Well my son took out a deer and now it may be time to put the van out to pasture and shoot it. The van has 233k miles, rear main seal leak, a few other minor issues like rear windows inoperative (I just don't use them).
age of tranny, rust, and timing belt due would be key drivers if it were mine. I'm at 220kmiles myself, with lots of deer around. Not yet hit one, but several close calls.
Yeah mine's got a stuck old spark plug (Rubber came off coil and has jammed in the plug on middle cylinder of the back three, it just had to be that one!) Ody is also getting more and more reluctant to shift out of gear three on the highway, tranny is definitely going, all the belts changes are due and it just clocked 260,000 miles.
I'm just about to hit 200K miles on my '99. Did all of you change the timing belt at 200K? I'm debating if I want to roll the dice and see what happens. Its on it's 3rd tranny but driving beautifully.
I just changed the plugs on it. Anything else I should take a look at for it's 200K birthday?
Damage seems fairly superficial and the rear window problem is minor and somewhat easy and low cost to fix yourself, if needed.
I'm not sure how useful they actually are, overall. Write-ups a plenty in these forums.
Since the timing belt is almost new and no tranny problems, it would seem to be worthwhile to fix it, at least enough to be street legal and safe.
Buffalo4
I'd be tempted to get junkyard parts and replace the bent items, at least price them out. This is assuming there's nothing new leaking. That is a common color around here.
Certifit has aftermarket parts that fit well and are so cheap that you can't fool with used. A new fender is around $35 and the headlights are reasonable too.
I still haven't seen it in person to know what all I'm in for. It happened about 30 mins from the friends of the family that he was returning from. It was 0430 so he turned around and went back just to be safe, instead of the 4 more hours to get here. My friend up there who is relatively mechanically savy pulled the wheel well liner off the tire and bent the fender away from the driver's door. The hood is fubar also. He didn't want to pop it for fear of not being able to secure it (good move) since there are no smells, hisses or strange noises. SO. A hood, fender, bumper cover, light, splash guard, well liner are known to be needed. My friend also said he can see some of the inner mounting surfaces are bent up as well.
When it comes to the rear windows, they are non-issues really. I pulled them apart and they need replacing. They are just small considerations.
Wife says just get a bike rack for her SUV. Looked into what she wants, and it would cost close to $1k.
Elderly relatives: did you know you can fit a full size hospital bed, assembled, in an Ody? I guess that also means it could be temporary housing in a pinch!
That reminds me - two folks have some furniture that I will need to retrieve from a few hundred miles away in the next year.
That right there sums it up for me. 4x8 sheet of drywall or plywood fits right in and the hatch closes. Rain can't get on it, good stuff. My youngest will be 20 soon but we still all climb in the van once in a while, love the space. I don't know what will replace it, AWD would be nice. It's still got life in it so we'll wait and see.
Wow; what a great thread. Especially since my wife just rear ended another soccor mom today with the Ody. I need a hood, drivers side headlight assy, bumper, and the rad. /cooling fans are pushed in about 6" . I drove it home, but luckily I didn't need to stop in traffic. Not sure what would have happened if the fans turned on. The SRS is now on; thankfully, the bags did not deploy.