Vans

[Motorhead350]

I will have to buy a van at the end of summer and my budget will be around $5,000. Does anyone care to share their experience with owning a fullsize van or tell me what company is the most dependable?

I was thinking of one that could hold 15 people and taking out the last two rows or a convsersion van, but I know that would cost more. Any thoughts?

[Mike]

I will have to buy a van at the end of summer and my budget will be around $5,000. Does anyone care to share their experience with owning a fullsize van or tell me what company is the most dependable?

I was thinking of one that could hold 15 people and taking out the last two rows or a convsersion van, but I know that would cost more. Any thoughts?

How about picking up the Partridge Family bus? :lol:

[larryo340]

Nothing beats a FORD truck or van ( have you noticed most commercial vans are FORD's) and if you get a FORD van try to find a big block lots of torque

[Motorhead350]

How about picking up the Partridge Family bus? :lol:

I didn't bid high enough on Ebay. 1$ was too much to me. :D

[Raudermaster]

Get an E-350 Turbo Diesel.

[Motorhead350]

I have been checking Ebay and looks like I can get a Chevy a lot cheaper which is fine with me. :)

[murphypeople]

I have enough experience with the E350 to recommend it but with caution.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
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MotorHead350: here is your required reading assignment. Its only 12 pages. <o:p></o:p>
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-12/15vanRollNote.pdf (http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-12/15vanRollNote.pdf)<o:p></o:p>
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Driving a 15P is not like other vehicles…but maybe you know this.<o:p></o:p>
I owned a 98 E350 Power Stoke 7.3 liter 4:10 rear end. Lots of maintenance potential: turbo, 2 btrys, 13 quarts oil, huge oil filter ($10 & holds 1 qt of oil), fuel filter changes are a bugger as access in top center of motor, if antifreeze becomes chemically out of balance it can cause cavitation damage and voids engine warranty. Maybe these things are not a concern for you but something I think worth to mention.<o:p></o:p>
The power of the 7.3PS was great but nothing like the trucks have as the van does not have room for some of the same stock equipment like the intercooler (I think). All the people that knew said the van engine was “de-tuned” and that’s the point I am trying to make. <o:p></o:p>
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Anyway when it comes to the Diesel part of the van you definitely need to browse this website (http://www.thedieselstop.com/ (http://www.thedieselstop.com/)) as there is a van forum.<o:p></o:p>
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I must also add that I rolled this van and totaled it 5years ago this past Thanksgiving. Had the whole family with me. By the grace of G-d we all survived without injury. I won’t get into the details of that event other than to say we were all calling out to Jesus for help. I call Him Yeshua today…but He got the idea and came through just the same:).<o:p></o:p>
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Back to the van…my experience with diesel fuel mileage was great and cheap in the summer and expensive and poor in the winter. It’s the diesel fuel thing that you may already be aware of.<o:p></o:p>
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Now I have a 2001 E350 V10 and love it. I have a large family and need the 15P, FYI. I just did the math a few weeks ago and the general maintenance is about $10 per month. Not bad I would think over a 5year period.<o:p></o:p>
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Part of the reason I had the rollover accident is that besides the roads being snow packed and icy during a <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Wyoming</st1:place></st1:State> blizzard and I should not have been on the road; was that I was not packed properly. Hear are some good guidelines.<o:p></o:p>

NEVER have or pack a roof rack on these vans. The center of gravity is high enough as is. Adding the roof rack is stupidly insane! I didn’t have a roof rack.<o:p></o:p>
Don’t pack all your stuff in the back. Distribute the weight by packing under the benches as well as the backend. Keep as much fuel/gas in the tank as you can. This packing advice is really with road trips in mind. I recall you are in a band of some type…if there are lots of road trips in your future with a van please heed this advice.<o:p></o:p>If you pull a trailer with a class 5 weight distribution hitching system with an E350 you can go up to 1,000lbs tongue weight and pull 10,000lbs. I pull a 29’ travel trailer @ 7,400lbs with no trouble (both van types).<o:p></o:p>
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I am sure others will add there .02 as well. All the best in your van search. I hope I may have added value.<o:p></o:p>
Tony:burnout:<o:p></o:p>

[Badger]

I have a 2001 E150. If I took out the captains chairs and put in three bench seats I could get 10 people in it. I had an AC leak two years ago. They couldn't find where it actually leaked so this time they put a dye in the refrigerant. It's got the 5.4 V8 which has decent torque. Fully loaded with people and stuff and running the AC at 75mph yields about 16-18mpg.
Looking at getting a trailer for my kayaks as getting them up on the roof is a pain....and it does increase the weight topside.
Comfortable, carrys lots of stuff...it's a van.

