Chevrolet Venture: What do you think?

[victorlachica]

[SIZE=3]The ride is excellent except for the incidental expenses. [/SIZE]

[ghosthunter]

My brother has sold his Venture long ago... replaced it with a Sentra 1.3L converted to auto-LPG.

[M1Super90]

Hi Ricmood, i'm planning to buy a used 2005 model. Your quote was 5 months ago, kamusta na ang venture mo?

Kindly give feedback or comments you have found with your unit. Gas milage, suspension, aircon, engine performance, any body or door noise, etc?

Bought our venture 2 months ago...share ko lang mga experiences ko

It's 2004 model 35,500km milage. Nabili namin sya direct sa may-ari talaga. Kase ung tito ko driver nya. The previous owner owns 6 cars. Kaya hindi masyado gastado. 390k ang bili namin.

Sa suspension, SO FAR suber lambot. walang PANG kalampag.

Ang sarap i-drive. Sobrang comfortable. Spacious ang loob.

Ang aircon, ilagay mo lang sa no. 2 ung fan. Super lamig na.

Sa gas naman. 76 liters ang capacity nya. mga 7.5-9km per lit. ang consump. nya.

Sa hatak namn, One time natakbo kami ng skyway. nde ko napansin 110kph na pala speed namin. Pero feeling ko light pa lang ang apak ko sa gas nung time na yun.

maganda ang lock features and reverse sensor niya.

So i guess venture is a good ride. depende na lang siguro kung pano mo gagamitin. Sa amin kase talagang family car siya. Syempre nde ka naman kakaskas at magiging careless kung may sakay ka na mga bata di ba? Pero all of these were based sa 2 months namin na gamit ang venture. Marami pa pwede mangyari...knock on wood wala naman sanang masama. hehehe

[userfriendly]

This is a quirky car. It's not for everyone.

If you need space, do a lot of highway driving and willing to pay attention to maintenance its ok. If you just drive around in traffic, forget it.

Engine layout is horrible. Battery is underneath the fuse block and chasis support bar. You need to remove both to get to the battery. High tension wires and rear bank of spark plugs are difficult to access. You need to remove the distributor to get to it. Best done by a Chevy trained mechanic.

It lacks power when goin uphill. It's temp guage reacts quickly to temp changes. If you are used to Jap car temp guage that stays in one place, this will drive you nuts. It will move up and down. But according to the chevy mechanic I talked to, as long as it stays up to 2 lines above half you are fine. Above 2 lines over 1/2, overheat area. Note, its aux fan wont turn on until temp reaches 1/2 or aircon is running.

Parts are more expensive compared to Jap cars. Surplus parts are almost nonexistant, in Banawe. Dont even bother with casa, just go to Thunder Automotive for better prices. I heard that Nemerson in Binondo area also carries parts for this car.

Performance wise, its ok. Its no sports car. It will get you from point a to point b. I dont know why it lacks power when going uphill. I suspect its the tranny. You have lots of space inside. I have carried 10 people in mine. I have also used it as a pick up. Back area stuffed full of boxes and stuff.

City driving will drain your fuel. 5km/l average. Highway I normally do 10km/l. Best I have done is around 12-13km/l on the highway. Not bad considering. Fastest I have gone is 170 kmh. From time to time, I go up to 140 kmh.

[M1Super90]

Thanks userfriendly, I think I got all the info I needed. they are very informative and comprehensive. Thanks again.

[Starex_Gold]

buhayin muna natin itong thread.

1 week palang yung Venture sa amin. so far ok naman. engine performance ok naman, at di sya maingay! unlike jap 3.0 V6 engines. yung suspension walang rattle at soft talaga. very stable. good handling at ang daming features.

33k KMS na ngayon. yung AC nga lang mukang kailangan na patingnan kasi super hina at di na lumalamig ang number 5, parang lowest setting lang ng AC ng FD ko.

may mga questions lang ako..
1.) pag PMS nyo ba usually magkano ang inaabot? (yung palit lahat ng filters, change oil, tune up, etc..)
2.) saan kayo nagpapa cleaning ng AC?

thanks mga bossing!

