I have a project that will require a van for a few months. Rather than rent, I was thinking that the way to go might be to to buy a cheap van and sell it when I'm done. Appearance doesn't matter, as long as it has cargo capacity, a reliable drivetrain, and a good radio. But I don't know the merits of Chevy vs Ford vs Dodge, although I once had a nasty exercise of replacing the fuel pump in a Chevy truck. And then there's the Sprinter option: more cargo space for twice the price. If I can find a Sprinter Diesel, I have a lots of tools and parts from my 190D that might come in handy.

Sooooo...any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations?

Based on what I have observed in salvage yards I would go with a Chevy.

A lot of people in Oklahoma drive trucks and full sized vans. In the salvage yards are a lot of Dodges, a lot of Fords, and only a few Chevy's. There are more Chevy trucks than van, of course, because there are more of them sold new.

But the data holds true in Oklahoma and Texas. If you are looking for parts for a full sized Chevy van then you will have to look hard. You just don't see many of them in the yards.

(This is not true with Astro vans. They were everywhere at one time but most of them died off long ago.)

A 3/4 or one-ton long wheelbase will hold a lot of stuff.

what are you using it to haul? if you don't absolutely need a body on frame cargo van, consider a Honda Odyssey. They are stupid durable and reliable and essentially don't depreciate. Has 150 cubic feet of cargo space with the seats out/folded and 1000lbs of load capacity. Probably easier to find one too. Just make sure it's not in imminent need of the big timing belt service.

The Odyssey or Sienna option is for real. Make sure you get one of the heartier equipped models.

A Duramax equipped van would be hard to beat unless it was mistreated and you got stuck with repairs. $$$

Ford E series has been the backbone of many service companies for decades but I am not familiar with modern drivetrains. I have seen some V10s with 300K miles and going strong but I have heard early death horror stories also. Changing plugs on a V10 can kill it or kill your budget. Some powerstrokes run forever but one abusive driver and all bets are off. Power$troke repair$.

Just as trivia, the Mazda MPV made its mark on the automotive world. Evolved into the Mazda 5 which can be a good vehicle.

Old Fords are just about give-a-ways. Someone gave me an 80s E150 years ago and it was a good vehicle. Straight six is tough as nails. Same for C6. E4OD got a bad rep because of the selector switch. Give-a-ways are throw-a-ways.

Econoline 150 or something like that?

__________________
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Something that size.

If it's a cheap van, then it's an old van, and condition trumps brand-specific preferences or anecdotal cautions.

Sprinters are great, drives more like a normal car then lets say an old GMC cargo van. Those old GM cargo vans or E350's get sloppy, lots of noise and tiresome to drive for long periods of time.

__________________
1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

A buddy bought an E150 for $500 for HD and dump runs expecting to get 6 months out of it... 3 years later, it's still going strong.

I've considered getting one to transport my bike to and from the track and to build into an excursion rig.

__________________
-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

Toyota Previa with 4WD and a supercharger. Change the head gasket and the accessory driveshaft and drive it to the end of the world.

__________________
[GONE] - 1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel - 130k miles - Smoke Silver (702) over Mushroom leather (265) - Bladder blasting, coast-to-coast work machine.

So there's a Diesel powered Sprinter available not far from me. Has 194K miles, owner selling cheap...cheap...cheap because his repair shop told him it needs #1 intake valves. Do the 2.7's have any history of bent rods, broken valve springs or slipped chains? I'm thinking bad lifter...

General rule: engine work on a van is 3xMiserable.

Ask about accessibility.

I keep a camper van. It is a 1990 3/4 ton ford with a raised roof and factory conversion motorhome junk installed in it. We use it for road trips even though it is 25+ years old. Maintenance has been really easy up this point but I have avoided working on an exhaust leak.

Sprinters are great besides EGR and black death problems, both of which can be avoided if you pay attention to smoke coming out the back of the thing. I'm not sure about everything on those engines as it's my parent's van and their mechanic works on it most of the time but the few things I have done, replacing the turbo (which requires removing the alternator) and replacing the fan clutch and water pump was actually fairly easy. Replacing all of the heater hoses was something we tried to do but eventually gave up and only replaced the radiator hoses and the hose above the exhaust cause it had the most heat on it, everything else looked fine at 200K miles and 13 years (not surprising as I have reused a 1977 Mercedes upper radiator hose on a 140K mile 240D because it didn't show any signs of aging). Payload and storage in European-style vans is far superior to the American vans.

I'd avoid any Ford diesels, Chevy diesels are typically great, don't know anything about Dodge vans beyond one my church used for the youth group that they've had since the 80s and it still works fine.

The radio in most vans suck but the one in the Sprinter is pretty bad. It's easy to replace so I would replace it and all of the speakers with something decent.

__________________
Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

I shouldn't have hesitated...he fixed the head, and now wants $6500. I guess keep looking.