I have a 2006 chevy express 3500 extended passenger van, approximately 87K miles. Its my primary family vehicle, and we often tow our ~5500# travel trailer for family vacations.
We've had a consistent set of mechanical issues over the last couple of years: wiring to a cylinder chewed through, clutch fan broken, ignition solenoid busted, alternator replaced, front passenger wheel bearings replaced, replaced water pump.
Now, we have transaction control kicking when there is no issue (no ABS issues as of yet) as well as some high pitched whine that seems to be coming from the bearings of something connected to the belt (AC compressor, maybe).
I've had many vehicles over the years, but I've always gotten rid of them when I needed a more capable vehicle...one that fits more kids or tows more weight. The Express van vehicle platform works for us as a family.
The question is, when do you know to quit on a vehicle? In particular, given there are so many junked Express van with cheap parts, does it make sense to just keep fixing. I can get a lot of parts for the 10-20k more I'd pay for an newer model. And newer models don't seem to offer a lot more than what I currently have.
We've had a consistent set of mechanical issues over the last couple of years: wiring to a cylinder chewed through, clutch fan broken, ignition solenoid busted, alternator replaced, front passenger wheel bearings replaced, replaced water pump.
Now, we have transaction control kicking when there is no issue (no ABS issues as of yet) as well as some high pitched whine that seems to be coming from the bearings of something connected to the belt (AC compressor, maybe).
I've had many vehicles over the years, but I've always gotten rid of them when I needed a more capable vehicle...one that fits more kids or tows more weight. The Express van vehicle platform works for us as a family.
The question is, when do you know to quit on a vehicle? In particular, given there are so many junked Express van with cheap parts, does it make sense to just keep fixing. I can get a lot of parts for the 10-20k more I'd pay for an newer model. And newer models don't seem to offer a lot more than what I currently have.