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Chevy Venture
2501 messages, Last post on May 17, 2013 at 11:37 AM
You are in the Chevy Venture Forum.- Your Host is kcram
What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Venture, Van
#654 of 2501 Ash Tray to Cup Holders ? by offham
Feb 07, 2001 (11:31 am)
The new 2001 Venture has cupholders in place of the ashtray and lighter on earlier models. The cupholders on the side of the passenger seat are not that practical, especially if you have to take your eyes off the road to put a hot drink down.I have asked Chevrolet whether it can be a retro fit on 2000 and back, by removing the ashtray and lighter and inserting the 2001 cupholder.
Will post comments when rcd.
#655 of 2501 Thinking of purchasing a Venture by jeffreyw1
Feb 07, 2001 (11:45 am)
My sister and her husband are thinking about purchasing a new 2000 or 2001 Chevrolet Venture. I am needing for some one to tell me if there are any problems with this type of van. I know very little about mini-vans. Any help would be greatly appreciated:)#656 of 2501 Jeffrew1, by kkollwitz
Feb 07, 2001 (4:30 pm)
Send me an email, I'll give you my Venture experience.#658 of 2501 Re #654 Thinking of buying..... by offham
Feb 08, 2001 (6:22 am)
Despite the negative comments that are posted on this site from time to time about the Venture, it seems to me that every minivan made has its own set of issues good and bad.We have had a Venture LT 2000 8 seater in dark sapphire for 11 months with just over 20K miles. We got in through carorder.com at an unbelievable price of $24500 incl taxes.(Carorder packed it in and are now back in CA.)
This van has been absolutley first class with minimal repairs, the major one being an errant low coolant warning light which was fixed by the dealer. A couple of minor issues I fixed myself. I always change the oil/filter myself at 3K and have tires rotated as per schedule.
I took it out in the snow this week and it felt very competent and reassuring with the Traction Control coming on and off as well the anti lock brakes.
For college runs and ice hockey tourneys it is a very comfortable highway cruiser with plenty of pep in the engine and good mpg.
Consumers Reports seem to knock it at every opportunity and appear to be in love with anybody other than GM.
#659 of 2501 I think CR knocks by agt_cooper
Feb 08, 2001 (7:38 am)
the GM triplets mainly because of their poor offset crash test scores. They have admitted in the past that the vans are well designed and comfortable cruisers, however.Since I have no immediate plans to run into a fixed barrier, those scores don't worry much!! LOL...
And, since State Farm now gives discounts based on their claims experience with the Pontiac Montana, I guess those tests aren't the best predictors of actual injury/death rates....
#660 of 2501 My post # 629 by kkollwitz
Feb 08, 2001 (1:35 pm)
pretty much says it all about our Venture: it's been a perfect car for my family, and even though my daily driver is a Firebird Formula 5-speed, I still like to drive the Chevy. I would like better brakes, but that's about it for criticisms.#661 of 2501 The IIHS offset crash test by drew_
Feb 08, 2001 (10:52 pm)
...utilises a fixed but deformable barrier that simulates the front end of another vehicle."In the Institute's 40 mph offset test, 40 percent of the total width of each vehicle strikes a barrier on the driver side. The barrier's deformable face is made of aluminum honeycomb, which makes the forces in the test similar to those involved in a frontal offset crash between two vehicles..."
More information about safety/crash tests can be found here:
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/offset.htm
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/def.htm
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/summary_passvans.htm
http://www.crashtest.com/explanations/iihs/iihs.htm
http://www.crashtest.com/explanations/nhtsa/usncap.htm
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/96026.htm
Although the Chevy Venture is structurally identical to the Pontiac Montana (and the Olds Silhouette), State Farm doesn't give the same discounts to the Venture or the Silhouette. Hmm....since this is the Venture topic, guess that point is moot.
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards
#662 of 2501 Okay, Drew, by agt_cooper
Feb 09, 2001 (8:27 am)
Mr. Onetrack mind....
Where's the link to the Highway Loss Data Institute's information about actual loss experiences for these vehicles, including the Chevy Venture?
Conveniently left that one out, eh Drew? Nothing like the supposedly impartial host trying to move the discussion in his/her way....
Well, in the interests of fairness, I'll provide the link. I think you'll find that real-world experience suggests that choosing any of the GM triplets does not put you at a substantial risk for death or injury, in fact, they are all in the "substantially better than average" category....
http://www.carsafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ictl/ictl_wagon.htm
#663 of 2501 by drew_
Feb 09, 2001 (8:47 am)
Thank you for the link, "agt_cooper".
The crash test results and the evidence of a weak structure and safety cage still stands though, and it's worrysome for people like myself. I can provide actual crash pictures if you like, and you'll see that in some cases (not all, obviously), the offset crash test pictures are reflected. Obviously, I wouldn't presume that all/any of those real world crashes are identical (hence the reason why crash tests are useful), of course, so they're taken with a pinch of salt. Honestly, I do wish that they did better since the GM vans do ride and drive quite well (a friend of mine used to own a '98 Transport Montana, until he saw the IIHS crash tests coverage on Dateline NBC; he kept it for another year and then sold it), not to mention being available with the VersaTrak AWD system soon.
Mr impartial host
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards
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