Full size passenger van

Need a full size passenger van. 
 

Saw one pop up locally. 
 

2009 Chevy express. 3500.  Passenger. 6.0 L vortec.  Rwd. 1 owner. Sliding door. LT. 84k miles 

asking 14k 

any thoughts? 
 

Curtis just went through this, right?.  You might look in some of his threads to see what sort of stuff he ran into.

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

From the description the price sounds a bit high, but if it's really nice maybe not. 

In the current used car/truck climate, big chassis and big engine with less than 100k miles for $14k seems like a rather good price. 

You're probably not using it for towing but you couldn't buy that much towing capacity, currently for cheaper. 

Closer to me, in a rusty climate, the same van is asking $15.9k

I was looking for a full size Chevy in SoCal 2 years ago and it was hard to find anything less than 200K miles , 

That seemed to be the point where the large companies sold them off to wholesalers , 

Also check the mileage on carfax or  AQMD smog , half the vans I looked at were "iffy".

I will let  you know if I see anything around here.

I ended up getting a 2005 with 130K miles from a local HVAC company

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Thanks! Been away at the farm and not on forum much. I will check it out and contact Curtis 

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

Morning Pete 

I have no clue on the prices on these. Most seem cargo. 
 

the passenger ones seem to be all airport shuttle etc

this one is a family owned (non commercial I suppose)

it has the sliding door 

also what confuses me is some are 12 pass and some are 15 pass 

this is a 12 but says extended. 
 

I wss thinking of picking up a new NV 3500 and having utah nissan dealer so 4wd. But I am in it for $55k 

this seems a much cheaper option. I need 5k miles a year 

reliability is key so I am not stranded 3k miles from home  

John Welsh said:

In the current used car/truck climate, big chassis and big engine with less than 100k miles for $14k seems like a rather good price. 

You're probably not using it for towing but you couldn't buy that much towing capacity, currently for cheaper. 

Closer to me, in a rusty climate, the same van is asking $15.9k

Hi there 

thanks ! My tow vehicles currently are 21 tacoma, 09 land cruiser, or wifes 19 lx570. Whatever I have in hand 

Van won't be for towing 

californiamilleghia said:

I was looking for a full size Chevy in SoCal 2 years ago and it was hard to find anything less than 200K miles , 

That seemed to be the point where the large companies sold them off to wholesalers , 

Also check the mileage on carfax or  AQMD smog , half the vans I looked at were "iffy".

I will let  you know if I see anything around here.

I ended up getting a 2005 with 130K miles from a local HVAC company

Thanks for keeping an eye out my friend 

will check the carfax for sure or smog website 

"reliability is key so I am not stranded 3k miles from home "

Its a 6 liter Chevy van.  They are reasonably indestructible, and if you somehow managed to break it more than a hundred miles away from the parts you'd need to fix it anywhere in North America, you probably shouldn't be there.

Streetwiseguy said:

"reliability is key so I am not stranded 3k miles from home "

Its a 6 liter Chevy van.  They are reasonably indestructible, and if you somehow managed to break it more than a hundred miles away from the parts you'd need to fix it anywhere in North America, you probably shouldn't be there.

Yeah I read about the 6.0 vortec as much as I can. Lets see if I can make a deal with the above red one 

12 vs 15...  

15 has  2 up front then three rows of 3 and then a wide bench across the back for 4.  This back bench touches the rear doors or generally no room for cargo.  

12 has  2 up front then two rows of 3 and then a wide bench across the back for 4.  This back bench does not touch the rear doors leaving room for cargo.  

Said another way, "what do you want the extend to offer?"  More seating over the standard van or same seating as the standard van but more cargo?  

John Welsh said:

12 vs 15...  

15 has  2 up front then three rows of 3 and then a wide bench across the back for 4.  This back bench touches the rear doors or generally no room for cargo.  

12 has  2 up front then two rows of 3 and then a wide bench across the back for 4.  This back bench does not touch the rear doors leaving room for cargo.  

Said another way, "what do you want the extend to offer?"  More seating over the standard van or same seating as the standard van but more cargo?  

 

Perfect sense now, thanks! Are the seats easily removeable? Or giant huge pain in the butt?  Also any reason no headrests at all?

I need 10 passenger + cargo. So its perfect. I don't need 15 passenger. 

