by "VonBootWilly - Likes Toyota, but it's still complicated." (vonbootwilly)
Published 09/16/2017 at 21:40
by "VonBootWilly - Likes Toyota, but it's still complicated." (vonbootwilly)
Published 09/16/2017 at 21:40
No Tags
STARS: 3
Safety u-pull image.
So I started on my heater core replacement on my 2008 uplander and found the bottom of the dash steel was rotten. Like bottom of the atlantic ocean for a hundred years rotten.
Then pulled the carpet and it led to this:
Rotten floor seam. Gaping holes. This van is not even 10 years old yet. Nasty. Images are after power wire wheel. I practically filled a shop vac with rust bits and road salt that came in through the holes.
While enjoying a visit to the local Kenny U-Pull I went looking at about 6 or 7 2006 to 2008 Uplanders and Montanas.
They all had the same rust. Bottom of the dash mount, soft floor, all horribly rotten. There must have been a hole in the floor from factory that starts this, the heater/ac has a good drain built in, even my failed heater core couldn’t be smelled inside besides the coolant blowing from the firewall drain.
Very nasty. Considering the u-body Venture was a death trap for it’s ability to fold around the driver in a collision, these last Uplanders with rotten floors are probably much worse.
I’ll just patch it and keep driving it for now, but I know every one I see on the road up here in the rust belt probably has this problem.
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
09/16/2017 at 21:44, STARS: 0
put a patch on it and weld it all up, it’ll be fine
;)
"dogisbadob" (dogisbadob)
09/16/2017 at 21:47, STARS: 0
Too late for your Venture Uplander, but get some Krown for your next car to prevent it from rusting like your van has.
Of course, using it now won’t undo the rust, but it will at least stop it from getting any worse.
"VonBootWilly - Likes Toyota, but it's still complicated." (vonbootwilly)
09/16/2017 at 21:49, STARS: 0
Yeah, basically yeah.
I could properly fix it, but there is more frame holding it together. Was just sad that I splurged for a ‘newer’ vehicle and got my same old rust repair woes from driving older cars. I’m more used to this kind of crap in 20+ year old cars.
"VonBootWilly - Likes Toyota, but it's still complicated." (vonbootwilly)
09/16/2017 at 21:53, STARS: 1
I actually do my own rustproofing too, using a good similar product, but didn’t do this van since I’ve only had it one winter and it only has about 60,000miles (100,000kms ish).
"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
09/16/2017 at 22:27, STARS: 2
That’s pretty horrible. The Uplander is one of he cars that I feel justified my hatered of GM. I’m a bit more open minded now but I still can’t see myself buying a GM product that isn’t a Corvette, or a square body.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
09/16/2017 at 22:29, STARS: 3
Mind you, I am generally a GM fan (pun intended), and most of the vehicles I’ve owned were built by the General. That said, I’m glad GM got out of the minivan game, because I swear every single one of them was built with utter contempt for their buyers. The DustBuster vans are the worst, most hateful, despicable vehicles I have ever had the misfortune to drive. I logged thousands of miles behind the wheel of the dreadful beat-down Chevy Ventures owned by my last school district. They were friggen garbage too. Better than the DustBusters, but talk about being damned with faint praise. All the ones I still see on the road, have long since had their rocker panels evaporate (I’m in the rust belt too). Interesting to learn about the secret shame of the Uplander.
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
09/16/2017 at 22:49, STARS: 0
come to Australia then
rust? nope!
"VonBootWilly - Likes Toyota, but it's still complicated." (vonbootwilly)
09/16/2017 at 23:05, STARS: 0
Awesome. I’d love to never see this again.
"VonBootWilly - Likes Toyota, but it's still complicated." (vonbootwilly)
09/16/2017 at 23:20, STARS: 0
I really did know this going into uplander ownership, but I couldn’t swing Sienna used pricing. I got this with 80,000kms from the gov’t of canada for $4k. A similar Sienna would be more than twice that. But now I think it will be well worth it.
