back in the saddle

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fishtailrook1 (?)
FINALLY got a job back, and now we're vehicle hunting for me for the first time in 5 years (i was otherwise just looking and drooling). unfortunately, it looks like I'm gonna be stuck for a

Minivan.

I need reccomendations, suggestions, weak points, etc.
 
Minivans are pound for pound and dollar for dollar the most massively useful vehicles in the developed world. Plus for some reason all the yups and soccer moms would rather push a Suburban than drive a minivan, which means used ones are cheap as grass.

Lets see you put a stack of plywood in the back of your Yukon Denali and shut the tailgate... in fact, let's see you do it at all, biotches.

Both of these can be had in the $6000 range with about 80k on the clock.

Chevy Venture AWD

Chrysler T&C AWD

And yeah, the GMC Safaris are all AWD, and seem to last nearly forever. Bonus for decent towing capacity on those, too.
 
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If looking at Chrysler minivans, AVOID the 3-speed auto. It's a paper tranny, you WILL have to change it at some point.

An' Duke? You forgot your [/url] tags...
 
Sniffs
FINALLY got a job back, and now we're vehicle hunting for me for the first time in 5 years (i was otherwise just looking and drooling). unfortunately, it looks like I'm gonna be stuck for a

Minivan.

I need reccomendations, suggestions, weak points, etc.
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Budget? :)
 
Rotary: unfortunately, it's 8 passengers. a midi-van is not available for sale around here for less than 8 grand at a dealership, 6 from a private seller. and this for 100k jobbies.

Duke:knowing the guys I'm hauling, you'd be seeing a stack of plywood sticking out of the back of one. I once hauled a coal stove and a wringer washer in and on an S blazer, along with wood supplies AND two very hefty clients. this is why the Amish almost always request guys with full size pickups.

Prower: the three speed may be unavoidable. Pickings are sparse below '01, 10 grand and 100k on milage.

HFS: variable. the vehicle needs to be located first before the money is considered.
oh, before you ask, the non american pickings are nearly nil. we only saw three Nissans (which has no equiv in europe, apparently), and no Oddesys or the Toyota version.
 
Sniffs
Duke:knowing the guys I'm hauling, you'd be seeing a stack of plywood sticking out of the back of one. I once hauled a coal stove and a wringer washer in and on an S blazer, along with wood supplies AND two very hefty clients. this is why the Amish almost always request guys with full size pickups.
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I can get full size plywood in my Grand Caravan and shut the hatch (with the back seats out). That T&C up there should hold as much, and it's AWD. If you take the second row chairs out and move the 3rd row bench up to the second position, you can carry 4 paying passengers and have room for a boatload of tools in the back.

Prower: the three speed may be unavoidable. Pickings are sparse below '01, 10 grand and 100k on milage.
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The Mopar 3-speed 31TH is fairly bulletproof, but not available after about 2001. The 4-speed 41TE is the problem child, but by 2001 or so it has really had most of the problems ironed out of it. It should go 120k before it needs work, and even then it is not inevitable. Dunno about GM's transmissions.

Both the T&C and the Venture I posted are asking $6995, have under 80k on the clock, and are more or less local to you.
 
I was thinking the 3-speed on my '92 Voyager...I think a Mitsubishi unit, but not sure.
 
they're also too NEW. i need a half-beater for this work. we found one TC of that age with the AWD...for about 11k. mabey I should have said i have NO CREDIT LEFT, i've had to let my vehicles, insurance, etc go 5 or 6 times because of the sparse job availability around here. and everything goes straight to a debt collector, nowadays :P

economy's been bad here since before the Great Recession. and with my mum getting up to crippled levels because of Fibromyalgia...
 
Sniffs:

So what's our budget? $6k too much? What's the most you can spend?

Jim:

I had the 31TH in both a '92 Caravan and a '95 Neon, and never had a like of trouble with either of them. The Neon made numerous drag passes behind a stock 2.4 after I swapped in the Stratus engine, and neither transmission gave me a like of trouble. Both went to around 100k before the cars were each totaled in separate accidents.
 
A little research...Have you thought of an '89-'99 Mazda MPV?

