Right away the battery had to be replaced. Try and get at this. Its under a support frame that has to be removed.
After the battery was a door handle. Funny part is dealer stocks it. Wonder how many people need this part!
For some reason the drivers side window will not close all the way. Just too many things to fix.
Then the Alternator went out. Turn the engine sideways and put the alternator in the back?
Water pump went out - twice. The drive belt tensioner was replaced along with the last water pump.
The seats are removeable, but be careful. The seat belt brackets break easily. That's $70 each.
Currently doing a top end rebuild because of oil leak on the heads, valves and intake manifold. Had a burnt valve on the, you guessed it #1 cylinder. #1 is behind the alernator at the back of the engine. Dealer wanted $2000 to fix this.
By the way, there are numerous special nuts, bolts and fasteners on this vehicle. hope you have a large tool collection, I do, Now.
All of the above is above and beyond normal tires, brakes and fluids.
This mini van has its ups and downs. We drove 2000 miles and were fairly comfortable even towing a trailer. The bad part is that there is NO storage with the seats taken up.
Both front seats make you feel like your leaning forward. The driver has enough room and can see all the gauges, but why no oil pressure gauge?
The very best feature is the powered passenger side door. With 3 buttons it's easy to open even for the kids.
The van is just showing its age.
I've had the same minvan since buying it brand new in 1995. It is comfortable enough, and I love the power of the 3.8 V-6 engine and it handles well, but the amount of things I have had to replace, repair and replace again is ridiculous.
The passenger power window quit working 2 times while under warranty, and then when it stopped at third time I was not going to pay for yet a third motor (which I suspect was never the problem, I think there is an electrical problem somewhere that was never fixed to begin with).
There is also the problem of the door handles breaking off! I have replaced the passenger AND the driver door handles at least three times each, and it is no picnic to try and reach inside the door after getting the trim off to try and replace these faulty handles!
The keyless entry also quits working for no reason, and then starts back again just as unexpectedly. It's not the remote, it is something in the van, probably some of the same electrical system problem.
The water pump started leaking at 70,000 miles or so, after a lifetime of always running hot and losing water in the reservoir.
The power steering fluid was leaking and required replacing the whole rack and pinion steering, and now I am told the tie rods have also become weathered and have too much play and will need replacing. The heater switch has also stopped working.
This vehicle is 14 years old yes, but it's only got 79,000 miles on it. I will definitely be buying a Honda or Toyota to replace this GM vehicle.
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