This is a trip down memory lane...
I mentioned the 2000 GMC Safari Glaval/Auto Form conversion my parents bought brand new in Virginia Beach, in May 2000. The van itself was built like a brick s**thouse. GM hit one out of the park when it designed the 4.3L Vortec V6, and everybody who has ever driven an Astro/Safari knows that the turning radius is often better than a 4-door sedan. When my parents first test drove the very van we ended up buying, the salesman took us to a parking lot (I was along for the ride too) and pointed out the van's particularly tight turning circle by having my mom and my dad drive it in a circle. They were impressed. It was May and the van had been on the lot since January, so dad ended up paying like $24K for a brand new van with an MSRP of well over $30K. Like I said, the van was very dependable and never broke down, but there was one very annoying problem...
We owned it for 4 years and less than 36K miles, and the A/C had to be recharged EVERY YEAR! I've never seen a 1996-2005 Astro/Safari conversion with the traditional REAR HEAT/REAR A/C switch, just REAR FAN if equipped. That's what ours had. The front A/C in our van worked great when charged, but still couldn't come close to the brand 2004 Odyssey we traded it for, and had for 9 years/130K+ miles (NEVER serviced the A/C in the Odyssey).
The first summer we had the 2000 Safari, we had a huge family reunion at my grandma's lakefront vacation homes in Maine (she actually did have TWO next door to each other and still owns one), and one time when my mom had the Safari filled almost to capacity with relatives 40+ years of age, she recalls that everybody in the back was complaining about being too hot even with the "rear A/C" on, and she had to freeze herself out by cranking the front A/C to make up for it. Most of these same relatives complained about it being too cold when they rode in the Odyssey in the middle of a heat wave with the A/C on it's lowest setting.
So, for the 3 years we owned the van, getting the system charged with R134a was covered under the factory warranty. What annoyed me was that the dealer was never able to actually fix the A/C. It blew cold when charged, but always leaked and had to be recharged every spring. In 2004, the van still had less than 36K miles, but the 3-year part of the warranty was up. My parents traded it for the Odyssey. I typed the VIN from the window sticker into CARFAX in 2016 and found out that our old conversion van is still alive and well in Ohio with no reported accidents.
Believe it or not, even in 2000, the Safari was only the 2nd vehicle we'd ever owned with R134a. The other vehicle which we still owned at the time was a 1996 Pathfinder. Every other vehicle we had prior to (or in conjunction with) the Pathfinder after I was born had been older than 1994 and thus used R-12 (1990 Toyota Camry, 1992 Dodge Dakota pickup, 1993 S-10 Blazer, 1990 Mazda B2600 pickup). My parents actually take care of their vehicles so we get many years of use out of them.
I've been told that Glaval was not a very good company and that's why they went out of business. As for the A/C always leaking, my dad's theory is that the conversion company did a half-assed job of tapping the rear ventilation system into what was never intended to be a dual-zone system, and that if the factory front-only A/C system had been left alone, it never would have leaked.
I've talked to a lot of Astro/Safari owners about their vans, and while a few have never had a problem with the A/C, most say that at a minimum they are recharging the system annually. People with pre-1994 vans that came from the factory with R-12 and never got retrofitted to R134a seem to have better luck... This includes a beater 1993 Chevy Astro SWB cargo van with about 350K miles, which I've seen personally and yes, still has fully functional A/C.
What do you guys think?
I mentioned the 2000 GMC Safari Glaval/Auto Form conversion my parents bought brand new in Virginia Beach, in May 2000. The van itself was built like a brick s**thouse. GM hit one out of the park when it designed the 4.3L Vortec V6, and everybody who has ever driven an Astro/Safari knows that the turning radius is often better than a 4-door sedan. When my parents first test drove the very van we ended up buying, the salesman took us to a parking lot (I was along for the ride too) and pointed out the van's particularly tight turning circle by having my mom and my dad drive it in a circle. They were impressed. It was May and the van had been on the lot since January, so dad ended up paying like $24K for a brand new van with an MSRP of well over $30K. Like I said, the van was very dependable and never broke down, but there was one very annoying problem...
We owned it for 4 years and less than 36K miles, and the A/C had to be recharged EVERY YEAR! I've never seen a 1996-2005 Astro/Safari conversion with the traditional REAR HEAT/REAR A/C switch, just REAR FAN if equipped. That's what ours had. The front A/C in our van worked great when charged, but still couldn't come close to the brand 2004 Odyssey we traded it for, and had for 9 years/130K+ miles (NEVER serviced the A/C in the Odyssey).
The first summer we had the 2000 Safari, we had a huge family reunion at my grandma's lakefront vacation homes in Maine (she actually did have TWO next door to each other and still owns one), and one time when my mom had the Safari filled almost to capacity with relatives 40+ years of age, she recalls that everybody in the back was complaining about being too hot even with the "rear A/C" on, and she had to freeze herself out by cranking the front A/C to make up for it. Most of these same relatives complained about it being too cold when they rode in the Odyssey in the middle of a heat wave with the A/C on it's lowest setting.
So, for the 3 years we owned the van, getting the system charged with R134a was covered under the factory warranty. What annoyed me was that the dealer was never able to actually fix the A/C. It blew cold when charged, but always leaked and had to be recharged every spring. In 2004, the van still had less than 36K miles, but the 3-year part of the warranty was up. My parents traded it for the Odyssey. I typed the VIN from the window sticker into CARFAX in 2016 and found out that our old conversion van is still alive and well in Ohio with no reported accidents.
Believe it or not, even in 2000, the Safari was only the 2nd vehicle we'd ever owned with R134a. The other vehicle which we still owned at the time was a 1996 Pathfinder. Every other vehicle we had prior to (or in conjunction with) the Pathfinder after I was born had been older than 1994 and thus used R-12 (1990 Toyota Camry, 1992 Dodge Dakota pickup, 1993 S-10 Blazer, 1990 Mazda B2600 pickup). My parents actually take care of their vehicles so we get many years of use out of them.
I've been told that Glaval was not a very good company and that's why they went out of business. As for the A/C always leaking, my dad's theory is that the conversion company did a half-assed job of tapping the rear ventilation system into what was never intended to be a dual-zone system, and that if the factory front-only A/C system had been left alone, it never would have leaked.
I've talked to a lot of Astro/Safari owners about their vans, and while a few have never had a problem with the A/C, most say that at a minimum they are recharging the system annually. People with pre-1994 vans that came from the factory with R-12 and never got retrofitted to R134a seem to have better luck... This includes a beater 1993 Chevy Astro SWB cargo van with about 350K miles, which I've seen personally and yes, still has fully functional A/C.
What do you guys think?