I lived with a POS garbage bought new Mazda5 for 9 years. Never again. No room behind 3rd, having to lug around 21 cubic feet of roof box made life hell. Not to mention terrible build quality of a Tier 3 manufacturer (I know - get out the pitchforks)

I just spoke to the owner of the Red 3500 above. Says has power seats. Has owned it 4 years. Bought it for family trips but haven't done much. No maintenance record before 4 years. Said he did oil changes and alignment. Says it needs nothing else. 

Aside from certain religions two states over from me - not many people personally own them. How comfortable are they on long trips?

i have ridden in them for short times at airport, but no long test drives from a passenger perspective. 

The 3500 will be a little stiff unloaded but with 5-10 people it'll ride pretty decent.

bobzilla said:

The 3500 will be a little stiff unloaded but with 5-10 people it'll ride pretty decent.

Thanks. I don't see it ever having less than 6 people in it. 

I keep hearing that the motors are good, but tranny grenades at 120-150K. Any truth to that, for those of you guys know?

https://tworoamingsouls.com/whats-the-difference-between-chevy-express-1500-2500-and-3500-vans/

Set up appointment to view the red on above, tomorrow

3500 should be a 4L80 and not the 4L60/65. The 80 is also pretty bulletproof. 

If you thought the Mazda was POS, you might want to adjust your expectations for the GM experience. The interiors are not tier 1, 2, or 3, but they get the job done.

I was looking for vans a few months back, and this seems like a reasonable price if it needs nothing. A little high if it’s needy. It’s my belief that people are snapping up full sized vans like crazy these days, and prices reflect that.

Curtis should be in here soon, and he will have a lot of info.

Ran the carfax now.

• Both says personal owner. 
• CA vehicle since new
• Purcahsed new Santa barbara. Owner had it 2009-2016. Drove it 71k miles. 
• Owner 2 (current owner), has it 2017jan - present. Drove it 14k miles. 

There was an "instrument panel repaired" in 2015 with owner 1 at Chevy dealer.

Service records are dealer service (not much detail), oil changes, and alignment. 

Current owner service:

• Brake fluid changed
• Radiator fluids changed
• Air Filter Changed
• Aligned

Gotta love that VIN plate says "BUS, but NOT a school bus"

I have a 2003 3500 with 90k miles. I have owned it since almost new (7500 miles on it when I got it). Absolutely love it for everything from towing a 26 ft trailer, hauling 30 10 ft sheets of sheetrock, transporting sports teams, etc. It does everything. I really haven't had to do anything to it until recently. I just replaced both front wheel bearings/hubs and am about to replace idler arm and pitman arm. That's it. About time for its first tune up and brake job. 

These things are GREAT!

Seats are easily removed (two pins hold each seat in). The seats are kinda heavy. I used to move them myself, but ask SWMBO to help out now.

Cadman5 said:

I have a 2003 3500 with 90k miles. I have owned it since almost new (7500 miles on it when I got it). Absolutely love it for everything from towing a 26 ft trailer, hauling 30 10 ft sheets of sheetrock, transporting sports teams, etc. It does everything. I really haven't had to do anything to it until recently. I just replaced both front wheel bearings/hubs and am about to replace idler arm and pitman arm. That's it. About time for its first tune up and brake job. 

These things are GREAT!

Thank you SO much!!

Anything specific to look for on a 09, same as yours, with about same miles?

Not sure if I can check wheel baerings/idler arms/pitman arms at a home inspection?

Appreciate the help

Here's what you probably want to know the most... you can resell it and get your money back pretty easy if it turns out you don't like it. 

Other than that, it's a big metal box but this one has carpet and stuff throughout. 

A cutting edge design in 1996 (25 years ago) 

I made sure I got the sliding side door ,  was easier for me to load things in a parking lot , 

there is tons of room in them ,  and the spare tire is stored under the back area and removed from the bottom ,  the jack is in the back passenger corner.

mine is not extended , but if you need me to measure anything just ask :)

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

You could give the front wheels a shake to check bearings and steering, but frankly, it's all so big and stiff that I could hear the bearing but couldn't really feel any looseness. You might be able to see/feel really bad ball joints, but again, big and stiff, so sometimes hard to tell unless really bad. Just plan on front bearings/hubs and idle arm/pitman/tie rod ends soon.