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GMC Astro day vans.
procomp - 17/8/10 at 09:15 PM

Hi

Is there anyone with day to day experience of using a GMC Astro day van.
Looking for a realistic MPG round the town. and general reliability not so much engine / G.box but body and general base conversions.

Thanks in advance Matt

MakeEverything - 17/8/10 at 09:34 PM

quote:
Originally posted by procomp
Hi

Is there anyone with day to day experience of using a GMC Astro day van.
Looking for a realistic MPG round the town. and general reliability not so much engine / G.box but body and general base conversions.

Thanks in advance Matt


Ive seen a few around, and i was talking to one owner that said he got 25mpg. dont know if that was round town, combined or on a run though.

procomp - 17/8/10 at 10:10 PM

Yea 25 combined sounds about right. Heard of around 30 on the motorways and 20ish round town. Just got this nagging feeling ill end up with one and see no better than 15 round town.

Cheers Matt

Canada EH! - 18/8/10 at 12:27 AM

By our standards they are good on gas 25-30 mpg, the 3.8 litre GM V6 is economical to run.
They do rust out over here rocker panels, rear doors, but we have roads covered in salt 4 months of the year.
Many of the trades use them, our company has two with over 200,000 km, both 4wd, the front drive shafts can be quite expensive $1,500.

procomp - 18/8/10 at 10:56 AM

Hi

Most things about them seem to be quite robust from the research on the net. Just the usual few niggles Inc fuel pumps occasionally and dizzy / rotor arm problems. The dizzy and rotor arm probs are common on the 7.4l engines also as i have to replace them every year after being parked up for the winter.
The majority of the ones over here have less then 50000 miles on them so should be good for a few miles more before the major problems start showing up hopefully.

Think i've made my mind up so just have to find one in a colour scheme the girlfriend approves off.

Cheers Matt

andkilde - 18/8/10 at 12:49 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Canada EH!
By our standards they are good on gas 25-30 mpg, the 3.8 litre GM V6 is economical to run.


Hrrrm...



This what you're looking at? Names occasionally get re-used for different vehicles on opposite sides of the pond.

They come with a 4.3l 2 valve engine over here. My wife runs one, they're closer to 15 mpg in town, 20ish on the motorway with my slightly heavy foot. Great utility vehicle, reliable, tows 4500lbs but I'd think about how I was going to drive it given the price of fuel in England. Towing a seven to the track and back or pulling the caravan on weekends might be OK, but running it everyday would be pretty expensive. Not much fun to drive either, it feels immense to me, but I mostly drive a Focus or an old Mini.

t