Jack mutters,
you may know me as a devout Corolla owner, however in view of your expertise could you advise me on this: My running buddy wants to buy a van. He is looking at a 1999 GMC Safari. Is this the usual 'big 3' trash? Is there a Toyota product for a young student looking for a used van?
Your expert opinion is welcomed,
! And yes, I had a room-mate who watched Y&R back in my university days, so I've heard of it. We deny Barry Manilow completely.
- Jack
You might want to check a GMC or Chevy group for advice. Cars.com only gave it a 2 out of 5 for reliability but a couple of friends have these vans, and their experience is that they were OK but used a lot of gas.
The plus side is that the vans are RWD or AWD, and RWD is the preferred drivetrain configuration if the van is heavily laden or used to tow.
A while back I did some research on the safari and chevy astro. I found a lot of problems on the discussion boards at edmunds.
One in particular that kept coming up was the fuel pump. To change one on these vans you have to drop the gas tank (not easy on these) and the replacement doesn't last any longer. They also , like most GMs have doors that quickly become missaligned and don't close properly..
What's wrong with the sienna. I like them before they went to the bigger body style. I think they are the smaller version up till '03??
CP
Hmmm...Are you talking the LITTLE (Astro) style, or the big one. Unfortunately, GM used the Safari name for both at one time.
I have seen these things go 300,000 miles without problems, and others go
125,000 and head for the junk yard.MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.