AWD Chevy Astro v. Toyota Hiace

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sisyphus949

Member
I have the option to buy a 2003 AWD CHEVY Astro or a 1989 (true) 4x4 Hiace and am weighing my options. Some input would be nice. the age difference does not make a huge difference electronically since the Astro is a bare bones cargo.

In terms of amenities, the astro will have less 'comfort' since it has manual windows and is a cargo van. Whereas the Hiace, although older will have all the power locks and everything. I dont think this will be a huge deal which ever way I go. Most notably, the Hiace is RHD and the Astro is LHD. I have driven both and the RHD doesnt bother me (I'm in the USA). Both are similar on the highway. I did like the feel of the Hiace more. I have called around to mechanics and transmission shops and found them in my local area that work on them for the same price which ever way I decide.

In terms of condition, they both have the same milage (within 4k of each other and under 100k). However, the Astro is gas and the Hiace is diesel. I could go either way on this, not a huge concern. Both have are old cars and have some scuffs here and there, either way I have looked at both and not concerned either way. Both are basically the same price.

Astro mpg: 15-17
Hiace mpg: 18-22

The Hiace has slightly more living space square footage than the Astro.

The parts on the Hiace are the same as Toyota trucks. The previous owner has gotten parts from his local Toyota dealership.

My main question is regarding either one as a daily driver. One has the Toyota reliability and I have seen Astros go up to 300k miles. The astro has more power and the Hiace is a bit slow to get up and going. If you have any experience with either of these as your daily driver or experience with their reliability in general please comment your thoughts.

I am leaning toward the Hiace for the cool factor as I have loved those cares forever coupled with the reliability of Toyota... there is still a degree of skepticism in me due to the obscurity of them. But the Astro is more 'conventional'.

** If you have experience with either, what are your guys' opinions?
*** I am open to any insight from informed, or uninformed, parties across the board. Let's hear them!
**** I will be making my decision tomorrow (March 9) based on the logistics of my option.
 
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sisyphus949

Member
@Ozarker: First, thanks for your thoughts.

- MPG: Hiace gets roughly better gas. But diesel is slightly more right now. So I chalk this up to a draw.
- Parts: this is my main concern, however, there are dealers in Oregon that have readily available major/big parts to order, I have read small stuff being ordered from Toyota dealers, and trim/lights are available over the internet.
- Off Road: to my knowledge true 4x4 is better off road and AWD is not true 4x4
- Highway: both rode similar in comfort on the highway when I drove them
-City pep: Astro wins here.
-Get up and go: Astro wins here, but I would turbo the hiace and have done my due diligence on this already.
-Reliability: this is another one of my concerns, however, I have read that basically this is the daily workhorse van across the globe; also reports of people driving these around the world. this specific van has the not-self-described-but-read-about 'bulletproof' engine.

- Still is a crap shoot as its an import, or is it the idea of it being foreign and the hesitation of a broken down car that is driving our skepticism... I am a bit skeptical aswell, however, part of me would love to drive this car.
 
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sisyphus949

Member
@Ozarker: You are correct, I haven't done much research into that aspect of the a Chevy/GMC. My research was more directed at the Hiace to inform myself on reliability, parts, etc. This is partly because I do not plan on doing any unnecessary-ish modification at this point in my life as I am in a big transition stage. In other words, I would leave the astro AWD.

My limitations on mods:
- Astro: Lift and interior build out.
- Hiace: build out, it crossed my mind to turbo it but lets assume not.

The Hiace is a van with slightly more living space square footage of living space.

I will check out Herbies.
 
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Herbie

Herbie

Rendezvous Conspirator
Back when I started my project, I made my choice for the Astro specifically because of the ease and well-documented nature of doing the AWD->4x4 conversion on the Astro/Safari vans. http://chevygmcvans.com/ and https://www.astrosafari.com/ had lots of great info and proved it could easily be done. In the end, about $500 in parts and a couple of afternoons under the van was enough to bolt-on an NP233 from a Blazer. I got the electronics and wiring, but in the end opted to use a cable shifter for simplicity/reliability. Having a 4Lo option was great because I could select low range and put her in 1st and basically just crawl along at idle speed. Great for navigating tricky bumps, etc. with a nervous wife in the passenger seat and a kid in a carseat in the back.

That said, if you're handy with electronics, the "Ultimate" setup recently is that some guys have fitted NP236 cases - so they retain electronic AWD for driving on the street (great for snow, ice, etc.) and still have 4Hi and 4Lo options for offroading.

