Need suggestions car situation

[wnaplay1647545503]

I currently sold my truck which now leaves me with my honda(which I am so far planning on keeping), my eclipse (which I am selling), and my full size conversion van (which I use to take vacations and pull all the toys). Now I have had the van for many years and since it is a 95 I am constantly worried that it might break down out of town at some point. So I bought my honda and the eclipse to save gas since the van and truck were both guzzlers. I was thinking of selling the eclipse and van and buying a 2002ish suburban or tahoe for the wife as a daily. She doesnt work so not alot of driving(gas). Thus having a newer car that can pull and less likely to break down. Or keeping the van (it is still in nice shape), and buying maybe a used trailblazer or durango for a daily, and keeping the van for trips. But I still have to worry about the condition of the van. Is there any tests that can be done to test the condition of the motor, leak down test maybe? And what will this tell me about the overall condition of the engine? With 3 kids its nice having the space of a van, especially on long road trips. Anything I buy will definately have 3rd row seating. I was thinking if I drop full coverage on the eclipse after selling it, that might help offset the yearly cost of gas. Currently anytime we all go somewhere its the van or nothing. I am a bit worried about what might be happening to a vehicle sitting as long as the van sometimes does(up to 2 weeks). Any suggestions would be great.

[Scotty2Hotty]

Leak down test, and a compression test will tell ya how healthy the motor is. As far as sitting, my Z28 sat for over a year while I was in Iraq, I just had the battery pulled. Had Sunoco 94 in it, re-charged my battery and it fired up first time when I came home. I wouldn't worry so much about it sitting, just double tap all the usual things, like fluid changes, filters, etc... Regular maintanance should keep it healthy.

[TurboRust]

the motor itself in the van is the least of your worries. now will it have fuel pump and front end issues in the future?, hard to tell I would maybe suggest taking the van in for a general full inspection($20 at most shops) and get the front end brakes, and general stuff checked out. the motor and tranny can go forever its the stuff around it you need to worry about.

[s13]

Sell the eclipse and have your wife drive the van. And then it wont sit for extended periods of time.

[Amy]

I have a turbo diesel truck you can buy haha .. but no seriously... saving money and buying 2 trucks/ sport utility type of vehichles is going to be a big expensive.. I say get one that can pull the toys and keep the eclipse as a daily. The new trailblazers are nice but the in line 6's suck on gas the v8s arent bad and can still pull... or you can go with like a F150 they arent too bad on gas and I think are 23 gallon tanks which take 87.. so also not a bad option. Or you can get rid of the eclipse and do like a suby or newer honda 4 cly.

[wnaplay1647545503]

We definately want to get some sort of suv, due to the kids getting bigger and the eclipse being so little. So I guess its either keep the van and get a blazer or trailblazer as a daily or sell the van and get a tahoe or suburban as a daily. Is there a place that will do an overall system check on the van? The van does have some minor issues that havent thus far been a problem but could potentially be in the future.

[HotCarl]

A leakdown/compression test will only show if there is something that could be a catastrophic failure to the motor itself. Most likely if/when you do breakdown it will be something small like a fuel pump, or some sort of accessory (power steering, HVAC, etc...) I think these are more likely to fail after a long period of time than your actual motor.

 

I'd say sell the eclipse and the van and buy a slighly used suburban/tahoe/trailblazer. In the end would'nt you save on your insurance as well? Im guessing your not making payments on these cars?