Question: Hi there, I have a different sort of question for you, if you don’t mind. Our family just went from one child to five/six.

We are looking to buy a used van, but don’t have much money, so most in our price range have higher miles. So my question is, how many miles can you expect to get out of the average full size van before seeing problems like the tranny dying or motor giving up etc?

There is a ford e-150 regency conversion van that is beautiful, huge, and in our price range, but it has 112,500 miles. If we spend all our savings on an old van, and it tears up, then I’m really in trouble. I need something to last a few years w/ no major issues, and we drive a lot. 

Thanks for your time,

Daniel

Answer: Daniel,

Excellent question !  When looking at high mileage vehicles there are
a couple of questions I always ask…

1.  How was in maintained?  Regular oil changes?  How did the owner
drive the vehicle, short trips (worse) or highway miles (better)?
2.  Has the recommend maintenance been performed, or coming due soon?
Depending on the engine, you may be looking at a timing chain or belt
replacement, water pump and spark plugs around 120K miles,
3.  What does Consumer Reports think about the vehicle.  Grab a used
car guide from Consumer Reports to find out any nagging reliability
issue for the vehicle in question.