Faults:

Front end recently replaced idlers and tie-rods at about 400000 miles.

It has been broken into, stolen (I got it back, no wheels or acc.) and recently the teenage daughter drove it several miles with no coolant.

I am replacing quite a few burnt wires, changing oil and antifreeze, and have no doubt I will continue on to 500,000 miles.

Catalytic converter lost all the innards and clogged the muffler/tailpipe, but that was easily fixed and I get medium performance with about 22-25 mpg on highway.

I use it to carry tools and band equipment. With proper maintenance (oil, all filters, alignment, tires, etc)

I love this vehicle and only wish I had bought an AWD version, as these things are squirrely in ice/snow.

General Comments:

Handles okay in slow and moderate speeds, due to the short wheelbase.

I have a bench seat in back, and 4 captain chairs I can remove in about 20 minutes.

It has tinted windows, except for front, pass. side sliding door with window levers, 2 full size back doors, opening vertically, and is easy to load materials, people, chopped wood, dead animals, washers and dryers... you name it!!

With custom rims and some meats on in the summer, it looks cool as hell, and has plenty of room for my JVC CDMP3 player, 500 watt amp and 2 10" rockfords in the back, along with the original speaks (now all JBL's).

My only complaint is its skitteriness on slick roads, and the 15 gallon tank stock equipped.

Faults:

It had an appetite for alternators! I had changed the alternator so many times, the last time, I was timed. It took about 5 minutes total, from the time I opened the hood, to the time I closed it!

The transmission died twice! what else would you expect from a crappy automatic? I'm sure if it had a manual tranny, there would have been no problem!

Engine changed once. My fault!

Dash dimmer quit working, so I connected the dash light circuit to a hot terminal in the fuse-box, when the key was on, so were the dash lights!

General Comments:

Despite it's problems, tell me of another STOCK mini-van that can do burn-outs, 360's, and figure 8's all on dry pavement, with STUDDED winter tires, all while hauling 8 people!

My Astro van, or as it also called, the BAD A (double s) -TRO was dark blue, had four bucket seats and a rear bench. The rear speakers were crap, by the time I got it, so I put in some KLH house speakers, with 15" woofers behind the rear bench, hooked them up to a small 500 watt amp... the acoustics were perfect! The bass would hit so hard, that it would blur your vision!

It was a shelter from the cold in the winter months. I was one of the few young people in town with a drivers license, so I'd see several friends walking around, and I'd pick them up! After a while

I'd have a full load! One night I counted, 15 people, and a dog, in my Astro! and it still went up these hills like it was empty!

I have taken my Astro camping, it made the perfect little camp-shack. Pop out the rear seat, turn it around, facing the rear, and pop it back in. Put the KLH speakers on the ground, after pulling off the stays for the rear doors, so they would open all the way and back it up to about 12 feet from the fire. you had the music, the place to sit, and if you rolled the 4 seats down, they made 2 long benches. Like 2 cots to sleep on!

Eventually the second engine gave it up! It was so weak, it barely made it home. I pulled it into the back yard, and it never ran again.. It became a storage shed for the last two years of it's life, but I never once walked by that van, and failed to remember the good times that were possible because it was there!

I have a lot of memories in the old van! It brought a tear to my eye to see it go! But the spirit of my Astro lives on! It's parts are still running on the streets of this town! Yes! Most Definitely, I WOULD love to have another old Chevy Astro Van!!!