Now that's a cool idea!
You mean the new model ones? As for the older Caravans, some did have 4 cylinders. Which might seem like a better choice over the v6, but I wouldn't. The 4 banger doesn't have enough get-up-and-go for anything, really.
Clearly you've never worked on an Astro/Safari before. Miserable. And the vortec v6 is garbage. Give me a caravan any day.
^ All excellent suggestions if you're seriously considering the Safari.
Well, like most vans in general, all of the weight is in the front, none in the back. So yeah, bouncy by comparison. But a new pair of rear shocks would help any used car's ride quality.
I mean... if that's your thing, that's cool. I can't stand them personally. I suppose 'repair difficulty' compared to a Caravan, is not so much that one is 'harder' to work on than the other, but rather a different kind of work. ie - the difference between spending 2 hours fighting to get to each spark plug on an Astro (lifting, removing tire, removing dog house, etc) or spending 2 hours on the Caravan spark plugs (remove wiper tub, remove intake [which you don't even have to do on 01-07]). Really comes down to preference.

The first gen Scion B is low to the ground and has a cavernous cargo space with the rear seats removed, 30+ MPG don't hurt either.

I had an older full-size GM van; those, & the old Ford/Dodge competitors, are extremely versatile vehicles. Right now my company vehicle is a Transit Connect. It's been reliable enough & the last time I checked it was averaging 29mpg, and that's with it idling most of the day. My biggest complaint is that FoMoCo exerted no effort whatsoever in balancing that engine. You can't leave anything light weight sitting around because at idle it will shake everything until it falls on the floor.

You may be right, but in my experience, those (ford focus-based models) have very weak motor mounts that always wear out and then the car vibrates annoyingly.

MadMan, I had forgotten about that. I remember when Escorts were still showing up in the shop on a regular basis they always seemed to be extremely "buzzy" compared to everything else, and I've seen it with some aging Focus models as well. My T-C is closing in on 100k and, yep, might just be showing its age.

I know the title of this thread is best Truck/Van for tv pick up, But I gotta put in a plug
for the good old 1986 Honda prelude as the BEST vehicle choice for picking up those
gotta have tvs.....

We got a good choice of large vehicles at our little piece of heaven, a Big Van, I got a
pick-up, a sedan of pretty ample size - tv speaking.... But I got some pretty neato
deals showing up in my Maaco special.... I mean try negotiating a lower price on a
$50. simulated-wood grain covered must have when yer stepping out of a $40K
Almost new Suburban might be hard....... Turn that around and show up in a rusty
old Honda and you might just get that "awe this poor guy" sympathetic "Oh, I'll
take xx" even if you didn't even ask.... Happened to me once...... Not sure if the Prelude
was the reason though.....

Then you know, the "I just don't have room for that" thing, and then there's the all
too common Wife Objection to another set.... Even if for the most part the stuff is
outa sight. Well at our parking lot, viewing from the front window I usually keep
"the little car that could", behind the van, or behind the pickup - as viewed from the
front window, which overlooks our vast parking expanse.

If by some chance a tv appears on CL and It's a Sharp Linytron, or some other -
otherwise non collectible set with a too good to pass up price tag. I can always
keep the wife up late the night before, and run off real quick one morning in the
prelude early, while the wife sleeps late, and be back before anyone knows what
just happened.... Ahhh. And if she did happen to get up and walk past the front
windows, all looks normal cause you can't see the prelude from the window
anyway...... Just leave a radio on in a room she ain't going to venture into
I use the garage.... Also good to keep a stable full of 20+ year old cars on hand,
that way you can be out in the garage a lot, or at least pretend to be.....

And with the humble prelude, you'll most likely never run into that temptation
to pick up something either too heavy to lift by yourself, Saving your back, or
too big to fit the car..... And thus save that valuable space at the cassa.

I was able to get my 25" 1985 Sharp Linytrons with Simulated Wood Finish,
( Plastic cabinet portables you know...) and an RCA 9-T-240 into the passengers seat with
no problems...

Just food for thought on this good tv void night.......


.

Motor mounts are not terribly expensive / hard to change.

LOL I gotta remember that one!

And the T-C fleet get the motor mounts changed around 90K, standard habit with us. The Focus Wagon left got us in that habit.

I like my Suburban a lot... It is part way full with a Sylvania slide scanner/color TV console as I type. :D

Excuse a quick off-topic, but are you planning to restore the slide scanner? Would love to see that.

I recently acquired my parent's 1985 Peugeot 505 wagon (North American Spec) and have been working on getting it road worthy. The cargo area is roughly 7 1/2" by 3' with the rear seats folded down and you can throw over 1000lbs of crap in it (according to the owners manual), not to mention it is RWD with a live axle, semi trailing arm/coil spring rear suspension, and a limited slip diff. It also floats over bumps in the road unlike my W250:nono:

The drawback is being a passenger car based vehicle, there might not be the clearance needed for some console TVs

Likely, depends on what is wrong with it. I have some family slides to use it with if I do.