[larryo340]

I have enough experience with the E350 to recommend it but with caution.ffice:offi
Tony:burnout:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comhttp://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/<o:p></o:p>
sorry to hear about your rollover in the van, but glad you and family came out ok.
For people that never drove full size vans before, it does not handle like a car!! so take it easy

[mrjones]

A daycare in my town just went out of business and has two mid to late 90's E350 15 passenger vans for sale for about $2600 each. Doesn't look like a bad deal. I'm pretty sure they have the 5.4. They'd make good bandwagons.

[Bluerauder]

I will have to buy a van at the end of summer and my budget will be around $5,000. Does anyone care to share their experience with owning a fullsize van or tell me what company is the most dependable?

I was thinking of one that could hold 15 people and taking out the last two rows or a convsersion van, but I know that would cost more. Any thoughts?

I had an E150 Ford Econoline conversion van for 11 years ('95). Got rid of it in early 2006 to get an '06 Ford Freestyle for the wife. Just didn't need the space anymore with the kids grown and moving on. I think that I got $3000 in trade for that one -- so I am sure you could pick one up for under $5,000.

Conversion vans are great for travel/trips and to keep the "passengers" occupied. Visibility (side and rear) sucks due to window curtains and high back captains chairs. The window van offers much better visibility. Conversion vans are only suitable for seating 7-8 people.

I drove a 15 passenger E250 window van for commuting and liked it so much that I decided on a Ford van for the family.

No problems on the Ford van to speak of except the radiator was replaced twice. I think it was a "grounding" issue that was causing accelerated pitting and corrosion of the radiator. Seems to be common on the E150 in the '90s. Oh yeah, after reading Badger's post, my A/C had the same issue and after several tries at fixes I just didn't want to replace the system.

[RoyLPita]

A daycare in my town just went out of business and has two mid to late 90's E350 15 passenger vans for sale for about $2600 each. Doesn't look like a bad deal. I'm pretty sure they have the 5.4. They'd make good bandwagons.


See about getting me the VINs. If they are not over 10 years of age, I'll run them.

[Bigdogjim]

I have been checking Ebay and looks like I can get a Chevy a lot cheaper which is fine with me. :)


I managed a fleet of E-350's for over 8 years. Rack up over 400,000K on factory motors (5.4L & 6.8L) Nothing but nothing can match a FORD van:)

[Motorhead350]

I managed a fleet of E-350's for over 8 years. Rack up over 400,000K on factory motors (5.4L & 6.8L) Nothing but nothing can match a FORD van:)

I guess they have a reason for a higher price. Thanks everyone that was more info than I was expecting! :) My band is a trio (3 piece) but we'll probably have a roadie when the time comes for it so I need to haul 4 people, gear and records... yes records I am going to press vinyl too!

[murphypeople]

I guess they have a reason for a higher price. Thanks everyone that was more info than I was expecting! :) My band is a trio (3 piece) but we'll probably have a roadie when the time comes for it so I need to haul 4 people, gear and records... yes records I am going to press vinyl too!

My friend who is turning 58 today!...is a total music enthusiast (not a musician)...lots of audio equipment and all of that. Well...he has done some non-scientific experiments with friends; played CDs and vinyl alternately...asking which sounded better as he went...overwhelmingly the listener choose the vinyl over CD as the one that sounded better without knowing which was which...interesting.

Van: I flew into <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comhttp://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/ /><st1:City w:st=<st1:place w:st="on">Newark</st1:place></st1:City> and the shuttle van had over 400,000. I was totally amazed. The van rattled like a bucket of bolts but did not breakdown and got us to the hotel safely. So the van was still making money for the transport company...and that says a lot for the E350.
T:burnout:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comhttp://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/<o:p></o:p>

[MACFORD88]

I Saw A E=350 At The Action It Had 547k And Still Runing.

[Bigdogjim]

I Saw A E=350 At The Action It Had 547k And Still Runing.


While I did leave the other company 7 weeks ago I still stop in and look over the repairs each week:)

We have a '00 with 410,002 miles to date. Factory motor (5.4L) trans, rear, radiator. Runs very well:burnout:

[Motorhead350]

[QUOTE=murphypeople;500733]overwhelmingly the listener choose the vinyl over CD as the one that sounded better without knowing which was which...

Yes Yes Yes!!!! Thats what I'm talking about. I don't know how some people call themselves music fans if they don't have a record play or even still PAY for music or have it in a tangable form!!! :mad2:

Back to the vans... looks like the best never rest. :cool:

[sicilianmarquis]

get a good ol' ECONOLINE