jczarn

Hi there!

Just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. Our family has recently grown to 8 (6 kids, all grade-school age and younger), and so this has forced me to start looking into full-size vans.
We love our 4th generation Dodge/Chrysler minivans (01 Town and Country and 07 Grand Caravan), but obviously we've outgrown them. I've been a fairly active member on the chryslerminivan .net forums for several years and have gotten a lot of help keeping my minivans going. Hoping to find a similar community here if I end up buying an Express/Savana. Reading old posts has been very informative so far!

I've become accustomed to buying cheap minivans (my previous two minivans cost me $1200 each) in decent running condition despite high mileage and learning how to fix/maintain them myself. Thankfully I haven't been to a repair shop in several years now, despite a number of non-trivial repairs (to give you an idea of what I would consider my most difficult repair so far, it was replacing the steering rack on a Grand Caravan). I know I likely won't be able to get quite such a good bargain on a full size passenger van, mainly because they seem to be in lower supply, but it seems like there are still some deals to be had on the used market. Friends of ours with large families are generally recommending things like buying used passenger vans from rental companies like Enterprise etc. But I just can't stomach spending $25k on a vehicle, even if it is a good deal compared to $35k for a brand new one. So my current plan is to find a used van with a good powertrain, even if it's not pretty, and do any necessary repairs myself on the rest of the vehicle. I feel comfortable doing most mechanical/electrical work besides major engine/transmission overhaul or replacement.

I've been looking at the various makes for full size passenger vans, and have pretty much narrowed my search down to the Express/Savana for the following reasons:

Ford E-series: reliability issues, and also I was really turned off by Ford's lack of support for used vehicles. My relative needed a new key for his 10-year old Ford vehicle, and all the dealers said Ford throws away their key code databases after some paltry amount of years, certainly retaining no more than 7. They said he had to call a locksmith - I was told this by multiple dealers. If they can't even bother to keep a database that costs them almost nothing to maintain, I can't imagine good things about parts availability. (For all their issues, Chrysler seems to cheer on their old vehicle owners, even sending free license plate frames to those who have hit 100k, 200k, 300k miles.)
Ford Transit: expensive since they haven't been out for that many years, reliability unproven (also less than stellar anecdotal reports from friends of ours), also reasons above
Sprinter: Maintenance nightmare, and from what I saw parts are crazy expensive even if I try to DIY.
Nissan NV: expensive since there are almost none on the used market.
Dodge maxi vans: haven't been produced for a long time, rust issues especially at this age, especially near Chicago where I am.

I'm sure the Express has its own share of reliability issues, but it seems like parts are plentiful and cheap, and there is a large knowledge base online for DIY repairs. I also like that it's been basically the same design for a long time, so hopefully a lot of kinks have been worked out in that time. And it seems that there are a decent number of them on the local used market (Chicago area), despite that fact that cargo versions seem to be easier to find than passenger vans.

Anyway, I've been looking through some old threads when others have asked about recommendations about buying a used Express, so feel free to tell me to do my own research and glean the information I need from old threads :-)
However, I would appreciate any input on what to look for in a used Express/Savana given my particular situation (i.e. given my intended use as a family hauler). I know some of the major things I will need to consider are 1500 vs 2500 vs 3500, plus which specific engine, side barn doors vs sliding door, regular vs extended wheelbase etc. And also I know there have been major updates/revisions at some key years that I should probably do more research on.

In my searches on craigslist so far, I've seen a few references to "needs a tune-up", which I know can mean just about anything. In my experience with Chrysler minivans, the engines are pretty much bullet-proof and can take a lot of abuse, not sure if the same is true here.

Thanks in advance for welcoming this minivan owner into the big leagues :-)

mountainmanjoe

Auto-Brochures.com|Chevrolet Car & Truck PDF Sales Brochure/Catalog/Flyer/Info Astro Avalanche Aveo Beretta Blazer C1500 Camaro Caprice Cavalier Celebrity Chevelle Chevette City Express Cobalt Colorado Corvette Cruze Equinox Express G20 HHR K1500 Imp

a regular wheelbase will seat 8 plus plenty of room in the back. You should be able to find a seat layout in the brochures.

A 1500 should be fine if it's just a kidhauler. It's also lower to the ground so it's easier to step into. I love sliding doors for getting in and out of in tight parking stalls. Get at least 5.3L engine, and the newest model year you can afford for the most efficient transmission.