early-bird car shopping.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sniffs
  • 20 comments
  • 1,413 views
Sniffs

Sniffs

Messages
2,568
Messages
we're waiting for the PS4
Messages
fishtailrook1 (?)
yet another set of brake lines broke on the van. I'm throwing in the towel on this one (which i don't have 25k on yet). that means I'm gonna try and get advice from you guys.

what I'm doing is hauling 7 guys to work that weigh a couple hundred pounds apiece over back and side roads in so-so condition, at 5 AM through what feels like Blizzard conditions in the winter, and what feels like deserts in the summer. the minivan i have can't take the weight (but I DID manage to squeeze 23 out of it!).
 
Diesel Chevy Express if you can afford it.
 
thanks for reponding.

I've done some shopping for Savanna/Express and even E vans (no more Mercedes Era chrysler products for ME). not only are they WAY out of my league, pricewise, I've run into no passenger models within 100 miles, yet. most used grade big vans are either Cargo or Conversion, and conversions are too CUSHY for a bunch of guys that work in the dust, muck, and sawdust all day :P
besides, I think the Diesel's come only in the Cargo versions.
 
Grab an E-series Ford with the 5.4. Super reliable and cheap to buy and maintain. However the gas mileage is less than stellar. There are models that have 3 rows of seating and they weren't conversion vans. What are you criteria and zipcode so we can start looking?
 
A "regular sized" late-model Safari or Astro should be more than adequate to get the job done. The last my Dad had, I think a 2003, wasn't all that bad now that I reflect upon it. The AWD system was great in the winter time, the fuel economy wasn't all too terrible, and for the most part it was pretty reliable. If things did go wrong, we were usually able to fix it in the driveway.

The 2003+ models, as I recall, got a bunch of the GMT800 improvements that were much-needed to remain competitive. They rode and drove great. Well, as great as a van could. We would tow boats, other cars and trucks, pack in the whole family for road trips, and still find room for more junk most of the time. But, the greatest weakness to it was the lack of a second side door. Other than that, as far as vans go, it was about as good as they got in that size range. The 5000 lb towing capacity was great, and it was a tough van whenever I needed to beat on it to take down trees, move boulders out of the yard, or pull out stumps.
 
right now, I'm leaving the money end open, as I'm trying to find out what dealerships and sellers have in stock first (it's hard to find Passenger vans around here that aren't minivans, and they've proved they can't take the weight of guys that work for a living)
searching 100 miles diameter around "15851" is yeilding a lot of big 3500 cargoes so far...
 
You act as if Sniffs can even come close to dropping 20 grand on a new vehicle.
 
Rotary Junkie
You act as if Sniffs can even come close to dropping 20 grand on a new vehicle.
Click to expand...

Sorry I don't know his financial situation.

He said he was leaving the money end open, and if that's all there is then that's all there is. Cheap passenger vans that haven't been used up don't really exist.
 
Last edited:
nice deal on that 06 Savanna and 92 K miles would be WAY low for me (last vehicle I had under 100k on the clock needed a major tuneup...it got only 9 MPG out of the 4.3!). I know where the dealership is, too. we had a job down there cleaning up a badly poison ivy infested logging op

note, i'm well USED to "used up"...every vehicle I've owned except one has had at least 120k on it, and 9 years (why do you think i'm currently having most of the brake system on my current van replaced?)

Rotary pointed to a nice, and DIRT cheap Astro. I also managed to find one locally...that the moron had converted into a cargo from a passanger!
 
If that's the case the Econoline posted up looks pretty nice. Would an Astro/Safari be big enough? Are you hauling 7 guys including your self, or 7 passengers?
 
7 passengers, only two of which weigh less than 200 lbs of slab muscle. that's one of the reasons the brakes AND suspension pieces broke (throw in some Nasty Downhills, whippy curves, and an automatic with only ONE low gear, FIRST...)
 
AARGH!

the repairs from Saturday popped off while trying to slow down for a major accident involving a School Bus t-boneing a Semi hauling a load of what looked like soon-to-be railroad ties to be creosoted. the crew now utterly refuses to even get IN my van untill either i or my boss replaces the vehicle entirely!
 
Sniffs
Rotary pointed to a nice, and DIRT cheap Astro. I also managed to find one locally...that the moron had converted into a cargo from a passanger!
Click to expand...

Appears it really was dirt cheap, it's gone now.

Also there's an Astro that's been sitting at my dad's for several months... Too bad the guy who owns it wants too much for it (it's partially broken) given what it needs to be fixed and the vehicle market out here. Nobody wants an old Astro regardless of how nice it is. And this one doesn't look all that pretty.
 
private sellers want the highest value possible.

I'm starting to wonder if I should just drop my seaches into the eighties and early ninties, again, just to find something that anyone over 50 can actually DO something to :P
 
Do you get Toyota Hiaces where you live? Pretty big, reliable and cheap on gas. What about a Ford Transit?
 
(looks it up)
Hiace?
no, not even in the Commercial market (Nissan, however, has started bringing one over based on the full size pickup and SUV that developed to American tastes) From the look of things of the older generations, though, we had it VERY briefly in the early eighties. Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Toyota brought over their mid engine commercial vans just as Chrysler was introducing the concept of the dedicated passenger van idea with the original Caravan and Voyager. the three were major flops, especially the Americanized toyota one. i think it was fear of the thing falling over while going round a corner. i've also heard that so many people were scared of sitting ON the engine, and getting their legs cut off in an accident.

Transits are new to the American Market (the Ford CEO pulled them over here). we get the Focus based Transit Connect. they start somewhere around 22-25k. I priced one for the heck of it, yesterday. even the passenger version (which probably has to be special ordered) is too short on seats for what I need. besides, I'm hauling guys that weigh about 100 kilos apiece (in MUSCLES), 7 of them.
 
I've never been in an Astro Van that seats 8 people.
 
oh, I found a three row. problem is, the seller really did "cargo" the thing. and the dealership that has it wants 4G CASH out the door, 6 with financing. and this is when dealerships want the crap off the lot...looks like I may be stuck with the Caravan.
 
Back