Battle of the used minivan/cargo vans

[raburn2906]

Within our fleet, we have 16 Dodge Grand Caravans (2014-2015 year models) & 4 Toyota Siennas (2011-2014 year models). These vehicles are driven 30000-40000 miles per year, with roughly 60% city/ 40% highway.

Dodge Caravan issues in our fleet
1. Transmission failure (8)- this being the biggest issue in our fleet.
2. Motor mounts
3. Rear a/c
4. Lifters, cams, top end issues
5. CV joint


Toyota Sienna issues in our fleet:
1. CV joints
2. Oil pan gasket leaks
3. Transmission pan gasket leaks
4. Electric passenger sliding doors

 

[Jarlaxle]

I rented a GC for a road trip to GaryCon (New England to Wisconsin, ~1100 miles each way) in March-about 25,000 miles when I returned it. 4 people, their gear, and on the trip out, most of 1000lbs of cargo for the vendors' room. (Seven big boxes of books, four displays, two copy-paper boxes of shirts, and six mailing tubes of posters, filled the entire area behind the second row.) Averaged about 23MPG, despite running 75-80MPH through PA and OH on the way out...and 80-90 on the way back, trying to get home to beat a foot of snow.

Mine was a GT (I think the same as the pre-2017 Rallye), and pretty loaded dual front HVAC, heated leather seats, heated steering wheel, uConnect stereo with harddrive, 110v plug. (I was amazed to see a rental so well-optioned.)

Might look at fullsize vans. They'll have more mileage, but these things are TOUGH. (I'd buy a 200,000 mile Express or Econoline in a second.)

Speaking of which...what about a mini box truck? You can get a 9' truck (SRW GMC 3500) with 100K for under $10K. (It is also secure, and keeps all the dirty stuff out of the cab.) Like this one: LINK

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted By: raburn2906
Toyota Sienna issues in our fleet:
1. CV joints
2. Oil pan gasket leaks
3. Transmission pan gasket leaks
4. Electric passenger sliding doors

Not bad at all.

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Might look at fullsize vans. They'll have more mileage, but these things are TOUGH. (I'd buy a 200,000 mile Express or Econoline in a second.)

Those are slowly becoming obsolete due to gas prices. If you do not need the towing or payload capacity, I would avoid them. My dad had a 2000 Savana for 17 years and it went 300k km on the original motor and trans with no rebuilds (350/4L80) but it was twice the fuel cost of his 2017 Sprinter 2500. My friend just got a newer Transit and he said the same thing, the full-sized vans are just too expensive to fuel if you are driving long distances. There's a reason you see a lot more sprinters on the road now than traditional cargo vans: More room, half the fuel.

 

[Silk]

Toyota Hi Ace.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Silk
Toyota Hi Ace.


Not available in this country.

 

[cronk]

We had a couple 1st gen Ford Transit Connect vans at work.
I work at a body shop and they were parts chaser vehicles.
I actually like the 1st gen better than the 2nd for functional reasons. The 1st gen was taller and could fit hoods and doors in easily. We measured up the 2nd gen , and the rear cargo area was much shorter and wouldn't fit many of the body panels we regularly haul.
We had 2 of them, put about 35-40k miles on each of them in 2 years.
We typically averaged 24 mpg.
Then only repairs I recall was a front wheel bearing.
I had heard rumors of some transmission issues, but we didn't have any issues with ours.
I drove them occasionally and they really weren't bad to drive. Not as under powered as you might expect for the engine size.
When the 2nd gens came out and we realized we couldn't fit larger parts in the cargo area, we had to upgrade to the full size Transit 150 vans.

 

[Silk]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Not available in this country.


Probably why he had to come on a forum and ask. In the rest of the world they just get a Hi Ace. Still the highest selling van in NZ.

 

[Delta]

Surprised to hear people liking the 1st gen Transit Connect. I had a 2012 for work roughly about a year and a half and about 25,000 miles, and I felt like I was being punished everyday. We did have it loaded pretty good and was almost at the max GVW, but the thing had 70K and had been through two transmissions. Would eat through wheel bearings like no tomorrow. Motormount failed around 55K as did the radiator. It would not get out of its own way and most of the time it would not hold 75-78mph on the interstate without continually shifting in and out of overdrive. Driving up the mountain was a feat in itself. I got passed by semi's! Fuel economy suffered greatly; we were getting at most 17mpg and the small fuel tank you were always at the pump. The thing was a rolling blind spot, but I guess that can be said about any "van." The thing had a round idle/misfire that the Ford garage could never figure out, me and my coworker tracked it down to possibly the head gasket, but I don't know what happened as I no longer work there and he works with me now as well. Guess it's the next guys problem.