New van reliability, Promaster vs Express?

[Lamesalegend]

About to order a new van. I've been using My 1999 Chevy express which now has 400,000 miles. Im leaning toward another 2024 Express mostly because of reliability and familiarity (I repair my vehicles myself). I would prefer the Ram Promaster mainly due to space and layout. Lots of Promaster owners report reliability headaches. What are your thoughts. Any experience with The Promaster. I'm not interested in Ford or Sprinter.

How Reliable are the new Promasters?

 

[hogjowl]

I’ve only known one Promaster owner. He personally told me buying it was a mistake.
I have no personal experience.

 

[Mikey P]

no question Ford is vastly superior

 

[hogjowl]

He didn’t ask about Ford and this isn’t about you.

 

[The Great Oz]

The Promaster had a handful of teething problems when first introduced. Lots of early buyers complained of headlights burning out rapidly, body control module shorts and door handles and latches being easily damaged. Those issues seem to have been resolved. The V6 engine is a well proven 400,000 mile unit and the transmission should go 200k. (Do the recommended transmission fluid changes!) GM cheapens their vans every year as well, so you may find that the durability advantage is as thin as their newer sheet metal.

I spent quite a bit of time researching vans a few years ago, including calling a dozen multi-truck companies that had certain makes or a combination of brands. All had gripes and likes, but no one absolutely hated what they had or were planning to get rid of a particular brand early. One of the companies had four Promasters and three slightly older Sprinters. The company owner drove a one of the Sprinters because he liked driving it, but the Promasters went out first because the things that broke never required a tow.

 

[Mr Brightside]

We ran 2 of them in Vegas couldn't seem to keep them on the road

Blown drive train
Complete engine failure at 20k miles
Lack of support
Lack of parts
Always broke down

Our expresses are great but our cds with 5k hours and 150k miles seems to break down alot now but just minor sensors and weird problems

 

[Lc17smp]

Well if my only choices were bad or worse I would get the Chevy. I spent the majority of my life in the automotive repair industry. From a grunt to upper management. I’m not a petty fan boy of any brand. All brands have their pros and cons. I know you don’t care but I have a Transit.

 

[SamIam]

About to order a new van. I've been using My 1999 Chevy express which now has 400,000 miles. Im leaning toward another 2024 Express mostly because of reliability and familiarity (I repair my vehicles myself). I would prefer the Ram Promaster mainly due to space and layout. Lots of Promaster owners report reliability headaches. What are your thoughts. Any experience with The Promaster. I'm not interested in Ford or Sprinter.

How Reliable are the new Promasters?

I would stick with what you know 400k is pretty amazing.

Are there any promaster with over 300k?

 

[SamIam]

Well if my only choices were bad or worse I would get the Chevy. I spent the majority of my life in the automotive repair industry. From a grunt to upper management. I’m not a petty fan boy of any brand. All brands have their pros and cons. I know you don’t care but I have a Transit.

Chevy's are great if you don't throw a poorly designed direct drive into it and run it in the desert.

 

[Lamesalegend]

Tomorrow, I'll be going to the 2 dealerships. Most likely getting the Express unless there are significant delays. I always order my vehicles, I hate paying for extras that I don't want, plus they usually only have white, I want silver this time

 

[The Great Oz]

Are there any promaster with over 300k?

It seems their generally traded at around 175k. Your mileage may vary.

Here's one with 680

 

[Brian H]

We have 3 of the Promasters and like them. We use them for p/u and delivery as well as inter store shuttle for our retail and cleaning departments. The guys driving them prefer them to the more traditional box trucks.