Pros:
4WD
Inexpensive to acquire (Highest listing on Cars.com is $6,000, which goes down into the hundreds)
drivetrain is mostly reliable

Cons:
seems to have lots of electrical niggles
underpowered
small, no sliding doors

Duke: Oddly enough, I had just the opposite problem: I was left with no forward gears in the Voyager, we had to drop the tranny out and replace it, somewhere around 100K. Had the 3.0 SOHC. We also had a van with the 3.3 and a 4-speed, and THAT had to be replaced, too. I don't remember the mileage on that one.
 
Sniffs
HFS: variable. the vehicle needs to be located first before the money is considered
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You must have a maximum though...

oh, before you ask, the non american pickings are nearly nil. we only saw three Nissans (which has no equiv in europe, apparently), and no Oddesys or the Toyota version.
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Well, that's my suggestions out of the window anyway :lol:
 
Duke
The Mopar 3-speed 31TH is fairly bulletproof, but not available after about 2001. The 4-speed 41TE is the problem child, but by 2001 or so it has really had most of the problems ironed out of it. It should go 120k before it needs work, and even then it is not inevitable. Dunno about GM's transmissions
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Kind of off topic but aren't the newer Chrysler 3 speeds essentially the same as the ones available in my barracuda (727 and 904 torqueflite) with modern bits? I thought I heard that somewhere.

How costly would an E-250 be?
 
Diablo'
Kind of off topic but aren't the newer Chrysler 3 speeds essentially the same as the ones available in my barracuda (727 and 904 torqueflite) with modern bits? I thought I heard that somewhere.

How costly would an E-250 be?
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Econolines/Club Wagons are probably high priced still even for a late model. Think fleet vehicles. E-series vans are still used all over the place.
 
Duke: more like an absolute max of 3 grand...IF someone can get the money.

Prower: i've never SEEN many mazdas around here, let alone an MPV. I remember one second gen miata and a couple B series pickups, but that's it (our mazda dealer went under)

Home: unless you have an equivelant of a Nissan Quest.

Diablo: definetly not. front drive and rear drive autos are set up different

Bergauk: the only full size vans around here are either Cargo vans, or the occasional conversion van.

the big laugh for everybody? one lot had an 80 Chevy Van, complete with shag carpeting, mini table, benches, and candle style inside lights! the only thing I didn't see was a CB and an 8 track!

one of the two I was looking at yesterday was promptly snatched up early thismorning. now I'm stuck with the blah silver Caravan one (the other was a dark green Voyager). there's allready been a deposit placed. lets hope it stays there. less than 2k for a 99 is bargin bin.

edit: the deposit is on (according to the VIN) a 99 Grand Caravan SLE
 
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That said, IIRC the Neon trans has the same valvebody as a 904.

Or at least that's what one of my auto instructors said.
 
Sniffs
Home: unless you have an equivelant of a Nissan Quest.
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I saw you mentioned the European equivalent, or lack thereof, earlier. Our equivalent was the wonderous lump of excrement known as the Serena, which had the dubious reputation at one stage of being one of the slowest accelerating vehicles on the road at 28 seconds to 60 for the diesel version. You're right in thinking there's no more modern equivalent though, the biggest Nissans we get over here are the Pathfinder, Navara and Murano, none of which are "big" by American standards.

The best minivans I can come up with Japanese, European or otherwise that would fit your requirements are the Caravan, Astro, Kia Sedona (which I think is a rebadged Ford Windstar - we get the Sedona in Europe), Toyota Previa, and if you're incredibly lucky, you might be able to find a Volkswagen Eurovan (elsewhere known as the T4 Transporter) within your budget.

Though if Transporters are as sought after out there as they are over here, prices will be pushed unrealistically high.

I'd personally try and find one of the Kias. They're actually supposed to be quite good, and no doubt they'll be cheap.
 
No-one knows about the Transporters over here...they're incredibly rare.

Sniffs, If the caravan doesn't go in your favor, I might suggest you call up a buddy and road trip to get the car you really want. It's easy to look where you are, but if your choices are limited, you may have to look across-state or in the nearest big city, Philly or Pittsburgh.
 
Home: no, some people will tell you you can have those Eurovans back. Volkswagen of America dropped the Eurovan after 01. they hadn't flipped it around to follow the US MPV formula (although there was joke talk of finding a little 40 horse/30 kw microbus and REALLY make my clients miserable :P), and couldn't get enough power in it to satisfy us yanks.

