1st Sep 2007, 22:29

Well I don't know where you all bought your vans at, but I have not had any problems with the 2 I have. 1 is a 1997 and the other is a 2002, and they have been the best vans I have ever had, and I would buy them again.

3rd Sep 2007, 20:25

I have a 2002 Chevy Venture we purchased new and currently has 135,000klm on it. We had it oiled every year as a rust preventative and both rocker panels are rusting through approximately 1 foot in front of the rear wheels. We are quite disappointed to say the least and don't know if we should have it repaired or get get rid of the vehicle.

28th Sep 2007, 11:07

I have a 1999 Venture and have had nothing, but problem after problem. The brake light rusting out and causing major electrical problems including knocking out the anti-lock brake system. Now the drivers side power window won't go up. It has been a grab and pull to straighten it out so you could get it top go up; now it won't go up at all. Oh yeah, and the back hatch strap broke too. What a piece of junk they put out with this van. I can't believe people still buy them. Or worse yet, I can't believe Chevy can't get a clue when nearly everyone who buys one has the same problems. I'm dumping mine before the tranny goes!

16th Nov 2007, 15:37

Bought 1999 Chevy Venture Van new. Same issues as most of you who posted. Head Gasget went - Covered under my Extended warranty, Window Motor _ Drivers side - Covered under warranty. I now have 109,000 Miles on the van Transmission shifts hard now and then. Just Repaired both Rocker panels that rusted out about a foot forward of the rear tire at the seam...

13th Dec 2007, 19:00

I bought my 99 venture van from my in laws.79,000 miles the intake gasket leaks,both wheel cylindes leak, trans shifts hard. the van is from arkso the body is great. but do I put the money in it. I was told in so cases you change the intake gaskets soon after the head gaskets go out. on the plus side it rides great. I drive 80 miles a day so its like my office on wheels.

12th Jan 2008, 13:01

We bought ours 3 years ago with 120,000K on it. Paid $8500+$800 for used car warranty. We've got 205K on it now. We should get another 50K out of it. Lots of hockey! We're in Ottawa Canada. It's been reasonably reliable for a used vehicle. These are some chronic issues with it:

Gas gauge is screwy. We fill it and use the odometer now (same thing on last two vehicles too!)

Will stall out, then won't start if you go near empty then fill the tank. You need to wait a few minutes after the fill and it will start.

When I bought it I was aware of the head gasket problems. I bought the warranty and negotiated the price of the vehicle down from $10,900. It was a cheap deal so I bought warranty and chalked up the deductable to the purchase price. Took it to my dealer 2 months after I bought it and put in a claim to fix it. They fixed many of them and switched me from dexcool (orange) to prestone (green) and new gaskets. Everything works fine for 70,000+KM.

Rocker panels. These are rusting out badly and fast - any damage to them causes a lot of rust to happen quickly - salt and water gets in there and flows around, rusting from the inside out. I stuffed the holes with oil-soaked socks. It didn't work.

Stuff like rear defrost, windshield wiper, power locks, passenger power window not working. Wiring. A very large wiring harness travels under the floor, underneath the passenger carpet near the door, and through a drain channel. Pull up the carpet on the passenger side, and strip off the tape. Look for green dust. That's rusted copper. Disconnect the battery, get some spare wire (match your colours or go insane!) and start re-soldering the splices. You may find that many of the parts now start working again. Do them one at a time and be careful! Not everything works, but the first spring day I have a chance I'll be finding the splices I forgot.

I re-taped the splices with shrink tube, then all of them together with fresh electrical tape. I wrapped all of that again with coax cable. Then if it sits in that drain channel the coax will keep it out of the saltwater flow.

I did shocks and struts and a bunch of other stuff all the way around for about $1800 and it rides nicely. Looking forward to keeping it around as a second vehicle for trucking kids around in when we get a car.

That's about it. It gets us where we wanna go, and didn't cost $30,000.

25th Feb 2008, 09:00

I have a 99 Venture. When I first bought it it was great. We have 3 boys and needed the extra room. My problems started when the front window stop working, then it was the drivers side locks, before I knew it both front windows would no longer work as the locks.

I kept hearing my lifters knocking, so I took it to the local car place here in town (small town) and they said I needed an oil change, which seemed weird to me seeing how I just had the engine flushed, radiator flushed, oil change and everything refilled. So I told him to go ahead and do another one. (Thinking what could it hurt) The very next day my van just died. I looked under the hood and there was nothing that I could see wrong. (not that you can see anything in the back of the engine). Had the van towed to the shop and he told me it was because the engine was not getting oil. (HMMM...)

Four thousand dollars later I now have a "New" (Used) engine in my van. Wipers want to stay in the up positions, windows and locks don't work again, water in the front of the van every summer.

Took it in for the oil change 3 days ago, had only driven it about 15 miles and now I have brand new oil coming from somewhere I cannot find the spot. Power steering went out on me at the same time. I cannot find this new oil leak or the reason my power steering went out.

This is the first time I am not a proud Chevy owner. I grew up in Chevy's and my first car was a Caviler Z-24 sports model. Like others on this page I am glad to know I am not the only one who has had some of the same problems I have had with my van.