That's the good news. If I'm going to be honest, there's a little bad news too: The Astro/Safari does NOT take a lot of tire. You have to jump through a lot of hoops (~4" lift and some minor trimming) to fit ~30-31" tire. 32" or more of tire will require even more effort.

There have been some recent innovations that may help, though. Right before I ended up selling my van, I had been working with SwayAway to create some uprated front torsion bars for the Astro/Safari. Last I heard they were in full production on those, so at least now you have an option for beefing up the front end beyond just fitting re-clocked keys to put more preload on the stock bars.

In general, the other big plus for domestic iron is just that almost everything is readily available and cheap. The 4.3V6 is literally just the standard small-block V8 with two cylinders deleted - dead reliable. Same deal with the 4L60E transmission - same unit as a 1500 Silverado. More honesty: The one bummer is the rear axle - it's the 7-5/8" 10-bolt that GM put into everything RWD passenger car. There are a few different lunchbox lockers and LSDs, but no air or e-lockers for it. It's strong enough for normal use, but because it's a special width and passenger-side offset, there isn't a ready drop-in replacement for a cheap upgrade if you need something more stout if you plan to abuse it. It's a very large step up to a custom axle at that point. (This is all relative, though, because the GM 10-bolt is still significantly bigger than the HiAce axle.)
 
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sisyphus949

Member
@Herbie: I was hoping you were going to respond. Thank you for your thoughts. It is quite obvious where the general consensus is at the moment given the comments here.

Would still love to hear some thoughts from the opposing side!
 
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casioqv

casioqv

Dr. Diesel
I vote for the Hiace... it is a high quality, durable vehicle, if a bit unusual.

My mom had an AWD Astro for years, and I maintained it for her, and found it to be overall a very low quality vehicle. No low range, and not a very durable or reliable transfer case. It is also very poorly thought out vehicle overall with tons of design flaws: wiring/tubes/etc. are run loose and sloppily and will fail offroad from chafing, the engine is very challenging to access for basic maintenance (wheels off for spark plugs), the exhaust output is too close to the body burning the paint off, etc. The Astro van is sized like a half ton truck so you'd think it was built with mostly truck parts, but no, it shares most of it's components with passenger cars like the Caprice. Also, as a person that likes cars and driving, the Astro is one of the least enjoyable to drive vehicles I have ever experienced- terrible handling, road feel, etc. are shockingly poor.

If you like an american vehicle of that size, I don't see any reason to get the Astro over a real 4x4 half ton truck, or an Express/Savana full sized body on frame GMC van which is built with real truck components.
 
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sisyphus949

Member
@mep1811: I have not checked since I don't have the part numbers, I will assume not since I have not directly checked (don't want to over estimate accessibility). My current transmission guy was familiar with them and said I should be able to get them from the Toyota dealer since they are the same parts as older Toyota trucks and the current owner has gotten parts from his local dealer.

But I did find this website, which is based out of the USA, that seems to have every new engine part that I could think of (i.e., gaskets, bearings, belts, alternators, etc.): https://www.hiacesoutheast.com/store
Along with vanlifenorthwest.com stocking more new major parts like alternators. Also, headlights and major body pars can be ordered over ebay and other sites. I have found fuel filters and other minor/small parts across the internet aswell for not astronomical prices and located in the USA.

I will be deciding tomorrow at noon when I check out the Astro. I have seen and checked out the Hiace. Since the Astro is more conventional and therefore more desirable I cannot wait around on that one (also given the price and condition it will go fast).
 
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casioqv

casioqv

Dr. Diesel
sisyphus949 said:
Do you have any personal experience with owning a Hiace?
Click to expand...

I do not, but they seem to have a good reputation. I love the idea of the small japanese van with real 4WD, and have always been interested in them. I would personally be willing to tolerate a lot of hassle from owning something that cool and unique, whereas I wouldn't be willing to tolerate any hassle from an Astro van because I just don't like it. However, I would probably go with a Delica diesel camper conversion over a Hiace because it seems even more interesting and unique. The RHD would be a deal killer for me though, as I don't think it would be safe for passing on two lane highways.

I will admit I have a very negative opinion of american vehicles, especially Chevy/GM products that colors my feedback on the Astro. But the negative opinion does come from a lot of bad experiences with them, but some people would see it as biased or unfair. I'll be transparent about that so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt if you see what the Astro is, and it still appeals to you. For example, I realize the Porsche Boxster I own is just as hard to access the engine as an Astro van, and even less reliable... but I am willing to tolerate that because the overall car seems awesome, and those downsides seem justified to me by the engineering constraints, whereas in the case of the Astro it doesn't make sense to me and seems just poorly thought out.
 
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