I pity you guys if Nissan used a diesel that was THAT whimpy

Sedonas are currently priced in the stratosphere (i believe the nearest kia dealership to me is fifty miles south), and you know how hard it is finding the Honda and Toyota entries? they actually stay working.
 
Jim Prower
No-one knows about the Transporters over here...they're incredibly rare.
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And, having driven one personally, I can say there is a definite reason for that.

Sniffs, your best bet is going to be something that there are a million of. Bonus because used parts will be cheap and plentiful. Caravan first, Venture second, Windstar third. Astro/Safari if you need something a little tougher - they are a body-and-frame design from the S-10 platform.

GMC Safari AWD - $2500 asking

Olds Silhoutte - $2900 asking

Grand Caravan - $2600 asking
 
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What engines did you guys get in the Eurovan? We had loads here, 1.9 non-turbo and turbodiesels, 2.5 non-turbo and turbodiesels, a 2.0 petrol, and a 2.8 VR6. People in Europe love them and as such prices are a bit ridiculous. I've only ever driven a T5 Transporter and it was actually very nice indeed to drive.

And yeah, the Serena really was that wimpy.
 
The Serena was a dog-awful load of horse intestine. The diesel options were 2.0 and 2.3 with 67 or 73hp - the 2.0 had a nearly unmeasurable 0-60mph time, with the 2.3 coming in at 28s or so.

That said, the Serena was unimaginably a better car than that which it replaced - the Nissan Prairie, which defies explanation as to just how bad it was.

big11191477489.jpg

I mean, just look at it.

Technically the successor to the Serena was the Almera Tino - though the finished car only ever had 5 seats, there was a 7 seat version which never made it to market - and the Almera Tino's successor is the Qashqai which actually does have seven seats (well, the Qashqai+2 does).
 
Duke
Lets see you put a stack of plywood in the back of your Yukon Denali and shut the tailgate... in fact, let's see you do it at all, biotches.
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I put a stack of plywood in my RSX, does that count? Granted I paid 25 cents to have it cut.
 
I put everything for UKGTP4 in the back of my MX-3 - seats were one journey, wood was another.
 
Home: I'm not positive, but I think we were limited to a 1.8 or 2.0. also, i was reading up (they don't specify what engines were in the US market versions), and the eurovan is classified as a "commercial". Nissan, Toyota, and Mitsubishi went that route in the eighties when they tried to cash in on the minivan boom the first time, and the Japanese made their first mistake ever. they imported Eurovan style mid engine commercial transport vans, and put an interior in them. americans were scared their legs would be cut off in a crash, that they'd blow up (the driver's seat was ON the engine cover), couldn't get to the engine easily enough, and hated the bus-like seating and steering wheel.

we're working on the money. hopefully, I'll get a chance to actually drive the van long enough to pay for it. the last time I did a mini car loan, I could only run the vehicle it was gotten for for 6 months (it's recently been scrapped).

this was the vehicle I've hauled actuall truck-level stuff in. an S blazer. a LOADED s blazer tahoe with sport seats and performance enhancing goodies. this is why I have to toss my vehicles. they get destroyed doing Truck work, cause all anybody has is full sizers with 10 MPG V8's in them...that they drive to work at an office :P

Home: I've had a look at the specs
still using the "transporter" model till MY 92, with the 2100 flat 4
gained the 2.5 5 out of the golf for MY 92
switched to Eurovan in MY 95 (gained 2.4 diesel, breifly)
no MY 98's
MY 99 eurovan: 2.8 v6
AXK 2.8 MY 01
end of importation after MY 03
 
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Duke
JettaLumber.jpg
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Great picture Duke!

Is the smoke from an engine that's about to expire, or is it from dragging the rear bumper/muffler?

It looks like the weight has already warped the front door, though it could be that the door is slightly open because of the rope.

I guess that two trips were out of the question....

GTsail290
 
GTsail290
Great picture Duke!

Is the smoke from an engine that's about to expire, or is it from dragging the rear bumper/muffler?

It looks like the weight has already warped the front door, though it could be that the door is slightly open because of the rope.

I guess that two trips were out of the question....

GTsail290
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This is apparently a real incident from the Baltimore area. Supposedly the struts/springs punched right up through the towers in the rear. I think the door is not closed all the way, though I imagine it probably can't close all the way any more. The guy insisted on loading the car this way and I believe the store made him sign a waiver, though he didn't even make it out of the parking lot.
 

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