It handles very well and the engine has given us no problems (when we can start it!) Sliding rear door on the driver's side is a great plus. The seats are fairly easy to remove and put back in.

Unpredictable electrical problems make this car unsafe at any speed! Even parked!

This car is dangerous! We've had many nuisances occur with this car, but lately it's getting out of control. The sliding door would not stay closed when trying to close it, or sometimes after closing and locking it we would return an hour later to find it wide open! Sometimes the car would not start, or would make a clicking sound while trying to start it. We would sit for a minute, try again, and it would start right away. We've replaced several headlights because of water getting inside. The gas gauge bounces erratically somtimes saying "full" when you're actually almost "empty". The clock on the radio is constantly resetting. But the following two stories show that this car is dangerous:

The other day my wife buckled our kids (ages 1 and 3) into their car seats. She reached up from the side door to start the engine to get the A/C going since it was so hot. As she walked around to the driver's side, the doors suddenly locked - locking the kids inside! Fortunately, I work nearby and was able to run home and unlock the doors with my keys. If the A/C hadn't been on, my asthmatic one year old would have been in serious trouble! The doors are not supposed to lock until you engage it in "drive" or "reverse". My kids were scared to death.

Last night I took the van to a dealer to replace the control module for the electric sliding door (a recall from Chevy). It worked fine - the first few times. Then it went back to sporadically not working at all. That evening as we were driving, the door opened! No alarm sounded (which it is supposed to if the door is open and you are in gear), it just unlocked itself and opened up while we were going down the road. We're lucky my son hasn't figured out how to unbuckle his car seat yet!

I've checked other websites for Venture owners and have seen the same problems from many other owners, so Chevy has to be aware of these problems. But the same problems were listed for 98, 99, 2000, and 2001 Venture owners, so they obviously have not fixed it. Door opening while going down the road? Doors locking on their own? Car not starting for no reason? Unable to close the door? These are dangerous problems - especially if you have young kids, which many minivan owners do. We do not trust our van at all.

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Our first minivan. Depending on Chevy's response to our problems, it could be our last Chevy product.

seats 8

engine problems
doors slide on you

We purchased a brand new 1998 venture van in April 1998, we very much like the body style and the comfort of a van with children. At 53,000 miles our van needs a new engine due to a defect causing anti-freeze to leak in the engine. We have been assured this is a manufacturing problem but we are responsible for the expense. The original problem was everything but the engine, 2 weeks ago the dealership supposely had fixed an intake problen, before I pulled out of the lot I had problems, then one mile down the road it cuts off, the next week it was the oil pump, now it is an engine, only $3800.00 to $4,000.00. The GM supervisor told me that this is normal, " You have 53,000 miles, what do you expect". I have been in customer service for years and most companies want to keep the customers. I will never purchase a GM product again. Also, I have a four year old and was told by the dealership that it is safe to drive this van another 25,000 miles.

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Honda Vans, great quality, good customer service, dealerships are willing to help

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WE waited years to buy brand new mini van,paid fair price,loaded, ext. warrenty. We were in 7th heaven at time.June 23,2001 at 1 A.M. after exiting Ma.TurnPike(2 hrs on highway) this van almost sent whole family to heaven. Left rear tire flew off while we were driving only 5mph,we had just started up from off ramp stop sign(thank God). Van dragged to stop, tire flew across road into hotel parking lot. We had our 3 young children asleep in 2nd row flip & fold mod seats. AAA towed to dealer early Sat. AM following Friday after constant bugging our Dealer told us GM disavowed any & all blame for our trouble. We told truth,we had flat,left rear tire repaired at local service station while I stood and watched the station owner install this tire himself. I WATCHED, man did it correct; tightened and retightened lug nuts and checked air in all four tires. I had brought my old 87 Olds Wgn there for years. This was 10 days earlier. Dealer performed Ma.State Inspection(includes safety) 4 days earlier and passed van & put sticker on it. CLAY CHEVY claims GM says I violated warrenty coverage when outsider touched tire; NOT THEIR FAULT. Venture was exactly 2 yrs.old and had just turned 14,000 mi of pampered life. NOT THEIR FAULT-TOO BAD-ALMOST KILLED US-took them 1 wk to figure out how to hang us out to dry-sarcastically told ua to take it back to our gas station for repairs. My husband always complained about feel of brakes and vehicle noise.. Our right side power sliding door was nothing but trouble as well as noisey; both sliding doors always rattle and seats always rattle unless occupied. Things always falling off inside;retractable middle seat belt forgets to retract.. AC is not good enough, doesn't seem to cool 2 nd & 3 rd row enough.. Dealer requires 3-4 repeated complaints to repair right. Didn't bother to recall right power sliding door which they had fixed 6 plus times; I had to tell them to do it. My dealer applied expensive pin stripe fell off. 3" by 3-4 ft.piece of body behind left rear sliding door under window broke and stuck out; dealer painted replacement piece wrong color while van was in shop(30 min. repair took 8 hrs.) GM is stingy with warrenty work loaner/rental cars-$ 30.00 worth or rental after car held in shop 8 hrs & they miust keep it over night(gets you GEO METRO rental?) On positive side we love modular flip and fold seats w/3 seats in second row and 2 in rear. Gas MI. not bad-aver. 16.4 year round combined a little better on highway(we're always fully loaded). I don't feel safe in my Venture anymore & can't wait for my auto ins. to pay for my comprehensive loss repair minus my $ 500.00 deductible so I can unload it on some unsuspecting dealer.. IT almost killed my family and I get stuck with the deductible for the priviledge. CHEVROLET HUNG US OUT TO DRY. AT LEAST WE ARE STILL ALIVE to talk about it. IT WASN't the service station's fault. I know them and trust them more than Chevrolet and G.M. but who pays for the several thousand dollars damage???

