2008 Chevrolet Uplander Pros and Cons at TrueDelta: 1998 Van, in 2008 by noodlenoggin

Price or payments

We bought our '08 Uplander in Jan. '09. It was 9 months old, with 28,000 miles, and it had dropped $14,000 from new MSRP, from $26,000 to $12,000.

Reliability & durability

We just traded in our '08 Uplander, with 108,000 miles on it, because it is falling apart. We've spent $3,000 in the past year on repairs -- shocks, bearing, water pump, steering rack, more. And the interior is just broken -- cupholder, trim pieces, weatherstrips, they just break or fall off.

Cargo capacity

This van has always been just a bit too small for our family of six. A week's groceries don't fit behind the back row. A week's vacation packs this van to the ceiling. Nobody has enough legroom. Everyone's back hurts on long trips.

Feature availability

This '08 van has less features than the 1998 van we traded for it. It's a 1993 Venture with a tarted up body. In 2008, it has no flip and fold seats, no armrests or cupholders for the center row, no separate temp for the back, no storage wells in the floor, and the seats aren't even *easy* to remove.

Handling

This van handles like an overweight pig. It pushes in corners. It bounces on bumps. It leans in curves. It's not enjoyable. It truly is a 1993 Venture that's been raised several inches to resemble an SUV.

Materials & workmanship

The dashboard is hard, dog-dish-like plastic. The carpet stains easily. The interior bits fall off and pull apart. The rear vents come out of the ceiling. It's slapped together. You can tell this was the last minivan GM was going to build, and that they didn't care when building it.

We bought this van because the price was right, and our old van was dead. We got a good deal, at the right time, but this van just doesn't stand the test of long-term ownership.