1997 Chevrolet Venture LS from North America - Comments

Early in the car's life I had to have a brake job done: approximately 19,000 miles.

The power sliding door failed to operate properly 4 or 5 times times. Two of those times it was still under warranty so there was no cost to fix.

At 81,000+ miles, the transmission died with no warnings. It died while my wife was driving home and she was stranded. I shelled out $2300 for a new transmission.

Two weeks later, at 82,000 miles, the water pump went bad and we had the car towed again.

Two weeks after that, the fuel filter was leaking and we had it towed once more.

Three weeks later, the engine service light came on so we took it into the service department. I was told that it needed a tune-up, even though the car was not supposed to require a tune-up until 100,000 miles. So, I had a tune-up done and a few others items replaced for a total of $300+.

The very next day, the car heats up and loses power while my wife is driving home on the freeway. After towing it in once again, we are told that the head is cracked and it will cost another $2500-$4000 to fix.

The very next day we head over to the Honda dealership and purchase a brand new Honda Pilot. The dealership gave me $2000 for it even though I had to have it towed in.

Will never buy another Chevrolet or American vehicle again.

This car was reasonably reliable and very comfortable at first.

I maintained this car above and beyond normal.

It died an expensive and agonizing death at only 82,000 miles.

Do not buy!

There is nothing wrong with american vehicles. Cars from japan have just as many problems as americans, but you never here about them. Every maker has a line of cars that are just defective. In this case the venture is bad, Look at all there other car reviews and they're all positive, Now look up honda and you will see many unhappy people as well. I can't stand when people think all american cars are junk and japan cars are the best when that is not the case.

I may buy American, but I will never buy a Chevy again. I also bought a 1997 Venture. I will have to admit that not all of the problems I have had are due to poor quality. Many are due to mistakes by their mechanics. I had it to the dealer 16 times under the original warranty, 10 times under the extended warranty and 3 times since the warranty ran out. It had a whistling climate control (3 trips to fix). The fan would shut off after running 2 minutes if it were on high speed (3 trips to fix it and now it has started doing it again after warranty). The taillights shorted out (3 trips to fix them both & they broke again after the warranty ran out – I fixed them myself). The transmission seal blew and it totally burned up inside (they rebuilt it & after 2 more attempts to make it work correctly again they replaced it). Both power steering hoses leaked & were replaced. The intake manifold gasket leaked and was replaced (coolant had oil in it afterwards & they had to flush it). The water pump leaked and was replaced. The sway bar was cracked and I replaced it. The left wheel bearing went bad and I replaced it. The rack pinion froze and the steering wheel would not turn a year after there was a recall on it for the same symptom. They told me it was not related to the recall & billed me $730 to install a re-manufactured one. Now 29,000 miles later I found the right rack boot totally shredded while I was replacing worn sway bar links. The left one was loose. When I checked it, I found the boot mount on the rack was broke off. There is no way to fasten the boot to the rack. I took it to the dealer. They said the only way they ever break is in an accident. I was not in one. I said it was a defect or they broke it when they clamped the boot on. They will not do anything for me. They told me they come with the boot already clamped on from the factory so they could not have broken it when the clamped it down. I called their parts dept & asked them if their racks come with clamps installed and they told me they do not come that way. They are installed later, so they lied to me. The metal is still inside the boot and a piece is missing directly below the clamp where they used the clamping tool. It looks like it broke when they clamped it down. I am still fighting with them on this.