Faults:

Replaced Left Front Wheel Bearing at 80,000 miles, my mechanic recommended because I was going to tow a trailer. Bearing was actually had only a little play in it.

Radio display lost half its back-lighting at 3 years, 67,000 miles.

Check engine light came on for one week at 60,000 miles, but then went out and has functioned well ever since. (maybe I didn't tighten fuel cap enough?)

General Comments:

This vehicle has been very reliable. We live near a fast stretch of I-95 in Virginia and put this van through very tough conditions, at one point hauling 6 carpoolers 60 miles a day in everything from high speed driving to stop and go in 105 degree heat. It handles like a car, and has plenty of power.

I have never had to obtain service for any engine or transmission problem. The only issue that came close was the service engine soon light, which on-star confirmed was a fuel tank pressure code, linked to not tightening the cap enough. It reset after a week.

I tow a 2,200 pound camper trailer and never have a problem. The transmission handles it smoothly and while you do know it's back there on a hill, it still can maintain 65mph even on the hills (recently towed to Pigeon Forge, TN and back from Northern VA and had no problem. The best is the stability with the trailer. The long wheelbase eliminates any sway. I even tried to get it to sway a little and it settled itself out.

That being said, I will say this: Interior is very loose, i.e. it creaks and rattles, especially when going around corners or into driveways, kinda sounds like a pirate ship at sea.

The light out on the radio is annoying, especially since it is part of the on-star phone number display. Not even gonna try to replace it, though. Maybe if the other light goes out.

Overall, this continues to be a very reliable van. You're gonna buy a lot of tires, but the engine and transmission are bulletproof. My friend has a 1999 Chevy Venture with the same configuration and has 260k miles on his.

Faults:

Replaced the door sensors on the front passenger door and rear hatch twice.

Power door on the driver side kept falling off track.

Driver Info Center said Traction control had to be serviced every 1200 miles. Come to find out the traction control never worked properly.

Gas HOG!

General Comments:

Loved the handling and performance of the Montana, bought another in 2006 without AWD but with traction control). love both of them.

Handle the fields at our farm with ease.

Did not have that with the windstar.

Faults:

We had to replace a rear wheel bearing at 83,000. The stock part from GM was very expensive (over $400)

The front windshield "whistled" and was promptly repaired by the dealer.

Although the Montana is a step up from the Chevy Value Van in fit 7 finish, we still found the interior slightly noisy when driving at highway speeds.

General Comments:

A great van that was affordable. Lots of room for 4. Good power for passing, But when used wisely, the van can acheive great fuel economy. The van can also hold a full sheet of drywall when all the seats are removed.

Overall we are very pleased with this van and so far.

The dual (front/back) heat zones are great and there are no "cold zones" in the Van. We have the 8 passenger extended model, and have actually used this feature several times. The Van can easily handle this without the performance suffering. It should be noted that the middle seats on the eight passenger van are slightly smaller in width than the seven passenger model. This may be a consideration when selecting your van.

The only notiable problem was moving people into the back bench seat past the middle row seating. Although the middle seats tilt up, there is very little room to get past them.