so my 89 chevy astro work van is showing some issues from an extremely abusive previous work month, and Ive got it going for a compression test.

However, I immediately need a work van for next week.

I was cruising craigslist, and found an 86 full size chevy van for cheap, a tire hauler. I need a replacement van for basically one week.

Anyone have any experience with an older chevy van?

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What do you want to know about it? The basic full size is a 1/2 ton with a 350 and auto trans. Basically, it's a full sized trick with a van body.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

I had an 84 that only had one problem and that was a clogged up cat converter.

It was comfortable to drive and easy to work on. The mirrors are manuals and the radio is as hard to pull out of the dash as the heater core of a 108 (well, maybe not that hard) but besides the window regulators being rather cheaply made it was a true work horse.

And the window regulator do wear out quickly, but new ones are cheap and easy to install.

I would give up on the Astro. The G-Van's are real trucks. All of them are good, and there are a lot of 3/4 ton long wheelbase ones that were the darling of van convertors out there cheap.

Expect about 16 mpg on the highway.

Experience with old Chevy vans? Yeah, but that was long ago and XXX-Rated.

I've had good luck with two: a '76 with a 250 inline 6, and currently an '89 long van with a 305 (or close to that, I forget exactly). The long bed is sometimes handy but it only gets 10 mpg. Very reliable and surprisingly pleasant to drive. The cruise control is a bit cranky, I might try to fix it. Starts to slip down in speed now and then.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

reliability, ect. What people who owned them thought basically.

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naa, its put up with such abuse, it deserves to be fixed. Plus, its size and maneuverability is very convenient. I am a big fan of those vans.

Whatever I buy will be a short term use until my 89 is ready for use again

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If properly maintained, they are quite reliable, though gas-guzzlers. The problem is that you're trying to take that generalization and apply it to a specific example.

See if the seller will let you take it for a longer test drive (you buy the gas of course).

Once it's warmed up, accelerate briskly (no tire squealing) from a dead stop a couple of times, listen for any noises from the suspension and driveline. Stop rather hard (no lockup) a couple of times, come to a complete stop and hold the brake pedal, same thing, listen for noises (and of course observe any odd behavior).

Find some railroad tracks and drive over them a few times. Does the steering wheel jump out of your hand? Suspension bouncing all over? Van tracking weirdly?

Pop the engine cover latches and move the cover back a bit so you can hear things. Take it onto the freeway and from 45 or so floor it a few times. Listen closely to the engine and watch the mirror for any smoke. At about 40, drop it into 2nd gear (assuming it's an automatic) and watch for smoke, keep listening to the engine.

Park it somewhere and leave it running, look under for any leaks. Go get the gas you used up plus a little to be nice. Refit the engine cover and go back. When you return, check the AT fluid (color/smell/clarity) and the engine oil (water, primarily).

If it passes all of that, it will last you more than a week, after which you can decide whether to resell it or keep it as a backup, just in case.

Not necessarily.

The purpose of this thread was to hear if anyone had any specific issues with these vans who may have owned them.

For example, If I were to say I was looking at a late 90s dodge caravan, there would be a dozen responses discussing transmission failures, so I would know that was something that would concern me looking at one of those.
If I were to say early 90s toyota trucks, we'd be talking rust issues with the frame.

Basically I was looking for reviews to draw conclusions about the line of vehicles as a whole.

Already in this thread, I have learned that the vans in question are generally reliable apart from poor fuel economy. After that, its more of an individual vehicle inspection as you mentioned, but I now feel more comfortable about looking at several of the vans locally knowing that if I do find a decent shape example, it will probably be useful.

The best immediate replacement van for me would be another astro or safari, since I know plenty about those vehicles, and are very familiar with their capabilities. There are a lot of vans though, tons and tons of them around the 1500 dollar mark.

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Rocker panel rust. Only other issue aside from there is access, the short van hood can make it tougher. Other than that, its pretty much a C-series truck.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I need that graphic on my van.

Heres the one thats immediately local-

= = = 1986 chev van = = =

and heres something else that I am kinda drooling about, though I need it for service, not a project-

1993 VW eurovan 5 speed

how nice would a 5 speed eurovan be?

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

Oh man I totally called that rocker panel rust! The drivers' side isn't even there anymore. Might work if you just need it for a week though, not sure what you could do with that afterwards...

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I could help the elderly, homeless, and lost.

If I take the signs off, i can probably resell that van fairly easy. Not sure what a tire shop is doing with it, guy didn't know. Might be a mechanics lien

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I only suggested getting rid of the Astro because I once had one. It was nice when it was not blowing head gaskets.

I liked the ride in the G-van better as the Astro was sort of stiff. It was great for small jobs, though, and very easy to drive in traffic.

The full sized Chevy van of that era is one of the worst POS ever made. It will nickel and dime you to death. A Ford would be a much better choice. I would avoid the light duty version of either one.