Add in all the excitement (problems) associated with virtual flex fuel, and I’m ready to burn it to the ground.
"VonBootWilly - Likes Toyota, but it's still complicated." (vonbootwilly)
09/16/2017 at 23:22, STARS: 1
I went into it like “my body is ready, how bad could it be” but after almost two years I’m more like “burn it with fire”
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
09/16/2017 at 23:26, STARS: 0
I don’t blame you. Sometimes it’s worth spending more money.
"Birddog" (maintmgt)
09/16/2017 at 23:55, STARS: 1
Ginger Ale through the nose. Hurts. It bloody hurts.
"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
09/17/2017 at 00:03, STARS: 0
At Leary the Lumina/TranSport/Silhouette looked cool.
"Birddog" (maintmgt)
09/17/2017 at 00:13, STARS: 2
This is just horrific. That’s 1970s quality.
Back around 1998 I took a job selling Toyotas. It was a shady dealer where “everyone is approved”. After a few months of repos and jacked up commission checks I left. I took a spot selling at a Chevy store. They were still shilling the Venture then. I had no idea how big of a mistake I made. The Sienna “Symphony” was tops then vs the WB Venture. The Chevy didn’t even come close. I actually sold one Venture that had an LS tag on the right side and an LT tag on the left. This Van was on the showroom floor! Nobody noticed..
Ma Mopar and Toyota won the minivan wars. (Mercury gets an honorable mention by rebadging Nissans)
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
09/17/2017 at 00:16, STARS: 0
Any idea what branch of the government it came from? I work for an agency that surpluses through the GoC, and um... Yeah. With a couple executions there aren’t many vehicles I’d want to buy that I’ve seen get surplused. A couple years ago a ‘99 Venture that I used at work went out. It had a pile of new parts, but like you say, was not solid at all. 160,000km. First round it got zero bids. Second round it went for $100. Buyer paid but never came and picked it up. Because of Canada150 this year they needed more vehicles with all the extra staff, so it got pressed back into service. I honestly don’t know what will happen with it now.
"VonBootWilly - Likes Toyota, but it's still complicated." (vonbootwilly)
09/17/2017 at 06:42, STARS: 0
Mine was public works. Had a full aluminum shelf and firewall but came with the original seats. I bid on it because it’s engine had very little corrosion/rust, and the shelving got me $800 on kijiji which went to new snow tires.
It wasn’t even cleaned out of paperwork, still had documents related to the confederation building in ottawa and a valid pass hanging on the mirror.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
09/17/2017 at 09:08, STARS: 0
Ha! Sorry dude!
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
09/17/2017 at 09:31, STARS: 1
Not worth it. They actively hate the driver, and seek to make their life miserable. Even the seating/pedal position is scientifically designed to be horribly uncomfortable. In order to depress the accelator, one must bend their foot so far back that you nearly snap your Achilles’ tendon. But no worry, every couple months the cam mechanism that holds the seatback up will break, allowing your seat to flop fully backwards into the lap of whoever is sitting behind you. That will make your foot much more comfortable. Literally every part in those things was cost cut to the point that they simply fell apart. The plastics were of such poor quality, they wouldn’t have passed inspection at a cheap Chinese toy car factory. I’m no interior snob either, I have zero problems with the mass of grey plastic that is my GMT-800 interior. But the DustBusters’ were just atrocious. My father-in-law owned a new one. It shed parts continually from week 1 of ownership, until they traded it in several years later. The last one I drove belonged to my wife’s aunt. It was a loaded Lumina with 80k miles. It was so utterly terrible, I literally screamed... to the nobody else who was in the car... “NO WONDER GM WENT BANKRUPT! THEY FOISTED MILLIONS OF THESE PIECES OF SHIT, ONTO POOR UNSUSPECTING BASTARDS!!!”
So yeah, I have a lot of hate built up for the DustBusters. I see people getting all nostalgic for them, but they don’t know ... they don’t know.