Which one would you buy ?

Since scrapping my last van ive mainly focused on tvs and batteries so theyll fit in my explorer nicely. But now its time for a new van and i have 3 options. 1997 ford e250 for $550. alot of small things wrong with it but still runs great. 2000 chevy astro van for $2000 has decent mileage 120k and its a v6 doesnt seem to have anything wrong with it except being ugly. or 2003 ford e350 amazing van low mileage 2 year warranty for $5500. would you guys put work in the older van or go with the newer one ?

I have a 1995 Ford E150 with the 300 straight 6 and love it...so my cheap ass would go with the '97 E250 for $550.

If either of those fords have the dual ibeam fron suspension pass on both of them. If they have straight one piece axle in the front go for it. IF not buy the astro.

don't sweat the small stuff, e250 is a 3/4 ton + , for 550 you can deal with the small stuff. My first test for any gas motor is the ol finger in the exhaust pipe ( after looking underneath to see if it's all there and no bad leaks anywhere ), if it comes out clean, cool, if it comes out black, leave it. Hek, at 550 you'll get most of that back when you scrap it ; )

I don't like things breaking down nor fixing stuff; so of those choices, I'd go for the 350. You (usually) get what you pay for.

For me, time is money. Spending the afternoon working on rigs is a scrapping day lost. I would go for the E350. Plus it's a one ton so if you ever get to the point of getting a trailer, you don't want to be limited by your van.

The cheap van is a gamble, could be the best deal, could be a big waste of time and money. You'll probably spend a few hundred right off the bat and then keep your fingers crossed. It's likely what I would do, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, especially if they are not doing their own repairs.

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Originally Posted by Winefelly

The cheap van is a gamble, could be the best deal, could be a big waste of time and money. You'll probably spend a few hundred right off the bat and then keep your fingers crossed. It's likely what I would do, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, especially if they are not doing their own repairs.

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that's a good point, you've got to be mechanically inclined. I've been doing my own repairs since i was a kid, and the very few times i've taken anything to a shop, i've always regretted it, either for price or shoddy work. The rare exceptions to this was in needing parts machined or something like that, where I've had fairly good luck

I would ask myself which one I would regret more. The one that may need time for repairs or the one that will cost me more up front.
Good point on the 350 being able to haul more and trailer more. That along with the warranty is a big plus. That can make you more money in the long run.
Of course the other side of the coin is whether or not the older one will cost you $5K in repairs, down time, and loss of opportunities due to capacity.

mileage is an important consideration these days too, you didn't really mention what motor the fords have

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Originally Posted by Bear

mileage is an important consideration these days too, you didn't really mention what motor the fords have

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@ 4 bucks a gallon a $550 buck car and quicky surpass a $2000 car with much better gas mileage.

Bought a $ 750 pickup,still driving it, and four years later probadly have round $4000 into. Is the puck up worth it ? No, wouldve been better off buying something newer and better.

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Originally Posted by drozenski

@ 4 bucks a gallon a $550 buck car and quicky surpass a $2000 car with much better gas mileage.

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absolutely! exactly my point, a serious consideration. Even a "free" one could do that! There's really no substitution to inspecting them(and in knowing how to) each vehicle (and each contract) in person, or in deciding what ones own wants and needs are

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Originally Posted by taterjuice

Bought a $ 750 pickup,still driving it, and four years later probadly have round $4000 into. Is the puck up worth it ? No, wouldve been better off buying something newer and better.

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i've made that same mistake myself tater, bought a cheap vehicle and put more in than it was worth, not a good experience at all. I've also taken a free vehicle, invested about what it was worth, and driven it well beyond having a more than suitable return. Used vehicles are just that, used vehicles, and if you're going to drive one(actually, Everybody does), and you don't wish to spend your hard earned money in ongoing repairs, the best thing to do is get a repair manual, and learn how to efficiently maintain it yourself

Aside from front end alignment and carb adjustment been 100% worked on me, even tires.here's a short list I joints, all 7 of em, rebuilt the transfer case, new carb, coil, ign module, raditor, water pump front brakes and rotors, rear brakes and drums, front bumper, new receiver hitch, all 4 ball joints, and many more

Could dedicate a forum to all the work I've done on that pick up

I bought a Chevy Full Size Van 1/2 ton for $100 from a radio station I was working at. It just needed to be driven. it was old, and the more it sat the worse it ran. I took it out and ran the crap out of it, and it started every time for me. It had a brake problem, in that when you hit the brakes, it turned left. It had 1 interior door handle everyone had to share, and the heat BARELY worked. I painted it up like the A-team van and drove it for 3 years (At least). rented it to a buddy for $200 for a month, and finally scrapped it for $450.

I wish i had that van back....I hate my truck. I'd take that chevy van over anything else....

thanks guys for the responses nd both fords are v8s the astro is a v6. ive decided to go look at the 250 and if that doesnt work out im going with the 350 ive heard astro vans trannys arent as strong as fords

dang, i was wondering if that 250 mighta had the straight 6 300, that was a darn good engine, put it with a c-6 tranny and you could pull about anything. when you test drive em ron, take notice where it shifts out of first gear into second(i'm guessing they're auto?). If it shifts into second before you get across the road from a 4-way stop, it's probly the c-6. If it takes awhile to shift into second, probly the c-4, still a decent tranny if well cared for, only not as strong

yeah ive heard the same thing its a triton ive heard the engines and trannys are awesome theres one online that went a million miles finally died at 1,231,000.

I have the 300/C6 combo in my van Bear, and with about 140K on the clock it doesn't use oil, gets about 15 mpg and most so far in back was 3000#'s...best $600 I ever spent.

yeah, i just looked, seems they stopped making those in 96, that e350 will have a totally different setup. one thing seems to be an ongoing rule, the newer they are, the more difficult they are to repair. I had an earlier model e300 for about ten years that was a piece of cake to keep up, straight 6 300 w/auto. If you're not cut out for ever working on one and keeping it maintained, i just hope you can afford to keep a new one with plenty of insurance

if you start off with something decent to work with, and keep it up fairly well, it'll last a long time

Funny thing about those E-350 I cut up all the presses that made the sheet iron and bumpers for that van. To the grave they went.

I bought an Astro van out of a storage unit I was helping to clean out. We drug it out backwards and threw the jumpers on it and after 5 minutes it cranked over twice and fired and ran on 8 year old gas. Just waiting on a brake line to put it in operation. I like the idea of if I do an electronics pickup the stuff is out of the weather until I can get around to breaking down or testing. Tinted windows, people are not gonna know what I got inside, and with the seats out there's about 7 ft. of room to the back of the front seats. If something happens to it I'll double my money at the scrapyard.

yeah thats another thing about the astro van around here the seats are already out and it has tool boxes. it was a commercial van before idk for what , probebly a contractor

what motor the astro got? how much payload it carry ? what kinda shape they all in underneath? (leaky seals etc?) any of em smokin?(black sut in tailpipe)

The Astro sits on a truck chassis, maybe S-10 frame???

they're not very free with their payload specs on that thing, i did see it's probly got that 4.3 v-6, not a great mileage motor at all

yeah thats exactly what it is bear

it's a kick az lil motor but the mileage is awful

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Originally Posted by Bear

it's a kick az lil motor but the mileage is awful

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Are you serious ? My dads got 93 3/4 ton Chevy pick up with the 4.3. Got more than enough power and stills gets 18 mpg, which I think is pretty good