Anyone have experience with used cargo vans?

[Anonymous]

I need one ASAP for my business. I am hoping to stay under 30K. Looks like my choices include 10-15 year old Ford Econolines (honestly my favorite van, wish they still made them), the newer Ford Transit cargo, and the Ram Promaster 1500. I need something that is fairly reliable and will last a couple of years. Anyone own any of these?

[Anonymous]

Had a fleet of E-350’s for quite a while.

The 6.8L V-10 and E4-OD transmission is a good combo, but very thirsty. Also, the early generations of the V-10 and other engines in the Triton family had a problem with shooting the spark plugs out of the cylinder heads. Also, the V-8 Triton feels underpowered compared to the V-10. Having said all that, we had a fleet of 6, and all of them went 180+K miles, in very hard service, with lots of idle hours. They are pretty tough vehicles for what they do.

The GMC/Chevy full size cargo vans are pretty good too, but we never had one. That’s just what I’ve learned from other people with fleets of them.

Sprinter vans, whether MB or Freightliner or Dodge, are all sh!t. Especially the first generation, which was truly, truly awful. Nothing good at all to say about them.

Nissan NV 3500 - we only had one. Was reliable, but “drove” much bigger than it was. Felt HUGE. Had an enormous turning radius. An E-350 extended van was soooo much more maneuverable than the smaller Nissan. Also, the Nissan had a sheet metal sliding door with no window. Visibility outside for turning left at an angle or merging into traffic from the left side was absolutely nil. Not a vehicle for drivers with poor situational awareness.


Honestly, I’d look for a E-350/Superduty with either the 7.3 diesel, or the newest 6.8L V-10 I could find. Or the Chevy/GMC 2500/3500 with a 5.3L V8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Had a fleet of E-350’s for quite a while.

The 6.8L V-10 and E4-OD transmission is a good combo, but very thirsty. Also, the early generations of the V-10 and other engines in the Triton family had a problem with shooting the spark plugs out of the cylinder heads. Also, the V-8 Triton feels underpowered compared to the V-10. Having said all that, we had a fleet of 6, and all of them went 180+K miles, in very hard service, with lots of idle hours. They are pretty tough vehicles for what they do.

The GMC/Chevy full size cargo vans are pretty good too, but we never had one. That’s just what I’ve learned from other people with fleets of them.

Sprinter vans, whether MB or Freightliner or Dodge, are all sh!t. Especially the first generation, which was truly, truly awful. Nothing good at all to say about them.

Nissan NV 3500 - we only had one. Was reliable, but “drove” much bigger than it was. Felt HUGE. Had an enormous turning radius. An E-350 extended van was soooo much more maneuverable than the smaller Nissan. Also, the Nissan had a sheet metal sliding door with no window. Visibility outside for turning left at an angle or merging into traffic from the left side was absolutely nil. Not a vehicle for drivers with poor situational awareness.


Honestly, I’d look for a E-350/Superduty with either the 7.3 diesel, or the newest 6.8L V-10 I could find. Or the Chevy/GMC 2500/3500 with a 5.3L V8.

Thank you!