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Posted By: jmaluso Looking at a 1993 G20 advice on what it's worth? - March 28th 2017 3:31 pm
I'm not sure if posts like this are allowed here but my wife and I are looking for a road trip/camping vehicle and a 1993 Chevy Van with Mark III conversion option popped up in our area. The owner says it was always garaged and it looks really clean from the photos. It has 91,000 original miles on it and the V-8 engine option. What is a reasonable price for this year and mileage? Also, anything specific to these vans that I should look for when I go take a look in person and drive it? Their asking price is $6,500 which is much higher than the Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds.com private party values even at "Excellent" condition. Is that a reasonable price for the mileage if it's in great shape and was well maintained?

I thought I would come on here first to get a little more info and maybe a more accurate value so I don't offend the owner if I decide to make an offer. I totally get it that some cars, like low mileage Mazda Miatas that I have owned in the past, so sell for much more than blue book so I didn't think it would hurt to throw the question out to folks on here so I don't overpay.

Thanks in advance.
Posted By: frscke1 Re: Looking at a 1993 G20 advice on what it's worth? - March 28th 2017 3:43 pm
Welcome to the site .... I did a Kelly Blue Book to see what they appraised it at & they dont take into account the Mark III conversion. The van itself was worth 2K-3K.


Its really hard to appraise your van with out pictures ..... cause even the color makes a difference
Posted By: jmaluso Re: Looking at a 1993 G20 advice on what it's worth? - March 28th 2017 5:11 pm
I am attaching some of the photos here. Sorry about the image resolution...the seller didn't post the best quality...it seems to be in really good shape without seeing it in person yet.

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Posted By: jmaluso Re: Looking at a 1993 G20 advice on what it's worth? - March 28th 2017 5:14 pm
Thanks for the warm welcome and the reply btw

Originally Posted by frscke1
Welcome to the site .... I did a Kelly Blue Book to see what they appraised it at & they dont take into account the Mark III conversion. The van itself was worth 2K-3K.
Its really hard to appraise your van with out pictures ..... cause even the color makes a difference

Posted By: frscke1 Re: Looking at a 1993 G20 advice on what it's worth? - March 28th 2017 5:32 pm
It looks in tact, look for any cancer spots (rust), take it for a drive. Have your mech check out the driveablility. When did it last pass inspection & are the tags current ? The price is only what he can get some one to pay. Dont worry about insulting the guy, he is insulting you by asking a buyer to pay a over the top price. 5K max.
That's a nice looking van, but when I saw the $6500 asking price, I had to go back and re-read your post to verify it was a private seller, because that sounds more like the inflated, haggle-ready price a dealership would ask.
My expectation would be that it would be more in the $4500-$5000 range.
Also, I'm wondering why the rear view mirror is sitting on the dash.


Posted By: jmaluso Re: Looking at a 1993 G20 advice on what it's worth? - March 28th 2017 9:02 pm
I was wondering about the rear-view as well. Good catch. I have owned older cars where they just fell off by themselves because of heat or sun exposure etc. but definitely a good thing to ask the owner about. Maybe the windshield was just replaced or something...

OK, so far it seems like you guys are feeling the $4,500-5,000 range. Glad I asked.

Originally Posted by Rusty_Pancelode
That's a nice looking van, but when I saw the $6500 asking price, I had to go back and re-read your post to verify it was a private seller, because that sounds more like the inflated, haggle-ready price a dealership would ask.
My expectation would be that it would be more in the $4500-$5000 range.
Also, I'm wondering why the rear view mirror is sitting on the dash.
Posted By: jmaluso Re: Looking at a 1993 G20 advice on what it's worth? - March 28th 2017 11:16 pm
I have a few other questions for those that are familiar with these vans. Besides rust, overspray, other visible signs of an accident being covered up, what should I look for with a 1993 w/V8? Anything particular to these vans that I should know about. Any issues that are very common. Is the engine fairly accessible and easy to work on? Are replacement parts in general easy to find? I have been a Subaru and Mazda guy for a while so I'm not very familiar. Does anyone know the roof rail/rain gutter weight capacity? I have thoughts of eventually mounting a roof top tent.
I don't know...
Mine is a '92 Cargo van with the 5.7 liter V8. I bought it with 68,000 miles on it, and it was in pretty good shape, except the interior was an old custom job with shelving in the back (was used for an interior decorator's sample hauler or some such).
The only thing it needed was a $13 part for the A/C controls, because the vacuum switch was leaking.
I paid $2300 for it about 3 years ago, and I'd buy it again over and over. smile

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head as a common issue on these vans is door hinge pin failure.
I've seen a lot of vans running around with bent edges on the fender and door from where the door sagged and caught the fender.
This is obviously not an issue on the van you're looking at, but I'm just trying to brainstorm.
I'm sure there are probably other things, but I can't think of any right now.

Accessing the engine is not so much difficult as it is different. Some stuff you can reach from under the hood, but other stuff has to be reached from under the dog-house, which can be a minor pain because you have to remove the "center console" for lack of a better term and the engine cover itself (dog-house), and the seats are kind of in the way.
However, it is much, much easier than working on my '85 Toyota MR-2 or my '96 Camaro. LOL

As far as parts availability goes...
Most of the mechanical stuff is easy to get, and is relatively cheap, with body and trim stuff being a little more difficult to source, and replacement conversion specific parts being the hardest.

When I'm considering buying a vehicle I'm not familiar with, I usually go to an auto parts store's website and look up parts that I'm likely to replace (brakes, filters, etc..), and see if there's anything that throws a red flag (Like my BMW X5's $300 battery (Don't worry... I sold that headache)). Our vans don't really have that, as most of the things you'll be buying regularly were shared across several other models, so the parts stores usually have regular maintenance stuff in stock all the time.

Frscke1's advice is sound, and in my opinion, if it's not rusty, hasn't been wrecked, and will pass whatever inspection your state requires, I don't think you'd be buying anything to be intimidated by. The thing that intimidates me the most is a possible fuel pump failure, as you have to drop the tank to replace it, and that can be a pain. A heater core failure can also be a pain because you have to pull the whole dash out to replace it (I did mine a year or so ago), but the part is only about $20.
If you're coming from the Subaru and Mazda world... You're probably going to think the van parts are free in comparison. LOL

I have no idea what the roof rail capacity is, so I've got nothing there.


The only things that pop to mind with the TBI small block are valve stem seals (puff of blue oil smoke on start up...common to SBCs), and vacuum leaks at the base of the TBI unit to intake gasket...weird 3 bolt design.
Posted By: CatFish Re: Looking at a 1993 G20 advice on what it's worth? - March 29th 2017 3:37 pm
I agree with the above.
One other part that can fail is the wiper delay board. It's not very expensive but it's located on the wiper motor behind the dash and is a pain to reach.
I've got nothing against a 305 Chevy V8, I own one and really like it, but the 350 does have a higher resale.
We have a '93 G20 shorty with the V6, a '94 GMC G1500 with the 305 and a '95 G20 with the 350.
We bought our '95 three years ago with only 29K miles and we paid way more than book value. But it had what we had been looking for. We'd do it again, and right now we wouldn't part with it for what we paid.
As they say, "Beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder....."
Posted By: jmaluso Re: Looking at a 1993 G20 advice on what it's worth? - April 04th 2017 3:54 am
Well, I tried. I emailed the person numerous times and I guess the demand was high enough in this area. He never returned my emails to look at the Van until after it was sold. Bummer. Time to keep my eyes peeled for the next gem to pop up...thanks for everything!
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