ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Chevy or Ford? Your thoughts and experiences.

Hrm....talked about 'work vans' in a previous post, but here is my thoughts. When we first started, we were Chevy people... first van was a 79 Chev 1/2 ton, then we added a 87 Chev G-10, then a 90 G-20. Those vans were very durable and bullet proof. When it came time to replace these things, we (and many of the other tradespeople I talked to) weren't too happy with the new generation GM full sizes.

My beefs with the current generation GM vans......I could swear the sheetmetal is very thin on these vans. The bumpers are wimpy too...ever notice how easily they are dinged??

Anyways, starting in 97 we switched to the Ford E-series, and currently have the following in our fleet..

still running 87 Chev full size, 97 E-150, 2001 E-150, 2001 E-250 and coming soon.. 2003 E-250.

The Ford vans, so far have been very good and seem much more solid than the current GM vans.

p.s. See how ugly the new 2003 GM vans are these days? They destroyed that front end.

Bye for now.

Sandro.

I had owned 2 Dodge vans. One was a 1985 maxi in length, and 200 series. I put cloce to 200,000 miles on that one. Engine would smoke a lot at start up. Now I drive a Dodge 350 van, 1986 with only 70,000 on it and it seems like a good truck, but the Dodge Vans are no longer around for 2003. It's going to be Damier/Chrylser with a mercedes engine and the Van style will have a new look. I don't know the price but I would think the price is going to be big bucks. I'm thinking about a new Ford Van. I hope it's the right decision.

SJT, I checked Dodge's website and it still seems like they've got those small cargo vans for 2003. Is that what you're looking for, the ones that look like little micro-buses without side windows?

If so, look under the "Trucks" link and go to where it says "Cargo vans".

It'd be kind of stupid to not make them and hand over that market to GMC & Ford....

Aw come on now.. Cox communications around here uses Fords.. now I found it funny in the winter time i never saw one of the normal fords on the road, they all magicly turned into Dodge Dulley Disels.. <shrugh> The car fairy must of come by or something.. I prefer the dodge, I traveled home in a Dodge 1500 RAM from Amarillo,TX in a convoy of a cpl other trucks.. (I know where this one is going, its more the drivers).. But i was able to keep that dodge on the road more than they could, they finally gave up and sat on the side of the road.. My friend let me drive his GMC, i dont like the rear ends on there sierra's.. there too loose for me.. its not heavy enough.. But this is like asking why you like that blue shirt you always wear.. Go test drive a cpl of them and see what you think/feel

On the Diesel/Gas..

Diesel = More power, towing..
Gas = Touring, SOME towing, etc

I drive a 2002 Ford E250 Van. Very happy with it.

I don't have much experience with full-size trucks, but when I'm shopping for a new vehicle I always check out iihs.org for crash protection. Based on that alone, you couldn't pay me to drive a Ford or a pre '03 Ram.

Neat website....unfortunately, I couldn't find any crash test info on full size vans.

I must say, I wouldn't be driving a current GM pick up either, it did marginally better than the others. And considering the GM is a newer design, it would have been nice if GM spent more R&D money on crashworthiness.

I have an 02' chevy full size king cab PU with the 5.3L and like everything about it, a great truck!

Electric eagle, you forgot
Fixed or repaired daily...
Sorry for the delayed responsed