Shopping for new TV

[Anmacc2]

Well, DW and I spent several days shopping for a new TV. We don't want a pick up so we looked at vans and SUVs....
Mercedes Sprinter - Trusted mechanic strongly advised against it.
Navigator, Expedition, Suburban - beautiful, capable, comfortable, luxurious, EXPENSIVE! Power everything! Automatic everything! All technology! Too much to go wrong!!! Too many gadgets bells and whistles! It's all great till things stop working.
Ford Transit - not powerful enough.
Late model E350 - hard to find with the bigger 6.0 engine
Chevy express 3500 with 6.0 - Harder to find

Final decision! We're keeping our 14yr old Chevy Express with 93,000 miles. It has gotten us everywhere we've wanted to go so far towing either the RV, or the boat. It still looks good and runs well so what the heck were we thinking???

[tatest]

Ford never put the 6.0 V8 in the E-series, which stayed with the older modular engines when the new powerplants were developed for the F-Superduty line.

E-350 passenger vans will have the 5.4 standard equipment, 6.8 V-10 optional. E-150 passenger vans will have the 4.6 standard, 5.4 optional (particularly with the 8600 pound GVWR option). The 6.8 is really hard to find used, it was not bought by many fleet users, nor did it go into the rental market.

When I was shopping for my van, I found almost all of the ex-lease and ex-rental 12 or 15 passenger Express 3500s had the 6.0, while the 8 passenger Express vans had the 4.8 if 2500, and the 5.3 if 1500. Ended up with a 2013 E-350 12 passenger, 19K miles for $20,500 about 18 months ago. Prices of 2013 E-350s have been going up lately, as a steady demand butts heads with increasing scarcity. For many buyers, the Transit just won't do.

A new 8 passenger E-150 (with all the trimmings, towing equipment, 5.4 and 8600 GVWR) was quoted to me last year of sales for $38,000. A whole lot cheaper than a SUV with similar capabilities, but still it had at least $10K worth of options I would rather not buy. The ex-rental is more my kind of truck.

What you might gain with a new Express 3500 would be the 6-speed auto with the 6.0. The seats haven't changed since 2001, which is why I went with the Ford, which got sturdier seating with the 2007-8 upgrades.

[CavemanCharlie]

Golly, I have a 11 year old Chevy Silverado 1500 . I have had it for 4 years. It's Broke down all the time. Cost 400 dollars in repairs for every 10000 miles I drive it. The transmission was the big thing. Got a Buddy with a 2003 Surburban and his transmission went out too. The transmissions on these things have a life expectancy of about 80000 miles.

[MrWizard]

in tech or class A or most forums on here TV is television
now iF talking in in TT or 5vr or toads, TV is assumed Tow Vehicle

for those that Don't tow

TV is television, unless otherwise specified that is the first thought that comes to mind

i'm not nit picking, i just posted what i thought when i saw the subject in General, when i read it , there was no confusion
but until i read, i really thought the OP was shopping for a television
the best TV for Rv comes up a lot

its the context of which forum ? which forms the basis of use

do you use TV for tow vehicle when sitting around the camp fire or the living room ?

millions of people say TV for television Everyday

i don't think TOW vehicle unless i'm in TT, 5vr, hybrid or pup forums

i doubt anybody on the RV forum thinks Thermal Vacuum when they see TV

but considering its an RV forum, is it hard to use T/V to differentiate between the two different meanings ?

the world won't come to an end either way, and change takes time
it was just a comment on the way the Mind works

i'm sure there were others who's first thought was television NOT tow vehicle or maybe i'm the minority ?

BTW i try to always use T/V when addressing a tow situation
as a tech for me TV is television

[Dog_Folks]

MrWizard wrote:
Oh you mean T/V tow vehicle

i saw the post and thought you meant television
until i read it

Checking lists of common acronyms and abbreviations, including the one here, all show "tow vehicle" as "TV."

Is T/V a new way of expressing it?

From the free Dictionary:

Acronym

Definition

T/V Thermal Vacuum
T/V Threat/Vulnerability
T/V Tanker Vessel (oil transportation)

I'm confused but then again that does not take much. 🙂

[MrWizard]

Oh you mean T/V tow vehicle

i saw the post and thought you meant television
until i read it

[john_bet]

DrewE wrote:
Did you look at the Nissan NV vans? They always sounded pretty nice to me...although milage with the V8 is reportedly nothing to brag about.

They should have a Cummins v-8 in them in a couple of years. I have seen they running around as test mules last year.

