Astro recommendations?

I bought a new Astro in 1992. Still have it today. Had it not been for
a fender-bender it would never have been back to the dealership at all.

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I have a 1999 Astro LS. It is a great van, gets about 16.5 mpg city and right at 24 on the highway (keeping in under 70). I don't drive a lot (currently have 68000 on it) but drive it hard - it takes my abuse very well. Problems to look out for: the vacuum line that controls the air flow from defrost to panel is hard plastic and will crack causing the air to only come out the defrost duct. Easily fixed with a foot of new rubber line. The alternator quit on me at the 7th year. The front brakes need to have the best quality pads possible (I use the ceramic kind) as they do a lot of work. Don't get cheap front tires - they will squeal when truning at slow speeds (a lot of weight on the front). Everything else is working fine.

we are in the process of buying our 4th astro. 200K and the trany need redone. they are great on gas, wonderful to camp in and last forever. recks/kids and they don't last long. lol. get an astro you will love it 4ever.

bought one new in '89 put 100,000 before a new engine (my fault- ran w/o
water for several tens of miles due to water pump failure). Had to
replace transmission after being rear ended - fractured bearings which
broke 5mo after the wreck. Rear end bearings went out at 120,000. I sold
it last fall when I bought a '99 Tahoe. BTW the Astro was used to tow a
travel trailer for all of it's life - I do think that put some extra
wear and tear on the drivetrain. As much as I like the Tahoe - I still
miss the old Astro. BTW since '89 they have made major changes in the
engine/drivetrain etc. They have newer and better transmissions and the
engines have the new SFI which is much nicer than my old TBI. The only
reason I did not buy a van is that I went to a bigger trailer that the
Astro had problems handling - the Tahoe does not.

Randy

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Before you buy.

Our 95 went 100k with only a replacement of the air conditioning compressor.
I would suggest upgrading to LT rated tires.
lg

We traded our 97 Astro for a bigger truck to pull our fifth-wheel camper.
Other than that, it was great. Good luck.

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Brian Ehret <
?? We are considering buying a 1999 Astro. Since we owned a Grand Voyager, we
?? <snip ?? Have any of you had problems with your Astro? HAve a good recommendation?
??
?? SusanE

Hi, Susan.

I have an '89 Astro LT, purchased new in December 1988. It now has over 264,000
miles on it. The only really major repairs have been head gaskets at 110k miles and
the water pump at 234k miles. I still drive it every day.

The _real_ power steering is great on long drives and when parallel parking!

Riding higher above the road affords me a better view of road conditions ahead.

While driving this van on the freeway, my elder son was rear-ended by a Honda Accord.
The van suffered only a dented (steel) bumper and scuffed spare tire. The Accord was
destroyed, crushed all the way up to the windshield, front wheels turned out to face
the sky. Fortunately no one was injured in this accident.

Unlike some other "mini" vans, the Astro is built on an actual steel chassis. It can
carry and pull greater loads than many others. It is manufactured at Chevrolet's
truck and bus plant in Baltimore.

The rearmost seats actually have leg room.

The transmission is a TH700R4, a four speed automatic overdrive. It has not required
any repairs. I just continue the recommended fluid and filter changes.

The 4.3 liter V6 motor block is basically the same as GM's 5.7 liter V8. Both have
been very popular, in both consumer and high performance applications, over the
years, so there is great aftermarket support for them.

As far as I know, there has been only one recall on my van. It was for a hinge bolt
on the front seats, and applied only to the big seats that come with the LT model.

I have to admit the factory paint job has been lousy! It started peeling after five
years. I didn't find out until after the seven year limit that Chevrolet offered to
repaint the cars with the peeling problem.

Hope this helps!

...Brettski
. please remove the tilde for email

We had a 94 Astro, which we owned for 3 years.

It was very reliable - only problem we ever had was the fuel pump dying in a
parking garage (had to have it towed home that time).

We traded it for a Suburban for more towing stability. But you can't beat it
in its size.

Only negatives to us:

Almost no leg room for the front passenger

Doesn't handle real well on less than perfect roads.

If you take it for a test drive, just take it on some back roads. If you don't
mind the feel of it, then go for it!

Linda King
Fleetville, PA
'93 Chevy Suburban
'99 Coleman Bayside

I've owned two Astro's a 1994 AWD and a 1997 AWD. Both were conversion
vans, and both were very reliable and solid vehicles. The only problem I
encountered on each of mine was the alternator... both had to be replaced under
warranty.
I found them to be very comfortable highway cruisers, and much more
substantial vehicles than the average mini van.
Scott

The company I used to work for, had a fleet of about 12 '99 Astro's. We got
them in January of '99 and I left 1 week ago. We had no problems with them
at all. My buddies and I used to race each other in them and really beat
the crap out of them. If I were going to buy a van it definitely would be
an Astro.

My only word of advise: ours were all 2wd models. They were terrible in the
snow. If you live in a climate that gets a descent amount of snow, weight
out the AWD model.

-Allan

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I don't know about the '99, but we put 165,000 miles on a 1986 and it needed
1 alternator and 3 sets of tires and two rear wheel bearings in all that
time. We currently have a 1995 Astro LT with 58,000 on it with no
complaints. The wife is going back to a car for running around town and I'm
going to a Suburban for a people mover.(GUY THING).I've always had chevy
pickups so I like the Suburban for a compromise. Want a nice 1995 Astro LT?
My opinion , they are great vans.
--
Dale Goodwin

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