Hi all. My wife currently drives an 02 Venture with 135k+ miles. The body is rotting out and I don't like her driving it on long trips. Soooo.....time for a new van. We have 4 full-size dog crates in the Venture so I need something that holds the same cargo volume. Wondering if the Uplander will work out for her.

Here are my questions if anyone can answer them.

1) the Venture holds a 4x8 sheet of plywood on the floor. Will an Uplander? They appear to be the same van, just a different nose.

2) Rust. Holy cow! Her Venture is a rust bucket. There are some design flaws with the Venture that I hope are not carried over to the Uplander. Rear wheel well seams for one. How are the Uplanders holding up to body rust?

3) Engine problems with the Venture. It has the 3.4L think. At 50k miles we lost the intake gasket. At 70k miles one of the head gaskets. It always smells like coolant though the level doesn't seem to drain. How are the Uplander motors holding up?

4) Any known defects I should be aware of?

thanks,

Will

 

Time will tell with the rust but I believe that the Uplander will deteriorate the same as the Venture, they are both "U" platform vehicles. I got my '07 undercoated at KROWN here in Ontario.
The 3.9 in my van has had the crossover gaskets replaced in the coolant circuit under warranty (there is a TSB for this issue). Hopefully the head gaskets hold out. I don't put a lot of miles on and am hoping the van carries the grandkids around for a few years yet.

 

Do you know if it will hold a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the back with the seats removed? That was what sold me on the venture.

 

I don't know. You will have to get your tape measure out for that one ...