Date:         Fri, 12 Aug 2005 22:36:38 -0500
Reply-To:     Joel Walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: Fri:  If not a vanagon - What kind of van
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=response

> The Chevy Astro van aka GMC safari has caught my eye recently.
> anybody
> ever had one of these, are they any good?  I see a lot of them
> running
> around.  I wonder if the Westy stuff from a vanagon could be
> transplanted
> to one of those?  I need to find one in a parking lot I can park my
> 86 next
> to and gauge the size differences.

i have to agree with the previous comments about astro vans and the
bad ergonomics.we have three of them at work and they basically suck.
bad. later models might be somewhat better (ours are like 1998
models), but they look similar enough to me to stay away.

we also have a chrysler grand caravan and it seems HUGE inside up
front. double sliding doors and the seats all go flippity-flop into
the floor. but you can't stand up in it. or even crawl from the front
to the back. :( i could do that in an old honda odyssey. go figure.
trouble with all these minivans is the price ... our grand caravan was
on state bid, and it cost us $21,000 ... we only got it cause it was a
color nobody likes down here: white with gray interior.

oh, and the astros have terrible braking. too much weigh up front. at
least, our cargo vans do (no seats or interior behind the front seats
... just a big rubber mat). plus they have those awful double-doors in
the back with a thick post in the middle, which really messes up your
rearward visibility. now, one of the models of the gmc has a flip-up
top part, with two short dutch doors below, so you have a whole width
rear window to see through. can't see how much use it would be though.
with the two little doors on the bottom.

but YOU need to go drive one. see what YOU think. me personally, i
can't get to like the Eurovan ... something about the front doors and
entry and the wheelwell being where my left leg/foot wants to be.
other than that, though, the visibility and rear hatch and sliding
door and power and acceleration and braking great! if only it didn't
cost so much. :(

i've looked at most everything that has come out and there's nothing
that comes close to the room and hauling ability AND comfort and
handling of the vanagon. well, cept for the eurovan, but it has those
faults i mentioned. the minivans are all too low for me. have to squat
too much to get into and out of them. mercedes used to sell a van over
in europe called an MB100 ..looked a lot like a vanagon, but had seats
for 9. but they never imported it over here. :( lots of folks build
the vans, but nobody wants to go through the hassle of EPA/DOT for the
small numbers they figure wouldn't sell. :(

joel