Chevrolet Express, checking in

[kevm14]

I got the idea to look these up after I watched an episode of PHAD where there was a Stabilitrack issue on an 09. I was like....do they still make these?

Yes they do. Here's what I found.

- For 2001 and 2002 only, the 3/4 and 1 ton vans were available with the 8.1L. I found this interesting as this was still the old late 90s body style van. But they had no choice as 2000 was the last year for the 454.

- The Duramax 6.6L was available from 06-16. This would have been a de-rated application through the 4L80E.

- For 2015, the 1/2 ton was actually discontinued and replaced with the City Express, a badge engineered Nissan NV200. Weird right?

The Chevrolet City Express is a badge engineered Nissan NV200 for the American and Canadian markets produced by the American automaker Chevrolet. Chevrolet plans to target the vehicle towards the business sector and will be slotted below its full-sized Express van. The City Express will come in two level trims (LS and LT), a fold-down passenger seat, 40/60-split rear cargo doors that open to 90- and 180-degree angles, left- and right-side sliding doors, twenty integrated cargo-mounting points throughout the interior, six floor-mounted D-rings and a center storage console. The LT trim will include a 5.8-inch diagonal touch screen, navigation, Sirius XM Radio, and Bluetooth connectivity as part of their technology package. The latter is also optional on the LS trim.[95]

- With the loss of the 1/2 ton, they also finally retired the old Vortec 4.3L. RIP. It may not have had the life of the 350 it was based on, but for modern times, it was an incredibly old engine to still be in service.

- For 2018 they introduced the EcoTec3 4.3L (aka Gen V) to the remaining 3/4 and 1 ton. This surprised me but it really just replaced the 4.8L which was the previous base engine. The Gen V 4.3L V6 is pretty stout for what it is at 276 hp and 298 lb-ft. Nothing wrong with that really.

- This one really floored me though. For 2017, the new 2.8L Duramax is available. Yeah, the same one from the Colorado/Canyon. And it even gets the 8-speed automatic while the Colorado/Canyon use the 6L50. That is some surprisingly modern shit on this old platform. Of course it has 181 hp but does have 369 lb-ft. Fuel economy would be the name of the game here, probably to try to compete with the other more modern Euro vans on the market now.

I wonder if I can even find a review of these things.

[kevm14]

http://www.trucktrend.com/news/1603-gen ... mc-savana/

2 year old article...I mean I'm not a van enthusiast so I guess it's OK that I didn't know.

[kevm14]

Conversion van built with the 2.8L.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhf8QNvCJyM

He claims 25-26 mpg. That seems pretty good.

[kevm14]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhf8QNvCJyM

Interior has been upgraded. It now only looks 10 years old. 7" nav screen! So fancy. Actually it has MyLink and 4G LTE hot spot so that's far more recent than 10 years ago. Still cracking up over carrying this platform along. These are work horses though and I know they don't rust as bad as the Sprinter vans.

[kevm14]

- This one really floored me though. For 2017, the new 2.8L Duramax is available. Yeah, the same one from the Colorado/Canyon. And it even gets the 8-speed automatic while the Colorado/Canyon use the 6L50. That is some surprisingly modern shit on this old platform. Of course it has 181 hp but does have 369 lb-ft. Fuel economy would be the name of the game here, probably to try to compete with the other more modern Euro vans on the market now.

The Express and Savana with the small displacement turbo-diesel will compete directly against the Ford Transit with the 3.2L Power Stroke I5 (185 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque) and the Ram ProMaster with the 3.0L EcoDiesel I4 (174 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque).

Right.

[kevm14]

I think the big advantage of the old GM vans is reliability. They may also be a better value at purchase.

I currently have 5 chevy express vans, 2 with the 4.8 gas, and 3 with the 6.0 gas. I wouldn’t spend 3 grand extra for a diesel, that I know will cost much more to own outside of warranty. The gas motors are going 300k no problem, I know one company locally that has some with 500k on them. No dpf to break down, no expensive fuel pump to replace.

A little better MPG and better driving manners doesn't trump reliability for a commercial application. And now they have mpg.

[kevm14]

What are you disagreeing with me on? I’m simply stating there is still some market for the old vans being used as ambulances…hence one of the reasons the E-series is still available as a cutaway / cab chassis.

Our fairly large ambulance service provider still has the bulk of their fleet running on E-series rigs, but I believe these are gas-engines only now. They have several F-550 Super Duty chassis ambulances now, but only a couple of Transits.

So the Econoline is actually not dead, per se. That tells you something right there. The gas-only offering is also hilarious because....Ford Navistar disaster.

[kevm14]

Looked up sales numbers.

Ford Transit is on top at 127,360 for 2017. But that is 11% less than last year.
Chevy Express is next at 69,164 but with 1.7% growth.
The Ford E-series, proof that it still exists as a cutaway chassis, sold 53,304 with -1.7% growth.
Ram ProMaster sold 40,483 holding flat.
Skipping the Transit Connect as that is a lower weight class.
GMC Savana at 29,679 but with a shocking 44% growth over 2016.

So Ford is clearly doing the best because they have the Transit plus the E-series. Added together those did 180,664. Adding the Express and Savana you get 98,843. It's more than half but definitely a lot less. Still, they are in the game, and you definitely can't say "no one buys those any more." Plus what the numbers show is GM vans are up and Ford vans are down. Curious where it goes from here. It's not like they are going to continue forever.