2001 Chevrolet Express 1500 consumer reviews

I have a 2001 Chevy Express van. 5.7 v8. Great van and have only had to do minor repairs. I did have to replace the fuel sensor and EGR sensor. I have had this van for years and have probably spent $1200 to 1600 in repairs including brakes, and to find a miss in it when running. The miss was found in a wire cluster inside a wiring tube by the oil dip stick tube that had been rubbing against something and was fixed by repairing the wire. This cost me $300 which was a very minor but costly fix. Otherwise it is a great van with over 200k and still going strong. I change oil and filter at 5k and flush coolant every 3-4 years, and put new sreering , brake and tranny fluid every 40k. My friend has a deisel van but the maintenance costs as simple as an oil change and glow plugs are way higher than my maintenance costs. He gets more MPG but his fuel is a dollar a gallon higher, so all needs to be taken into consideration when fuel milage is only a small part of costs of operating a vehicle. Plus the great flexability and use of owning a large van that can haul and tow larger weight with no monthly payments and lower insurance costs. Fuel milage is not a reason to pass on one of these great vans.

It's a nice van to have for your family my wife does not want me to get rid of it but I have other things to do

Great to have fun in mechanically sound and ready to go. Have some little small rust on the doors new running boards available Great Van great man mechanically sound new batteries new brakes new rotors Road ready

I really liked the "feel" of this vehicle. It wasn't like driving a large van at all. Quite comfortable and easy to maneuver. The gas mileage is great. The pick-up on this vehicle is amazing, not a big sluggish going up hillside or mountaintops.

Use the van for work and it is perfect for that. After selling a p/u and having to empty the tools every night to park outside it is a pleasure just to lock the door. Not the fastest thing on the road but very steady and performs well with weight inside it. Actually gets less MPG than the p/u but the trade off is worth it. I purchased used and knew what had to be done. I replaced the EGR valve and the brakes myself and had no trouble working on the van. Just a bit of a pain having to do everything with long extensions and getting my arms into the spots. But I would recomend this to a friend and would definately buy another.

Full size vans sure aren't what they used to be--and that's a good thing. Now, don't expect a Corvette, but these newer model GM vans handle much better than tradition full size vans. I think you'll find that the other manufacturers vans still drive like the old vans. Of course they don't get great fuel mileage, but you don't expect to if you're looking at one of these. I own the LT--all the bells and whistles. I love the features except for the leather (optional) but that's a personal preference. It's holding up fine, just not as comfy to my rear end as cloth would be. You already know all the GREAT things about a full size van, so let's focus on the warnings: 1) repairs - EXPENSIVE. The mechanics of a full size van are not easily exposed and therefore require that a LOT of parts be removed to get to anything else. You'll see when you open the hood--about all you can see is the battery. 2) clearance - I can't park this in the parking garage at my job. I have a low-top, and it still doesn't fit. It does however fit in my garage at home (by a half inch). 3) parking - parking this van is not for typical drivers. It takes either experience with large vehicles (I drove fairly large commercial trucks for many years) or great patience. For those that can't squeeze it in with experience usually have to make it a two-try (reverse/re-align) park job. 4) power - these things aren't fast. Definitely opt for the large engine (5.7L 350 ci V8) but you still aren't going to get much speed. However, putting a load doesn't make it much worse so don't worry about towing--it does great with my 2600lb ski boat and 5 or 6 people. 5)slow down - the fuel mileage is of course poor compared to normal vehicles. By driving excessive speeds, you will demolish any kind of fuel mileage you might be able to obtain. I made a 380 mile trip with the cruise set on the speed limit (interstate) and got about 18+ mpg. I returned home on the 380 mile trip in much heavier traffic and breached the speed limit intermittently and averaged about 13 mpg.