# Which one is best chevrolet van or dodge caravan?I **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [June 17, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300 "2015-06-17T15:21:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![johnfiore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@johnfiore](https://community.cartalk.com/u/johnfiore)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/1 "2015-06-17T15:21:05Z")
I need your suggestion to buy chevrolet cargo van or dodge caravan van. Which one would be best for commercial purposes? Any advice would be appreciate. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/2 "2015-06-17T15:40:08Z")
We have a number of gmc savanna vans at work, hastened some replacements as last year was the end of the all wheel drive. You might plan on snow tires in the winter if you get much snow. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/3 "2015-06-17T15:40:15Z")
New or used? How much cargo will you carry? The Express is a commercial truck and the Dodge is not. You should get longer service out of the Chevy if you treat it well. For light duty, the Caravan might be better since it gets better mileage. If you are a tradesman, I’d go with the Chey. If this is a new van, you might look at the Ford Transit, too. ---
**Author:** ![ken\_green](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/ken_green/32/816_2.png) [@ken\_green](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ken_green)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/4 "2015-06-17T18:35:13Z")
Yes , I wonder too, WHAT are you going to tote ? Where to , where from , and how often ? Flowers ?..minivan Rack band gear ? …van Tools and equpipment with mounted bins a shelves ? …van. many people ? …minivan. etc etc For my country/rock band gear , a trailer was the best long term ( 30 years of weekends ) hauler. So much equipment needed to just stay stored in between that leaving it inside the van …or unloading then reloading the van was impractical. Even for practices, less than half the stuff was needed so simply parking and storing it in the trailer was the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/5 "2015-06-17T23:47:33Z")
For delivering light parcels, the Dodge would be OK. For heavy duty use, almost anything is better than the Dodge. ---
**Author:** ![meaneyedcatz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meaneyedcatz/32/692_2.png) [@meaneyedcatz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meaneyedcatz)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/6 "2015-06-18T04:31:36Z")
Depends what your hauling. large loads, the Chevy Express/GMC Savannah. Small loads, Chevy City Express or the Ford Transit Connect. IMOO, I would not buy a Chrysler van with YOUR money. ( : ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/7 "2015-06-18T17:39:46Z")
@meaneyedcatz Yes, the Transit Connect, built in Turkey by Ford, is a really versatile machine. The Canadian Post Office has now standardized on it for local delivery. Each postman has one and they now deliver both mail and parcels. The van no doubt had some serious upgrades to cope with Canadian winters. ---
**Author:** ![missileman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/missileman/32/1366_2.png) [@missileman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/missileman)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/8 "2015-06-19T04:14:29Z")
**“For delivering light parcels, the Dodge would be OK. For heavy duty use, almost anything is better than the Dodge.”** I agree and I’ve owned several Dodge products including Dakotas which I really like. ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 5:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/9 "2015-06-19T05:36:31Z")
I am somewhat confused. The Dodge Caravan and the Chevy Cargo van are completely different vehicles. Your needs will dictate which one to choose. I faced a similar situation when I needed to replace my 1990 Ford Aerostar extended body. It was on a truck chassis and really fit my needs. However, Ford no longer made this type of vehicle. GM had also discontinued the Chevy Astro and GMC Safari. I was then left with the choice of either a large van such as the Ford E150 or a car based minivan such as the Dodge Caravan. After adding the pros and cons, the car based minivan came closer to fulfilling my needs and I bought a Ford Windstar. The full size van was too clumsy to drive around town when I wasn’t transporting my fellow musicians and,their instruments. However, the discontinued Aerostar, for me, was the ideal vehicle. I didn’t want to go with two vehicles–a full sized van and a small car. ---
**Author:** ![MG-McAnick](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mg-mcanick/32/188_2.png) [@MG-McAnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MG-McAnick)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 6:23am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/10 "2015-06-22T06:23:57Z")
A local courier delivery service has SEVERAL vans. For light duty they prefer Chryco mini vans. Some of theirs have over 400K miles, and they go 12 to 16 hours of stop and go use every day. Their larger vans are Chevys on half ton chassis. They do a very good job of keeping up with maintenance on all their vehicles with regular oil and transmission fluid changes. ---
**Author:** ![johnfiore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@johnfiore](https://community.cartalk.com/u/johnfiore)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/11 "2015-06-22T14:31:27Z")
It seems that ford or chevy are reliable companies coz you all are mentioning with different models.I have seen some used cargo vans here [http://the-van-man.com//newandusedcars.aspx](http://the-van-man.com//newandusedcars.aspx) I will buy used vans from the list. ---
**Author:** ![dagosa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dagosa/32/9837_2.png) [@dagosa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dagosa)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-one-is-best-chevrolet-van-or-dodge-caravan-i/90300/12 "2015-06-22T20:26:46Z")
Agree…these are two completly differnt van types. One is designed for people, the other for cargo. If it’s for cargo use, a rwd Savana or equivalent. If it’s for both cargo and people, the same. Minivans just can’t hold up to commercial use involving frequent heavy loads regardless of the type. Minivans are meant for loads of about 1000 Imho safely without special equipment.max while commercial cargo are well over 1000 to three quarter ton and they do it daily. Now, if all you need is a capacity for light packages, anything will do. Think…rwd and ladder frame and choose features and take it from there. These are trucks in every sense of the word.