Astros are great vans. They are very comfortable and also drive great. They require little maintenance and handle great driving high speeds. They don't do the greatest in snow and mud but are great for clear roads.

The Van is a basic no frills boring designs. And for those that want to take groups camping, or to the mall or to Newyork this Van is as reliable as it comes. The Astros one flaw was the 2nd gear was nether to torque or what was expected, the 2nd gear just kinda drops into gear like its waiting for some turbo charger to take advantage of this high gear. 2nd for years was just to high a gear. Mileage is great and storage is good. Unlike other reviews, the Astro was the best mini van, it didnt fall apart like Chevy's other mini vans and with the H/O it moved the van nicely. Its now 2009 and my Astro with nearly 200,000 runs fine. Has a few dents and the paint that was notorious is due to a primer flaw , We used this Van for scouts, you could haul gear and kids and always started. The last few years things stopped working like Air and the fan switch. The radio in these is not good, as was the interior. This van more resembled a small version of Chevy's large vans. Astro was used by Pepsi and many others for its reliablilty, size and millage. The others who knock this Van, are most likely socker moms or dads that do not use a van for what its for. Vans are not SUV's and Suvs are not vans so buy what works. The Astro does what it should. Well done checvy.

The concept of this van was great by GM, but it sure fell short for me and our family in the reliability area. It was rated to tow up to 5,000 lbs of trailer, and we did put it to the test with a 3,000 lb. tent trailer each Summer. Sadly, the "new" GM 4.3 Vortec with 200 h.p. was very unreliable, and on two Summer Vacations left us stranded with very major engine/mechanical problems. The first major problem was when this very well maintained Vortec threw a rod out the bottom of the oil pan while we pulled our trailer. That set us back 5,000.00 for a new GM Goodwrench replacement engine. Also our Summer vacation was ruined. The next Summer the fuel injection spider harness shorted-out and left us without a running engine while pulling our trailer again. That Summer vacation ruined. The Van was passed onto my son after the spider harness was replaced. It gave him and his family just a few months of steady running, and then started doing an engine cut-out at unexpected times. Fuel filter changed, wiring checked out, our son spent much money having the problem trouble shooted. One of the best GM mechanics in our area couldn't solve the problem. Sadly, the body integrity was very sound, but the Van was donated away. Oh, I forgot; the 4 wheel ABS failed around 80k miles and would have required a brand new ABS pump that was prohibitively expensive. So we drove it around with just regular old 4 wheel power brakes, without ABS. We had numerous check engine lights and several bad oxygen sensor episodes too. Also the power door lock system shorted out. Can't enumerate on all the other bugaboos. When the Astro was running normal, it was a great, vehicle. removing the passenger bench seats allowed much cargo space for hauling a lot of things from H Depot type places. The bench seats were awfully heavy to remove and could easily cause one to get a hernia lifting them. Interior had nice little storage places but the plastics were cheap, and ill fitting.