DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

My son has 5 children, ages 5-15. His mini-van is needing to be replaced. When I had 6 kids, we had 12 and 15 passenger Fords.

What would be the reliable option these days?

DNM

Erat

iTrader: (5)

Ford Chevy Nissan and Mercedes all make full size passenger vans.

I'd go with either Transit or Express personally. My buddy had the merc as a work van and it was always at the dealer. I'd steer away.

iti_uk

I'd say Transit. But then, I would

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

The Ford E series remain pretty much unbeatable in my book. E150s have historically been used as news vans, and TV stations work 'em hard. We have about a dozen of them.

Increasingly, the Mercedes Sprinter is also a popular choice in the TV news garage, and they have also proven to be pretty damn durable. Pricey (and rare in the US) in the passenger configuration, but it's a great chassis.


EDIT: my mistake. The E150 no more. Replaced by the Transit. And I was wrong, in that a few of what I thought were E150s in our garage are in fact Transits.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

Work has a Savana cargo van. Damn thing has 350k+ of nothing but HAULING and being driven by bafoons like myself. The GM 6L and a 6l80 is one heck of a combination.
A lot of contractors I see are using the Transit. From talking with them when they first got them they were apprehensive of the "new style" van, getting away from the typical V8 cargo vans you used to always see. But talking with them now, they are very happy and admire the reliability. They say that the early model Transit vans have weak transmissions and the tires wear extremely fast. Maybe not an issue for people hauling. And they've probably solved the issue by now.

xturner

My next-door neighbors have a low-roofline 2016 Transit with the 3.7 v6, that they use to haul themselves, their dog and cats and just a mess of stuff back and forth between Maine and Tucson a couple times a year. After about 60k miles, their only expenses have been oil changes and tires. Still on original brakes. They’re perfectly fine with it, so it can’t suck too much to drive.

samnavy

iTrader: (7)

1990'ish, parents bought E150 Clubwagon w/351. I drove it a bunch in high school when required and was the only guy in my crew who could tow anything... 3 rows of seats and still w/plenty of room for all the crap. It came in handy. Still, if nothing to tow and don't need to take the entire crew plus all your bicycles and camping equipment INSIDE the vehicle, a mini-van is miles ahead in being an actual person transportation unit.

Just throwing it out there... a Chevy Astro or GMC Safari kinda splits the difference between mini-van and full-size. Last year production was 2005, but there's a bit of a cult-following as they came in AWD and were bulletproof.

If he's in SC and has nothing to tow, just hit the easy button and grab a used Sienna Limited within budget and call it a day. AWD model for baller status.

technicalninja

Highest mileage vehicle I work on is a 1997 E350 Ford van. Has a port FI 460 (only 2 years then Ford replaced it with a V10 which is one of the worst engines Ford has come up with).
It has 800+K and the engine has never been worked on.
Everything else has been replaced multiple times...
I do not like ANY of the later Ford engine with the exception of the late model 5.0

I prefer Erat's suggestion. An early 2000s GMC/Chevy van with the 6.0 and the 6L80. You want a cast iron block WITHOUT AFM (cylinder deactivation).

The budget drag racing crowd takes that iron 6.0, flips the original exhaust manifold to face forward, builds a y pipe, and puts a big turbo firing directly into intake.
A injector change, some fuel mods, a remap of the stock ECU, some 110 octane race fuel or alcohol, 1500 hp is common...
No intercooler at all.
On a used junkyard engine that they change oil and plugs, run it for a season and just get another when it breaks. They usually don't rebuild them.
Bad ***!
In a "normal" installation the drivetrain is nearly un-breakable.
The only problem with this vehicle is your driving an aircraft carrier around, Parking can be painful, fuel economy is OK but not great (12 in town, 15-16 on highway).
Get a 3/4 ton or higher (you might have to as the 6.0 was installed in these more commonly).
By 06-07 they had aluminum blocks (weaker but not a big deal) and AFM (like having an alien spawn growing inside the engine-super bad).
AFM can be turned off electronically but to do it properly you should change the AFM lifters out.

I also agree with samnavy regarding the Sienna, best minivan out there, stay away from the "Limited" models in the ENTIRE Toyota range.
Way too many "gadgets" that are Limited only, expensive because of this, and it's the only thing that breaks on the car.

