I drove one for two weeks during a convention in Vegas last year, and let me tell you it was a chore. The lack of driver’s side assist straps IS a real issue! I am 5′8″, 190 lbs, and having to wrench myself into the driver’s seat with the steering wheel every time was not a pleasant experience (though it did apply a slight bit more tone to my right bicep by the time the two weeks were out).

My other big complaint was that the rearmost passenger seats could not be made to lie flat for cargo loading – shipping boxes had to be either tossed over the battlements of the back seat from the express doors, or laboriously relayed back from the side doors one row at a time.

And yes, I nearly put a dent in the headliner once from taking a drainage dip 5 MPH over the signed 20 MPH.

Having said all that, the van did its job and got 15 passengers around Vegas twice every day for 14 days straight with no drama. But it could have been a less agricultural experience.

Its not a good van. Its not well designed. It doesn’t do its jobs very well at all. Reliability? Not so much, ask the maintainers at Nellis. They are selling the Chevy fleet for Sprinters. Its a money loser that needs to die.

I have several friends who drive The Express to make a living as contractors for delivery coopanies. They simply praise the reliability and lost cost of maintance. It’s a money maker for them as it is for the Government.

Up-date the van to luxury and you will get the same reliability…….Luxury, reliability, comfort and versatility all in one platform…..I praise GM for building the vehicle.

Van pictured is not van reviewed, USAF didn’t allow permission to use photos of actual van (since its theirs).

Just rented a brand new 12-Pax Express…. no check straps either, but it did have a detent… that was broken, and allowed the doors to dent each other…. at 3,500 miles. I still stand by my original assessment of this terrible vehicle.

The new van did have grab handles, and a CD player (hooray!), the one we had, did not. You could only use the steering wheel to get in, and its not at the best angle to help you in with all your gear on. No A-pillar handle, and the door handles are useless when trying to get in, as the doors move.

I realize I'm a littly tardy to this discussion, but allow me to point out some facts regarding the Express, which happens to be the product built at my place of employment.

Regarding the dents from the doors, every van comes with "check straps" that stop the doors from swinging all the way open and thus denting the vehicle. They can, however, be unhooked to allow wider access when needed. I suspect that is what happened and they remained that way. Have a look.

The black plastic "halo" aroung the taillights isn't meant for aeshetics – although you can get it painted in body color – but is designed to resist dents and scratches from contractors and the like loading ladders, pipes etc. onto their roof racks. And the reviewer climbs in and out of jet aircraft yet struggles to enter the van despite the presence of a handle on the door and the steering wheel for additional assistance? (for the record there is also a handle on the A-pillar on the passenger side)

We have dozens of people make the ingress/egress hundreds of times a day and they are presumably less fit than him. And I don't know where the "cloth armrests" are. The accompanying picture clearly shows a vinyl armrest on the seat and I can assure you that we do not have cloth on our door armrests (some aftermarket material perhaps?).

And if this van assaults your visual senses, then you'd better not check out a Sprinter.

And what's with reviewing a USED VAN? Did you review any Camrys with 30,000 miles that were filled with sludge? It just so happens that the 2008 model got a new instrument panel, seats and interior panels with upgraded materials. Also new is the industry's longest side-curtain airbag and unique safety glass for passenger vans as well as rack-and-pinion steering and new electrical architecture for more features like tire pressure monitoring.

As for all the rest of review, it just seems the author is trying way too hard at being witty istead of giving a fair review of the vehicle as it is intended to be used. A fighter pilot feeling like a 15-pass van is underpowered? What a shock!

“…better off walking that driving this rolling death trap.

Doh! Text amended.

“…better off walking that driving this rolling death trap.

I can pretty much sum up the Express in three sentences.

1) The powertrains are virtually bulletproof.

2) The interior is cheap and about 10 years out of date.

3) You should buy it only if the price is right and you’re willing to drive it into the ground.

I just read the review, but I would like to point out just a few differences between that van and the Chevy:

What is the weight capacity? I’d venture to say that the Chevy’s weight load limit is higher.

What about towing a trailer?

Also judging by the pictures, the Chevy looks to have a much larger cargo area that does the Nissan.

With my van, I use it to haul all kinds of construction materials besides my tools. It frequently has over 1,500LBS of weight inside it. I also tow three different types of trailers with it exceeding 4,000LBS towed.

Still, I’d welcome Nissan, Toyota, anybody to come in and make work vans for the US market.

The more the merrier.

I have a 2001 GMC Savanna 2500 with the 5.7 liter V8.

I haven’t had any problems with it whatsoever. I do my own maintenance on the vehicle including tune-ups.

As far as the interior goes, everything that came with the van is still attached with the exception of the inside rear view mirror that was installed wrong by the glass guy (OK, I had a windshield replaced) and fell off.

The van has 174,000 miles on it and I bought it new for $15,000.

Why yours is $43,000 I don’t know.

But as long as I can buy TWO Chevys for the price of one Sprinter……

Its not reliable, and its not easy to work on. And the interior is of such low quality that it falls apart quite easily, not something I expect out of any work vehicle. See the Nissan Urvan review for a showcase on a work vehicle done right. And these vans are not cheap, this one clocked in at $43000, thats ridiculous.

The hard plastic interior panels with the big gaps are not really a big concern. I also replace the seat in my van with a comfortable racing seat.

I really don’t see what else would be necessary in a work truck.

“the van was designed for 10 people, but the regular seats had been removed and replaced with wooden benches.”

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/03/07/bc-van-crash.html

I was hopeful that the Sprinter would whip GM and Ford vans into shape, but it’s far too expensive to compete in heavy duty applications. Blame the “Bush dollar” and the price of diesel?

The van reviewed is the ultimate fleet flogger typically driven by people not used to vans. Judging an entire manufacturer by its fleet sacrifices isn’t really fair. It’s like judging all Mercedes based on an experience driving a Freightliner Columbia or a horrid A-class.

I’m also loving the comments of people who obviously skimmed the first paragraph and skipped to the comment section, saying “It’s a WORK VAN, the standards are much lower.” You’re missing the point – this van has failed terribly to meet even those low standards. Even the Aveo’s seats will last you at least 50,000 miles. Yeesh.

I guess I’ll wait for the TundraVan to come out (or the 15-passenger Rondo, at this rate), and if I ever need to move 15 people in comfort and safety I’ll just get two more xB’s.

Doubly Amen to that. Actually there Van in Asia that are built by Japanese Car manufacture.

And one of them is Mitsubishi Delica(I know Mitsu again)the Toyota Hi-Ace and Nissan Caravan.

The Dodge A100 was perfect but goner.
By the way Military personel used this van if it’s POS

Why is it still in the market and why is it that the NTSB or any other federal agecny on safety still allow it to be manufactured?

if you are complaining about the quality why is it still being built. I feel like the consumer is being mislead again because tremendous outage on a Van that is A VAN.

next time please used your Mazda or BMW to haul your stuff?

Yes, it is a steel unibody design. It’s main advantage is that it is light weight. Which is also its disadvantage in heavier applications.

Soryy but the Sprinter is body on frame, just like the Ford or Chevy.

http://www.dodge.com/shared/2008/ram_trucks/durability/images/lowb/lb_dur_ladder_frame.jpg