What to look for when buying a Savana/Express AWD?

[blanksky]

Hey all,

Heading up to Jersey this weekend to look at this 06 Savana AWD passenger van. 92k on the clock, ex DOT vehicle.
https://southjersey.craigslist.org/ctd/d/2006-gmc-savana-passenger-ls/6609707997.html

What are some things I should check for when test driving? Leaking axle joints, noises, etc?

I don't know much about these but plan to do a small amount of mods including a lift, lights, tires, head unit, backup camera, etc.

Thanks for your help in advance!!

 

[kcernest]

All I can offer is don't pay anywhere near that price. They bought it at a fleet auction for probably half that so there should be a lot of room to come down.

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[Choff]

http://goodguysmotorco.com/newandusedcars.aspx?clearall=1
Look at these prices of AWD Vans and the one you are looking at is a good buy!, low miles.
I have a 2005 AWD GMC Full boat conversion , bought it 11 years ago with 43,000 for $24,000 and it now has 193,000 miles
Love it , use it every day.

 

[Buliwyf]

Cross the lift off of your list, and add top dollar shocks instead. Express vans need shocks big time.

 

[86scotty]

I looked forever. That is a good buy.


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[wjeeper]

That’s about what I paid for an AWD panel van (wish I woulda started out with a passenger van) with 100,000 more miles on it. A decent deal, but the dealer may have some serious wiggle room built in to that price since its a public service vehicle
A few areas that I would watch out for:

• Check the hinges on the side doors. Sometimes the hinges (particularly the lower hinges) sieze up and it causes the hinges to rip off of the door. It’s a pain to fix as the sheetmetal is thin on the door.
• Watch for a rough 1-2 and 2-3 shift or slipping in reverse. Some of the remedies are easy, some are new throttle bodies, others need a full rebuild
• Listen for an exhaust leak, these LS motors are notorious for breaking the ehaust manifold studs. Not a total deal breaker though.
• Look for rust on the front cab mounts (under the radiator behind the grill), if you can pull the plastic footwells and look under them for rust as well.
• It isn’t white paint! You probabley wont have to worry about paint problems
• I would check the CV’s and U-Joints, Wouldn’t be a deal killer but a good point bring the price down
• look for gouge marks on the plastic fueltank on the drivers side frame rail. The tank hangs low and its a good indicator if its been wheeled or not.

 

[goin camping]

I paid 11,500 for a conversion model with 65K miles. AZ van with NO rust in mint shape.

Front and rear A/C power windows, cruise etc.

The van you are looking at in overpriced. IMHO

 

[Scotty D]

That is a great price for that van.
Many folks do not understand what has happened to the price of AWD vans in the last few years.
Weak link is transmission
Where you live I would be very worried about rust. Take it in for a full pre purchase inspection and if it passes, snap it up.

 

[akskiffer]

Cross the lift off of your list, and add top dollar shocks instead. Express vans need shocks big time.

did you reshock an express?
I watch a race truck and the view from the cab is full steadycam or marshmallow. could suspensions like that function on the hiway?


Thanks,
Tod
'09 express 1500 H1(awd) LT

 

[wjeeper]

A 2.5 inch gives you enough room to run some real shocks, remote resivior 5160 bilstiens!

Best mod I made to the front suspension!

 

[JayKray]

@wjeeper Do they fit stock locations with stock control arms? Do you have part numbers for the front shocks? Were those custom tuned?

 

[wjeeper]

Fits the stock mounts, stock control arms and is an off the shelf part number.

The tuning is one thin shim different, and few psi off of the ones my buddy and I custom tuned. They are for all intents and purposes identical. I will write a more detailed post in the AWD info thread this weekend!

 

[blanksky]

Would those 5160s be long enough after a 2" Traxda torsion bar lift?

 

[On Belay]

Check for leaking at the transfer case. The viscous coupling going bad is a fairly common issue.

 

[Goonie]

blanksky, we bought ours at 57k and are at 79k now. When we bought it, the front left wheel bearing was getting ready to fail. Symptoms were ABS kicking in during the test drive under moderate braking but not so hard as to lock up the wheels, the wheel also had noticeable play when it was off the ground and we tilted it from top to bottom. the replacement for this was not too bad, maybe 200~300$ (cannot remember clearly) since it included the ABS sensor.

The shocks were also quite worn out, it was not that evident with an empty van but once we added normal camper van weight the back would pogo up and down on bumps noticeably. I upgraded these as well as the rear springs and the front torsion keys.

We have no leak at our transfer case but there is a slow leak on the front differential, I record how much I need to top off at each oil change interval, it normally only 100ml or so but I think it is a somewhat common problem.

Rust under ours was moderate and made the suspension work a bit of a nightmare.

we are coming up on a spark plug replacement interval, either 80 or 90k which i hear is a pain in the butt, so keep that in mind depending on the mileage.

good luck!