[misnej]

those were negatives, wala bang positive comments kahit papaano? im considering to buy 1 (2002 second hand unit) maybe because it corresponds with my budget... nagsearch ako ng kia carnival which venture have the same style and feature mas pinili ko na venture simply becoz the low price and much better feature of the venture... is this a right choice?...

[Horsepower]

No, it's not.

KIA carnival is more expensive simply because it's better. Cheaper parts, more reliable, diesel engine, etc.

[chuaed]

those were negatives, wala bang positive comments kahit papaano? im considering to buy 1 (2002 second hand unit) maybe because it corresponds with my budget... nagsearch ako ng kia carnival which venture have the same style and feature mas pinili ko na venture simply becoz the low price and much better feature of the venture... is this a right choice?...

hwag na, hanap ka nalang ng iba...

[glntVR]

Not sure about the venture. I think latter units have improved over the first batch of ventures sold here.

From reading this thread and marvin's(tofu venture), it seems like yun mga unang release ang nag ooverheat and madame talaga problem.

Ours i think is a 2002 or 2003 model, basta XKX yung letters sa plate. Two tone LT model. From our experience, never nag overheat.

But * current odo reading of around 60K kms, the engine was already opened up for replacing of some parts. not sure what pero sabi ng driver halos parang top overhaul na.

Beside that, everything works fine naman. A/C is cool but not Nissan cool. Ride is really soft and comfy. Engine pulls strong naman. Going uphill just have to rev it a bit harder(no overheat with ours).

Space is big inside. Even with all chairs occupied there's still reasonable luggage space.

For the past year or so, servicing is done outside the casa. We buy parts from thunder and let a chevy trained mechanic do the work * home. Maintenance and parts are a bit more expensive compared to its counterparts.

Ours has white lighting on the interior/dash/gauge panel and better quality switches and radio. The first batch released had red dash/gauge panel lighting and gray plasticky switches, so if you really want to buy a venture, avoid the first batch. Headache talaga.

[Starex_Gold]

buhayin ulit natin ito.

67k na yung odo nung Venture namin. Napansin ko may malakas na umuugong sa gulong sa harap pag lampas ng 40kph tapos palakas ng palakas habang bumibilis. Tingin ko bearing yung may problem.

Saan kaya makakabili ng front bearing? Sa casa kasi walang stock tapos sobra mahal pa

[userfriendly]

That sound is most likely the front wheel bearing. Should cost around 11 to 12k per pc sa Thunder. Its an assembly that also contains the abs sensors. You cant just pullout the defective bearing. You have to replace the entire unit.

BTW, my unit's milage is already over 100,000 kms. Just had the front and rear suspension repaired by Cruven. Ride is not as good as before but its usable.

Aircon tip. A clogged or dirty cabin airfilter will cause the aircon to lose cooling capacity. Air volume is also greatly reduced. Solution: open your glove compartment, at the very back there is a panel. Open it and pull out 2 cabin airfilters. Use a aircompressor to clean it. Your aircon will be back to normal. I've been doing this for over 4 years and almost 50,000 kms. Works well and have not had to buy new cabin airfilters.

Has anyone tried adding aux fans to help with the overheating issue?

[Gen. Miting]

nakow yan din naging problema ng venture namin noon. initial estimate ng casa, 100K daw. good thing we pulled some strings, napababa sa 30K. after repair, binenta na kagad namin venture namin

[Starex_Gold]

ay grabe naman ang presyo ng front wheel bearings :hammer:

nakita ko na yung aircon filter sa glove box. pinabugahan ko na ng compressed air last november pa. ngayon ayos parin yun. lumamig na rin at lumakas yung fan.

