Bigbusa Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 (edited) I picked up a nice 2000 GMC Safari SLE AWD. It's loaded and only has 39k miles. It even has rear A/C and heat. If anyone wants to buy my subarus (97 legacy sedan & 96 impreza outback sport), give me a shout. Cheap subies in upstate NY. Edited October 15, 2009 by Bigbusa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valvestem Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Congrats on the new catch. Stay in touch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbusa Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 Thanks. I grew up in gorham / westbrook area! Do you remember the HOB KNOB bar near SD warren? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Nice buy there rare vans thats for sure. Make sure it has a alarm of some sort. My friend is a huge fan of the safari's they can last long. He had 2 AWD safari's and both got stolen because people are looking for AWD part vans supposedly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3eyedwagon Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 A 4.3L v6 with a 4l60e AWD packed into a shaggin wagon. Yup. Good call. There was a twin turbo'd one in Car Craft a couple years ago that ran low 11 second quarter miles. Killer drivetrain = win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Thats a great van. Those are the ones i wanted. Proven reliable drive train. AWD to boot. But my wife (grrrrr her choice) didnt like it because the passenger legroom up front and she thought it was ugly. I told her its much more then that and a van like that would last us a long time. Plus with a full size frame they were stouter then the other ones and they had a towing capasity. Well needless to say we pickedo a 05 caravan. Its been a decent rig but we dont have xtra room when we go on trips. The tranny is funny and has been funny in these cars since they were 1st introduced. Though the astro/safari is still classified as a minivan they are more macho then the front wheel drive cheepies. Congrats on the find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgambino Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 I picked up a nice 2000 GMC Safari SLE AWD. It's loaded and only has 39k miles. It even has rear A/C and heat. If anyone wants to buy my subarus (97 legacy sedan & 96 impreza outback sport), give me a shout. Cheap subies in upstate NY. BigBusa I sent you a private message Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 This is in my town: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbusa Posted October 16, 2009 Author Share Posted October 16, 2009 I sold both the subarus already. They went fast! I would have loved to get a BAJA suby but used ones are just too expensive for me. I could always turn it into a baja like the one Durania posted! I'm really loving this Safari. The 190hp engine has got balls for days. I just drove it to Pa to pick up some stuff. I put at least 1/2 ton of goodies in the van. It rode nice and had plenty of power. MPG isn't great but MPG was not really a concern I had. I wanted a powerful engine, AWD, tons of towing & cargo capacity... MPG be damned! It has a tow/haul tranny mode too. The safari towing capacity is 6000 lbs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Make sure you have 4 matched tires. Long story short...my Dad worked at a Chevrolet dealership as mechanic for 40 years. There was another mechanic at the garage there, who did an alignment on one of these and noticed the tires were getting worn, so the dealership sold and installed 2 new tires on the van. shortly after, the customer came back and the transmission was toast, but the van was still under warranty. So the Chevrolet dealer ordered new warranty tranny, and installed it. About 2 weeks later, same customer came back, that tranny had gone bad. So, they installed another thinking it was just a bad one from the factory. Well, about 2 weeks again pass and they come back, again, tranny is toast.......They got to looking and noticed the 2 new tires on back.....which they had put on there......Dealership did not KNOW about AWD systems, as they are rare indeed for a Chevrolet in that era. Guess what, they learned.....Make sure all 4 tires match...same as a subie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3eyedwagon Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 You can squeeze a few more MPG out of it, as well as get some more power with some simple tricks. I don't know all the cool tricks about the later 4.3s as I do about the OBD1s and early OBD2s, but, there is a wealth of info out there about stuff to do to these. These motors respond REALLLLLY well to simple things like K&N FIPK kits, and throttle body spacers. My 2wd S10 gets around 27 mpg, and it is way faster than they ever designed the chasis to handle. My point is that you can get some of that MPG back with a little research, and have better pulling power, and some more fun. And the best part is that all those aftermarket parts for these things are ridiculously cheap compared to most everything else. The 8th digit in the vin will tell you what motor yours has, and you can learn alot from there. It's probably an X or W code, meaning TPI or CPFI/SPFI. Those are pretty hop up friendly.... I'd suggest roller rockering it.... It is the number one best mod I ever made to my 4.3, and probably the main reason it has lasted so long under such harsh conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoobySchmitty Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Parents had a 4.3 Astro conversion for a long time, we made several camping trips in it towing a pop-up, us and a cargo roof. She would get about 15-17 mpg doing all that, wonderful truckster. Hated driving it, big wobbly van and all, but it was at least a comfy ride. :-p Nice find, the AWD ones are real peaches I understand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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