2000 GMC Safari SLT 4.3 V6

Summary:

Great functionality, not high quality, but taken care of, it should provide good service

Faults:

Fuel pump at 110,000.

Rear heat at 100,000.

Front wheel bearings at 140000.

General Comments:

A very useful vehicle, great for driving in snowy conditions, pulling a trailer, and when the seats are removed, can fit a ton of stuff.

I have the AWD version, and contrary to most posts, the transfer case or driveline has never given me problems, but I have religiously changed all fluids (transmission, front & rear diff, transfer case) every 20-30K miles, and use synthetics all around.

My recommendation is regular service and high quality fluids. GM does not make a high quality vehicle, but this one suits my needs perfectly, and I believe if taken care of and well-maintained, it will last a while. I have heard of many of these engines going over 300,000 miles, although everyone has had to do transmission work at some point. Great vans if you are OK spending some time and money on maintenance. Clean fluids make for a happy vehicle.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 11th December, 2009

2000 GMC Safari

Summary:

I'm so glad I chose this van

Faults:

Power window on driver's side is going out. Putting the window all the way down or close to it, you have to restart the engine to get it to go back up.

Power door locks work sporadically at best.

The door handle for the very back door of the van is broken.

Mysterious "idiot light" issue with the ABS and E-brake lights going on here and there while driving, often after a bump in the road, but without having hit the brakes or engaged the E-brake; I have had the brakes checked, nothing is wrong.

Back seats are excessively heavy and unwieldy; I'm a reasonably strong girl, but I can't get them in or out of the van on my own.

A few of the convenience lights are out. At night, you have to know where the buttons are already if you want to change the radio station.

The armrests on both front seats do not stay up; if you put an arm's weight on them, they just fall.

Many of the hard plastic pieces inside the car have had issues. The glove compartment no longer closes all the way, and the part of the inside door panels where a person might put their arm is all cracked and thus unusable as an armrest.

The windshield wiper motor is... creative. It always goes on when I set it to, but the "delay" function is wonky, so at times they won't stop wiping he first time I set it to "off."

It can be difficult to hear conversation between the back and front seats. I imagine this could be a bad thing if you have quiet children. (I, however, tend to have loud hippies, and they make up the difference quite nicely.)

General Comments:

All "quirks" aside, I love my Safari. I've driven across the country multiple times in it, often lived in it for up to two weeks at a time, pulled two very old, very heavy campers, and one fairly heavy box trailer a total of about 4,000 miles with it, and it's still running beautifully.

There are a multitude of comfortable ways to sleep in it, with or without the backseats being in.

I've had two tire blowouts on the van, and it handles so well that I barely noticed either one for nearly half a mile. I thought the road was a little bumpy. Same with the time the camper's tire blew out. Not even a swerve, just a slight pull to the right after what feels like a bump in the road. I once had a Plymouth Neon that took blowouts much worse than this van did with a heavy, old camper.

It handles just as neatly as any small to mid-size car.

It's easier to parallel park than anything else I've ever driven.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th September, 2009