AWD Chevy Astro v. Toyota Hiace

[sisyphus949]

@vintageracer: A man/women that speaks to my desires and biases, you're the swing vote, Im convinced. The Toyota it is haha (just kidding, still unsure). I will not lie, I am heavily biased towards the Hiace, but I dont want my biases to cause me many trouble down the road so I am trying to stay objective and not emotionally attached to my vehicle.

 

[Fishenough]

Toyota fan boy here and I've imported, driven, JDM's for 30 years now. I vote Astro.

I've done hundreds of thousand miles in jdm diesel Landcruisers and Delicas. Almost always had 2 JDMs at a time, because when you had to wait for parts I still had something to explore in. I've imported 6 Hiaces, 3 camperized and 4x4; awesome vehicles. I could bore you with details of part waits, but you get the idea. The 5L and 1KZ are million mile engines throughout Asia, driven unbelievably hard on suspect diesel.

But there is something about walking into the readily available parts store from Valdez to Cabo and picking your belts and air filter off the shelf.

Could import you a camperized pop top Astro camper from Japan, shipping ain't cheap but they almost give them away when they appear at auction

 

[sisyphus949]

@casioqv: I have found mostly good review of them and little negative ones beside their speed. I am biased towards the Hiace no doubt, but I will remain as objective as possible and acknowledge my biases. The most vehement deniers and opponents to the Hiace I have found aren't educated on them to the slightest. We'll see, I will post pics of whichever one I go with.

I see your concern about passing, however, in those vans your not passing anyone. Imagine the speed of a VW Vanagon.

 

[casioqv]

I see your concern about passing, however, in those vans your not passing anyone. Imagine the speed of a VW Vanagon.

Good point, I forgot about the 80s diesel japanese vehicle experience on US roads, but it isn't great. I had an 80s diesel Isuzu Trooper, and comparing it with a Vanagon or VW Bus would be overly optimistic. I can count on 0 hands the number of times I passed anyone in that vehicle, it could not even keep up with fully loaded semis or heavily loaded VW buses. People would say "this thing really needs a turbo" and I would reply "actually, it has one already!" Before you buy one, take it on the freeway uphill and see if you feel safe with the speeds you are able to obtain.

 

[sisyphus949]

@Fishenough: Great to hear from someone with experience around the Hiaces. So you have had some problems with wait times on vehicle parts, that unfortunate (and not what I wanted) to hear. Id be happy to hear a story.

Only stateside cars for me at this time.

 

[sisyphus949]

@casioqv: For reference I am coming from a ford ranger with a permeant camper which would about 50 up the grapevine/long sustained steep hills and could drive 75-80 on the freeway. So I am not looking for a monster V8 cummins in general, therefore comparing anything to an engine of that style would be unfair.

The Hiace went about 45/50 up a similar style hill as the ranger and could sustain 65/70 on the freeway, but took a second to get there (no burnouts happening here). I assume the astro will be something similar to the ranger. I have driven others and they are comparable to the ranger but still come up short. All of this is without pushing into too high RPMs. In order of speed and power: 1) Ranger, 2) Astro, 3) Hiace. The ranger has to go no question, its time to move on.


The Hiace can be Turbo'ed though - Who doesn't want a turbo'ed little 4x4 diesel van haha

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

You mentioned the toyota cool factor..
Buy it, make it yours and be cool ?

 

[sisyphus949]

@Mickey Bitsko: When I am waiting for parts I will just sit in the driver seat with sun glasses on, window down, and my hair blowing in the fan-generated wind to still be cool haha. I have no shame in acknowledging my biases, and these are one, but I will be my best to not let it effect my choice.

I just love those vans specifically and have for quit awhile, and now I am in the market for a car and there is an affordable one near me (NorCal) which is licensed in CA (that is worth 5k alone). I refuse to attempt CA licensing of these myself since it is a long road of ambiguity, money, time, and uncertainty. Not to mention you only get one try. But they plane and simple may not be good for a one and only car. They might be better for second cars.

 

[Ozarker]

Well, if you hold off long enough asking for other opinions, someone is sure to come along and take up that other opinion. It sounded like subjective BS without any specific details, like "poor quality".

It does sound like you're trying to justify the Toyota, you don't need to put lipstick on a pig to kiss it, just kiss it and you don't need to kick the mule to love your pig.

I'm done with vans, 6 different ones, it's your turn to suffer. Only had one AWD Astro, would rather have that than the full size Ford's, Dodge's or Chevy's.

Years ago I did investigations, that included surveillance and hard driving. One target was a female with a Mitsubishi sports car thing, v-6, she'd hit 80+ in K.C. traffic, I was in my Astro, she never lost me.

All manufactures build a few lemons, that needs to be considered when asking for opinions about any vehicle.

Now, if this thread is just for jaw boning about vans and not really for serious comparisons, that's different. But if you want to research these why not go to specialty forums for these vans and see what owners have to say?

There are forums all about Astro/Safari vans, probably not much on the HiAce, it might be in a sub category on a Toyota forum, that might tell you something too.

In the end, buy what you like and be happy!

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

^^ spot on!

 

[SDDiver5]

I am leaning toward the Hiace for the cool factor

You've officially answered your own question.

12/10 go Hiace. They're slow but they are so rad. Someone down the street from me has a friend or relative who lives with them for maybe a month at a time and travels around in his Hiace the other time. Never met him or the neighbors but I bet the cool factor of the Hiace makes him a cool guy.

 

[Ozarker]

Hiace it is then. Get some large decals of daffodils for the sides, a deadhead sticker on the back, another sticker that says "Powered by Pot" on the driver's door and hang some lace curtains, CoooooL!

Keep a close watch on that sliding door roller, it can get lose and your door will fall off. It's the same design as the VW Bus, so how'd I know?

 

[Fenderfour]

I have a "real" 4x4 hiace. I got the Hiace for two reasons. It is basically new, with 12,000 ish miles on it, and it's cool. If it had 100,000 miles I probably wouldn't have bought it.

You can get some parts at Reilly's since they are fundamentally 2nd gen 4 runners on the bottom. Some of the wear items like alternator, water pump, etc.. are available online or through a couple specialist garages across the US. There is a premium on these parts (of course).

There is a growing group of Hiace and JDM vans. Buying the hiace makes you part of a club, and that can be fun. The hiace will get attention, folks will wan to talk to you about your van. Maybe you want that, maybe you don't.

where will you be driving the van?
What engine does it have?
Is it RHD?
Does it have AC? (most 4x hiaces don't)

 

[Fenderfour]

A few folks seem to pop up on the JDM posts just to let us enthusiasts know that the vans suck.

It's cool if someone chooses something you didn't choose for yourself. That doesn't make your decision bad. It's just different. We have different motivations. I'm not wrong because I didn't agree with your choice, and you aren't wrong because you don't agree with mine. Life gets easier if you worry less about what other people are doing and share in their enthusiasm.

 

[Ozarker]

A few folks seem to pop up on the JDM posts just to let us enthusiasts know that the vans suck.

It's cool if someone chooses something you didn't choose for yourself. That doesn't make your decision bad. It's just different. We have different motivations. I'm not wrong because I didn't agree with your choice, and you aren't wrong because you don't agree with mine. Life gets easier if you worry less about what other people are doing and share in their enthusiasm.

I don't think anyone in this thread disagreed with him getting what he likes.

Once a vanner, always a vanner, I had 6, but if you really want attention the van needs to be properly dressed.

I just happen to like Hippie Vans, so from your own post, we should all be happy with that.