In the market for a minivan.

Hi all,

I'll be in the market for a mini-van soon and I've narrowed down my choices to two, one of them is the Venture.

I'd like to know, how reliable the van is, what are the common problems, which year model is the most problematic, and would you buy the Venture again.

Thanks

I have a 2003 Venture that I haven't had any major problems with, but the list of annoyances and small issues does seem to grow with age. Such as awful headlight luminance and water/condensation in the bezels (I've replaced all bezels and lamps), the wet passenger floor (replaced drain elbow), wiper arm parking issue (haven't bothered with that yet) and a noisy windshield (was replaced and probably never seated correctly).

Other than that, the vehicle has been pretty solid. No major engine or transmission issues to speak of. It does drive more "truck like" than say, a Caravan/Voyager, but it's got a more reliable tranny (IMO).

Overall, I'm satisfied with the vehicle so far.

What is the other one you are considering?

What year venture are you looking at?

There are some things I would Have done when I got one first thing.......

venture vans have a lot of head and intake gasket problems, also stuff like 5 hours to replace alternator on late 90s

I would definitely buy another one (or Montanas and Silhouettes). I've owned a 99 and 04 concurrently, and currently still have the 04. I've also owned a 97 and 02 Chrysler minivan. Transmissions on those were horrible, as were power doors which were very problematic.

On both, intake gaskets were replaced multiple times...mysterious leaks of coolant (probably related to the gaskets).

Water in headlamps, but I don't bother with fixing it. Tail lights prone to burning out (It appears GM even included spares in the tail light housing).

Compare with other similar minivans, I love the gas mileage, the ride is pretty good.

Another common problme with the GMs are rocker panel rusting under the sliding doors.

Another plus...these fit in my garage easier than my old Chryslers, where I needed to fold the mirrors. Yet, I can still fit uncut 4x8s just by folding down rear seats.

Hmm, I would go the other way on the ride. I think it has a much better ride than any Dodge/Chrysler, Ford or Toyota minivan. Yes, I have driven them all. I will echo the sentiments on the possiblity of bad intake gaskets and if they are left leaking for too long, head gaskets. However, a van you would be looking at now will probably have over 80k miles on it and most likely had those things fixed.

Wow! Thank you all for the input. From what I've read it seems that The Venture / Silhouette are the better option. I was considering the Honday Odyssey but the fact there was only one review in the section, and a $2k difference, made my decision for me. I already own a 99 Malibu so I'm kind of familiar with GM issues.

How is the Uplander compared to the Trans Sport (which is the Europan name for Venture)? As it appears it's only a few mm longer than the Trans Sport but it has a longer hood, which means that the cabin has to be shorter. The Trans Sport is already on the edge of being small for us, as I have to use all seats there isn't much space left for luggage.

There just doesn't seam to be a minivan on the market that can comfortably seat 6 persons while still having sufficient space for luggage...

Do you have one of the extended wheelbase models? The Uplander REPLACED the Venture over here.....

It's the same here, Uplander replaced TransSport from 2005 models.

Mine is 5150 mm long according to the official numbers, so it's the long wheelbase according to wikipedia. The Uplander has the same length in the LWB version (again according to wikipedia) but has a longer hood, which means it must be shorter in the cabin.

I checked www.autos.msn.com (http://www.autos.msn.com) doesnt appear to be much difference in leg/head/ etc room between the 2 (2005 Venture 2008 Uplander)

Try to find a Venture that has spent it's life south out of the salty roads of the Northeast. That will help stave off the rusty rocker panels. Our 04 came from Md. even though they do get some bad weather at least the roads aren't as salty as here in the northeast.

Personally I would stay away from the Venture in favor of an Astro or Safari. The 4.3L is a much better engine, and although any car will have its' particular faults, the Venture is more of a nightmare than a dreamboat when it comes to repairs. I have the dubious honor of working on both types. Still trying to convince my daughter to get an Astro, but she says she needs back doors on both sides.

Just my humble opinion.

Bob

How is the Uplander compared to the Trans Sport (which is the Europan name for Venture)? As it appears it's only a few mm longer than the Trans Sport but it has a longer hood, which means that the cabin has to be shorter. The Trans Sport is already on the edge of being small for us, as I have to use all seats there isn't much space left for luggage.

There just doesn't seam to be a minivan on the market that can comfortably seat 6 persons while still having sufficient space for luggage...

i have owned 2 1997 Ventures and currently own a 2006 Uplander. The Uplander which replaced the Venture IMO is better in that it seems GM may have actually listened to their customers during the design process. It basically is a retooled Venture but there is more room in the engine compartment to do maintenance and such. The Uplander also rides on 17" tires which to me improves the ride.
Basically the early Ventures were plagued with many of the common issues that GM seems to have with new models. The later you go in the cycle (2003 and up) there seems to be less issues. Early problems included LIM gasket leaks , and various electrical issues among other items. GM released a revised gasket mid 2002 to clear up the gasket issue. If you keep up the preventative maintenance on these vans and fix issues when they start before they grow into something worse, they can be a great van.
If you happen to be considering an Uplander I would recommend avoiding the 2005 model as they were plagued with brake issues. The problem was corrected the following year when a newly designed rotor was used. Again the issues seem to plague the first year of a model or the first year following a major redesign.

I would probably get another Venture...I have the WB 2000 edition. However, this van is like my 97 Jimmy...keep 600 bucks in the savings account because when something happens you can fix it on the spot then. My Venture has had LIM, Head Gasket replaced already and I think the guy that sold it to me was having the crazy temp guage issues that point to the head gasket, just didn't know that was the problem. The van is solid when something stupid isn't happening. It is 11 years old though and things are going to happen. The WORST thing thats happend in my opinion was a problem I had, search my posts, that the van would stop running...had a mechanic check EVERYTHING and he couldn't figure it out...took it to Chevy and they said it was a bad transmission....I called a transmission shop and they said NO WAY was it that. Had another guy check it and he found I had some melted wiring around the top of the motor that fried my TPS, Crank shaft sensor and another sensor...also had a crack in my ignition module. It's usually piddly stuff that happens...I am BLESSED to have a mechanic that is awesome and HONEST!...I cannot trust Chevy or GM dealerships here because either they LIED on purpose...or they failed to just ADMIT they were wrong and apologize. My dad took his van, a 00 Montana, to GM with the temp guage problem and they said...NEW ENGINE...didn't even OFFER to replace the head gasket, which is all it needed.