Van mileage

[Mudphlinger]

What is considered high mileage for s van?

 

[bullfrog]

Depends somewhat on the year and maintenance schedule it was on. Older vehicles anything over 100,000 miles you started looking for a new one, over 150,000 miles usually a major component had been replaced, most even with excellent maintenance, were junked by 200,000 miles as chassis components and upkeep cost more than it was worth.

 

[jacqueg]

On any older vehicle, it depends on maintenance and whether it was abused. A well-treated van with 150,000 miles on it still has a lot of life left in it.

A van with 85,000 miles on it that has always been rode hard and put away wet could well be on its last legs.

 

[user 37446]

Agree with above. I'm seeing mention in posts and in other forums of about 150K (miles) being close to the upper limit of US full sized van trannies without a rebuild. Some go farther, some not even to 150K. The v8 engines seem to last longer, up to 200K, more or less.

That's the trouble with "reasonably" priced cargo and passenger vans, most have in excess of 200K already. One forum poster on another thread here had a conversion van with 160K, he was all good until the tranny died. Now he's stuck.

There are exceptions (if you can believe them):
A CL ad says "One owner 2003 Ford E-350 XL HD Super Duty 15 passenger Van. Overhead Rear AC, Only 66,700 Original Miles. AM/FM radio, Ice cold AC. Clean Title and Carfax, go look. VIN # 1FBSS31L33HB21404. $8,000."

Here's another: 2011 Ford Econoline E-350: 197,243 miles, 4 New tires, Great body. Need engine work. $7,500.

Nice mid-top G20 conversion: 1992 Chevy G20 Southern Coach, Mechanically sound. Runs good. New plugs, filter, etc. 170,xxx miles $2800

Maybe: Work Van or Passenger Van For Sale 3700.00 OBO 103,913 miles
Good tires, A/C, heat, p/s work fine, Strong Reese hitch for towing. We had this van painted a number of years ago. Van has served our needs but we are in need of a shuttle bus to serve our growing ministries. Van would be ideal for painters, framers, and carpenters to run their work crews. Van priced right to take care of some of the repair items like the front fender.
Known Issues: front passenger fender needs repairing (ran into church parking lot gate, not a vehicle accident), a few rips in the seats, cracked windshield, the temperature sensor was coding at one point making the van run sluggish-not doing that now, seems to run fine (Did NOT overheat). Van in need of a new battery-will replace the battery soon. Please bring your mechanic to check out the van. Good work Van for someone!

And: $3500 Negotiable, clean title, 1998 Dodge, 2500, cargo van for sale with low miles. Van has been used as a work van since purchased new. Has partition between seats & cargo area, has bins built in rear, has ladder rack on top, this van is a extended body model so there is 11' of storage from the partition to the rear. Van has 150,022 miles, 318 engine, is in overall good shape for the age.

Lastly: 2000 Ford E250 Cargo van, exceptional mechanical condition. 351 Engine replaced with Auto zone crate motor 3 years ago and has been driven less than 15,000 miles since then, odometer show 215,000. Auto trans rebuilt at the same time. No leaks, no issues at all, interior clean, cold AC / tires good, all doors operate as intended. New battery, roof rack goes with it, $4500 - Cash only

So that's a sampling, granted all but 1 are passenger vans but those tend to have the lower miles.

 

[billfires]

Just a caution on low mileage passenger vans, they may have been used as shuttle vans and have extremely high number of engine hours due to idling for extended periods of time. It is usually possible to check the number of engine hours (and sometimes idling hours) from the information system in the dashboard. Bill C

 

[user 37446]

Good note Bilifires, some of the newer vans actually have hourmeters in their digital instrument panel.

One advantage to a passenger van is they are usually not as beat up as a cargo van. Based on the cargo vans I see on the highway, usually overloaded 1/2 tons. You can imagine what condition those vans are in, even when cleaned up.

 

[vanstu]

TWIH--

You are right about half ton cargo vans being overloaded--

I drove one for a construction company that the boss regularly would have the warehouse guy load it at night WAY beyond capacity. It was a Chevy express with the V-6. I would be going down the roads in Boston with its' butt virtually dragging on the road! Even with me disengaging the overdrive the van was straining and honestly dangerous to drive. He didn't care because he didn't want to make two trips and spend the time ($) to do it right.

Tranny blew at 85000 miles-- motor blew at 100000-- Brakes and suspension were toast as well so he just dumped it and got another one!

