[Lumpy]

...I'm not sure if its true but what that article said was that 1996-1999 had more recalls than later years...

If a car that old had a recall it's no longer a factor 15-20 years later. Either they had the recall done or the car continued to run, dispite the recall.

Things I've had recalls for on various vehicles -

- Gas cap door latch upgraded from nylon to metal

- Steering gear box had a production run of poorly surfaced gasket seats

- Paint on hood had contamination during application

I think it's usually something goofy. Not a purchase deal breaker. And certainly not a factor years later.

Buy what you like the looks of. Plan on maintaining it. Or win the lottery so you can afford to pay someone else to maintain it.

Lump

 

[Lumpy]

85-90 - Shorties only (overall length 14' 9")
90-94 - Shorty or Long option
95-05 - Long body only (overall length 15' 8" - [10" longer than shortie])
90-05 - AWD option

And I think(?) AWD only came on the long body option but I'm not positive about that part. There's no mechanical difference that would affect AWD vs RWD. It's only the body that's longer. Drivetrain is the same length.

Lump

 

[Lumpy]

a carbureted vehicle.

Might want to check on that as I've never seen a factory carb.'d Astro.
My 87 Shortie is a 4.3 tbi motor.

He doesn't have to. He's correct. The Astro was a carbed vehicle in '85 and part of '86.

"Pre 92 vans have carburetors" isn't quite correct. Zuki's 87 and my 89 certainly aren't carb'd.

My notes indicate carbs only came on the 2.5L engines (the first two years).

Lump

 

[Lumpy]

There were carb 4 bbl 6's the first couple years. Gary had one. He was trying to sell the intake to it a long while back.

You sure that was factory? 4bbl carbs? That seems a little out of the ordinary for 1985.

Lump