Need van suggestions

[Hollow]

Friend of the family has a florist business. Their 2004 Chevy Astro AWD van is finally giving up the ghost with 250K+ hard duty miles on it. Just has the transmission rebuilt and the rear diff is now going south. It doesn't really owe them anything at this point, so a new delivery vehicle is on the radar.

Wants and needs:
-2004 or newer
-100Kish or so miles
-AWD preferred as there are plenty of gravel roads and steep slushy roads in the winter.
-Decent reliability(the Astro has had zero engine problems).
-Removable rear seats.
-Rear heat/air for the cargo.

Suggestions?

 

[gfh77665]

My 2006 Honda Odyssey has been an excellent vehicle the past 10 years. If you get one, get a 2005 or later model, as the transmissions on the 2004's and back were bad.

 

[Olas]

Transit

 

[saltyroads]

Toyota siennas have AWD.

 

[Andrew1972]

Sienna Awd.

 

[bullwinkle]

I wouldn't recommend a Transit, the GM Express/Savana is the way I would go, preferably another 4.3 if available.

 

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
I wouldn't recommend a Transit, the GM Express/Savana is the way I would go, preferably another 4.3 if available.


Yeah if you want tons of problems and horrid gas mileage.

Id say Sienna also.

 

[Kira]

to gfh77665 (and everyone else): I heard 2007 was the first year of Honda's better transmissions so NO 2006 or earlier.
I'm not certain. It's what I've heard.
Anybody know for sure? Kira

 

[Jarlaxle]

Used passenger Caravan with Stow-N-Go seats and rear HVAC. Bigger, a passenger Econoline with the rear seats removed. (Also has rear HVAC.)

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
I wouldn't recommend a Transit, the GM Express/Savana is the way I would go, preferably another 4.3 if available.


Yeah if you want tons of problems and horrid gas mileage.

Id say Sienna also.



I'd suspect SteveSRT8 would disagree on the problems comment.

And a low production awd minivan, used with over 100k is asking for trouble too...

 

[bmwtechguy]

My transmission guy says all the Honda Odysseys are bad, even the newer ones. He is seeing fallout from 2006 and newer ones too. Our 2003 Odyssey is in the shop right now having the transmission rebuilt, updating all the weaknesses. He adds a huge cooler and bypasses the radiator, gets rid of soft lock-up, increases lube to starved areas, etc. The original went 148k miles. It's had a rough life around here. He says we will get tired of driving it before the transmission fails again. Oh yeah, and he's my brother in law. His range in price is $2000-2600. 3 year, 36k mile warranty. Everyone in the family loves this van, so we decided to go for it.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
I wouldn't recommend a Transit, the GM Express/Savana is the way I would go, preferably another 4.3 if available.


Yeah if you want tons of problems and horrid gas mileage.

Id say Sienna also.


I'd suspect SteveSRT8 would disagree on the problems comment.

And a low production awd minivan, used with over 100k is asking for trouble too...


And it's a Toyota, so you will pay through the nose for it!

 

[copcarguy]

How about an Econoline with a Quigley 4x4 conversion? Same basic design since 1975 lol. All the bugs have been worked out.

 

[SatinSilver]

Delivery van? Here are some from the state surplus auction that go for a cheap price:

http://www.dasapps.ohio.gov/Surplus/nextauction.asp

I'd go for a Caravan since an Econoline prob isn't needed to deliver flowers.

 

[yvon_la]

Yep dofge caravan. You can be choosy its very affordable brand new. Used? Someone will think they stole it lol. Might not be 4wd but its front wheel drive so it doesnt mather. I would get the newer wide cargo version. I think that model is max 4 year old

 

[VeeDubb]

Seems like the used Sienna market has crashed recently. You can pick up a one year old Sienna with about 30k miles for $5-8K off the price of a new one. That wasn't true a few years ago and still isn't true of Odysseys which seem to hold their value much better. Not sure what happened (fleet sales?)

I would see if you can get a good deal on a 2014-2015 AWD Sienna.

 

[yvon_la]

Oh nice.

 

[JC1]

Sienna's with AWD have major issues with premature tire wear and issues with the run flat tires.

You are going to pay a premium for a Sienna. Why not pick up a Caravan with rear AC and full stow and go? The price will be much cheaper. Snow tires will help in bad weather.

 

[Jarlaxle]

OP doesn't list his exact location, but "the south" tells me that snow is not a common thing.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted By: JC1
Sienna's with AWD have major issues with premature tire wear and issues with the run flat tires.

You are going to pay a premium for a Sienna. Why not pick up a Caravan with rear AC and full stow and go? The price will be much cheaper. Snow tires will help in bad weather.


Steep and slushy is very difficult for a loaded fwd minivan to climb up with winter tires. Minivans generally have weight bias toward rear when loaded.