicles.  Lemme talk to him and get specifics. 

Excellent 

 

thanks ! 

Still waiting on some clarifying info, so I'm not sure of price range, but I think 6ish?  160k on it or so.  

The guy sold it cause it started to develop low oil pressure at idle.  When running its great, but at idle you can watch it creep down.

He also used it as a work van, but I don't think the wood flooring and boxes are screwed into the floor or panels, just fitted tightly. 

So.... I dunno.  A good low end option?

When I bought my Grand Caravan off Hertz last year, all the rental car companies had full size passanger vans too.

Check out Avis and Enterprise's vehicle sales sites. 

mr2s2000elise said:

03Panther said:

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

If AWD is a feature you really want, that is a GREAT find. You do know the van AWD transfer case is computer controlled clutches and full time, not like 4wd trucks, right. Cool van. 

Awd is cool to have. But not $30,000 cool. So that's out of the running 

 

the first truck that I made the post for (rwd 3500), he wont negotiate at all 

 

so will keep searching. 

I had not seen the price on the AWD... I did not know he was selling two vans...

Mr_Asa said:

mr2s2000elise said:

Mr_Asa said:

My not-really-a-brother-in-law just picked up something in this range.  He usually flips vehicles.  Lemme talk to him and get specifics. 

Excellent 

 

thanks ! 

Still waiting on some clarifying info, so I'm not sure of price range, but I think 6ish?  160k on it or so.  

The guy sold it cause it started to develop low oil pressure at idle.  When running its great, but at idle you can watch it creep down.

He also used it as a work van, but I don't think the wood flooring and boxes are screwed into the floor or panels, just fitted tightly. 

So.... I dunno.  A good low end option?

 

 

 

Sounds like a good low cost option. 

Though oil pressure issue - makes me hesitant .

still on the hunt for one.

John Welsh said:

When I bought my Grand Caravan off Hertz last year, all the rental car companies had full size passanger vans too.

Check out Avis and Enterprise's vehicle sales sites. 

Thanks, will do!

In my line of work, we put full size passenger vans to the Test. 100% towing, big loads, on and off road. Talking to others doing the same thing, we all seem to have the best experience reliability-wise with Fords. 

Jay_W said:

In my line of work, we put full size passenger vans to the Test. 100% towing, big loads, on and off road. Talking to others doing the same thing, we all seem to have the best experience reliability-wise with Fords. 

Thanks. Any years or models you recommend? 
 

if I couldn't find a cheaper domestic one, plan was to get a new 3500 SL nissan awd. But with nissan stopping usa production of that in 2021, used or new of those almost nonexistent 

Can't believe I missed this the first time around.

I just did this in February.  Found an 06 with 80-some thousand, 1500, 5.3L, AWD.  The pricing is all over the board with these, but I was able to negotiate mine to $6500, (or maybe it was $7000... I forget) and it is a nice little southern peach.

Yours will likely have the right options, but (in case no one mentioned it)  Look for G80 to get a limited slip, and GT4 or GT5 for 3.73 or 4.10 respectively.

I was able to get mine so cheap because the kid had a full detailing business in the back that he was trying to get rid of with the van and nobody was biting.  He finally unloaded the skid and I swooped in.

Jay_W said:

In my line of work, we put full size passenger vans to the Test. 100% towing, big loads, on and off road. Talking to others doing the same thing, we all seem to have the best experience reliability-wise with Fords. 

I know you didn't ask me, but....  I agree, the Fords are very nice.  I've owned a few.  The gap between Ford and Chevy really closed up with the new body style GMs in 2003.  The 96-02 Express/Savannas were kinda crap if you ask me.  It would be hard for me to choose between the two right now if it weren't for the fact that I wanted AWD.

Ford vans are pretty much bulletproof.  4.6L or 5.4L are both great, but depending on the generation of heads, you'll either have spark plugs that self-eject or glue themselves in the hole.  Normally an easy fix in both cases if it's a truck, but the vans make it tough to reach.  Both mod motors will have a warped passenger side exhaust manifold leak starting at about 60k.  Not an awful fix, but you have to take a lot of stuff off to get to it.

4R100W trans is good.  5R110 is better, 6R120 is nipples.

First order of business you should expect to need in the Ford is seats.  Ford normally has great seats, but I think they let one of the designers' 5-year-old kids draw up the seats in the vans.

Again, can't go wrong with either.  I only went GM this time to get the AWD.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

That's funny to hear you talk about Ford seats. I probably have the most bony ass in existence - I can't do more than an hour in our Fit, and our old T&C was miserable after 12 hours(like I could barely walk when I got out), but the ones in the E250 don't bother me at all after that long of drive. 

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Jay_W said:

In my line of work, we put full size passenger vans to the Test. 100% towing, big loads, on and off road. Talking to others doing the same thing, we all seem to have the best experience reliability-wise with Fords. 

I know you didn't ask me, but....  I agree, the Fords are very nice.  I've owned a few.  The gap between Ford and Chevy really closed up with the new body style GMs in 2003.  The 96-02 Express/Savannas were kinda crap if you ask me.  It would be hard for me to choose between the two right now if it weren't for the fact that I wanted AWD.

Ford vans are pretty much bulletproof.  4.6L or 5.4L are both great, but depending on the generation of heads, you'll either have spark plugs that self-eject or glue themselves in the hole.  Normally an easy fix in both cases if it's a truck, but the vans make it tough to reach.  Both mod motors will have a warped passenger side exhaust manifold leak starting at about 60k.  Not an awful fix, but you have to take a lot of stuff off to get to it.

4R100W trans is good.  5R110 is better, 6R120 is nipples.

First order of business you should expect to need in the Ford is seats.  Ford normally has great seats, but I think they let one of the designers' 5-year-old kids draw up the seats in the vans.

Again, can't go wrong with either.  I only went GM this time to get the AWD.

I dont need awd really, if rwd fords are so much better 

i dont speak ford or gm, so can you specify what years or whar these codes mean?

"4R100W trans is good.  5R110 is better, 6R120 is nipples"

lastly 150/250/350 in ford world ? 
 

i learned that in express world 3500 will give me seats and cargo if extended wheel base. Same in ford world? 

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Can't believe I missed this the first time around.

I just did this in February.  Found an 06 with 80-some thousand, 1500, 5.3L, AWD.  The pricing is all over the board with these, but I was able to negotiate mine to $6500, (or maybe it was $7000... I forget) and it is a nice little southern peach.

Yours will likely have the right options, but (in case no one mentioned it)  Look for G80 to get a limited slip, and GT4 or GT5 for 3.73 or 4.10 respectively.

I was able to get mine so cheap because the kid had a full detailing business in the back that he was trying to get rid of with the van and nobody was biting.  He finally unloaded the skid and I swooped in.

Yeah prices all over. $13-$33k around here 

i need passEnger version 

"G80 to get a limited slip, and GT4 or GT5" - what do those mean or what year?

I'm at 185,000 with my E350 passenger van 5.4 Liter.  Front and rear A/C.

Still using the stock seats.   Pull a trailer almost every day.   Dependable it is.  Makes me lean towards Ford with every purchase.

It's been in the shop once.  At 175,000 the A/C compressor was weak (it still worked).  Use Mobil 1 since new.  Changed plugs at 100,000.   Brakes seem to last forever.   I use either Goodrich or Copper  "E" tires.  Rear last about 35,000, fronts 50,000.

I've had to change the battery in the keyfob 3 times.  

In reply to Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) :

Photos? Year? 

2008