As most have said, the venture is crap, do not get one, ever. My family had one for 5 years, and those 5 years were hell. The thing had constant problems(one being the brakes needed to be replaced...about 3 times in the time we had it, which is way too many, not just like pads, the full brake system. My mother hated hers, she traded it as soon as it was payed for her new MZ3, she's now much happier, like others have said, a smaller seat will work wonders, or, if your wife is really set on a minivan, check out the MPV, and Mazda will cut you a good deal, since your trading a P5 for a minivan for your family, they will be somewhat nicer than Chevy would be. Please, people, NEVER buy a Venture, I have never seen a vehicle with so many problems. Here's a small list
-passenger side sliding door won't work(gas tank sensor rusts in first year, and cannot be replaced, making the ECU sense the gas door is open, and won't allow you to open the door)
-Brakes(the warp faster than my mind did)
-Tranny(very weak)
-windows(manual window gear stripped several times, and I hear the autos have just as many problems)
-Door panels on interior(not attatched very well, came off very easily, and all sorts of other parts came off also)
-Engine(very sparatic...timing was thrown off easily, would burn lean sometimes, rich others, and not all all other times)
-Starter(very poor starter, burnt out quickly)
-Exhaust system(got REALLY hot, and plastic bags got stuc to it on several occasions, plus AC water drips on exhaust, causing rusted through exhaust a few times)(Exhaust hangers sucked, deteriorating once a year(seasonal change)
-Gas Mileage(Worse than my aunts full size SUV)
Comfort(poorly desinged interior proved to be very uncomfotable, both for passengers, and driver, the position was uncomfortable, especially for a van)
-Belts(our belt slipped often, no matter how many times we replaced them, tightened them, bought new pulleys, etc)
-Intake Manifold(cracked on us once, and ****** up the engine pretty good(this was near the end of our time with it, so it didn't cause any of these problems which existed prior to all this))
-Suspension(very wrong for a minivan, and it felt as such. Went through struts quickly too)
Overall, it was the worst vehicle we have ever owned, including our 1989 Chevy Sprint(3 cyl manual 75hp(if really really reall really lucky)) which lasted 12 years of abuse. The newer chevy gets, the worse their quality seems to be getting, atleast Ford is somewhat improving, and Dailmer-Chrysler is getting to be very good, GM seems to be going downhill, car quality, sales etc. Oh and also, the dealship we had, where a bunch of brainless useless titbags ever. We then had Mazda service our van. bad bad van man.