[Bumpyroad]

Anmacc2 wrote:

NYCgrrl wrote:

Anmacc2 wrote:

Mercedes Sprinter - Trusted mechanic strongly advised against it.

What was your mechanic's concern with the M Sprinter chassis?

He said the quality just wasn't there. He said he's already working on them with a wide variety of problems and issues, parts are expensive, and they're a PIA to work on.

additionally a dealer may be a long ways off if you are out in the boonies. A local auto fix it show, Gauses garage?? made one of the best comments on this, a man called in with a mercedes vehicle issue and his comment was when they are running right they are great, if you have an issue, just get out your check book and pray. I have been looking at B vans and always skip over the MB ones.
and as a tow vehicle???????
bumpy

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Last year we sold a retired Express van (used by the Red Cross) with almost 300,000 miles on it. Ran like a champ. The guy who bought it, dove it to Mexico City....LOL!

Your van is just "breaking in" 🙂

[Dog_Folks]

Anmacc2 wrote:

Don't know what you were thinking, but I believe you made the logical decision. Unless you can affort it, general advise is if it does not need major repairs, why go into a payment for years. Use the saved money to go camping:)

Our van is 14yrs old with 93,000 miles with the vast majority of those pulling near its upper limits. The cost of a new TV would certainly cover lots of repairs and maintenance. Our plans for our next adventure is about 12k to 14k miles. Our challenge is we are both still working and have generous, yet still limited vacation time. Getting stuck is affordable financially but time wise it could bankrupt us. I'm still thinking we made the right decision.

You made the right decision.

Keep track of maintenance/repair costs and when the monthly costs to keep it on the road exceeds the monthly payment of a new one, buy. BUT not until then.

So far my ten year old truck has an average repair cost of less than $10.00. I won't even look at new ones.

[Anmacc2]

Don't know what you were thinking, but I believe you made the logical decision. Unless you can affort it, general advise is if it does not need major repairs, why go into a payment for years. Use the saved money to go camping:)

Our van is 14yrs old with 93,000 miles with the vast majority of those pulling near its upper limits. The cost of a new TV would certainly cover lots of repairs and maintenance. Our plans for our next adventure is about 12k to 14k miles. Our challenge is we are both still working and have generous, yet still limited vacation time. Getting stuck is affordable financially but time wise it could bankrupt us. I'm still thinking we made the right decision.

[gbopp]

93000 miles on a 14 year old Express. That's just getting broken in, use it and enjoy.
You have many years of service left in your vehicle. :S

Very wise decision.

[Anmacc2]

DrewE wrote:
Did you look at the Nissan NV vans? They always sounded pretty nice to me...although milage with the V8 is reportedly nothing to brag about.

It was/is a front runner for us. If we change our minds and decide to buy we would go back to check it out again. It was capable and versatile. The hood is long thus the passenger/cargo area is a bit shorter. It's very square and boxy. Utilitarian as opposed to comfy. The ride a little hard.... It just didn't fit us quite right. In fairness we had a Ford E Series from 1984 until 2002 when we bought the Chevy Express. We only switched from Ford because we bought the Express 6 months old with 6,000 miles for half the price new.

[Anmacc2]

NYCgrrl wrote:

Anmacc2 wrote:

Mercedes Sprinter - Trusted mechanic strongly advised against it.

What was your mechanic's concern with the M Sprinter chassis?

He said the quality just wasn't there. He said he's already working on them with a wide variety of problems and issues, parts are expensive, and they're a PIA to work on.

[Carlos___Ranae]

Anmacc2 wrote:
Well, DW and I spent several days shopping for a new TV. We don't want a pick up so we looked at vans and SUVs....
Mercedes Sprinter - Trusted mechanic strongly advised against it.
Navigator, Expedition, Suburban - beautiful, capable, comfortable, luxurious, EXPENSIVE! Power everything! Automatic everything! All technology! Too much to go wrong!!! Too many gadgets bells and whistles! It's all great till things stop working.
Ford Transit - not powerful enough.
Late model E350 - hard to find with the bigger 6.0 engine
Chevy express 3500 with 6.0 - Harder to find

Final decision! We're keeping our 14yr old Chevy Express with 93,000 miles. It has gotten us everywhere we've wanted to go so far towing either the RV, or the boat. It still looks good and runs well so what the heck were we thinking???

Don't know what you were thinking, but I believe you made the logical decision. Unless you can affort it, general advise is if it does not need major repairs, why go into a payment for years. Use the saved money to go camping:)