I run a 97 Express 2500 ( on hospice care) and a 06 Honda Odyssey Touring which is bad as the Limited in Toyota but the only Honda minivan with adjustable pedals I have a elf for a wife and want her as far away from airbags as possible.
The Honda also has cylinder deactivation (called VCM) It's super bad as well (class action lawsuit for oil consumption) and can be turned off. It replaced VTEC in 05 on anything with leather. VTEC was AWESOME even in a minivan, sort of like secondaries coming on at 5k rpm.
Toyota does not have cylinder deactivation.
Toyota doesn't have VTEC either...

I run the big van (named the Zeppelin by one of my sons) as my daily, I can throw ANYTHING into it. It gets crappy fuel economy and I can park it anywhere as it belongs in a Mad Max movie. I call it a NAV vehicle (negative actual value). It can pull a pretty big trailer.
Wife runs the Oddy and when we need to move humans the Oddy is the choice. The Oddy cannot pull any trailer at all...

Don't overlook the stripper low gadget versions of these minivans. They are the more dependable by far. Cloth interiors are more comfortable at temperature extremes and last twice as long as leather.
I advise my customers to AVOID 4WD unless they really need it. 4WD gets slightly lower fuel economy and has more maintenance cost. In the case of a Sienna minivan it makes some jobs on the vehicle VASTLY more difficult.
Changing plugs on a Odyssey is 1 hour, on a 2wd Sienna 3.5 hours (have to remove intake) and a 4WD Sienna 5 hours.
Hope this helps.
It was the short version...

technicalninja

Regarding the new versions of the work van...
I cannot stand the Ford or Nissan stuff, poorly engineered and put together by people who don't care.
The Mercedes Sprinter is the gold standard but expensive and expensive to fix down the road.
My Dad purchased a 2017 Dodge Pro Master 2500. Initially I didn't like it either but it has grown on me.
It's running the Chrysler 3.6l which is semi-reliable. He got the high roof mid length one with windows.
It's build quality is so-so but it was CHEAP and has a long warranty.
Window versions are rare as hens teeth. All of the windows are fixed.
It has 3-4 times the internal volume over the Zeppelin and can pull a larger trailer than it.
We used it to remove a Nissan Altima from deep in the Rocky Mountains. It worked great.
It can hit 16-17 mpg without a trailer.
It only had 2 seats in it and I'm not sure I'd suggest it for a big family. I would not trust additional seat mountings as the floor is set up for cargo and not people.
It will replace the Zeppelin some day...
It is easier to drive than the Zeppelin and has massive internal capacity. It is just slightly longer and wider than the Zeppelin and would make an IDEAL tow vehicle for a track only sports car/trailer set up.

JD8

iTrader: (2)

What goes wrong with the ford V10 engines? Spark plug issues like the 5.4 triton engines from around the same time?

dleavitt

iTrader: (1)

They did have spark plug issues, but rather than getting stuck they liked to shoot out of the head.

technicalninja

Bingo!
When they leave the v10 it's usually the one in the far back and it commonly takes enough of the head with it to make a time-sert questionable.
You will only do a head job on a Ford V10 ONCE in your life.
Life's too short...
It's just not worth it.

That 460 that it replaced is a prime example of taking 20+ years to get an engine RIGHT and then cutting it's throat.
It has room for a massive stroker kit in the stock block (600 CI) and there are now heads available (Kaase) that can make insane power.
There are also Boss 429 hemi heads that fit the 460 available as well from Kaase...
They are expensive!

L337TurboZ

iTrader: (1)

The Savana Van's are seriously outdated. I work on them quite a bit and while they are mostly reliable they just dont have good features. They dont handle well, the ride is horrible. Constant NVH issues also. Most of the time I have to do repairs caused by something upfitted to them.

A newer Tahoe or Yukon is a better choice especially with kids. Most have rear DVD players and rear climate control if you get an XL or Denali. If it has an 8 speed transmission make sure to flush it regularly if it hasn't been as the 8 speed transmission suffers from torque converter shudder. The 6 speed can have front cover/oil pump failures in the transmission. Likely no but possible yes.

Chilicharger665

iTrader: (2)

I happen to have a friend ready to sell their 2018 Chevy Express 15 passenger van. It has the 6.0 with the 6L80 tranny and only 28,252 miles on it. Let me know if you are interested and I can get you their number to get pictures and any other info you want. Exterior is white and has the cloth tan interior. Back-up camera in the rear-view mirror. The current price is $23,500.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

$3k. Bet you could talk em down!