what's the best van to buy in the market?

[alomke]

Am looking to buy a 7 seater van in calgary but i don't know which is the best among Dodge Caravan, Montana, Uplander, Trans sport or any other. From around 1997-2004, from $5000 to $9000 not exceeding 190,000 km.
Does anyone out there know more about vans? Gimme advice plz.

Thanks

[Tik-Tok]

THIS (http://www.isoccermom.com/) Link might help... :D

[Nissanaddict]

Dodge Caravan 4 speeds have knowingly defective transmissions (until 2001 at least, if not further up) and my family had a 3 speed that was iffy as well. Chevrolet Ventures/Pontiac Trans sport/Montanas, etc. have a motor with a defective intake manifold gasket that shouldn't be a problem if you flush the coolant and replace it with normal green antifreeze. The power doors are iffy too, so watch out. I don't know a thing about the Fords. The Quest/Villager = good though. Previas are unsafe...Mazda MPVs are probably rather efficient as they're small. That's all I know.

[bigboom]

we have a villager and its been awesome :)

[3G]

Villagers are awesome, I used to have one, don't have anything negative to say

Mpv's have shitty trannies (my cousins went in his after 2 years), Caravans/Voyagers apparently have shitty trannys but Ive never seen a problem in any of ours. We had a 97 Trans Sport and the HG went in it. To the guy who said Previas are unsafe, whats so bad about them?

[turbotrip]

my family has had a couple of Dodge caravans and a plymouth voyager and didnt have any real problems with any of them. Everyone always says that they have many problems but there must be a reason that you see so many of them on the streets right?

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Only problem with ouy 97 caravan is the brakes keep needing work... and the interior is a little abused so all the cupholders and plastic dash work falls apart easily... and the drivers seat isn't adjustable anymore

[turab16]

id go for montanas , silhouette, venture of course all gm brands. apart from best in class feul mileage they are reliable except for intake minfold gasket.......

[Mitsu3000gt]

We had a dodge caravan from 2001-a month ago, towed a boat with it every summer with 6 people and their stuff in it and never a single problem with anything. Only reason for sale was that we got a bigger boat. We would of bought the Honda van and not something american if it was up to the towing task. We REALLY did not want to buy an american car. The caravan's aren't built that well but it didn't cause us any problems. Then again, we only used it for 50,000 km in 5 years. The advantage to the buyer is that they depreciate like nothing else.

Stay from motanas/transports....during a test drive, the entire dashboard popped off - it is held on only by a couple cheap plastic clips, no screws or anything at all. The entire vehicle interior is cheap plastic. The whole vehicle is basically a collection of parts from the lowest bidders, and thrown together poorly.