2005 Chevrolet Uplander

First a little history on my recent vehicles

I used to have a 95 Windstar several years back and liked the idea of a Van but the Windstar was plagued with problems, and had nothing but trouble when ever we tried towing our tent trailer. After replacing the engine, transmission and several other repairs over about the last year we owned it, I had enough and looked for something that could tow a bit more.

Leased a S10 Crew Cab and drove that for the last three years. Truck was solid and could tow the trailer without an issue, but I missed my van terrible for all of the added functionality, cargo room, passenger capacity, etc. So I have been looking for something bigger the last while.

I was leaning towards the extended Trailblazer, but lease payment were still quite high and more than I wanted to spend so I began looking again at minivans key factors being room, and towing capacity.

We decided on the 2005 Uplander LT with the towing package.

I have only had the Van for about 5 weeks now, but have towed out trailer a little bit, and have had the van on all sorts of terrain.

1) Handling & Economy the van drives great, much quieter than the S10 on all terrain, and better gas mileage as well, so far only 3500 KMS on the van but average economy on the highway is no more than 10 liters per 100 km, and around town about 14 liters per 100 km. As mentioned I have had it on the highway, gravel, secondary gravel, and very hilly and un-kept roads, and the Uplander handled them all without an issue. I was actually surprised and impressed with the handling. Very comfortable ride, handles and drives very well.

2) Features We opted for the DVD player and the kids love it, neat feature, allowing them to listen to their own MP3 CD via the headphones (Yes the DVD player plays MP3 s as well), and we can listen to our MP3 s on the main system (or the radio) and you can switch the audio on the DVD player to play through the main system on the fly Very Nice!

Rear Cargo Center Very neat feature, really like it!

Fold Flat Seats Work great and love not having to remove seats

Air System and Rear 12 volt The pump in the van works better than any 12 volt air pump I have ever used. I Fish from a belly boat a lot and have gone through many a portable 12 volt compressor, using them to blow up my belly boat (uses a BIG 21 truck tire tube) In the past with the portable compressors they are very loud and would take about 1-1.5 hrs to inflate the tube (Between letting the pumps cool down) so we would always try to fill up the tube once and then keep it inflated, but the Uplander s onboard pump had her filled up in about 1.5 cycles of the pump. (10 minutes per cycle then cools down for 5) so we had the task done in about 20 minutes! Very Nice

The Uplander s comes with 8 speakers as opposed to the Montana SV6 with only 6, or so it says Not sure where the other two speakers are, but the overall sound is pretty good, could be better but more than acceptable with good quality recordings, crappy MP3 s sound will be noticed so take the time to rip your music at good quality bit rate.

Room Lots of it . Getting to the third row with the second row counsel (Between the seats) is a little tight but the kids and family seem to have no troubles.

Cup-holders Galore 12 no less! More than needed and plenty for everyone ..

3) Controls Some people have complained about layouts, buttons, and brightness of controls but after the first week everything seems to be in a logical place and I have no issues what so ever.

4) Power The power behind the drive train is decent (actually has 10% more horsepower than the S10 with the 4.3L, but about 10% less torque) Could be better but for day to day driving, not an issue

5) Towing So far I have only towed the trailer (2,500 lbs) a very limited bit, and the Uplander seemed to handle the task without a problem. With the factory hidden hitch, hook-up is a no-brainer, and went well.

Using third gear the engine noise is a bit louder than normal but still way less than the S10. Power is there, once you re moving but is a little on the low side from the start, nothing terrible but lower end torque would have been nice. I don t think towing will be an issue, and we have always taken it easy when towing, but I wouldn t recommend the van for anything other than a small tent/cabin trailer, or boat. But I think it will be more than enough for what we needed it for.

6) Appearance I really like the general appearance of the Van, and everyone that has driven it or ridden in it really likes it. My only real complaint or criticism is the front dash. Between the driver and the passenger, there is a huge area that could have been made a bit more functional, either by putting a ledge, additional storage, or something, seems like a bit of wasted space, but I guess they were going for the really clean look. Just my opinion, others have said they preferred it this way

7) On-Star Nice feature not sure how useful it will be, but I have tried the hands-free calling a bit with mixed results a) the reception was pretty bad and hard to understand what each party was saying,. b) On several attempts no connection could be made to On-Star, which seemed a bit odd as I though the point was to be always connected once we were about an hour out of the city the other time we were up north (4 hours from the city) in a provincial park (Lots of trees). I still haven t decided whether or not to subscribe after the year or take the introductory 100 minute package, but time will tell.

8) Unfortunately we couldn t get the stabillitrac option, but from others that I have talked to it would be a nice option to get if available.

9) Power Doors Only got one on the package that we got with the van, and it s rather neat, originally I wasn t keen on them, but now wished I would have gotten both. I like the feature of having the ability to shut them off and still use the doors like normal as well. But they do come in handy at times

In Conclusion .

Sorry if I was a bit long winded, but I wanted to be thorough, the wife and I really like the Van and I think we will be quite happy for years to come, loaded with features, and little extras that once you have had for a little while you ll come to appreciate. Overall very well thought out, and put together.

If you re in the market for a Van I highly recommend taking a look or even renting one for a weekend. Renting is nice as an option simply because you can have a bit of time with the Van that you don t get with a test drive; I know Budget has them already.

Take a look before you make a purchase, incidentally I like the Uplander much better than the Grand Caravan with sow and go, seat are far more comfortable as well.

Thanks

TJ