Faults:

Front wheel bearing replacement.

Both front seat replacements.

Brake pads in front.

Transmission slips.

General Comments:

Nothing fancy about this mini-van, but it is a step above the Venture that it replaced. Believe it or not, I like the looks of the Uplander. It gets away from the sloped nose of previous GM mini-vans and looks like the more recent Equinox SUV. The interior has very cheap materials and the hard plastic on the dash cracks easily. The seats are made of cheap material and soil and rip easily. I replaced the 2 front seats for this reason. This inferior construction of the interior is one of my main concerns. Also the cruise control is in a strange place.

The DVD player now does not work and the radio/CD player is also faulty. However, even with these negatives, I like this mini-van. It seats 7 easily although the back seats are uncomfortable. It drives easily and is fun to drive. The exterior fit and finish is much better than the interior.

Faults:

60,000km - front rotors warped, even though the dealership replaced them brand new with OEM ones at 50,000km before we drove it home for the first time. OEM parts are garbage in my opinion. I replaced all 4 rotors with a good set of aftermarket ones, and pads, and haven't had a problem in 35,000km.

At 70,000km the coolant cross-over pipe started leaking - this is common on the GM V6s and the gasket. I used the GM coolant tablets (which the dealers use) to seal the leak, and it hasn't come back in 25,000km and going.

80,000km - one of the front hubs bearings went, replaced the entire assembly (hub and ABS sensor) on both.

The stock Goodyear tires that came with it are garbage - nothing to do with the van, but every Goodyear tire I have had develops cracks and is noisy while driving. BUT, they have worn OK - will need replacing in the near future.

As others have stated, this is an 'anonymous' vehicle - we own a silver one and it blends in with everything and everyone on the road. Is that good or bad? I dunno. Although most minivans are like that - I see lots of black Grand Caravans on the road now, so our silver Uplander is no different.

Slider bearings in the sliding door on the driver's side are going bad - that will need to be replaced soon. But cheap to fix.

Overall, the things that have gone wrong are just regular wear-and-tear - with the exception of the coolant cross-over pipe leaking.

General Comments:

Bought as an Optimum used vehicle from a Chevy dealership with 50,000km - came with a 150 point inspection.

We've owned it since 2013 and still have it (5 years). It's versatile, reliable, and has lots of power - the 3900 V6 is a nice motor.

City driving the gas mileage is 16-19 MPG - almost as bad as a truck. On the highway, I'm getting 28-30 MPG (7.8-8.4L/100km). Nice and smooth to drive on long trips.

I have packed a lot in this van - it's versatile. Seats come out to give lots of cargo space if you're doing a home reno, or you're building a deck, etc. I have stuffed landscaping stones, pressure treated lumber, 8x4 and 10x4 sheets of drywall, bags of concrete mix and limestone screening in this thing - I've even brought back 2x10x16' lumber boards from the local hardware store (with strapping of course) in this van. Then the seats go back in and it's the family hauler again.

Parts are plentiful to find (both new and used).

Cheap to own.

I notice a lot of the Uplanders on the road have rust/rot on the back tail-gate/hatchback door. I have had this Uplander oil sprayed since the day I've owned it and the body looks like it just rolled off the assembly line - I'm a strong believer in getting vehicles oil sprayed (Krown) if you're going to keep it long-term. Worth the investment.

Overall, it's a great van.