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rented Caravans, Windstars, MPV, GMC Safari-all performed better

Great on Gas. Use full synth. oil & get 32.5 mpg canadian @ 75mph. Very zippy, lots of power. Comfortable

wiper well poor design. Easily packs up with snow & ice and jams the wipers

A very good overall vehicle given the price. Very low price with lots of items standard compared to the competition. Best of gas mileage with terrific power train. Has an excellent ride, and is very comfortable. The up/down seat height adjustment feature is great on long trips. GM has been ok with fixing what needed to be fixed. Only one front joint in 3 yrs.
I'm looking to replace it with a 2002 model, but not happy with having to get 4 doors instead of 3. Still, recommend this product.

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original Chev. Van in 1965 - can't compare really. Been driving for 40 yrs, this is quite a versatile product

Lots of power, room, rides great.

Don't have any thating that I can conplain about.

love this van it has it all tv and vcr for the kids good power best ride on the market for the money quite runs and sounds great. the plymonth that I had had to put a transmission in it and it lasted about a year and it started to act up again and the fuel injuction went out it road hard and bad not a lot of room in it did not like it and would not buy another one.
tring to get my brother to get rid of his and get one like me.

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Plymouth Voyger the venture is a better built product.

Good pick up in accleration with slightly better than average handling. Roomy and versatile with the seven bucket seats (seats are easily removed). Do it yourself maintenance easily done.

Transmission hesitates in transistion at 50 mph and 70 mph. HeatingCooling system is below average. Brakes are noisy and require premature replacement.

This vehicle is extremely versatile and spacious. There are many convenient gadgets and the softwareelectronics for items such as lighting and locking systems are well thought out. The overall durability of the vehicle in comparison with a previously owned Safari mini-van is poor. The extended Venture is difficult to maneuver in tight areas, however, handles well on open roads. Long trips with young children are less of a burden in this vehicle.

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GMC Safari, Ford Windstar

Powerful and easy to maneuver, allows a relaxed riding for long distance, fexible seating concept, good overview of other traffic around

Change oil warning display, lits up within half of the distance listed in the operating manual

This car drives better than the car (ford sierra) I had before, or even all cars I had before. This car is easier to handle because of the good overview what s going on around the outside. The is no front or rear hood to calculate while parking the car, it ends right there where the windows are!

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This is our second Venture. We previously owned a 1998 Venture/Extended and had no troubles with it at all!! The Warner Bros. edition is great for the kids. The LCD screen adjusts to all viewing levels. The side seats fold up quickly and easily to allow access to back seats. The built-in child seat is fantastic. My child has more freedom to mover her limbs than in a cramped up normal car seat. Made it from Houston, TX to Pensacola FLA on 1 tank of gas!!! The new 2001 is much quieter than the 1998 and it's handling and suspension is much better.

None yet. Although I have not seen the safety tests that some people have complained about. I plan on looking at those next.

Again, I've owned a Venture before and was very happy with it. It is the best van for the money that I have driven. It seems to be built with the American Family in mind.

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Test drove the Quest, Windstar, and Caravan, and none compared to the Venture.

Lots of power, reliable, good ergronomics for a domestic vehicle under $30,000 new, comfortable seats

Manual sliding door requieres few tries to latch it every once in a while, gas gauge stuck past full at 47,000 miles, top peice on front cup holders requires jiggling to stay up

I have had no problems with the van other than the gas gauge. It feels like it weighs a lot less than it does. The transmission is great. New I would only give this van a 4 for value but we got it at steal used in April 2000. This van is perfect for someone that needs the space in a minivan. I wouldn't buy this if it were just me and I didn't need the space. If you want a Chevy and don't need a van go with the Impala

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first van

This van has plenty of power for what I need. It rides well and is very comfortable.

I've had a problem with the rear wiper cutting out on me. The cupholders are terrible. My coffee fell over one mroning on my way to work and when I realized it I had lost almost half the cup. Very bad positioning. Coming home on the highway heading into a very strong wind, the front wipers caught the wind and I thought they were going to break off.

So far we love our Venture. As I said, the ride is very nice and the interior is quite comfortable. My wife is very picky about seating. We are a good pair; she worries about the inside, I worry about what is under the mechanical aspect of it. Before we decided on the Venture we took it for a test drive. My wife sat in just about every seat in the thing and she approved. I must admit however that as soon as the winter weather clears I will have to take a look at the front breaks. I read somewhere that the factory installed breaks are inadequate however they have come out with a redisgned brake pad that helps to clear that problem up. As with anything if you take good care of your mini it will take good care of you. Regulaer maintenance is the key. On the whole we are overjoyed with our Venture and will be buying another one when the time comes.

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First mini was a Plymouth Voyageur. There is no comparison between the two. I read a review that said that Chrysler makes nice looking vehicles but inside it is still a Chrysler. I will never buy another Chrysler product as long as I live. They are money pits !