Be careful what you buy out there people.... :exclamation:

 

[txmnjim]

^^good info vanstu. thanks!

 

[JasonMcD]

From my experience its more about the miles on the transmission than anything. Modern built engines can run well into 300,000 400,000 miles, but transmissions rarely last more than 150,000.

i just put a brand new one in my Uplander that currently has 195k. It runs like a brand new van. The engine is clean, no leaks..and the mechanic says that there isn't any reason it shouldn't see 300k with no issues.

 

[user 37446]

TWIH--

You are right about half ton cargo vans being overloaded--

I drove one for a construction company that the boss regularly would have the warehouse guy load it at night WAY beyond capacity. It was a Chevy express with the V-6. I would be going down the roads in Boston with its' butt virtually dragging on the road! Even with me disengaging the overdrive the van was straining and honestly dangerous to drive. He didn't care because he didn't want to make two trips and spend the time ($) to do it right.

Tranny blew at 85000 miles-- motor blew at 100000-- Brakes and suspension were toast as well so he just dumped it and got another one!

Be careful what you buy out there people.... :exclamation:

Proof right there folks...

 

[txmnjim]

i just put a brand new one in my Uplander that currently has 195k. It runs like a brand new van. The engine is clean, no leaks..and the mechanic says that there isn't any reason it shouldn't see 300k with no issues.

yea, i no longer go to the last mechanic that told me that. after dumping >$4,500 on my outback
with his encouragement the r-rear strut column rusted out and was unfixable! apparently it was "a
thing" with outbacks so i no longer trust him...GL w yours though, and i agree that trannys are more
of a weak spot.

 

[vanstu]

Trannys seem to be the weakest link in the drivetrain.

I wish I had a standard-- but most vans don't have that option anymore. It's a hell of a lot cheaper and easier to just yank the motor and change clutch disk and throw out bearing (and pressure plate if needed) than rebuild an automatic tranny. I am old school when it comes to this- shifting the gears is second nature to me-- AND the ability to pick the gear and downshift in a panic stop greatly decreases stopping distance.

Which leads me to a question for all the other gearheads out there... I have had good results by adding Lucas transmission treatment to automatics over the years. Shifts smoother and seems to (over time) help trannys that have begun to slip. I also have found that adding an external tranny fluid cooler is also beneficial--( I'm in the SE US and FLA,GA, etc get hot in the summer-- and IMHO heat kills auto trannys )

Anyone out there have thoughts/experiences/tips on this? :huh:

 

[becida]

What is considered high mileage for s van?

My "rule of thumb" is that modern vehicles are good for 250,000 miles.

For a used vehicle I'll figure how many miles a year I drive. I'll do the math and figure out how many years I'd have left on the "new to me" van and divide the asking price by the years remaining and that gives me how much per year the van will cost me.

An example... the van is $3000, has 150,000 miles on it and I drive 10,000 miles a year.
250,000-150,000= 100,000 miles left. I divide that 100,000 miles left by my yearly driving (10,000) that says I can drive the van for 10 more years.
$3000 for the van divided by 10 years is $300 a year and that would work for me...

Please keep in mind that all this mileage guessing has nothing to do with brakes, tires and suspension/alignment things that wear out and are replaced under normal usage...

 

[JasonMcD]

yea, i no longer go to the last mechanic that told me that. after dumping >$4,500 on my outback
with his encouragement the r-rear strut column rusted out and was unfixable! apparently it was "a
thing" with outbacks so i no longer trust him...GL w yours though, and i agree that trannys are more
of a weak spot.

Sucks to hear about the Outback. I really like them. While i am definitely hopeful that my Uplander still has a lot of life left, anything can happen. I'm just not in a place where i can afford a sub 100k mile vehicle at the moment, and thats what I have. I'm sure he was just talking mechanically and whatnot. I can see how something like a rusted out strut column might be something they wouldn't necessarily have time to look for, and its things like that which are the wildcard for sure.

 

[highdesertranger]

All of you who say the transmission is the weak link, well it's NOT the transmission it's the automatic transmissions that are the weak link. For the most part a manual will outlast an auto 3 to 1 or better. The same can be said with All Wheel Drive, push button/selective drive, and CVT, they are just not reliable long lasting transmissions. Also usual once they are done the vehicle is not worth fixing. Modern vehicles are just like everything else, use once and toss. Highdesertranger

 

[user 423]

There haven't been manual trannies available in full-size vans since the late '80's or early '90's.

It's even hard these days to find a pickup with a manual. The great majority are autos.