Buy/Drive/Burn: The Cheapest Passenger Vans in America for 2021

by Corey Lewis

Published: February 26th, 2021

buy drive burn the cheapest passenger vans in america for 2021

We’ve been on a cheapskate (or value, if you prefer) kick lately at Buy/Drive/Burn. We’ve covered the cheapest new sedans and trucks on sale in America for 2021, and today we tackle everyone’s favorite type of vehicle: vans. But these three aren’t just any plain cargo vans, they’re passenger vans you can use to haul around your whole family.

Chrysler Voyager

The cheapest van in today’s trio comes to us from Stellantis, and is the only vehicle here without cargo van roots. The Voyager exists as a name resurrected from Plymouth, and plays down-market sibling to the Pacifica. Seating seven people, Voyager is available in L or LX trims. Said trims carry base prices of $27,535 and $30,245, respectively. Both trims are equipped with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6, good for 287 horsepower. A nine-speed automatic is the only transmission choice. Six different colors are available at no cost on Voyager, with Black or Cognac interiors, also gratis. Destination charge is $1,495, which means the Voyager is slightly less expensive than its more basic ProMaster competition, at $29,030.

RAM ProMaster City Wagon

The ProMaster wagon is the middle priced offering in today’s trio. It’s available in two trims, Base and SLT. The Base asks $26,130 while SLT starts at $27,730. Both trims only seat five people, even though the ProMaster is only two inches shorter than the Transit. Standard is the 2.4-liter Fiat Tigershark engine (178hp), paired to a nine-speed automatic. Only two colors are available with no additional charge: red and white. Interiors come in Black, and are fitted with cloth seats, as vinyl carries an upcharge of $325. Including a destination charge of $1,595, the ProMaster in its basest form asks $29,325.

Ford Transit Connect Wagon

The most expensive van of today’s trio is the Ford Transit Connect Wagon, where wagon means it has rear seats. Available in XL, XLT, or Titanium trims, it ranges in price from $27,400 to $31,600. The base XL seats seven, and has the smaller of two offered engines, a 2.0-liter good for 162 horsepower. The 2.0 receives an eight-speed automatic, versus a six-speed in the larger 2.5-liter mill. Buyers can select a rear hatch or dual cargo doors for no additional charge. Nine paint colors are available for free, as well as Ebony interior materials in cloth or vinyl. Destination is $1,395, and the acquisition fee of $645 makes for a final ask of $29,440.

Three vans, all available for under $30,000. Which goes home with the Buy?

[Images: Ford, Stellantis]

#2021 #Buy/Drive/Burn #CarSales #Chrysler #ChryslerVoyager #Editorials #FamilyCars #Ford #FordTransitConnect #Minivans #Transit #NewCars #Ram #Voyager #TransitConnect #Vans #PassengerVans #ProMaster #RamProMaster #ProMasterCity #NewsBlog

Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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2 of 48 comments

Jeff S on Mar 01, 2021

Burn all of these they are all overpriced heaps.

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ToolGuy on Mar 02, 2021

Buy: - Buy Tim Healey a calendar. - Buy Corey Lewis a hobby so he has something to do other than hover over the comments like a rabid helicopter parent. - Buy an IS500 because Michael Harley, Automotive Journalist says it's a good idea... says it on every flipping page until you close the video. Drive: - Drive far far away from this rusting hulk of a website [unless and until they start to respond positively to constructive feedback, which has been offered repeatedly by numerous posters]. - Drive home from your OEM job, settle into your reclining sectional, fire up the smart TV and hook your peepers onto Vice Grip Garage. - Drive out of your way to avoid the car dealer and their questionable inventory assembled during 2020-2021. Burn: - Burn it into your head that the vehicle you are currently driving is probably the ideal vehicle for you to keep driving for the foreseeable future. [Stop burning cash on frequent trades.] - Burn bridges at your current employer (OEM, dealer) if you feel like it, for they are Very Likely Doomed. [Burn your mortgage first - you *did* pay that off, right?] - Burn gasoline, burn diesel, burn rubber (and burn oil, because let's face it, you have no grasp of the concept of preventive maintenance). [When you learn better, burn ER70S-6, burn R45, burn 6011 and burn coal.]

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Recent Comments

Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Thankfully I don't have to deal with GDI issues in my Frontier. These cleaners should do well for me if I win.
Theflyersfan Serious answer time...Honda used to stand for excellence in auto engineering. Their first main claim to fame was the CVCC (we don't need a catalytic converter!) engine and it sent from there. Their suspensions, their VTEC engines, slick manual transmissions, even a stowing minivan seat, all theirs. But I think they've been coasting a bit lately. Yes, the Civic Type-R has a powerful small engine, but the Honda of old would have found a way to get more revs out of it and make it feel like an i-VTEC engine of old instead of any old turbo engine that can be found in a multitude of performance small cars. Their 1.5L turbo-4...well...have they ever figured out the oil dilution problems? Very un-Honda-like. Paint issues that still linger. Cheaper feeling interior trim. All things that fly in the face of what Honda once was. The only thing that they seem to have kept have been the sales staff that treat you with utter contempt for daring to walk into their inner sanctum and wanting a deal on something that isn't a bare-bones CR-V. So Honda, beat the rest of your Japanese and Korean rivals, and plug-in hybridize everything. If you want a relatively (in an engineering way) easy way to get ahead of the curve, raise the CAFE score, and have a major point to advertise, and be able to sell to those who can't plug in easily, sell them on something that will get, for example, 35% better mileage, plug in when you get a chance, and drives like a Honda. Bring back some of the engineering skills that Honda once stood for. And then start introducing a portfolio of EVs once people are more comfortable with the idea of plugging in. People seeing that they can easily use an EV for their daily errands with the gas engine never starting will eventually sell them on a future EV because that range anxiety will be lessened. The all EV leap is still a bridge too far, especially as recent sales numbers have shown. Baby steps. That's how you win people over.
Theflyersfan If this saves (or delays) an expensive carbon brushing off of the valves down the road, I'll take a case. I understand that can be a very expensive bit of scheduled maintenance.
Zipper69 A Mini should have 2 doors and 4 cylinders and tires the size of dinner plates.All else is puffery.
Theflyersfan Just in time for the weekend!!! Usual suspects A: All EVs are evil golf carts, spewing nothing but virtue signaling about saving the earth, all the while hacking the limbs off of small kids in Africa, money losing pits of despair that no buyer would ever need and anyone that buys one is a raging moron with no brains and the automakers who make them want to go bankrupt.(Source: all of the comments on every EV article here posted over the years)Usual suspects B: All EVs are powered by unicorns and lollypops with no pollution, drive like dreams, all drivers don't mind stopping for hours on end, eating trays of fast food at every rest stop waiting for charges, save the world by using no gas and batteries are friendly to everyone, bugs included. Everyone should torch their ICE cars now and buy a Tesla or Bolt post haste.(Source: all of the comments on every EV article here posted over the years)Or those in the middle: Maybe one of these days, when the charging infrastructure is better, or there are more options that don't cost as much, one will be considered as part of a rational decision based on driving needs, purchasing costs environmental impact, total cost of ownership, and ease of charging.(Source: many on this site who don't jump on TTAC the split second an EV article appears and lives to trash everyone who is a fan of EVs.)