Chevrolet Venture Minivans | Wagons
Chevrolet Venture Minivans | Wagons
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[Jan 16, 2003]
Dale Kroppmanns
Strength:
Great visablity, quiet, flexable seating arrangements. Dent resistant body panels. Dependable.
Weakness:
have the small v6 motor, a little weak. On rare occations, passanger window had a small drip inside glass. Previous owner put in after market electic windows, bad idea, had them removed (stopped working) at 160,000km. Changing the radio requires you to sit forward and extend your arm quite far. I am a Realtor and put a lot of miles on this puppy. Bought used with only 17,000km. 179,000km on now. Have replaced s-belt 2 times, altenator once, sounds like it may need it again sometime. Had a new battery,air-oil filter changes oil changes...no major problems. Has the dent resistant panels..LOVE them. Wish new vans had them. The body looks like brand new. I would keep driving it but getting up in kms. Similar Products Used: ford and dodge vans |
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[Jan 09, 2003]
Philip Priebe
Strength:
good power (when it isn't in for repair) roomy interior quiet running looks good
Weakness:
needs a tach - all vehicles need a tachometer how do you get at the rear 3 spark plugs? stock headlights are not bright enough I bought this van new, thinking i would enjoy several years of trouble free driving. I've had to have the intake and head gaskets replaced once at 96,000km (2 yrs ago) and now it sits in my garage with the same problem again. I'm not eager to spend $2,000+ too quickly. I've had a strange water leak that hasn't been figured out since day one. Rain water leaks in between the roof and the headliner when the van is parked facing downhill. Wheel cylinder leaks, rear shock leaks, air compressor intermittent,and both headlights leak water in to them, even after both were replaced. The transmission is giving me trouble - I'm told it is the converter regular valve that is worn due to a design flaw. This valve moves within an aluminum sleeve (it gets stuck sometimes) and there is a fix out there where a steel insert is used, however this is an aftermarket fix not a GM solution. The dexcool gave me me grief as well, turning into a grayish mush, plugging up everything, before i had a flush and demanded that the traditional green antifreeze be used. The 6 back-lit radio presetbuttons would get too hot to touch, finally burning out. Finally, I had the waterpump replaced just 3 weeks ago. Similar Products Used: Chevy Lumina Van |
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[Jan 06, 2003]
99venture
Strength:
Unknown.
Weakness:
Have been mentioned previously. Hi I am back to continue my review.My transmission has performed admirally, since being rebuilt. No other problems to report. Lets see how it handles a Saskatchewan Winter (-40). |
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[Jan 03, 2003]
Bryan
Strength:
none
Weakness:
tons What a piece of junk. Would never buy a product from GM again. Dealerships are rude, foreign cars are all I will buy fromnow on. Similar Products Used: honda |
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[Dec 29, 2002]
auto employee
Model Reviewed:
and newer Chevrolet Products
Strength:
Good power from displacement on all engines. Decent fuel economy Smooth idling characteristics
Weakness:
Very expensive major repairs typically when vehicles reach 40K miles and beyond. Start Up noises resulting from Undersized skirtless pistons supplied to GM by different vendors. Reports of up to .008 undersized pistons have been reported. What happened to quality control during the assembly process? Leaking intake manifold gaskets. I feel is a design issue. A host of problems with seat, door and window switches and controls. I am a Chevrolet Dealer employee that has daily hands on experience with GM products. I have had personal conversations with GM Factory Reps and see daily the problems experienced with Start up engine knocks, IE: 3.1L, 3.4L, 5.3L, 6.0L, 8.1L, in particular. Leaking intake manifolds that can result with permanent engine damage particularly with 95 and newer 5.7L, 3.1L, 3.4L, 4.3L engines and a tremendous amount of fuel pump failures over the entire product line. In addition to engine problems I observe daily many other significant issues with dex-cool plugging up heater cores and radiators when turning into a jello like substance well before the advertised life of the coolant has been reached. Similar Products Used: Compared with experience with Ford and Chrysler products. |
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[Dec 20, 2002]
Luke Ward
Model Reviewed:
Venture LS
Strength:
Proven Powerplant and Tranny Looks nice Quiet compared to other vans Handles great/fun to drive Good performance Onstar Nice soundsystem Auto headlamps Good Mileage Great range
Weakness:
