Or does the drive train, on board equipment and overall usability / performance do?
These should be the primary factors in selecting your van. Ford/GM/Dodge all have millions of miles on their full size van lines so most of the real problems have been worked out.
There were a few reasons I went with GM:
1. I've owned 4 duramax powered vehicles and they are just plain awesome so there was no "choice" in what maker I was going to buy...it would for sure be GM
2. I wanted the best towing configuration, the 155" wb express/savana puts the rear axle as far back in the chassis as possible which is the best configuration for managing tongue weight and for off camber trailering.
3. I prefer good visibility to privacy so a 15 passenger van was a must to get all the windows I wanted.
4. I wanted to be able to stand up without stooping and didn't want to have to deploy a poptop to do it so a 30" hightop was needed.
5. I won't tolerate rust (I grew up in southern michigan) so a local/west coast rig was a must
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Things that worked against me:
1. There is no 4x4 "kit" for the GM like there is for Ford (UJoint has really done a great job with the E series)
2. There were no duramax powered passenger vans prior to 2011 and of the ones 2011 and later with hightops the prices were completely out of control (0ver $40k here on the west coast) so I had to build my own
3. Of the 4x4 GM vans out there only quigley converted IFS rigs were available, I wasn't at all impressed with their work and was unwilling to pay a premium for it, so again I had to DIY it.
I honestly wish I was a Powerstroke guy...it would have made life a lot easier, I would have bought a 2001-ish 7.3 equipped E350 hightop and then called UJoint and ordered one of his kits..
