Vehicle Mileage...how Much is too much?

Hi, all;

Here's the question I pose to you:

I am interested in buying a used Van (Astro, Windstar, something like that) to use for my weekly fishing trips with my son. using the regular Family car has all but destoyed it. I am finding some good deals in the price range I'm looking in, but I am a little concerned about the amount of mileage that some of these vehicles have.

I know that there are MANY factors involved here, but I'm wondering if someone can offer some advice on how Much Mileage is TOO much to consider. Are these types of vehicles built with 150,000 + miles in mind?

Any advice, or any point of conversation that would lead me in the right direction would be appreciated.

Well, I'd say major repairs typically needs to be done on cars starting as soon as 50,000 miles in rare cases and as late as 150,000 in other...maybe even 200,000. Best thing to do is find someone selling a car they know a lot about. Like if it's had a engine rebuild, new waterpump, timing belt/chain..etc etc. Probably your safest bet would be to find an elderly person (preferably a Grandma) selling a vehicle they bought brand new. They tend to even keep all of their maintenence records, and probably never even floored the car before. As far as Astrovans, I've heard they aren't the greatest in the reliablity dept.

Our local electric company uses Chevy Astros for fleet vehicles and many of the vans have exceeded 300,000 miles without major overhauling. Look around or do research into what types of vans companies use for fleet vehicles. Even look at government vehicles to see what they use. A lot of these vehicles that are used in fleets have reliable engines such as the 4.3 liter V6, or a small V8 and parts are widely available and not too expensive. If doing research into types of vans, check out the specific model forums on this site to gain a little insight on dependability, repairs, and comments by the owners.

Hi, all;

Here's the question I pose to you:

I am interested in buying a used Van (Astro, Windstar, something like that) to use for my weekly fishing trips with my son. using the regular Family car has all but destoyed it. I am finding some good deals in the price range I'm looking in, but I am a little concerned about the amount of mileage that some of these vehicles have.

I know that there are MANY factors involved here, but I'm wondering if someone can offer some advice on how Much Mileage is TOO much to consider. Are these types of vehicles built with 150,000 + miles in mind?

Any advice, or any point of conversation that would lead me in the right direction would be appreciated.
I have a Volvo with over 250000 onit.Never had to do any major work.oil change every 3000,plugs as needed etc.Just your reg.maint.Other than that,I'd go for a older f150 ford p/u.300 6cyl if you can find one .They'll run forever.
And then there was an old gmc p/u that we use to use as a repair runner.One day I was sent on a 65 mile road trip one way.After returning 130 miles later i checked the oil and found it wasn't even on the stick,so after adding two quarts i realized our maint.mechanic had forgotten to replace the drain plug on the oil pan.Now I don't know if it was the syn.oil or the ol'truck but,all they did was replace the plug and refill the oil.That was two years ago and the thing still runs and remarkably has pretty dang good compression and doesn't use oil at all.

Bleh I got my Camaro with 191,000 miles on it.

And it's still ticking at 196k :icon16:

Talk to the owner and see if you can get a compression check and leakdown test done.

i have a ford bronco with a 524000 and its still going its all in how well it is taken care of and i dont baby it nethier

Astros are an excellent choice, many fleets use them and put well over 200,000 miles on them, I've seen some with over 300,000 miles with out a rebuild of the motor or trans.

My mom drives a 99 Windstar with just under 400,000 miles on it (not a typo) as she drives typically 65,000-70,000 a year. The AC pump, transmission, and waterpump are the only major repairs that have happened on it. She has been running synthetics on it since 60,000 miles and changes oil about once a month (roughly 5500 miles).

i would recommend an older ford truck, they run for such a long time with little work. in this rare case, i would not suggest an import, the trannys are weaker in their older vans,

i have seen astrovans go for over the 300,000 before seeing the bed of a tow truck.