TACH Cupholders Lack of engine options 3.8 This is our 2nd Venture our first was the short model we traded up for the ext. Just turned 26,000 miles on this van with no problems. The 3.4 V6 does a great job we have had this one as far as California west and Ohio east. It pulled the mountains on the back side of Laughlin NV without any problems. The temp guaged climbed a bit but it never overheated. The air kept the cabin nice and cool in the 112 degree heat. We get between 19-27 mph. The van could use some cup holders for the middle left pass. I think a 3.8 would be a nice option and dress them up with some chrome 16" wheels. My biggest complaint is the Venture is not avail. with a TACH! The body could be a bit tighter but this could be true for other makes I have rode in. The engine and trans 3.4 V6 and the 4T65E are well proven and are shared with other GM products. I am hoping for 120,000K. Onstar is great! Big gas tank. Drove from Fairfield (East/Central TX) to Tumcumcari NM nonstop 560 miles. Similar Products Used: Ford Aerostar Dodge Grand Caravan Ford Winstar |
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[Dec 19, 2002]
gizzy
Model Reviewed:
Venture
Strength:
none
Weakness:
Too many to list, but the big one is that the transmission is a piece of junk. A few hours of online research will turn up many, many people who have had the same problem with this van! This is the worst vehicle I've ever owned. I've had it 3 years and so far these are the problems I've had with it: The rear window leaked, the fuel filter leaked (leaving me and my children stranded on a highway in 90 degree weather), some of the molding on the interior of the doors fell off, the rubber strip on the driver's door fell off, the rear hatch pull-strap broke, and last, but not least, the transmission had to be replaced at only 54,000 miles! This is the second GM vehicle I've ever owned and it will be the last! |
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[Dec 13, 2002]
mwiley48
Model Reviewed:
Chev Venture mini van
Strength:
gas mileage,comfortable
Weakness:
Headlight covers--caulk fails and headlight covers come off. The intake manifold gasket also will break down---very $$$ looks great but look out for the repairs very expensiver $600 for manifold Wow! My headlight covers came off also,GM said not their fault..At $142.00 a cover that's alot of money. Also, yes, the intake manifold gasket is geting repaired as I type this. GM states again not their fault! I wouldn't buy GM again! As soon as I get my payments a little lower, I am buying foreign!!! Similar Products Used: in |
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[Dec 05, 2002]
Philip Rosenstern
Model Reviewed:
LS
Strength:
Everything is solid and powerful.
Weakness:
None The Venture is by far the best minivan around. I leased a 1999 Venture, and when it came time to turn it in, I bought a 2001 Venture. I've had no problems yet and I'm already at 30,000 miles. The engine provides stellar performance and the features are extremely abundant. Similar Products Used: Dodge Caravan |
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[Dec 05, 2002]
ppenrod
Model Reviewed:
Venture/LT Extended
Strength:
Good gas mileage, roomy and quiet interior. Traction control a big plus.
Weakness:
Wear on brake pads too early. Sliding door motor control. Roof Rack loose. Needs more HP/torque for demanding situations. Bought the van used with 26K miles on it. Have not had any problems with the drivability or the gas mileage (32 MPG on one stretch of I-80) Typical 23-26 MPG in town, and 28-31 on highway. Rides very well with kids/cargo or empty. Love the traction control. This has kept us out of some bad jams in the winter. While everyone else is sliding around, we are still moving in a straight line. They don't belive in salting roads here in CO - might damage a tree. Better to put people in the hosptial just to save some plants. Have replaced front brakes/rotors at 38K miles - didn't catch the wear in time. GM replaced the sliding door motor control unit, as door refused to open, but was fine manually. Covered under warrantee. I do not like the fold over seats - they are a pain to attach and unhook from the floor. My wife loves the way it drives - like a car. We had a full size E-150 Ford van prior, and it drove like a truck. Before that we drove a 90 Aerostar and loved it. She likes the handling of the Venture, which reminds here of the Aerostar. Takes a while to warm up on cold mornings, but runs fine - engine nice and smooth and quiet. I wish it had more power under the hood, as it can be a problem hiking over the mountains - epsecially over 9000 ft it's noticeable. Also, the cooling fan does not turn on till water temp hits 231 F - by design. This is about 3/4 toward hot on the gauge and was rather disconcerting when we first saw it (climbing over the mountain).I have not seen the gasket problems yet - but will pester the dealership about that. Hajek Chevrolet gets kudos for wonderful service. They have made the ownership experience a pleasant one, and I would buy another GM product, so long as they would handle the service. Otherwise, I'll take my chances with Ford or Honda. I can not stress enough about buying the extended warrantee with the car purchase. It will pay for itself - regardless of the vehicle (especially used ones) as you will hopefully fix everything major that is wrong in the first two or three years. Similar Products Used: Ford Aerostar, Ford E-150 Custom, Several station wagons. |


