The Chevy Express is a great budget van that can be very comfortable for a large family. The van has great options for storage, seating, comfort and safety with a lower price tag than its higher priced competitors.
Why Choose a Chevy Express for a family?
Making the jump to a full size van can be so costly, the Chevrolet Express is an established model with a great track record that is widely available at a good price.
Bench seats give the driver great visibility and lots of options for the wild, unconventional ways that families use vans. The bench seat allows easy napping during your brother’s baseball practice and a nice flat surface for diaper changes.
We spend so much time in our van that I have converted the back into a “living room.” The simplicity of the Express makes it easy to put in and take out seats and configure the space just how you want it.
We love our “big van” because everyone has some space and we are always ready for an adventure. This van is capable and powerful and big enough for everything we need.
I recommend you look for one with a roof rack if you are big adventurers or travelers.
What to consider when choosing a van
- Who needs to fit in it?
So I’m talking about the kids here. The thing is carseats are not people. They take up so.much.space. They are difficult to install and they need to be installed and removed with a fair amount of regularity. I do not have 12 people who need to fit in my van. I chose to have a few extra seats. I want to be able to drive around with my sister and her kids, I want to be able to pick up my mom friends and her kids. I chose my van to have at least 4 extra seats. I recommend extra seats.
I grew up driving with my 4 siblings to visit family 12 hours away twice a year. The extra room was necessary for the luggage, the food, the cranky attitudes. Buy the big van!
- How much will it cost to drive it?
Full sized vans average in the 15-25 mpg range. The Ford Transit Connect has the best mileage with about 25.5 mpg, while the NV came in the lowest with 15.
Gas mileage is such a huge factor. I will never forget my dad telling me that we got 9 miles a gallon on those long road trips. Research the options, go hybrid if you can swing it. This cost will keep you from going to those great places you hope to show the kids. Try hitting the trip button on the odometer and see how many miles you drive in a week. Take that number and divide it by the miles per gallon on the van you are looking for. That will tell you how many gallons of gas you will need in a week. Its empowering to know your numbers.
I dug deep into the cost of ownership and wear and tear and the numbers were really interesting! It really made me question if we should treat our Chevy like a camper and drive the mini most of the time.
- How much can you afford?
Buy the best van you can afford. As a mom, the van is a big part of the job. This is probably not true for everyone in every situation, but for us, we drive over 45 minutes on every day that we leave the house. If we go to the big park in town we will be eating in the car, probably using the bathroom in the car, nursing in the car, and changing a diaper in the car. If you have a van you love, it will make all this stuff easier.
- How will you use it?
Take inventory of all the things you use your van for. Think about what you hope to do in the future. Will you be driving kids to college in this van? Will you be soccer mom with the ball bag? Are you pregnant? In 2 years how many car seats will you be using? Try to avoid anything that will not meet those needs.
Is an Express better than an NV or Transit?
An Express is a better option for a budget van in a family with young kids and lots of car seats. If you have more teens and adults to transport, your crew will likely be more comfortable in an NV or Transit.
These vans are designed with adults in mind. They are meant to be great people moving vans for commercial use. I say go test drive everything. If you have a large amount of money to purchase a new van look at the NV and Transit, even look at the Sprinter. If you are looking for an affordable, reliable, newer van I think the Chevy is where it is at. I test drove the Transit and I was a really nice van to drive, the storage in the console was much better than my Chevy, but the cargo space was seriously lacking and it felt like an airplane inside. I have not lived with one or installed car seats, but it is designed for adults. The Chevy has been hauling teens to summer camp since 1995.
Is Rollover a Problem in the Chevrolet Express?
The express only gets three out of five stars in the overall rollover safety rating, so that is concerning. The design of the van makes it more susceptible to rolling. This is the rating I found for every full sized van.
Some data by the National Highway Traffic Safety folks suggests that vans produced after 2000 are less likely to roll due to improvements in safety features. Two Thirds of the cars that rolled were pre 2000. You can read the study here (https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/811235_0.pdf) it contains a lot of interesting information about rollover crashes.
The newer safety features seem to be making it safer to drive these vans.
Driving to Avoid Rollover
Driving within the speed limit and slowing down early for turns reduces the risk of rollover significantly.
The good news is 60% of rollover accidents involve SUVs, so by driving under the speed limit and slowing down early for turns, you are unlikely to roll.
Families Will Love
Plenty of LATCH seating options for car seats, lots of cargo room, easier to find used! There are many reasons for families to love the Chevrolet Express. This is the van my family chose for our growing passenger list and we have been very happy.
I am seriously obsessed with my van. We love it and it is so comfortable for us. If you are looking for a van, I say go get an Express.
I love to plan big trips and I have a detailed packing strategy that I use all the time. I built a couch for the trunk of this car so we could easily pack my husband’s telescope. Its perfection.