[mulawin]

hello po, i know this is an old thread but i'd like to share my own experience with our venture 2003...

i got 2nd hand * 58k miles, though its not spring chicken anymore it's still a very good ride.

aircon is not cool...it's COLD! the air filter is the key i guess.

fuel economy is not ideal but then 6-7km/li city driving from pasig to makati is not so bad, it's just as fuel efficient as our highly abused corona. so far so good :-)

suspension is "soft" and comfortable considering the car's age, maybe a larger wheel diameter + lower profile tire will stiffen it up a bit and give it a more robust feel.

no overheating problems yet, let's see how that holds when we go up to tagaytay (haven't gone on a long drive for some time!). actually i've been expecting cooling issues but thankfully none of that has happened.

cabin is spacious and captain's chairs are second to none (IMHO) in comfort.

before deciding on the venture we've gone through a lot of articles all over the net muna and there are a lot of horror stories around regarding this model specially locally but there are also a lot of positive comments even in american forums. siguro one can say the same for most cars.

yes, parts and casa service are somewhat pricier than toyotas, etc., fuel economy is NOT low (but then it IS a V6). if fuel economy is the main factor, don't go for this chevy, it will never win vs the jazz or yaris.

we're probably lucky the previous owner took good care of his minivan.

maybe it just need a bit more TLC than our other cars but over all we've got a spacious and very comfortable family car in this ride. it's got a lot of life in it still and i'd still choose this one over a bnew innova or starex.

[userfriendly]

Do you experience coolant loss? Ang lakas ng coolant loss ng unit ko. About a liter a month ang dagdag ko sa coolant expansion tank. No overheating. No leak detected. No oil in the radiator or expansion tank.

Pag uphill, hirap ang engine and medyo umiinit. About 1/2 or a little above 1/2. Lipat ko aircon to heater and babalik sa normal ang temp. Sabi ng mechanic ko, ex casa supervisor, na no signs of broken head gasket pero di rin niya masabi bakit ang lakas ng coolant loss.

Radiator cap replaced last April 2007 mga 30,000 kms na rin. Malinis ang radiator, na pa lavramon ko nung April 2008, around 19,000 kms ago.

I suspect a pin hole leak na evaporate agad ang coolant. How do i trace this?

[Frontsight]

Hello everyone

I have a 2004 Venture. It developed a weird problem. The idling is rough for the first 15 minutes after each startup then it becomes normal after that. It seems that if the engine cools down a bit, the rough idling happens but disappears when the engine reaches normal operating temperature. This is only while idling with the tranny either in park or drive.

Had the engine and tranny supports checked and all are still intact. Could this be related to the intake or exhaust?

Hope someone has other ideas or can recommend a good venture mechanic/shop aside from the dealer.

Thanks

Ed

[mikeg]

For Overheating at uphill climb and coolant loss, replace your radiator cap with the correct pressure cap (1.1 - 1.4 bar rating) Mine I use is 1.4 bar, bought at Blade for I think only 140pesos. I saw one also at Ace and Truevalue. Don't use 0.8bar as it will just spill your coolant when it reach 110degC. For rough Idling, Just clean your throttle body, remove the Air intake hose going to throttle body, then wipe off sludge on throttle plate. You can swing the throttle plate to clean. Use rags and damp it with kerosine or carb cleaner. Hope this helps. Blaming overheat on the GM is not so right, we have other brand of vehicle that is overheating and can't be fixed, after different tries of different Mechanics overheating was fixed.Overheating may be due to a simple radiator cap failure initially or broken hose... etc.... then as soon as you experience overheating, engine block will warp, then now will contribute to increasing pressure in your coolant system. Never open rad cap frequently to prevent early damage of your rad cap seal. Just check coolant on Overflow tank. I have a chevy Venture, and works perfectly even on long hill climb, full of passengers.

[mikeg]

Additional input, check also air in coolant system. If upper Radiator Hose is soft, there's air/bubbles in your cooling system. Bleed it as per manual. Also worn rad cap will make upper rad hose soft to squeeze and make bubble noise in the overflow tank.

[glntVR]

Anyone here knows how much Ventures go for?

2003 model with around 67k mileage.

Thanks!